ANGELA DRIVE, Gravesend

Forgotten New York -

There’s a short street in Gravesend, between East 4th Street and Ocean Parkway north of Avenue X, that illustrates how the city’s method of bestowing honorific street names has changed over the years. Angela Drive honors Angela Ambrosia, an area resident who died of leukemia at age 27. During her illness she worked with fellow […]

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STEPPING STONES LIGHTHOUSE

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Technically in Nassau County, this Victorian-era lighthouse is visible from the south end of City Island Avenue (officially known as Belden Point), especially from the seagull-frequented deck of Johnny’s Reef Restaurant. Stepping Stones was first constructed in 1877. wikipedia: The reef upon which it sits was given its name by Siwanoy (Minnefords) Native American legends. According to […]

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CITY WALLS 1970s

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A little something special in Forgotten New York this week. I obtained permission from my friend Susan Fensten to publish her set of images taken of the NYC City Walls Project, a not-for-profit organization established in 1967 by muralist Jason Crum and other artists to brighten up otherwise drab NYC locations with bright, lively artworks. The late […]

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FORGOTTENTOUR #110: CITY ISLAND

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See the wonders of what is essentially a fishing village in the Bronx complete with vintage architecture, interesting stores, waterside views, the City Island Nautical Museum, NYC’s only waterside cemetery, and at tour’s end, lunch at one of City Island’s seafood restaurants. Meet 12 noon on the sidewalk at the end of the #6 train at […]

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HARSIMUS COVE EMBANKMENT, Jersey City

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While staggering around central Jersey City in the ungodly 85-degree heat one recent summer, I stumbled upon a high brick wall paralleling 6th Street that runs for exactly six blocks between Brunswick Street on the west and Marin Boulevard on the east (pictured is its intersection with Monmouth). Trees and overgrowth have taken over the […]

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LOVECRAFT, East Village

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The name of this bar/restaurant on Avenue B sounds like a Sinatra title, or perhaps Barry White. However the name actually honors a singular horror writer, Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) based in Providence, RI except for two years in Brooklyn, a place he despised. Brooklyn Heights’ leafy lanes have been a mecca for the lions […]

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UNDERUTILIZED INFRASTRUCTURE, Richmond Hill

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Now, that’s a mouthful. Both Richmond Hill, Queens — and NYC transit as a whole — are missing out on what should be a major transit system interchange here at Jamaica Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard, where the elevated J train meets the elevated Long Island Rail Road Montauk branch, which lost its passenger trains a […]

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MASPETH TO WOODHAVEN, Part 3

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Continued from Part 2 Every couple of weeks I grab the camera and walk for a few miles; I wish it was more than that, but I’d have to be underemployed again. In late May, I decided to go from Maspeth to Woodhaven, which is a distance between 7 and 8 miles. Maspeth by now is […]

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ELECTRIC CARS, Hell’s Kitchen

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I’ve been fooled before, especially by photo shoots for TV series like The Knick, set in a Brooklyn hospital in 1905. I suspect this may be a recreation and I’ll get to that in a minute. If it’s real, it’s one of the oldest ads I’ve ever seen uncovered by a demolition. It’s on the […]

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BANGERT’S FLORISTS, Richmond Hill

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There’s just a bit of bad news in Richmond Hill, where two panels of the historic Bangert’s Florists sign have been removed — so I noticed during a Richmond Hill ForgottenTour back in May. Just one of the blue panels is still there; the magnificent FTD logo with the rendering of the messenger god Mercury […]

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TALE OF TWO BRIDGES

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As it turns out two of New York City’s most iconic bridges — both of which link three boroughs — are celebrating key anniversaries this year. The Hell Gate Bridge, which crosses its namesake strait between Queens and Randall’s Island, turns 100, while the Triboro (Robert F. Kennedy) Bridge is a wee spry lad of […]

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FIRE ALARM LAMP BRACKET, Flushing

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For some reason, fire alarms, and the lamps that indicate their presence, still have a number of samples that have remained unchanged for over a century in NYC. Some fire alarms still operational in the city (the ones that have decorative torches at the apex that look like ice cream cones) have been in place […]

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MASPETH TO WOODHAVEN, Part 2

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Continued from Part 1 Every couple of weeks I grab the camera and walk for a few miles; I wish it was more than that, but I’d have to be underemployed again. In late May, I decided to go from Maspeth to Woodhaven, which is a distance between 7 and 8 miles. Maspeth by now is […]

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HIKE NEW YORK SIGNS, Long Island City

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These handsome red, white and blue signs, designed by artist Richard Deon, working with the cooperation of NYC’s Public Art Fund, first appeared in Astoria / Long Island City and Sunnyside in the early 1990s along a seven-mile route. the signs are approximately two er, feet in diameter and are accompanied by smaller signs pointing to local highlights. […]

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FORGOTTENTOUR #109, Steinway Village

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Visit the small town created in large part by William Steinway for employees at the nearby Steinway Piano Works, still going strong in Astoria after over a century. We will see residences, churches and businesses associated with the factory, as well as Steinway Mansion, which is getting more and more difficult to get a glimpse of […]

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HERMAN RIDDER JUNIOR HIGH, Crotona Park

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This is a junior high school? Intermediate School 98, Herman Ridder Junior High, 1619 Boston Road at East 173rd Street, is a massive stone fortress for learning built from 1929 to 1931 by architect Walter C. Martin in the then-new Art Deco style, which he melded into the Beaux Arts stylings of the previous decades. […]

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MASPETH TO WOODHAVEN: A Forgotten NY walk, Part 1

Forgotten New York -

Every couple of weeks I grab the camera and walk for a few miles; I wish it was more than that, but I’d have to be underemployed again. In late May, I decided to go from Maspeth to Woodhaven, which is a distance between 7 and 8 miles. Maspeth by now is well-trodden territory for me […]

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AMERSFORT PLACE, Flatbush

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Perfectly cantilevered buildings mark the intersection of Amersfort Place and Campus Road in the shadow of Brooklyn College. After discussing Hillel Place yesterday, I have another bit of business to take care of today at another nearby obscure named street, Amersfort Place.   This modern Google map shows Amersfort Place, which oddly angles its way […]

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HILLEL PLACE, Flatbush

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Hillel Place runs for a block between Campus Road and Flatbush Avenue in the Brooklyn College area, in the heart of Brooklyn known by local denizens as “the Junction” where Flatbush, Nostrand and Avenue H meet. It’s also the southernmost penetration of the IRT subway, as its Flatbush Avenue station terminates the #2 and #5 […]

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