The Bowery Boys: New York City History

As New York City enters the final stages of a rather strange mayoral election in 2025, let’s look back on a decidedly more unusual contest over 110 years ago, pitting Tammany Hall and their estranged ally (Mayor William Jay Gaynor) up against a baby-faced newcomer, the (second) youngest man ever to become the mayor of New York City.John Purroy Mitchel, the Bronx-born grandson of an Irish revolutionary, was a rising star in New York City, aggressively sweeping away incompetence and snipping away at government excess.  Under his watch, two of New York’s borough presidents were fired, just for being ineffectual!  Mitchel made an ideal candidate for mayor in an era where Tammany Hall cronyism still dominated the nature of New York City.Nobody could predict the strange events that befell the city during the election of 1913, unfortunate and even bizarre incidents that catapulted this young man to City Hall and gave him the nickname "The Boy Mayor of New York."But things did not turn out as planned. He won his election with the greatest victory margin in New York City history. He left office four years later with an equally large margin of defeat.  Tune in to our tale of this oft-ignored figure in New York City history, an example of good intentions gone wrong and — due to his tragic end — the only mayor honored with a memorial in Central Park.Visit the website for images from this podcast. Get your tickets to the Bowery Boys Ghost Stories of New York City live show at Joe's Pub here.This show is a reissue of a show that originally ran in September 2012; however, we think you’ll find more than a few similarities in this tale to the current 2025 mayoral election landscape. This show was refreshed and remastered by Kieran Gannon. 

On January 3, 1924, 25-year-old George Gershwin was shooting pool in a Manhattan billiard hall when his brother Ira Gershwin read aloud a shocking newspaper article: "George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto." There was just one problem—George had never agreed to write any such piece.What happened next would change American music forever. In just five weeks, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants raced to compose what would become "Rhapsody in Blue," breaking down the barriers between popular music and the concert hall. From that snowy February night at Aeolian Hall to today's reinterpretations by contemporary artists, this is the story of how a newspaper lie became a masterpiece—and how one young composer captured the sound of Jazz Age New York in music.Featuring original audio clips of George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and orchestrator Ferde Grofé, plus the historic 1924 recording of the premiere performance.The Bowery Boys podcast is supported by Founded by NYC, celebrating New York City's 400th anniversary in 2025.This show was edited by Kieran Gannon

We love the podcast History Daily, a co-production from award winning podcasters Airship and Noiser, so we're presenting two episodes with a very similar theme -- pirates!-- July 6, 1699. The arrest of Captain William Kidd ends the reign of plunder of one of history's most infamous pirates and sparks rumors of buried treasure-- November 16th, 1720.  The trials of notorious pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and John Rackham began in Spanish Town, Jamaica.Subscirbe to History Daily wherever you get your podcasts including Apple and SpotifyGet your tickets to the Bowery Boys Ghost Stories of New York City show, live at Joe's Pub 

On the evening of December 5, 1876, the glorious Brooklyn Theatre caught fire, trapping its audience in a nightmare of flame and smoke. The theater sat near Brooklyn City Hall (today's Brooklyn Borough Hall), and the blaze which destroyed it could be seen as far away as Prospect Park.The terrible truth emerged by the morning -- almost 300 people died in this disaster. To this day, it remains the worst disaster in Brooklyn's history in terms of lives lost. Of individual one-day disasters in New York City, only the attacks on the World Trade Center and the General Slocum disaster have taken more lives.But you wouldn't know it from walking through Cadman Plaza today, a bustling public area popular with skateboarders and office workers on lunch breaks. Several historic monuments decorate the plaza today -- but none mark this troubling event in Brooklyn's history.It's a tragic story that also gives us a glimpse into daily life in Gilded Age Brooklyn. And this is a story of the theater world as well -- of a popular play which took American culture by storm, and of an actress whose reputation would be forever linked with the disaster. Why was star Kate Claxton unfairly called "the fire witch" in the press?Visit our website for many images and illustrations from this tragic event.This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon.

