New York City boasts the broadest palate of people from all over the world. This city energizes you, capturing your mind and heart. Experience the whole world in one place. Nowhere else is that possible.

Immerse yourself, dare to dig deep, and deeper,

go off the beaten path, see how New Yorkers

live, how we really are and you and your trip

or your live, if you life here will be all the

better for it. Take it from someone who knows!

Cliff Strome

"New York is a great secret, not only

  to those who have never seen it, but

 to the majority of its own citizens."

 James D. McCabe Jr., 1868

To

Aline

Introduction

"The Big Apple," "Gotham," "The Magical City," "The City that Never Sleeps," a city so great they "named it twice," New York, New York! Whatever you call New York City, or legally The City of New York, is inadequate to describe the world's greatest metropolis.

New York City's history is truly unique. The millions of immigrants seeking refuge from tyranny, poverty, starvation, religious oppression, and lack of opportunity have come to carve out a new life, a better place for themselves and their families and for generations to come. There are those too who came for a best life, seeing opportunity, not running away from a hard or harsh existence but rather the notion that they would excel and be able to cash in or maximize their potential.

They have all sown the seeds of a city that is more diverse than any other. There is no image of the face of the average New Yorker. It simply cannot be for we are the world! New Yorkers have created the world's best evidence that harmony and the human spirit are alive and well. Truly it is THE melting pot.

Moreover, there is no other place on earth where more is accomplished, be it the arts, theatre, endless fields of research, finance, music, medicine, literature, weirdness, liberalism, philanthropy, innovation or harmony just plain selling or getting the job done.

 We also take care of each other in innumerable ways, in many cases more than ourselves. New York City is truly America's heartland, a place with 171 languages, cultures from every continent, hundreds of neighborhoods, virtually every religious and secular belief and idea melded into a kaleidoscope of kindness, achievement, love, charity, innovation and creativity. We all know that there are exceptions, but that happens everywhere as well.

New York City's rich history is the story of growth, success and the struggle to move forward and upward. New Yorker's have always tended to look ahead and not back. This in recent times is peppered with a dose of nostalgia as New Yorkers have learned to yearn for the past more than before. Could it be that with years those forces take hold for lifelong New Yorkers, I suppose so, I certainly do.

No other place is as nonjudgmental, liberal, accepting and embracing as New York City. Its citizen's exhibit, with profuse evidence, their love and concern for each other I see it all the time. It used to be that we were gruff, impatient, rude and angry. What New Yorkers do and accomplish every day is confirmation of the city's greatness, each person, one at a time.

These 1001 amusing, interesting and entertaining factoids and trivia merely scratch the surface, providing a glimpse of New York City's history, its players, characters, uniqueness, unusualness, imagination and grandeur.

Enjoy biting into "The Big Apple."! To those who yearn to partake and experience the city's pulse, we take pride in welcoming you as a visitor or as a new fellow New Yorker.

As Sir Winston Churchill said in most grateful acknowledgement to the Royal Air Force; "Never before in the course of human history have so many owed so much to so few"; I enthusiastically take poetic license by saying, "Never before has one city produced, created and given so much to the world."

Cliff Strome

cliff@customandprivate.com

www.customandprivate.com

The 1001 questions are arranged randomly. It is intended to encourage you, the reader, to learn and enjoy all of them. Essentially, this book is a virtual tour of the city, providing a "blanket" of information to obtain a greater understanding and "feel" for what this city is about from a historical and contemporary perspective.

Simply sit back and read from cover to cover or, with one or more friends, select a "reader." Each participant randomly chooses a number from 1 to 1001. Taking turns, the reader reads the question corresponding to the number chosen by the participant and records the tally of correct answers. The "players" determine in advance the total number of correct answers that are needed to win.

Have fun, learn and enjoy!!

Compiling 1001 questions was not as daunting as I had thought it would be. Once I decided to pursue this delightful assignment, in July of 2007, within several weeks I had exceeded my goal and had entered approximately 1,500 plus! Who knows? Perhaps another 1001 will be published down the road.

These questions were amassed primarily from my self-touring the city, noting sights of interest, curiously noting oddities: what was this or that, who created this place, what was the oldest, first and largest, why is this here, when and why was it built, for what purpose, what were the forces that drove people to live where they do, how did neighborhoods emerge, change or die, fascinating statistics, etc., etc.

Reading the two free New York morning papers, Metro and AM New York, thumbing through The New York Times, Post, Daily News, Sun, New Yorker, New York Magazine, Time Out, Crain's, The Village Voice, looking at Wikipedia and museum pamphlets, talking with others, having discussions with fellow sightseeing guides and other New Yorkers, Googling, reading a wide variety of books on various New York City subjects including history, novels, books about the famous, infamous, etc. etc. Essentially I became a sponge soaking up the city, finding the most entertaining and amusing information, eliminating questions that needed replacement with more interesting and amusing items, all contributing to what is found between the covers of this book.

This is not a scholarly endeavor. There certainly are differences of opinion, some "facts" may be debatable, and certain answers are open to interpretation. Simply put, this is a lifelong New Yorker's best effort, an endeavor bursting with devotion and energy to provide an entertaining and amusing source of highly readable and delightful information.

It is interesting to note that, through my experiences, I believe that New Yorkers, in general, do not know much about their city. Sure we know what train will get us to work. We know how much a small coffee costs from a street vendor and where the nearest dry cleaner is from our homes. But New Yorkers in general are just too busy living their lives, paying their bills and raising families--busy with the business of living. Few rarely embrace the city as a historical and ever changing place but most choose rather to live life in the moment and share their beliefs, hopes, gripes and ideas about New York City with just about anyone. New Yorkers have opinions and are quick to express them, but generally they have little or no idea what the City Council does, or which subway line doesn't enter Manhattan, or which tunnel is the only tunnel in the world with three vehicular tubes, nor have they ever been to Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island.

Therefore, this book is specifically intended for New Yorkers, not only for those who are fascinated by New York City afar! I won't guarantee that every question will be of interest but I am confident that this will be the best virtual tour of "Gotham" you'll ever take!

Your comments, suggestions and criticism is welcome and appreciated!

Yours very "tourly,"

Cliff Strome

New York City

November 2008

The Anwers can be found after
the last (150th) question! Have fun!

