The Bowery Boys: New York City History

You may have heard about the messy, chaotic and truly horrible presidential election of 1876 -- pitting Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B Hayes -- but did you know that New York City plays a huge role in this moment in American history?

Tilden, the governor of New York, was a political superstar, a reformer famous for taking down Boss Tweed and the corrupt machinations of Tammany Hall. From his home in Gramercy Park, the extremely wealthy governor could kept himself updated on the election by a personal telegraph line.

In a way, the presidential election came to him -- or at least to his neighborhood. The Democratic national headquarters sat only a few blocks south, while the Republican national headquarters made the Fifth Avenue Hotel (off Madison Square) its home.

All this would have made the 1876 national election somewhat unusual already -- New York City seemed to be at the center of it -- but the strange series of events spawned by a most contentious Election Day would send the entire country into pandemonium.

Not only was democracy itself on the line, but the fate of Reconstruction was also at stake. As were the rights of thousands of Black Southerners.

How did shadowy events which occurred at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in the early morning hours of November 8, 1876, change the course of American history? How did a flurry of telegrams and months of political chicanery cause an end to the country's post-Civil War ambitions?

FEATURING: A visit to Tilden's mansion on Gramercy Park, now the home of the National Arts Club!

PLUS: How was Daniel Sickles involved here?

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In the heart of Greenwich Village sits the Jefferson Market Library, a branch of the New York Public Library, and a beautiful garden which offers a relaxing respite from the busy neighborhood.

But a prison once rose from this very spot -- more than one in fact. While there was indeed a market at Jefferson Market -- dating back to the 1830s -- this space is more notoriously known for America's first night court (at the Jefferson Market Courthouse, site of today's library) and the Women's House of Detention, a facility which cast a gloom over the Village for over 40 years.

Almost immediately after the original courthouse (designed by Frederick Clarke Withers and Calvert Vaux) opened in 1877, it was quickly overburdened with people arrested in the Tenderloin district. By 1910 a women's court opened here, and by the Jazz Age, the adjacent confinement was known as "the women's jail.”

When the Women's House of Detention opened in 1931 -- sometimes referred to as the world's only Art Deco prison -- it was meant to improve the conditions for women who were held there. But the dank and inadequate containment soon became symbol of abuse and injustice.

In this special episode -- recorded live at Caveat on the Lower East Side -- Tom and Greg are joined by Hugh Ryan, author of The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison to explore the detention center's place in both New York City history and LGBT history.

How did the "House of D" figure into the Stonewall Uprising of 1969? And what were the disturbing circumstances surrounding its eventual closure?

FEATURING: Stories of Mae West, Stanford White, Alva Belmont, Mayor Jimmy Walker, Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin and -- Tupac Shakur?

Visit our website for images of the things we spoke about in this week's show.

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Just a few months ago, New York City removed most of the remaining phone booths from the streets, oft neglected, a nostalgic victim of our increasing use of cellphones.

For almost a century public phones have connected regular New Yorkers with the world. Who doesn’t have fond memories of using a payphone with gum on the earpiece and extremely vulgar messages written on the box? Putting in quarters!

Well this news got us thinking about how the telephone has helped change New York overall.

Ever since Alexander Graham Bell brought his first model telephone to Manhattan 145 years ago, the telephone has helped us make plans, share urgent news, and has even allowed people to move away from each other – but still feel close.

This is a national story of course, one of patents and mergers, of Bell Telephone’s monopoly over the business for over 100 years. But it's local too; the tales of sassy operators, big shiny Art Deco towers and the ever-changing New York phone number.

PLUS: We let you in on a little secret. The classic New York City phone booth is not quite gone. We'll tell you where to find one.

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In today's episode, Tom discusses the vast span of New York history with filmmakers and authors Ric Burns and James Sanders, creators of "New York: A Documentary Film".