The ultimate bar crawl of Old New York continues through a survey of classic bars and taverns that trace their origins from the 1850s through the 1880s.And this time we're recording within two of America's most famous establishments, joined by the people who know that history the best.In Part One, we introduced you to the origin story of New York City tavern life in the Dutch and colonial periods, and we ventured into Fraunces Tavern to witness the creation of the United States itself. Then we headed out to Queens and to Neir's Tavern, which quenched the thirsts of horse-racing fans in the early 19th century -- and reinvented itself in the 20th century thanks to Mae West and Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.For part two, we fill out our list of the most historic bars and taverns still serving customers in the 21st century -- from SoHo to Williamsburg, from Midtown Manhattan to Red Hook, Brooklyn.But we center our adventure within two classic Manhattan bars, which wear their histories proudly upon the walls:-- McSorley's Old Ale House is the most famous Irish saloon in New York City (and dare we even say, the whole country?), and its stacked, cluttered walls -- every strange piece tells a story -- welcome you inside to become a part of its history.  Historian Bill Wander and long-time bartender Shane Buggy provide a most intoxicating tour of the joint.-- Pete's Tavern has become famous as one of America's most enduring literary bars thanks to its long-time association with O. Henry. But there are so many more secrets awaiting you -- from its association with Tammany Hall to its curious transformation into a "flower shop" during Prohibition.  General manager Gary Egan and owner Steve Troy reveal many surprising twists in Pete's own history.This episode was edited and produced by Kieran Gannon. Visit the website for more images of the famous bars mentioned in this week's show.

We’ve put together the ultimate New York City historic bar crawl, a celebration of the city’s old taverns, pubs, and ale houses with 18th- and 19th-century connections. And along the way, you’ll learn so much about the city’s overall history — from its changing shoreline to the everyday lives of its working-class immigrant populations.Being an old historic bar isn’t just a novel curiosity for history lovers. It can be good for business and many of the most popular landmark pubs literally wear their stories on the walls — framed newspapers and photographs, memorabilia, old clocks, sailors’ caps and fedoras.The history of old bars is a little like a ghost story, where a legend has grown up around a historic place, and decades or centuries later, it can be hard to determine the pure truth. In many ways, the myths are as powerful and as interesting as the actual history itself.In this episode, the first of two parts, Greg and Kieran visit two very different establishments representing the colonial and rustic world of Old New York:— Fraunces Tavern, one of the most important American landmarks of the Revolutionary War, remains a vibrant spot over 250 years after its stools and tables were occupied with rebellious colonists. Today, its history lovers and workers from the Financial District who enjoy its labyrinthine bar and dining rooms, while upstairs an impressive museum celebrates the tavern’s many eras of greatness.— Neir's Tavern, in the quiet residential neighborhood of Woodhaven, Queens, once sat next to the popular Union Race Course, one of the key American sports venues of the early 19th century. Horse-racing remains in the bar’s DNA — in its insignia and on its walls. But this surprising spot may be better known for its connections to sassy queen of comedy Mae West and to the iconic Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas, which was filmed here.PLUS: The Ear Inn! And we tell you with absolute certainty the location of the oldest tavern structure in New York City. You can’t drink beer there anymore, but next to it, you can grab a coffee and a croissant.Visit the website for more information and images from this week's show. This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.The Bowery Boys Podcast is proud to be sponsored by FOUNDED BY NYC, celebrating New York City's 400th anniversary in 2025 and the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026. Read about all the exciting events and world class institutions commemorating the five boroughs legacy of groundbreaking achievements, and find ways to celebrate the city that's always making history.  foundedbynyc.com

