Contemplating and Commemorating Rapid Transit in New York City
Happy Birthday, NYC Subway! The subway system opened on October 27, 1904. Go back to the beginnings to learn how the underground railway came to be.
Landmarks
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The New Colossus
How the poem that gave us the iconic verse, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” made the Statue of Liberty a symbol of immigration and refuge.
Ringing in the New Year with the Second Avenue Subway
This past Saturday night, New Year’s Eve, the Museum was honored to serve as part of the host committee of the inaugural Second Avenue Subway ride. Read on to explore the history of past subway expansions.
Restaurants of Yore
It’s harder and harder for an independent restaurant to survive in New York City. Here we look back at restaurants that enjoyed a successful run in our city.
Basement Bathhouse, Rooftop Farm, Symphonies and Scandals in Between
What do Stravinsky, the Black Sox, Bette Midler, and a swinger’s club have in common? At one point they were all inside New York City’s Ansonia Hotel.
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
In this guest post, Lisa Keller explores how a 1911 tragedy galvanized support for labor reform and worker's rights in New York City.
Alexander Hamilton’s “Sweet Project”
Towards the end of his career, Alexander Hamilton wrote to his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, about a “sweet project” he was planning, with which she would be pleased.
Augustus Hepp’s Central Park in Blue
In the 1870s Augustus Hepp was commissioned to photograph the newly built Central Park. The Museum retains a collection of 40 large format cyanotypes he made.
From Expressway to Contemplative Oasis: The Elevated West Side Highway
When racing in a cab down West Street trying to make it in time for a meeting, how many people think back just a few decades when an elevated expressway ran down the western edge of the city from the Henry Hudson Expressway to Battery Park?
Hot Dog!
Franks, weenies, coneys, dogs, ketchup, kraut, chili; the contested history of the classic American finger food.