In our episode, we discuss the 8-part documentary (which aired on PBS in installments in 1999, 2001 and 2003) and its newly updated companion book, "New York: An Illustrated History" (Knopf, 2021). We cover the guiding themes of New York's story, the greatest events and characters, and the challenges Burns and Sanders faced as they covered 9/11 and, for the final installments, COVID and other current events.

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In honor of the 125th anniversary of the first ELECTRIC CABS hitting the streets of New York, the Bowery Boys are revisiting this episode from 2015, recounting almost 175 years of getting around New York in a private ride. 

The hansom, the romantic rendition of the horse and carriage, took New Yorkers around during the Gilded Age. But unregulated conduct by — nighthawks — and the messy conditions of streets due to horses demanded a solution.

At first it seemed the electric car would save the day but the technology proved inadequate. In 1907 came the first gas-propelled automobile cabs to New York, officially — taxis — due to a French invention installed in the front seat.

By the 1930s the streets were filled with thousands of taxicabs. During the Great Depression, cab drivers fought against plunging fare and even waged a strike in Times Square. In 1937, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia debuted the medallion system as a way to keep the streets regulated.

By the 1970s many cabdrivers faced an upswing of crime that made picking up passengers even more dangerous than bad traffic. Drivers began ignoring certain fares — mainly from African-Americans — which gave rise to the neighborhood livery cab system.

Today New York taxicab fleets face a different threat — Uber and the rise of private app-based transportation services. Will the taxi industry rise to the challenge in time for the debut of their taxi of tomorrow.

Visit the website for images and more information.

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Tom and Greg are still off celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Bowery Boys podcast, so this week we're highlighting one of the best shows produced by the Bowery Boys this year -- for The Gilded Gentleman podcast, the spin-off show hosted by Carl Raymond. 

Domestic servants during the Gilded Age did more than simply maintain the mansions of the wealthy. New York City simply could not function with these 'invisible' armies of butlers, housekeepers, footmen, ladies maids, gardeners, cooks, valets and others.

The subject will be familiar to viewers of television shows like Downton Abbey, The Gilded Age and Upstairs, Downstairs. What was life like for a valet, a cook or a scullery maid in the mansions of late 19th century New York? How were houses with large staffs even managed? What were the hardships? And what were the benefits?  

In this episode Carl is joined by Esther Crain, author of The Gilded Age in New York 1870-1914and the website Ephemeral New York, to look at the various roles and responsibilities of domestic staff in grand mansions and even in more modest homes.  

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And after you're finished with this show, subscribe to The Gilded Gentleman on your favorite podcast player to hear Carl's new episode on the mysteries of absinthe, the mysterious elixir that fueled Paris and London’s cafe society and artistic circles in the Belle Epoque and late Victorian and Edwardian worlds. 

Carl is joined by Don Spiro, creator of New York’s Green Fairy Society to discuss and demystify the myths and legends of this most evocative of spirits. 

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Let's go back to 2007. Tom and Greg recorded the first episode of the podcast which would become The Bowery Boys: New York City History on June 19, 2007. The location: the Lower East Side. The method of recording: a karaoke microphone and a small white iBook. 

In this special celebration of that anniversary, they set the scene with the ultimate 'situate the listener' --situating the year 2007. What were you up to that year? How has your life changed in the past 15 years? The world was very different in so many ways but in other respects, 2007 is a lot like 2022. 

Then Tom and Greg launch the segment ABBA -- Ask (the) Bowery Boys Anything! Call-in questions and emails from listeners asking questions about the show's past 15 years. You may be surprised by the answers. 

PLUS: What are Greg and Tom favorite episodes? Several good ones are mentioned but they (quite by accident) settle on one show in particular.

Hear all of the Bowery Boys podcasts -- in chronological order by subject -- on the website. 

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What wonderful surprises await the Bowery Boys in Little Caribbean? The Brooklyn enclave in Flatbush is one of the central destinations for Caribbean-American life and culture in New York City.