Once upon a time New York City oysters were not only plentiful and healthy in the harbor, they were an everyday, common food source. The original fast food!For that reason, the oyster could be an official New York City mascot. Oyster farming was a major occupation. Oyster houses were an incredibly common place for people to eat. The greatest restaurants in the city served oysters, as did the small basement dives.In many ways, they united all New Yorkers, not just from the Lower East Side to Fifth Avenue, but even with those people who came before – the Lenape indigenous tribes, the original Dutch settlers and even the colonial English. Oysters defined the New York City palate by the early 19th century. Businessmen like Thomas Downing (one of New York's first successful Black restaurateurs) fed the stock brokers on Wall Street while the Delmonico Brothers served them on the half-shell in their new French inspired eatery.But today -- New York City oysters are inedible. And for most of the 20th century, they were functionally extinct thanks to the harbor's notoriously poor water quality.Thanks to organizations like the Billion Oyster Project, however, the oyster has returned to the harbor. And soon we may see a billion oysters -- and more! Brian Reagor, director of development and communications at the Billion Oyster Project, joins Tom and Greg to discuss the fascinating process of reintroducing the oyster to its old home in New York harbor.Visit the website for more images and information on other Bowery Boys episodes The Bowery Boys Podcast is proud to be sponsored by Founded By NYC, celebrating New York City's 400th anniversary in 2025 and the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026. Read about all the exciting events and world class institutions commemorating the five boroughs' legacy of groundbreaking achievements, and find ways to celebrate the city that's always making history at Founded by NYC.

A special presentation of our live show Bowery Boys History Live, recorded at City Winery, July 2, 2025Bowery Boys History Live is a storytelling cabaret of all-true tales and spellbinding secrets from the past, hosted by Greg Young of the Bowery Boys Podcast and brought to you by a rotating roster of the city’s greatest historians.And for this show, Greg’s has invited a premier lineup of special guests, including author Elizabeth L. Block (Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing), author and tour guide Keith Taillon aka @keithyorkcity (Walking New York: Manhattan History on Foot), and host of the Gilded Gentleman podcast Carl Raymond.Featuring:-- Carl Raymond with a cheeky comparison between the ladies of high society and the four comedy queens of Palm Beach, Florida-- Elizabeth L. Block with an exploration of the Gilded Age's great gowns, bodices and hair preparations-- Keith Taillon with a look at the life of Mrs. Astor through the places she lived-- Greg Young with the origins of the phrase 'the Gilded Age' and a look at five influential women of the Gilded Age that NEVER got invited to Mrs Astor's ballNOTE: This was a live show with slide presentations, so there may be a few moments referencing an image in the room. This show was produced and edited by Kieran GannonFor even more Gilded Age stories, check out Tom Meyers on the Official Gilded Age Podcast. 

Ready for a little summertime spookfest? This week we're thrilled to present to you a podcast appearance Greg made back in April on the Spirits Podcast. Hosted by Amanda McLoughlin and Julia Schifini, the Spirits Podcast is a weekly conversational show about all things ghosts, mythology, folklore and urban legends. If you like fun spooky things, add the podcast to your regular rotation! And as a sample, here is Greg's appearance on the show, talking about all sorts of New York City ghosty things.Get your tickets for the Bowery Boys Ghost Stories of Old New York live show at Joe's Pub.And here's the complete list of Bowery Boys ghost story podcasts

TERROR ON THE BEACH! Seaside resorts from Cape May, New Jersey, to Montauk, Long Island, were paralyzed in fear during the summer of 1916.Not because of the threat of lurking German U-boats and saboteurs. But because of sharks.On July 1, 1916, Charles Epting Vansant was killed by a shark while swimming at a resort in Beach Haven, a popular destination on the Jersey Shore.At first, this terrible tragedy received only limited attention. After all, millions were flocking to the beaches along the Jersey Shore and throughout the New York region -- Coney Island, the Rockaways and Staten Island's South Beach.Shark attacks were the stuff of pirate legends and dramatic works of art. Most experts were skeptical that sharks were dangerous at all; the Maryland mogul Hermann Oelrichs offered $500 to any person with proof that sharks were dangerous to humans. Nobody claimed the reward.But during that July, sharks did threaten the lives of humans -- not only on sandy beaches, but even in tranquil watering holes, several miles inland. What was in the water in July of 1916?This show contains descriptions of violence related to shark attacks. You've been warned.This episode was edited and produced by Kieran Gannon.Visit the website for more episodes of the Bowery Boys Podcast.