1. Why are the paths (except Literary Walk, also known as “The Mall”) in Central Park curved?
2. Why is The Bronx the only borough preceded with the article “The”?
3. What is the origin of the word “Yankee”?
4. What are the two principle reasons why brownstones have steps?
5. Why is Houston Street pronounced “How-ston,” unlike the Texas city, Houston (Hue-ston)?
6. What is NYC’s largest neighborhood?
7.  “The People’s Harvard” is an affectionate reference for what college in Manhattan?
8. How did the name “Brooklyn” originate?
9. How did the “Dakota” allegedly get its name?
10. Where are the following neighborhoods located and what do their names mean:  Tribeca, DUMBO, Nolita, Bococa, Noho, Soho, Willyburg, ViVa, Noha, Floma, Soca and FiDi?
11. Why is New York City referred to as “The Big Apple”?
12. Who are New York City’s Finest, Bravest, Strongest and Smartest?
13. What was the tallest structure in New York City when the Brooklyn Bridge was completed on May 24, 1883?
14. The “Tenderloin District” in the upper west 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s was so named for what reason?
15. What was the most populated place on earth in 1905?
16. How did “The Battery” get its name?
17. What are New York City’s two free public boat rides?
18. What is the origin of the expression “23 skidoo”?
19. What is held in the left hand of the Statue of Liberty?
20. What 843 acre land parcel cost the city $7.2 million. In what year was it purchased?
21. Where is the world’s largest Gothic Cathedral, when is it due to be completed and what is its name?
22. What borough is not an island or part of an island?
23. What is the only park in Manhattan that requires a key to enter? How is one obtained?
24. What is up to 644 feet long and costs $2 or less to ride?
25. What is “Hell’s Gate”?
26. For who is Irving Place named?
27. Which building has been voted New Yorkers’ favorite?
28. What was New York City’s only former world’s tallest building that was paid for entirely in cash, no mortgage?
29. What New York City Island has been enlarged by approximately 85% with subway landfill?
30. Who is buried in Grant’s tomb? (seriously)
31. Is Coney Island an island?
32. What is New York City’s most populous borough?
33. What is Bloomingdale Road now known as?
34. What was Times Square named prior to 1904 and how did it get its present name?
35. Why is Wall Street named Wall Street?
36. What is New York’s oldest park?
37. Where was “Steamship Row”?
38. Who was the richest person in New York City, and the United States, in 1877?
39. Where was the first baseball game played? 
40. What is the oldest bridge connected to Manhattan?    
41. Who is the Holland Tunnel named for?
42. Which New York City neighborhood contains the most brownstones?
43. What institution owns the most property, in land area, in Manhattan?
44. What is the highest price paid for a home in Manhattan?
45. What does “The Bowery” mean? 
46. Name the location where the same type of business has been in operation longer than any other in Manhattan.
47. What are the names of the two ice skating rinks in Central Park?
48. Who planned Manhattan’s first true east-west street and what is the name of that street?
49. Where was the most valuable piece of property in Manhattan in 1930 and what building has been erected there? 
50. What art deco 67 story building had 2 cabs in many of its elevator shafts, one on top of the other, and why?
51. Where was “The Five Points” located and why is it so infamous?
52. What Square has eleven streets feeding in and out of it, an urban planner’s nightmare?
53. Who is “Pale Male”?
54. Where is the world’s most expensive painting? What was the price for it, who purchased it, and who is the artist?
55. What building was the tallest in the world for only 5 months, and what building defeated its height?
56. What was meant by the IRT?
57. The Grand Hyatt Hotel was formerly what hotel?
58. Where are Hercules, Minerva and Mercury found together?
59. What is the Highline and what is happening to it?
60. What is the smallest piece of property in Manhattan?
61. What was the famous “Round Table”?
62. What existed on 42nd to 40th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue prior to the construction of the 42nd Street library and Bryant Park?
63. What took only one year and 45 days to build and had been scheduled for 18 months to complete? 
64. Who was the prior owner of most of the property that Rockefeller Center was built upon?
65. What is “Striver’s Row”?
66. What bridge’s diagonal steel cables serve no structural purpose, only ornamental?
67. What is the Grid Law of 1811 and what was its significance?
68. Where did Abraham Lincoln make a major speech that virtually launched his first Presidential campaign?
69. Who was New York’s favorite actress in the 1870’s?
70. What was Mayor William Tweed’s claim to fame or, more accurately, infamy?
71. How did Madison Square Garden get its name?
72. Where did Dylan Thomas drink himself to death and where did he die?
73. Where does Bono live?
74. Spark’s Steakhouse and Umberto’s Clam house have what in common besides great food?
75. Which theatre is Broadway’s smallest and longest continuously operating theater?
76. JFK Jr. lived in what Manhattan neighborhood?
77. Where did Richard M. Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller live while they were vying for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1968?
78. What is New York City’s longest subway line?
79. What is the origin of the expression “86,” as in cancel or get rid of?
80. What was the worst maritime tragedy in New York City’s history?
81. What Street is known as “The Gold Coast”?
82. What New York City newspaper is known for its pithy humorous headlines?
83. What popular mayor was known as “The Little Flower” and why?
84. Where is the U.S. Tennis Tournament held?
85. Joe Pepitone’s (former New York Yankee) great-great-grandfather had what unenviable task?
86. When the former Yankee Stadium was renovated in 1973, its seating capacity was reduced by 7,000. What was the principle reason?
87. What are the two reasons why LaGuardia Airport is referred to as “The U.S.S. LaGuardia” by numerous commercial pilots?
88. The Triborough Bridge (renamed the Robert F. Kennedy) connects what three boroughs and islands?
89. What is “The BQE” and how is it unique in Brooklyn Heights, and why?
90. What is the oldest manmade object in Central Park?
91. What were subway “token suckers”?
92. What was the largest private residential room in New York City in the 1920’s?
93. Nine West 57th Street and The W. R. Grace Building are both similar and unique in what way?
94. What does the black and gold ornamentation on the exterior of the American Radiator Building symbolize?
95. What is the world’s largest parade?
96. What are “air rights”?
97. 130 West 56th Street (6th floor) was the location of weekly meetings for writers of what classic television comedy show in the 1950’s, and who were some of the notable participants?
98. Where was George Washington’s headquarters following the Battle of Brooklyn?
99. How did Orchard Street get its name?
100. What was the most famous boxing match to ever take place in, the former, Yankee Stadium? 
101. What is the oldest living thing in New York City?
102. What actions has the city taken to improve bicycle safety?
103. What was JFK Airport’s prior name?
104. Where is “The Trump Building” and what did “The Donald” pay for it, not including renovations?
105. What Manhattan avenue was designed to be our “Champs Elysees”?
