Cityscape

Great inventors of the past have influenced the world we live in today. Thomas Edison gave us the light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio – we’re especially thankful for that one. And let’s not forget Brooklyn born inventor George Lerner for his famous American Toy, Mr. Potatohead. Today, the Big Apple is home to the creators of many interesting inventions, from a solar powered, MP3 charging bikini to a hoodie that takes photos when your heart rate increases. This week, we’re talking with modern day inventors based in New York City.

When you think of New York City’s food vendors, the hot dog carts or ice cream trucks scattered about probably come to mind, but there’s quite a variety of food you can buy on the street including cupcakes, schnitzels, dumplings, and even lobster. Coming up on this week's Cityscape, we'll explore the history of the city's mobile food vendors and take a look at the issues and challenges they face today.

Greenwich Village, also referred to as just “The Village,” is a largely residential part of Manhattan, and was once known as a Mecca for artists and writers like Bob Dylan and Jack Kerouac. Though surges in rent have sent many starving artists to other neighborhoods, bohemian culture continues to pervade the coffee shops, bars and bookstores of this historic district. On this week's Citsycape, we're immersing ourselves in the "culture" of Greenwich Village.

On this week's Cityscape, we're exploring the "People's Palace" -- the New York Public Library's main branch on 5th Avenue. We'll delve into the architecture and decoration of the building, and look into other aspects of the 100-year-old institution.

New York-based journalist and author David Browne drops in to talk about his new book "Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970."

New York is considered on of the fastest paced cities in the world, and we're not slowing things down by any means. On this week's Cityscape, we're exploring the different ways New Yorkers get things done fast -- from speed decorating to speed walking.

If you live in an old house, chances are many, many people walked the same floors and slept in the same rooms over the years. But, have you ever wondered who they were, what their lives were like? On this week’s Cityscape, a Manhattan resident shares her story of uncovering the long history of her Lower East Side rowhouse, after finding out it was in jeopardy of collapse. Katharine Greider's new book is called The Archaeology of Home: An Epic Set on a Thousand Square Feet of the Lower East Side.

Strawberry Fields is the most visited site in Central Park. On this week’s Cityscape, we’ll talk with the author of a new book about the memorial to John Lennon. Also this week, we'll visit a place in Queens that’s more reminiscent of Amish country than New York City; the Queens County Farm Museum.

Summer’s officially here. The season arrived exactly at 1:16 pm Tuesday. So you can expect those who complained about the cold and snow -- to start complaining about the heat and humidity. But, there are plenty of ways to beat the heat in the baking Big Apple, including at one of the city’s many outdoor pools. On this week's Cityscape, we’ll look back at the history of the city’s public swimming pools -- a history that involves charges of racism. We'll also visit Embee Sunshade Company in Brooklyn. They've been making beach and patio umbrellas since 1933.

The Bay Plaza Shopping Center just south of Co-op City in the Bronx attracts shoppers to places like Barnes & Noble and JCPenney, but half a century ago the area packed people in for another reason. The site was home to an amusement park bigger than Disneyland. On this week’s Cityscape, we’re remembering Freedomland. It opened to the public 51 years ago this weekend, but only lasted five seasons.