At the heart of New York’s Gilded Age — the late 19th-century era of unprecedented American wealth and excess — were families with the names Astor, Waldorf, Schermerhorn, and Vanderbilt, alongside power players like A.T. Stewart, Jay Gould and William “Boss” Tweed.They would all make their homes — and in the case of the Vanderbilts, their great many homes — on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.The image of Fifth Avenue as a luxury retail destination today grew from the street’s aristocratic reputation in the 1800s. The rich were inextricably drawn to the avenue as early as the 1830s when rich merchants, anxious to be near the exquisite row houses of Washington Square Park, began turning it into an artery of expensive abodes.In this podcast, Tom and Greg present a world that’s somewhat hard to imagine — free-standing mansions in an exclusive corridor running right through the center of Manhattan. Why was Fifth Avenue fated to become the domain of the so-called “Upper Ten”? And what changed about the city in the 20th century to ensure the eventual destruction of most of them?The following is a re-edited, remastered version of two past Bowery Boys shows — the Rise and Fall of the Fifth Avenue Mansion. Combined, this tells the whole story of Fifth Avenue, from the initial development of streets in the 1820s to its Midtown transformation into a mecca of high-end shopping in the 1930s. This could also serve as a primer to the HBO series The Gilded Age, the official podcast co-hosted by Tom Meyers! You can listen to the Official Gilded Age Podcast on all audio podcast players as well as YouTube.For even more Gilded Age tales, check out The Gilded Gentleman Podcast.Visit the website for more images and adventures with the Bowery Boys Podcast.

People who live in Inwood know how truly special it is. Manhattan's northernmost neighborhood (aside from Marble Hill) feels like it's outside of the city -- and in some places, even outside of time and space. Unlike the lower Manhattan's flat avenues and organized streets, Inwood varies wildly in elevation and its streets wind up hills and down into valleys.It's a twenty minute walk from the mysterious "Indian caves" to some of the best Dominican food in New York City. You can experience the ghosts of Gilded Age mansions close to New York's last remaining forest. Revolutionary War artifacts sit a few blocks away from vestiges of a 20th century Irish community.In this special on-location episode, Greg Young and producer Kieran Gannon wind their way through the streets of Inwood and through (that's right) thousands of years of history -- from salt marshes to old amusement parks, from ancient arches to Broadway musicals, with ducks and egrets and dogs and beavers making guest appearances along the way.And since we're on the subject -- what IS the deal with Marble Hill? What do you mean, it's a Manhattan neighborhood?Featuring special guests Melissa Kieweit (Dyckman Farmhouse), Cole Thompson (Lost Inwood) and Led Black (Uptown Collective)Visit the Bowery Boys website for more information on our guests and some additional images.This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.The Bowery Boys Podcast is proud to be sponsored by FOUNDED BY NYC, celebrating New York City's 400th anniversary in 2025 and the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026. Read about all the exciting events and world class institutions commemorating the five boroughs legacy of groundbreaking achievements, and find ways to celebrate the city that's always making history.  foundedbynyc.com

The children of the Gilded Age were seen but not heard. Until now!Listener favorite Esther Crain, author and creator of Ephemeral New York joins The Gilded Gentleman for a look at the world of children during the Gilded Age. As she shared in the episode “Invisible Magicians: Domestic Servants in Gilded Age New York” with writings by actual servants, Esther has uncovered documents written in children’s own voices that capture their world and reality. From a 12-year-old boy in Gilded Age Harlem to a teenage girl on what would become Manhattan’s Upper East Side, we can finally meet children who are both seen and heard.  A special replay from The Gilded Gentleman podcast, in honor of the upcoming season of  HBO's The Gilded Age.And listen to The Gilded Gentleman podcast for a wide range of shows about America's Gilded Age including this week's show on Frederick Douglass.This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon 