106. How much electricity does the subway system consume annually?
107. What fountain smuggled out of Germany and now located in Central Park had been located directly across the street from Hitler’s Chancellery office?
108. Who was controversially referred to as “New York City’s greatest builder and destroyer”?
109. When did a New York fire occur that was so huge that it was visible from Philadelphia after nightfall?
110. Upon its completion the Pan Am building had what impressive global distinction?
111. What was the site of the first informal Continental Congress?  
112. What was Leona Helmsley fed, on occasion, after completing each lap of the pool at the Park Lane Hotel by a chambermaid stationed at the pool’s edge?
113. What four art deco buildings located on Central Park West have twin towers?
114. What New York City mayor had the name of his girlfriend’s street changed in an attempt to “distance” himself from her in both the public’s and his wife’s eye, because his residence was located on the same street?
115. What is the derivation of the name Red Hook, a neighborhood in Brooklyn?
116. What Manhattan Square is also referred to as “Bowtie” Greeley?
117. Where was the infamous “dead man’s curve”?
118. What was the name of the most celebrated early 20th century New York City architect whose scandalous murder depressed the value of properties that he had designed?
119. What is the origin of the word “hick,” a word synonymous with “country bumpkin”?
120. Where is “Spyden Dyvel” and what does that mean?
121. What was the name of Manhattan’s last horse stable that had provided horses for Central Park equestrians?
122. Who was New York City’s only African-American mayor who had the distinction of being the only African-American mayor of a major American city who lost his bid for reelection to a second term?
123. Which mayor read “The Funny Papers” on the radio during a newspaper strike?
124. What horrendous crime did Robert Chambers commit in 1986?
125. Where is the largest soundstage outside of L.A.?
126. What is the meaning of the mafia expression “a meet”?
127. Who was Emmett St. Julian?
128. What is the shocking and despicable tragedy of Kitty Genovese?
129. Which midtown avenue is also known as the Avenue of the Americas? Why, and who granted it that alternative name?
130. Westchester County borders what borough?
131. Who is Calvin O. Butts III?
132. Where is “The Cotton Club” and what two misconceptions are widely held by New Yorkers about that club?
133. What is the “schmata” business?
134. Where is the shrinking Flower District?
135. What work of “art” did Mayor Giuliani attempt to ban from being displayed at the Brooklyn Art Museum, causing public outrage?
136. What is New York’s largest zoo and where is it located?
137. Where is New York City’s most beautiful and historic cemetery? What is its name and who designed it?
138. Where is New York’s largest Ukrainian neighborhood?
139. Chelsea Market was originally the headquarters of what major U.S. food brand?
140. What does “Russ & Daughters” sell?
141. What deli’s logo is “Not all New York City skyscrapers are made of glass & steel”?
142. What is “The Doe Fund”?
143. Who is Donna Hanover?
144. Where can you buy “Black Jack,” “Clove,” and “Beeman’s” chewing gum?
145. Who were the owners of the disco “Studio 54”?
146. What civil engineer designed a bridge that was intended to “kill” the ferry, but ironically the ferry killed him first?
147. Unlimited daily, weekly or monthly MetroCards can be used only after what time interval, at the same station or bus location transfer point?
148. What mayor was scorned and berated for inadequate and slow snow removal in Queens after a major snowstorm?
149. What two New York City highways were renamed to memorialize legendary baseball players?
150. Approximately how many parking meters are in New York City and how much money does the city collect from them?
151. What is E-Z pass?
152. When and where was Brooklyn’s largest fire?
153. Where is Clinton Castle (Garden) and what island replaced its use in 1895?
154. What did New York City pay for Governor’s Island?
155. Why are there yellow cabs and black car services? What caused the need for both and who mandated it?
156. What building adjacent to Ground Zero is being torn down?
157. What church is known as “The Little Cathedral That Stood”?
158. Where was Nathan Hale hanged by the British and what did he say?
159. Who was Asher Levy?
160. What are “flop houses”?
161. How many people lived, on average, in 19th century six-floor tenement houses?
162. How long did the average physical exam on Ellis Island take?
163. What percentage of immigrants were rejected at Ellis Island and for what principal reasons?
164. What is a Bishop’s Crook?
165. What is Doyle Street in Manhattan known for and where is it?
166. Why was City Hall’s north side the only side clad in brownstone, and ultimately clad with limestone?
167. What is the TLC?
168. What is the current market value of a Taxi medallion?
169. What is the subway’s deepest station?
170. Who was New York City’s police commissioner in 1897?
171. When was the first U.S. census that tabulated New York City’s population exceeding one million residents?
172. What is Manhattan Schist?
173. What event caused the riots in 1974?
174. When did Brooklyn’s population exceed Manhattan’s for the first time?
175. How many immigrants passed through Ellis Island in 1907, the record setting year?
176. How much money has been invested for the restoration of Central Park since 1990?
177. Who is the reservoir in Central Park named for?
178. Who sold his beaver pelt business and invested the proceeds in New York City (Manhattan) real estate, making a huge fortune in the process?
179. What had existed on the property where Bergdorf Goodman is located before it was built?
180. What is the reason why the north and south sides of the United Nations Secretariat Building are made entirely of granite, without windows (according to legend)?
181. What building has New York’s fastest elevators, 70 of them?
182. What were the reasons why cast iron building construction fell into disuse?
183. What was “New York City’s first suburb” and landmark neighborhood?
184. What building demolition, outraging many New York citizens, resulted in the creation of the Landmark Preservation Commission?
185. At what times of day are dogs permitted without leashes in Central Park?
186. What is the senior citizen discount for MetroCards?
187. Who were the founders of Macy’s?
188. Who “foot the bill” for Riverside Church?
189. Where is the “Little Red Lighthouse”?
190. What institution still has the right to claim beached whales and shipwrecks in the Hudson River?
191. Where is the “slurry wall” and what is its purpose?
192. How tall will the “Freedom Tower” (renamed WTC 1 in March 2009) be and where is it being built?
193. What is the telephone number 311 used for?
194. What do you need if you dial 212-333-3333, 212-666-6666 or 212-777-7777?
195. What was demolished in order to build the Time Warner Center at 10 Columbus Circle?
196. What large public space is adorned with a ceiling of constellations whose artist painted them as if viewed from outside our solar system?
197. Who donated $5 million to build 65 New York City branch libraries?
198. How many lives were lost in early 1984 due to a fire set by a jealous lover, and where was that fire?
199. Who was Alexander Tunney Stewart (1803-1876) and what was his incredible accomplishment?
200. When did the first African American police officer serve in New York City?