Since the 1960s, thousands of immigrants from Jamaica, Trinidad, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean nations have made this historic area of Flatbush (mostly east of Flatbush Avenue) their home. The streets are lined with restaurants and markets that bring the flavors of the islands to Brooklyn.

But the story of Caribbean immigration to New York City begins many decades before.

Tom and Greg are joined on the show today by Dr. Tyesha Maddox, assistant professor of African and African-American Studies at Fordham University, to discuss the history of Caribbean immigration into the United States (and into New York City specifically).

Then they head out into the streets of Flatbush to join Shelley Worrell, the founder of I am caribBEING who led the effort to designate an official Little Caribbean as a vibrant cultural hub. Listen in on this mini food tour of Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues and discover the secrets of this bustling neighborhood.

Stops include: Peppa's  Jerk Chicken (738 Flatbush Ave.), Errol's Caribbean Delights (661 Flatbush), African Record Center (1194 Nostrand Ave), Labay Market (1127 Nostrand Ave), Allan's Bakery (1109 Nostrand Ave), and Rain Eatery and Juice Bar (1166 Nostrand Ave).

This episode is brought to you by the Historic Districts Council.  Funding for this episode is provided by public funds from the  New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Benjamin Kallos.

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Over 350 years ago today's Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush was an old Dutch village, the dirt path that would one day become Flatbush Avenue, lined with wheat fields and farms.

Contrast that with today's Flatbush, a bustling urban destination diverse in both housing styles and commercial retail shops. It's also an anchor of Brooklyn’s Caribbean community -- Little Caribbean.

There have been many different Flatbushes -- rural, suburban and urban. In today's show we highlight several stories from these phases in this neighborhood's life.

If you are a Brooklynite of a certain age, the first thing that might come to mind is maybe the Brooklyn Dodgers who once played baseball in Ebbets Field here. Or maybe you know of a famous person who was born or grew up there -- Barbra Streisand, Norman Mailer or Bernie Sanders. 

But the story of Flatbush reflects the many transformative changes of New York City itself. And it holds a special place in the identity of Brooklyn -- so much so that it is often considered the heart of Brooklyn.

FEATURING STORIES OF Erasmus Hall, the Kings Theater, Lefferts Historic House, the Flatbush African Burial Ground and the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church.

PLUS We chat with Shelley Worrell of I Am CaribBEING about her work preserving and celebrating the neighborhood's Caribbean community.

This episode is brought to you by the Historic Districts Council.  Funding for this episode is provided by public funds from the  New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Benjamin Kallos.

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The Renwick Ruin, resembling an ancient castle lost to time, appears along the East River as a crumbling, medieval-like apparition, something not quite believable. Sitting between two new additions on Roosevelt Island -- the campus of Cornell Tech and FDR Four Freedoms Park -- these captivating ruins, enrobed in beautiful ivy, tell the story of a dark period in New York City history.

The island between Manhattan and Queens was once known as Blackwell's Island, a former pastoral escape that transformed into the ominous 'city of asylums', the destination for the poor, the elderly and the criminal during the 19th century.

During this period, the island embodied every outdated idea about human physical and mental health, and vast political corruption ensured that the inmates and patients of the island would suffer.

In 1856 the island added a Smallpox Hospital to its notorious roster, designed by acclaimed architect James Renwick Jr (of St. Patrick's Cathedral fame) in a Gothic Revival style that captivates visitors to this day -- even if the building is in an advanced state of dilapidation.

What makes the Renwick Ruin so entrancing? How did this marvelous bit of architecture manage to survive in any form into present day?

PLUS: The grand story of the island -- from a hideous execution in 1829 to the modern delights of one of New York City's most interesting neighborhoods.

Visit the website

After you've listened to this show, check out these Bowery Boys podcasts with similar themes:

-- North Brother Island: New York's Forbidden Place
-- Nellie Bly: Undercover in the Madhouse

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