While you may know the Brooklyn Museum for its wildly popular cutting-edge exhibitions, the borough's premier art institution can actually trace its origins back to a more rustic era -- and to the birth of the city of Brooklyn itself.On July 4, 1825, the growing village laid a cornerstone for its new Brooklyn Apprentices Library, an educational institution to support its young "clerks, journeymen and apprentices." This was a momentous occasion in the history of Brooklyn, a ceremony overseen by the Marquis de Lafayette and observed by a young boy named Walt Whitman.The library was part of a movement -- started a century before by Benjamin Franklin-- to make knowledge readily available within the young country.The Brooklyn Museum's celebratory new exhibition Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200 looks back at its storied origins and eventual growth, encompassing most of the young city's cultural institutions and soon expanding into a monumental new home next to the new Prospect Park, designed by McKim, Mead and White.Abigail Dansiger, the Director of Libraries and Archives, and Meghan Bill, the Coordinator of Provenance, join Greg on this week's show to explain the unusual origins of the Brooklyn Museum and the unique philosophies which inform its exhibitions.PLUS: A couple genuine mysteries lurk within the new exhibition, including a bottle-shaped niche within the cornerstone and an Egyptologist's unencrypted notebook.This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon 

In 1939, Robert Moses sprung his latest project upon the world -- the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, connecting the tip of Manhattan to the Brooklyn waterfront, slicing through New York Harbor just to the north of Governor's Island.To build it, Moses dictated that the historic Battery Park would need to be redesigned. And its star attraction the New York Aquarium would have to be demolished.The aquarium was housed in the former military fort Castle Clinton which had seen so much of New York City's history pass through its walls under the name Castle Garden -- first as an early 19th century entertainment venue and later as the Emigrant Landing Depot, which processed millions of newly arriving immigrants.This valuable link to American history would surely have been lost if not for activists like Albert S. Bard, a revolutionary landmarking advocate who countered and disrupted Moses every step of the way.In this episode, Greg interviews another landmarking superstar -- author and civic activist Anthony C. Wood -- on the occasion of his new biography of Bard titled Servant of Beauty: Landmarks, Secret Love, and the Unimagined Life of an Unsung New York Hero.In his research,  Wood discovered a personality far more interesting than his public persona and a man with far more at stake than just his beliefs in preservation.Visit the website for more information and images of things discussed on this show. This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon. 

A long, long time ago in New York — in the 1730s, back when the city was a holding of the British, with a little over 10,000 inhabitants — a German printer named John Peter Zenger decided to print a four-page newspaper called the New York Weekly Journal.This is pretty remarkable in itself, as there was only one other newspaper in town called the New York Gazette, an organ of the British crown and the governor of the colony.But Zenger’s paper would call to question the actions of that governor, a virtual despot named William Cosby, and in so doing, set in motion an historic trial that marked a triumph for liberty and modern democratic rights, including freedom of the press and the power of jury nullification.This entire story takes place in lower Manhattan, and most of it on a couple floors of old New York City Hall at Wall Street and Nassau Street. Many years later, this spot would see the first American government and the inauguration of George Washington.Many could argue that the trial that occurs here on August 4, 1735, is equally important to the causes of democracy and a free press.We're marking the 290th anniversary of this landmark trial with a newly re-edited, remastered version of our show from 2013.Visit the website for more information