1. To provide a bucolic and natural experience, reduce eye contact among the “classes,” create an escape from the urban street grid (perpendicular and parallel) and from the stresses of city life.
2. In the late 17th century approximately 500 acres in The Bronx were owned by Jonas Bronck, a Swede. People who went to visit him and his family told others that they were going to visit “The Broncks.” The other theory is that the borough followed the name of The Bronx River. Rivers are named with the article “The.”
3. According to legend, in old New York, the British called the Dutch “cheese heads” and their retort was “Yankees” which was Old Dutch for “cheese heads”.
4. In the late 19th century, walking caused mud and horse “evidence” to cling to shoes, and the steps were very beneficial for cleaning heels and soles. The other reason was that the steps provided an entryway beneath, to the lower level, enabling windows to exist on the lower level and serve as servant’s quarters. Nowadays those lower levels are generally income producing apartments.
5. The street was named for William Houston in 1808, the owner of much of the property there, who pronounced his name “How-ston.” He preceded Sam Houston of Texas.
6. Harlem, named after a Dutch town, Haarlem.
7. “CCNY”, City College of New York.  A list of its graduates reads like a “Who’s Who” and includes 10 Nobel Laureates. Among its most famous alumni are: Bernard Baruch, Felix Frankfurter, Ed Koch, Stanley Kubrick, Ira Gershwin, Jackie Mason, Eli Wallach, Upton Sinclair, Jonas Salk, Ralph Lauren and numerous other notables.
8. The name was derived from the Old Dutch word for broken land, Breuklen which was also a Dutch town.
9. It was the first major building in the area and New York City’s first apartment building, located on the northwest corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West. It was a desolate and empty place littered with shanties, sheep, pigs, goats and chicken farms. The legend is that someone told Edward Clark, the developer, “you might as well have built it in the Dakotas!” This first appeared in print in 1934 therefore it’s conjecture. The other legend is that he liked the names of the new western states.
10. Tribeca: Triangle below Canal; DUMBO: Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, on the Brooklyn side;  Nolita: North of Little Italy; Bococa: Boreum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carol Gardens (all connected Brooklyn neighborhoods);  Noho: North of Houston; Soho: South of Houston; Willyburg: Williamsburg; ViVa: where a deep valley necessitates a West Side Highway, Riverside Drive and subway viaduct, hence Viva, North Harlem, Flower Market (6th Avenue from 26th -31st Street),  South of Canada (Inwood) in Northern Manhattan; SoHa: South Harlem and The Financial District.
11.  A Harlem jazz club, “The Big Apple,” was very popular in the 1920’s and 30’s. Musicians used to say that they were going back to “The Big Apple” for a “gig.” Others say the term originated during the Depression when suited, unemployed men from the suburbs came to the city to sell apples.
12.  The police, fire fighters, sanitation workers, and teachers who all work for the City.
13.  The Trinity Church, located at the foot of Wall Street on Broadway, is 283 feet high. At the time the Brooklyn Bridge was the tallest edifice on the continent.
14.  It had been a rough and tumble neighborhood, a place of bawdy, violent behavior and rampant crime. People who had participated in fights and rumbles, therefore, had tender loins. Ouch!
15. The Lower East Side, “LES”! Immigrants were crammed into 270 square foot tenement apartments. One block had over 2,400 residents living in six-story tenements. And you thought that your Manhattan apartment is small!
16.  Rows of canons are known as “batteries.” Castle Clinton, located in the park, was originally a fort.
17. The Staten Island Ferry; 9 ships, costing $40 million each, provide the 25 minute ride between Manhattan and Staten Island 24 hours a day, carrying 65,000 passengers on weekdays. There is a free ferry to Governor’s Island as well.
18. In the early 20th century, wind drafts, exacerbated by the shape of the Flatiron Building caused ladies dresses and petticoats to rise up. Men, sitting on park benches in Madison Square Park, sought peeks and were chased by policemen who shouted “23 skidoo” (“Get outa here!”) The Flatiron Building is located on 23rd Street.
19. A tablet, inscribed July 4, 1776 with the years written in Roman numerals, the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
20. “The” Central Park cost the same price at nearly the same time the United States purchased Alaska! The Park property was purchased in 1857.
21. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is located on Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street and is due to be completed in approximately 25 to 30 years. A Cathedral is a church that has a cathedra, a bishop’s chair. Most of the remaining work is to line the interior granite walls with limestone a more decorative stone, “wallpaper”, if you will. The granite, more durable and dense, supports the Cathedral, the limestone is purely decorative.
22. The Bronx, the only borough that is part of the contiguous United States. Brooklyn and Queens are located on the western portion of Long Island.  Manhattan and Staten Island are, of course, islands.
23. Gramercy Park requires a key to gain entry. It is given to property owners, tenants or hotel guests whose property abuts the park.
24. A New York subway train. The length of trains varies depending on the length of each car, as various manufacturers provide cars of different sizes. Notice that some cars have three sets of doors on each side and others have four. Normally each train consists of ten cars. The S or Shuttle has only three; some others have less than ten.
25. The confluence of the East River with Long Island Sound causes treacherous currents, often difficult to navigate. The Harlem River continues north and flows into the Hudson River. The East River and The Harlem River are actually not rivers; they’re tidal straits, bodies of water with no source of salt-free water serving as an extension of ocean waters.
26. Washington Irving, the early 19th century author of Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and The Knickerbockers among others. Recall; the guy who fell asleep for twenty years! After he woke up he may have said, “Five more minutes, please!”
27. The Chrysler Building, the art deco masterpiece located on the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Fifty years prior to its construction the property was Mrs. White’s sheep farm with a property value of two cents per square foot!
28. The Woolworth Building was paid for with “nickels and dimes” by Frank Winfield Woolworth.
29. Ellis Island was originally 5.3 acres and was enlarged to 32 acres. The landfill portion is actually part of Jersey City, New Jersey!
30. Neither, U.S. Grant orhis wife Julia Dent Grant because no one is buried in a mausoleum. It’s above ground!
31. It’s not an island any more, it’s a peninsula, a part of Brooklyn, connected by landfill.
32. Brooklyn, with a population of over 2,500,000. According to the 2000 census its population was 2,465,326, approximately one million more than Manhattan.
33. Broadway.
34. Longacre Square, named after Long Acre Square in London, was a place where horses were stabled. Times Square was named for The New York Times in 1904 when the subway station at that location received its designated name, due to the influence of the newspaper, of course. Its competitor, The New York Herald, has its square on 34th Street, Herald Square, and August Belmont, the owner of the subway and Adolf S. Ochs, of The New York Times, has a terrific relationship.
35. The Dutch, mandated by Governor Peter Stuyvesant, built a wall there from river to river to protect the Dutch village from Indians and wild beasts. The Brits tore it down. Leave it to the Brits, such confidence!!
36. Bowling Green, located at the southern tip of Broadway where the Dutch bowled on the grass.
37. At the southern part of Broadway. The Cunard Building is located at 25 Broadway, one of many places where tickets were purchased for passage by ship.
38. “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, whose net worth at that time was estimated to be $100 million. That’s not bad for a person who never learned how to read! His lawyers knew how to read, though.  He had the ideas, drive, goals and power to accomplish his mission: to control all railroad tracks entering Manhattan.
39. Between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue, from 25th to 26th Street. The property became the site of the second Madison Square Garden. Currently it is the headquarters of New York Life.
40. High Bridge connects The Bronx and Manhattan at 170th Street over the Harlem River. It served as part of the Croton aqueduct system carrying water to Manhattan. Current plans exist to create a pedestrian walkway on the bridge.
41. Clifford Milburn Holland (1883-1924) was the tunnel’s chief engineer. Originally it had been named Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel, later the Canal Street Tunnel. Manhattan’s first vehicular tunnel was completed in 1927, it was an engineering marvel partly because it is the first underwater tunnel to have mechanical ventilating systems clearing the air of vehicular exhaust.