When Prospect Park was first opened to the public in the late 1860s, the City of Brooklyn was proud to claim a landmark as beautiful and as peaceful as New York’s Central Park. But the superstar landscape designers — Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux — weren’t finished.This park came with two grand pleasure drives, wide boulevards that emanated from the north and south ends of the park. Eastern Parkway, the first parkway in the United States, is the home of the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, its leafy pedestrian malls running through the neighborhood of Crown Heights. But it’s Ocean Parkway that is the most unusual today, an almost six-mile stretch which takes drivers, bikers, runners and (at one point) horse riders all the way to Coney Island, at a time when people were just beginning to appreciate the beach’s calming and restorative values.Due to its wide, straight surface, Ocean Parkway even became an active speedway for fast horses. When bicycles became all the rage in the late 1880s, they also took to the parkway and avid cyclists eventually got their first bike lane in 1894 — the first in the United States.FEATURING: A tale of two cemeteries — one that was demolished to make way for one parkway, and another which apparently (given its ‘no vacancy’ status) thrives next to another.  Visit the website for more information about other Bowery Boys episodes

On October 29, 1975, President Gerald Ford walked into a press conference at the National Press Club and, using more precise, more eloquent words than legend remembers, but in no uncertain terms, told New York City that the federal government was not going to bail it out.The following day the New York Daily News -- the city's first tabloid newspaper summarized his blunt, castigating speech into one succinct and memorable headline -- FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD.Of course, the president never literally said DROP DEAD. But his words did signal the severity of New York City's problem -- the city was on the brink of bankruptcy. In this episode, Greg dives into life in New York City during the year 1975 and the circumstances surrounding its most dire financial crisis, one which threatened the livelihoods of its millions of residents and damaged New York City’s reputation for decades.Directors Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn join Greg to discuss their new film on the New York financial crisis Drop Dead City, which uses gritty archival footage and a series of special guests (such as Harrison J. Goldin, Charlie Rangel, Betsy Gotbaum and former Bowery Boys guest Kevin Baker) to explain this complicated story. If Michael's name looks familiar, that's because his father Felix Rohatyn played a critical role in bailing out the bankrupt city.Visit the website for more informationMore information on DROP DEAD CITY here 

Join us for an interview with Instagram historian Keith Taillon (@keithyorkcity), whose detailed posts about New York's history have earned him nearly 60,000 followers and launched a successful tour business.Keith shares the story behind his remarkable pandemic project of walking every single block of Manhattan in 2020, capturing the empty city in photographs that now appear in his first book, "Walking New York: Manhattan History on Foot."From his childhood fascination with urban history to his graduate studies at Hunter College, Keith reveals how his personal journey led him to become one of the city's most engaging historical storytellers. You'll hear how he crafts walking tours that go beyond landmark-hopping to explain why New York looks and functions the way it does.Plus: Listen to Keith's appearances on The Gilded Gentleman Podcast episodes on The Real Mamie Fish, The Hidden World of Gramercy Park, and a Gilded Age Tour up Manhattan.   Visit the Bowery Boys website and become a member of the show at Patreon.com/BoweryBoys.

We invite you to come with us inside one of America’s most interesting art museums – an institution that is BOTH an art gallery and a historic home.This is The Frick Collection, located at 1 East 70th Street, within the former Fifth Avenue mansion of Gilded Age mogul Henry Clay Frick, containing many pieces that the steel titan himself purchased, as well as many other incredible works of art from master painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Goya, Turner, and Whistler.Frick himself had a rather complicated legacy. As a master financier and chairman of Andrew Carnegie's massive steel enterprise, Frick helped create the materials for America's railroads and bridges. But his intolerance of labor unions led to a bloody confrontation in the summer of 1892, making him, for a time, one of the most hated men in America.New Yorkers' love for the Frick Collection, however, remains far less complicated. The institution, which has been a museum since 1935, allows visitors to experience the work of the great master painters in an often regal and intimate setting, allowing people to imagine the fanciful life of the Gilded Age. The Frick Collection reopens this month after an extensive renovation (temporarily relocating the collection to the Breuer Building for a few years) and we've got a sneak preview, featuring Frick curator and art historian Aimee Ng.Visit the Bowery Boys website for more images and follow the Bowery Boys on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and Bluesky for even more.