42. Bedford Stuyvesant, “Bed-Sty,” located in Brooklyn is currently undergoing a renaissance and gentrification.
43. Columbia University. Enormous expansion will extend the campus north and west upon the approval of an eminent domain mandated by the City Council in 2008.
44. David Martinez, a hedge-fund mogul, purchased two floors at the top of the south tower of the Time Warner Complex, located at Columbus Circle, for $54,762,982, and that was for the “raw” space. Interior architecture and design added millions to the total cost.  The condo includes a two-story living room with a reflecting pool, a center fountain and a 76th floor wraparound terrace. Life is good eh David?
45. It means farm, derived from the Old Dutch word bouwerij, which is boederij in modern Dutch. Try pronouncing that!
46. Bridge Café, located at 16 ½ Dover Street just south of the Manhattan side ramp of the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s a small corner red wood frame structure erected in 1794 and reportedly Mayor Ed Koch’s favorite restaurant! No, Ed was not there on opening night!
47. The Lasker Rink is located at the northern end and the Wollman Rink is at the southern end of the park.
48. Stuyvesant Street is located northeast of Astor Square. A large compass is implanted on the ground on the western end of the street and is surrounded by an iron fence commemorating this unique New York City piece of history. Governor Stuyvesant (1647-1664) planned this east west street at the entrance to his farm. East west numbered streets in Manhattan are actually northwest and southeast. Probably about 1% of New Yorkers know that! Did you?
49. In 1930, One Wall Street, on the southeast corner of Wall Street and Broadway, was the site of the new Irving Trust Building, currently the Bank of New York Building. This art deco limestone curtain is a beautifully proportioned masterpiece with a magnificent mosaic lobby.
50. The Citi Service Building, now the A.I.G. Building, is 952 feet tall and built on an 85 by 85 foot site. The Otis Elevator Company put forth an innovative idea. To provide two elevator cabs in many of the shafts, one for odd and the other for even numbered floors, with a two-tiered lobby providing access. This saved over 20,000 feet of rentable space, enabling the building’s height to be economically practical. Only red headed women were hired to operate those elevators! Where’s Lucy!?
51. At the south end of Mulberry Street intersecting Park, Worth and Baxter Streets, it was a notorious center of crime, slime and slums in the mid 19th century. Reportedly 85% of Manhattan’s crime occurred in that district at that time. Now, elderly Chinese men play chess there. Go there, you’ll feel safe, that is unless you’re a chess shark!
52. Chatham Square in Chinatown.
53. A red tailed hawk residing at 927 Fifth Avenue, the first hawk known to choose a building instead of a tree to make his nest. Born in 1992 he has fathered 26 chicks with four mates. His nest was removed by the co-op board, but the public fervor forced the board to replace it, costing the building over $100,000! He’s the first bird to own a Fifth Avenue co-op, not coop and he’s unmarried!
54. At Neue Galerie museum located at 1048 Fifth Avenue on the southeast corner of 86th Street. Ronald Lauder paid $137 million for Gustav Klimt’s Adele, which is on exhibit on the second floor. She’s waiting for you and she’s not a cheap date.
55. The Chrysler Building’s crown as the world’s tallest building, first building taller than the Eiffel Tower, was lost when the Empire State Building reached its 85th floor five months after The Chrysler Building achieved the crown.
56. IRT, Interborough Rapid Transit, whose first contract with the city was completed in 1904. It ran between City Hall and 42nd Street.
57. The Grand Hyatt Hotel was renovated and clad in glass in 1980. It was a complete modernization of the aging Commodore Hotel.
58. Atop Grand Central Terminal at the 42nd Street entrance, a 48-foot sculpture created by Jules-Felix Coutan (1914). Take a look, it’s spectacular.
59.  Built in the early 1930’s this 1.45 mile elevated freight railroad “L” ceased operations in 1980. A park and arcade, a $70 million project by the City and private development investors is under construction. The line runs from West 34th Street to Gansevoort Street in the meatpacking district.
60. On the sidewalk in front of Village Cigars at Seventh Avenue South and Christopher Street. It is a small triangular mosaic on the sidewalk and reads, “Property of the Hess Estate which has never been dedicated for public purposes.” It belonged to David Hess whose property, including a five-story residence on the site known as Voorhis’, was condemned for the construction of the IRT subway. He won this small victory and held onto this approximately one square foot piece of property. Ultimately it was sold to the owner of Village Cigars, an iconic retail establishment in the neighborhood directly in front of the mosaic triangle. “I never knew that, fascinating!”
61. It was a literary meeting place at the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th Street across the street from the former offices the New Yorker. The owner of the hotel provided celery, popovers, etc. to “lure” literary giants such as Dorothy Parker, George S. Kaufman, Edna Ferber, E. B. White, H. L. Mencken, Peggy Wood and others, adding prestige and publicity to his hotel. They met there regularly for years. How nice it would have been if their meetings had been taped.
62. A receiving reservoir for the Croton water system. It was a walled structure measuring 1,826 by 836 feet, holding 180 million gallons of water. Thirty-five million gallons flowed into it daily. The Crystal Palace was located there as well destroyed by a fire in about twenty minutes. So much for wood and exposed iron!
63. The Empire State Building, built by the Starrett Brothers and Ekan with military precision, new equipment, unparalleled organization and the new “fast track construction” method. Their efficiency saved the investors millions!
64. Columbia University, property originally given to it by The State of New York. Given, such a deal!
65. Three blocks of splendidly designed townhouses (1893) from 137th to 139th Streets between Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. “Striver’s Row” is an elite community of many of Harlem’s most notable and successful citizens. The townhouses were originally marketed for $3,000, cost $30,000 in 1970 and currently are “going for” $3,000,000!
66. Engineers have determined that the diagonal cables, though not needed, add a dimension of beauty to the Brooklyn Bridge.
67. Known as The Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, it mandated the leveling of hills, filling in valleys, and covering of streams, creating a city with blocks that are at right angles above 14th Street to 155th Street. Most of New York City was, at the time, vacant land. The short blocks were created to provide more corner properties, which have greater value, more light, better ventilation and visibility for residents and  retailers. This plan and the Erie Canal were the two most significant man made marvels that propelled New York City’s growth, thanks to DeWitt Clinton, former mayor and governor. The streets were named with numbers to provide ease of directions and better communication among the immigrant groups.
68. At Cooper Union College in 1859. Prior to entering the Presidential race, Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech that virtually catapulted him into the spotlight as a plausible Presidential candidate. How enthralled he would be if he only knew that a fellow Illinois Senator captured the Oval Office of African American descent.
69. Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876); not a beautiful looking woman in today’s Hollywood vogue. She had a “Boston Marriage,” a lesbian relationship with Emma Stebbins, the sculptress who created the Angel of the Waters Fountain at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park. The sculpture was inspired by Charlotte’s bout with breast cancer. Ms. Stebbins was paid $60,000 for the sculpture. Her brother was the park commissioner! Charlotte Cushman survived breast cancer, having a mastectomy, passing away from unrelated causes more than twenty years after her initial diagnosis.
70. William Magear “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878) was convicted and imprisoned for stealing millions of dollars from the city through political corruption. The most outrageous example was the $13 million price the city paid for the construction of the Tweed Courthouse, which actually cost $3 million. For example, a wall plasterer received approximately $140,000 for one day’s work! Tweed’s administration cost the city an estimated $300 million, in those days, a mind-boggling sum. He died in prison.
71. The second of the four Madison Square Gardens was located at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street adjacent to Madison Square Park.
72. On November 3, 1953 Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) returned to the Chelsea Hotel from the White Horse Tavern and proclaimed, “I’ve just had eighteen straight whiskies; I think this is a record.” On November 9th he collapsed at the White Horse Tavern and died at St. Vincent’s Hospital at the age of 37.
73. The San Remo, located at 145 Central Park West. He’s got three Steve’s as neighbors: Spielberg, Jobs and Martin. Dustin Hoffman, Paul Simon, Diane Keaton, Bruce Willis are also present residents. Groucho Marx, Marilyn Monroe and Richard Dreyfuss were among its long list of notable formers.
74. Joseph “Joey” Gallo, a.k.a. “Crazy Joe” and “Joey the Blond,” was shot five times on April 7, 1972 while celebrating his 43rd birthday at Umberto’s Clam House at 129 Mulberry Street. He stumbled into the street and died. Paul Castellano (1915-December 16, 1985) and his bodyguard were both shot to death outside of Spark’s Steak House on East 45th Street on the orders of John Gotti. He was lured to meet Gotti there to make amends. Gotti engineered the “hit” using four men dressed identically after nightfall to thwart their convictions.
75. The Lyceum Theatre (1903), Broadway’s oldest continuously operating theatre, seats 950 people and was designed with a magnificent Beaux Arts façade.
76. Tribeca Triangle below Canal Street) on North Moore Street.
77. They lived at 810 5th Avenue on the northeast corner of 62nd Street. This elegant thirteen-story Italian Renaissance palazzo building, built in 1926, was occupied by Nelson Rockefeller and his wife, “Happy” until their divorce. He was left with one of the three floors of their triplex and succeeded in purchasing an adjacent apartment at 812 Fifth Avenue and connected it to his 810 Fifth Avenue apartment. He did this to prevent his former wife and his new wife from coming into contact. Nixon relocated.
78. The A, Eighth Avenue Express train line, is 32 miles long. The New York subway system, the world’s longest, has over 800 miles of track and is the only subway system in the world that runs 24/7, had express tracks laid at time of initial construction, the only subway system in the world to do so, and a one-zone fare system.
79. Chumley’s Bar and Restaurant at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village is one of the only bar- restaurants in New York City without an outside sign, a speakeasy during the prohibition era, established in 1922 by Leland Chumley. This “watering hole” was a favorite of Hemingway, Mailer and Ginsberg to name a few of the many literary giants who had bent their elbows there. Advanced “tips” were called in to alert patrons that the police were coming to raid the establishment. The shout “86” cleared the place. I never knew that!
80. On June 15, 1904 the Steamship General Slocum had been chartered by St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church for a Sunday picnic up the East River to Eaton’s Neck, Long Island for ladies and their children. The ship caught fire, allegedly from a tossed cigarette, and of the 1,300 plus passengers, 1,021 perished. This tragedy, the city’s largest until September 11, 2001, virtually destroyed the Lower East Side German community, much of which moved uptown to Yorkville in the East 80’s.
81. Fifth Avenue, from 59th Street to 96th Street lined with ultra luxury co-op apartment buildings, mansions and museums. Currently, Columbus Circle, due to the Time Warner complex, Trump International Hotel & Towers and Zeckendorf’s magnificent 15 Central Park West limestone retro beauty, is referred to as the new Gold Coast.
82. The Daily News (1919), “New York’s Picture Newspaper.” The paper is notable for its amusing headlines such as “JUICE IN A CAN,” referring to O. J. Simpson’s arrest in Las Vegas in September 2007, “THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY” in 2007, referring to an MTA fare increase, and “BAD HAIR DAY” featuring a photo of Anthony Marshall, Brooke Astor’s son with messed up hair who was accused of mishandling her assets for self enrichment.
83. Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947), mayor from 1934-1945, was elected to three terms. “The Little Flower” is the translation of his first name in Italian and no doubt a reference to his short stature.
84. In Queens, at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. It was re-named USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006.
85. He evicted inhabitants to facilitate the construction of Central Park; based on eminent domain. Residents were either poor, free African Americans, or immigrants from Germany or Ireland. An estimated 1,000 to 1,600 people were evicted mostly from Seneca Village located in the west mid-eighties section of the Park. Perhaps it was the origin of the expression, “Get outa ‘ere, eh!”
86. The seats were made three inches wider to accommodate the increased weight of the fans and to provide additional press space. Today they might have made the seats 4 inches wider!
87. The airport opened in 1939 with 7,000-foot long runways. Only two commercial airports in the United States are shorter: Chicago’s Midway and Bob Hope Airport in Los Angeles. Additionally, a metal reinforcing frame exists to shore up the landfill around the perimeter and it causes magnetic interference with the compasses of outgoing aircraft. Signs on the runways warn pilots. Keep this in mind!
88. The Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan, as well as Ward’s and Randall’s Island. Opened in 1936, it carries an average of 200,000 vehicles daily, costs $5.00 each way. The cost of the bridge exceeded the cost to construct the Hoover Dam.
89. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway opened in 1954 and extends from south Brooklyn to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens. Robert Moses, the expressway’s planner, compromised by reducing the destruction of a portion of historic Brooklyn Heights by cantilevering the north and south lanes and building a promenade over the expressway to placate a hostile community.
90. The Obelisk (Cleopatra’s Needle) installed in 1881 was built in 461 B.C. It is located west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a gift from Egypt, costing $100,000 to move, most of it was funded by William A. Vanderbilt.  The second oldest object are the mosaics that were used to create the  “Imagine” centerpiece at Strawberry Fields.
91. Rogues who placed pieces of toothpicks or cardboard beneath token slots at subway turnstiles, deep enough to submerge the tokens and disable activation of the mechanism. After the frustrated commuter would pass through another turnstile, the villainous “perp” would press their lips against the slot and sucked out the token. Viola!
92. The Campbell Apartment. John W. Campbell’s private office and apartment, located in Grand Central Terminal at the southwest corner, is a replica of a 13th century Florentine palazio. The main salon, once New York City’s largest residential room, is presently an elegant bar featuring music and cocktails.
93. Designed by Gordon Bunshat, a concave vertical slope on the north and south facades comply with “set back” codes for tall buildings in a unique and aesthetic manner.
94. The black and gold brick symbolizes coal and fire. The building, designed by Raymond Hood, was built in 1940 and is located at 40 West 40th Street and has been renamed the American Standard Building. It is now the home of The Bryant Park Hotel.
95. With over 15,000 marchers and nearly two million spectators, the St. Patrick’s Day parade, sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, is the world’s largest parade. It is New York City’s only parade that marches uptown!
96. A New York City creation, it is the right of a property owner to sell their unused rights of undeveloped space their on their property, in accordance with city zoning regulations or public need, to an adjacent property owner. Trump Tower, 58 stories high at 664 feet, for example, was permitted to achieve its height through the purchase of Tiffany’s air rights, the property’s next door neighbor. The deal was made on a handshake between Trump and Thomas Hoving, the chairman of Tiffany’s.
97. 130 West 56th Street, on the sixth floor, was the location of weekly meetings held by the generation’s best comic writers, who wrote Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows,” a television comedy variety show pioneering live broadcast with spectacular success. Writers included Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks and others.
98. The Morris-Jumel Mansion, built in 1765, is Manhattan’s oldest house, located at 65 Jumel Terrace, between West 160th and 162nd Streets, one block east of St. Nicholas Avenue. George Washington established his headquarters there in September and October 1776. His troops camped in what is now known as Highbridge Park, Ft. Tryon Park and Bennett Park due to their high elevations.
99. It was the location of Stephan Etienne Delancey’s (1663-1741) orchard. He became very wealthy, married Stephen Van Cortlandt’s daughter Anne, engaged in “legalized smuggling”, financed piracy, imported dry goods, bricks, and silks and exported furs to Amsterdam, owned four ships and had an estimated net worth of 100,000 British pounds. A Tory, his property was confiscated by the city after the Revolutionary War.
100. Joe E. Lewis (“The Bronx Bomber”) vs. Max Schmeling, fought on June 22, 1938 and, as with Jesse Owens in the Olympics in Berlin, it was a fierce contest of grit, pride and politics between a democracy and a fascist dictatorship.
101. “The Queens Giant” or Alley Pond Park Giant, a tulip-poplar tree standing 133.8 feet tall, is estimated to be between 350 and 450 years old.
102. In the last ten years 225 bicyclists have been killed in New York City and 3,462 have been injured. The city has mandated helmets for bike messengers and has established laws requiring cyclists to display lights on the front and back of their bicycles from dusk till dawn. Bike peninsulas, a push for more bike lanes, and stricter enforcement of traffic laws, such as restricted sidewalk use and opposing traffic direction movement, will further increase safety, if enforced!
103. Idlewild Airport, built on Idlewild golf course, opened for business in 1948.  It has since been greatly enlarged.
104. Built in 1930 and standing 927 feet tall, it simultaneously competed with the Chrysler Building for the crown of the world’s tallest building and lost. Donald Trump bought it for $8 million (What!) and executed a major renovation including 3,500 new Wausau windows, two 1,300-ton chillers, state-of-the-art safety and communication systems, Italian marble, and a bronze lobby, to name a few of the improvements. The Trump Building is located at 40 Wall Street.
105. “Bloomingdale Road,” now Broadway.  Through an act of the State Legislature in 1866, the city was authorized to widen the road. Work began to widen it to 160 feet, plant twin rows of elm trees, and create 30-foot wide landscaped medians with broad, planted walk-through malls. In part, this plan was conceived to provide work for many of those unemployed who had completed the construction of Central Park. These improvements, deliberately modeled after the Champs Elysees in Paris, stimulated developers to line the boulevard with magnificent apartment buildings, boosting a new and vibrant Upper West Side.
106. 1.8 billion kilowatt/hours of power is consumed annually and purchased from the New York Power Authority.
107. Walter Schott’s “Three Young Maidens,” the centerpiece of the French Conservatory Garden in Central Park is located at 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. The statue had belonged to a Jewish family and adorned their property. It was secretly removed and shipped to the United States in 1939 by Samuel Untermeyer, a prominent New York attorney who installed it on his estate in North Yonkers. After his death in 1947 his family donated it to The City of New York. It is uncertain if the fountain is the original or a copy.
108. Robert Moses, hired by Mayor LaGuardia. This urban planner, commissioner and “Power Broker” built, among other projects, the Triborough Bridge, Jones Beach, the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the Cross Bronx Expressway, and Lincoln Center. He cleared a sheep’s meadow for The Tavern on the Green, built countless swimming pools and playgrounds, cleared tenements, slums and “destroyed neighborhoods” for other projects. He also pushed for a south Manhattan expressway down through the middle of Manhattan and was thwarted by activist Jane Jacobs who proffered that Mr. Moses viewed the metropolis in asphalt and concrete and not in flesh, blood and lives.
109. The Great Fire of 1835 in lower Manhattan, caused by a gas leak south of Pearl Street, destroyed nearly 600 buildings. It provided a major impetus for northern expansion and development “uptown” in the 14th Street area and beyond.
110. Completed in 1963, it was the largest commercial office building in the world, with 2.8 million square feet of space. Its flat roof served as a helicopter pad until 1977 when an accident, due to the collapse of a landing gear, killed five people. Currently it is the Met Life Building.
111. Fraunces Tavern, built in 1719 and located at the southwest corner of Pearl and Broad Streets, was the site of the first meeting of the provincial congress. It is the oldest building in Manhattan.
112. Shrimp! Reportedly, on occasion, after Leona completed each lap, a chambermaid of the Park Lane Hotel stood at the pool’s edge with a tray of shrimp and placed one in Leona’s mouth as she emerged from the water. The “Queen of Mean” was a lean machine!
113. The Century, The Majestic, The San Remo and The El Dorado are all spectacular and glamorous residences that have been homes to countless rich and famous people. In the 1930’s these masterpieces set the standard for space, amenities and elegance on Manhattan’s prestigious Central Park West. Building codes permitted higher elevations if the structure was designed with separate towers. It also made those apartments highly marketable, originally as rentals. “Only the birds are your neighbors.”
114. Jimmy Walker, “Beau James,” (1881-1946) also known as New York’s “Night Mayor,” left his wife Jane for stage actress Betty Compton. The street was Clarkson, straddling Hudson Street.
115. Due to its reddish soil and its extended hook-shaped shoreline it acquired that name.
116. Herald Square. It is called “Bowtie” Greeley due to the shape of the intersection at Broadway and Sixth Avenue where they cross at 34th Street, forming the likeness of the knot of a bowtie and the bowtie itself, the areas of triangular parks north and south of the knot.
117. On the lower eastern side of Union Square Park, just north of 14th Street, where the southbound lanes of Park Avenue veer west. Trolleys were unable to stop in time, frequently killing dodging pedestrians who were attempting to cross in a hurry. There were more pedestrian fatalities on that spot than anywhere else in the city.
118. Stanford White was (1853-1906), America’s most famous architect, was shot three times in the face at point blank range while dining at the second Madison Square Garden, which he had designed. He was shot by Harry K. Thaw, whose wife, showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, had been having an ongoing affair with Mr. White. Thaw was acquitted of the crime, the first person in the United States to be acquitted of murder by reason of temporary insanity.
119. The Hick family of Brooklyn Heights, landowners and farmers, delivered their produce to Manhattan by boat prior to the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. When the wholesalers saw them crossing the East River they chanted, “Here come the Hicks!” Amazing!
120. The origin of the name for the body of water that divides the northern tip of Manhattan, just south of Riverdale, has two interpretations: “Devil’s whirlpool,” named for its turbulence at high tide, or “To spite the devil,” taken from Washington Irving’s story of a Dutchman who vowed to swim across the creek during an English attack.
121. Claremont Stables, located at Amsterdam Avenue and 89th Street, closed on April 29, 2007. New homes were found for the 45 “residents” of Claremont.
122. David Dinkins (1927- ) was New York’s mayor from 1990-1993. Although Rudy Giuliani, who succeeded him, has gotten much credit for the dramatic drop in crime. Few recognize that Mayor Dinkins placed 5,000 additional police on the streets just prior to his departure. Police Commissioner Bratton claimed a lot of credit for the plunge in crime, and that resulted in his departure due to a publicity minded mayor. Give credit to George Kelling and Catherine Coles, criminologists who authored “Fixing Broken Windows”.
123. Fiorello H. LaGuardia. During the 1934 newspaper delivery strike Mayor LaGuardia read “the funnies” on radio WNYC and NPR, gaining a great deal of popularity for this clever act of kindness and political good sense.
124. The murder of Jennifer Levin (1968-1986) in Central Park, a heinous crime known as “The Preppy Murder”. Chambers’ defense was “rough sex.” A plea bargain was negotiated in court and he was imprisoned until February 2003. He is now in prison, awaiting trial on a drug charge. So much for the “criminal justice system!”
125. Silvercup Studios in Astoria, Queens. The only kind of “bread” that is made there is the folding kind.
126. A meeting of mafia members or men who have an interest in mafia activities; aka a “sit down.” “Don’t come heavy” means don’t come packing a “piece” (gun).
127. (1981-2006) A brilliant and beautiful young woman who was a Masters degree honor student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. On February 25, 2006 she was kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered. After leaving the Pioneer Bar on Lafayette Street and then going to the Falls Bar in the early morning hours. She was lured into a van by the bar’s bouncer. Her body was found later in the day in a secluded area adjacent to the Belt Parkway near Fountain Avenue. Darryl Littlejohn, 41, has been charged with this horrendous crime.
128. Catherine Susan Genovese, a 28-year-old woman, was repeatedly stabbed and murdered on March 13, 1964 while neighbors watched from their apartment windows. No one called the police or provided help. This led to an investigation and became the origin of the sociological term “bystander effect.”
129. Sixth Avenue was given the additional name by Mayor LaGuardia to stimulate commerce with the growing community of South American business people. Few, if any, New Yorkers refer to Sixth Avenue by that anointed name.
130. The Bronx borders Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, and Pelham, all municipalities of Westchester County.
131. Rev. Butts (1949-) is the Pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, community leader, civil rights activist, charismatic spokesman, spiritual leader, vociferous advocate of education, good parenting, faith, community development and optimism. He is also the president of SUNY College at Old Westbury. His charisma, wit, wisdom, grace, leadership and charm are mighty pillars of this vibrant community.
132. A popular Harlem jazz club during and after Prohibition featured, among others, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne (“Tall, tan and terrific”), Louis Armstrong and Ethel Waters. Generally, it denied admission to African Americans, serving the downtown white crowd who came up to Harlem for the music, liquor, fun and frolic. The existing Cotton Club is not sitting at the site of the original location.
133. The Garment Center, or wholesale manufacturing and sale of fabric, clothing and related goods. “Garmento” is synonymous with the “schmata” business, with an Italian twang. Schmata means rag in Yiddish.
134. Located in the mid and upper 20’s on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. However, due to recent zoning changes, high rise residential buildings are consuming much of the space and shrinking the size of the flower portion of the district.
135. Chris Ofile’s Virgin Mary splashed with elephant dung. The Brooklyn Art Museum (BAM) sued and won its case to display the piece based on the first amendment of the Constitution, the freedom of speech clause.
136. The Bronx Zoo at 2300 Southern Boulevard opened in 1899. It sits on 265 acres and is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, home to over 4,000 animals. It has raised and repopulated the western plains with thousands of buffalo and is the home to rare species of tigers, birds, and reptiles. Its efforts to propagate and promote stabilization of endangered species are astounding.
137. Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, west of Prospect Park, was designed by Henry Pierrepoint. Many of New York City’s most famous, and infamous, who died in the second half of the 19th century and after are “resting” there. This gorgeous, park-like burial place is home to over 600,000 graves occupying 478 acres. Leonard Bernstein’s resting place can be found on top of Battle Hill, the highest point in Brooklyn and site of The Battle of Brooklyn.
138. In the East Village, between Astor Place and Second Avenue in Manhattan.
139. Nabisco, National Biscuit Company.  Located at 75 Ninth Avenue it is a gourmet lover’s Mecca, an 800 foot long stretch of energized and sophisticated food establishments ranging from chocolate croissants, outstanding lobster rolls, meats, cheeses, breads, soup and more.
140. Caviar, varieties of smoked fish, appetizing specialties, dried fruit platters, salads and confections, with a Jewish flair. Russ, established in 1914, had his three daughters work alongside him. He was not the most congenial person, according to legend. Located at 179 E. Houston Street, it is currently operated by members of the fourth generation of the Russ family. This establishment is the oldest continually operated business by descendants of a founding owner.
141. Carnegie Deli, referring to the piled high sandwiches it sells. It is located at Seventh Avenue and 55th Street. On May 10, 2001 three people were murdered in a small apartment above the restaurant due to an alleged marijuana deal gone terribly wrong.
142. A non-profit organization whose mission is to help formerly homeless men. It provides employment, street cleaning, etc. It is named for “Jane Doe,” a homeless woman who was discovered dead in the former Grand Central Terminal waiting room and never identified.
143. A former television journalist and TV star, and second wife of Rudy Giuliani with whom she has two children. (b. 1950)
144. At Economy Candy Market on 108 Rivington Street in the Lower East Side. Black Jack gum, invented by Thomas Adams of Staten Island in 1884, was America’s first flavored chewing gum. Production ceased in the 1970’s due to diminished sales. Small batches are occasionally produced, along with Clove and Beeman’s and are available at Economy along with Mary Jane, Bit o Honey, strips of colored sugar dots, and many other baby boomer childhood favorites.
145. Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, long time friends from Queens and graduates of Syracuse University, established and operated the iconic 1970’s discotheque, hosting Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol and others from the “in crowd” who had made it past Rubell’s patron selection process. Both served time in prison for tax evasion. Allegedly cash was found in the drop ceiling, skimmed from their operation. They were represented by the infamous Roy Cohn.
146. John Augustus Roebling was killed due to an accident at Fulton Landing in Brooklyn when his right foot was crushed between the pier and the ferry while docking. He died ten days before the bridge construction begun. Fortunately, his son Washington was an engineer who took over the task of executing the completion with his wife Emily, of what was originally named “The East River Bridge.”
147. The time interval must be at least eighteen minutes at the same station or bus stop, in order to avoid multiple uses by unauthorized users.
148. John V. Lindsay (1921-2000). The sanitation department, responsible for snow removal, reportedly did a woefully poor job in Queens.  As a result, residents were outraged. The 15-inch snowstorm in February 1969 added to the strain of a mayoralty gone wrong.
149. The West Side Highway was renamed Joe DiMaggio Highway by Rudy Giuliani, a fervent Yankee fan. The Interboro Parkway was renamed the Jackie Robinson Expressway in honor of the first African-American to play in the major leagues, for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His courage, charisma and talent continue to provide inspiration and serve as a role model for millions. 
150. There are approximately 66,000 parking meters in New York City and the revenue derived exceeds over $70 million annually.
151. A prepaid electronic device, provided by the New York and New Jersey Port Authority, that permits motorists, at a discount, to use most bridges and tunnels as well as New York and New Jersey highways, to swiftly move past toll booths, saving money, reducing payrolls and exhaust emissions.
152. At The St. George Hotel in Brooklyn Heights, located at 51 Clark Street, on August 27, 1995. It was an 18-alarm fire fought by 500 firefighters. Scenes from The Godfather were filmed there.
153. It is located in Battery Park and was originally a fort designed to protect New York’s harbor, together with Fort Jay on Governor’s Island and Fort Gibson on Ellis Island. It became a theatre, hosting Swedish singer Jenny Lind, the world’s most famous female vocalist, and ultimately became the embarkation point for immigrants until 1895 when the federal government took over the task and moved the immigration process to Ellis Island.
154. Governors Island, one mile south of Manhattan, is 172 acres of which 82 acres are Lexington Subway landfill. The Island cost the city $1, purchased from the federal government in 2006. Reachable by ferry, the city plans to create recreation and park space there.
155. During the Koch administration mobile two-way radios, a new technology, were used by yellow cabs. Many roamed the streets with signs “On Radio Call,” reducing the availability of yellow cabs for street pedestrians. “Black cars” came into use as a result and are strictly for hire from a base station through a reservation, although that is not always the case since numerous “black car” drivers violate the rule and pickup street passengers. They just can’t resist! If caught doing so three times by TLC inspectors, their licenses are revoked.
156. 130 Liberty Street, the former Deutsche Bank Building, is being torn down due to irreparable damage and contamination.
157. St. Paul’s Church, New York’s oldest church in Manhattan and the longest public building in continuous use is adjacent to Ground Zero and was unscathed on 9/11. In the church’s gift shop a book is sold entitled, The Little Cathedral That Stood, likened to the children’s book, The Little Engine That Could. Not one gravestone in the cemetery behind the church was toppled on 9/11 as well!
158. Patriot and schoolteacher, Hale at age twenty two, was hanged by the British, where 66th Street meets 3rd Avenue. Legend has it that he said, “I regret I have but one life to lose for my country.” However, compelling research suggests that his words were: “How beautiful is death, when earned by virtue! Who would not be that youth? What pity is it that we can die but once to serve our country.” A statue of Nathan Hale stands in Park Row.
159. A Jewish butcher, merchant and landowner who was an active and successful litigant for the rights of Jews. He sued the Dutch government under Peter Stuyvesant for taxing the Jews in lieu of allowing them to partake in guarding “The Wall” on Wall Street and won. It was the first “civil rights” victory in “The United States”. Asser Levy Place can be found off of East 23rd Street.
160. They are rundown establishments that provide sleeping space for “bums,” “hobos” and “winos” on The Bowery and surrounding areas, Harlem, and similarly disenfranchised environs.  A few are still in existence. Residents rent tiny “cages” with wire mesh ceilings, a cot and a light bulb suspended from above.
161. The average tenement building held 120 people or more in 20 apartments. Those buildings provided homes in the most densely populated place on earth at the time, double the density of Bombay, India, the Lower East Side. The apartments averaged 270 square feet of space.
162. Six seconds.
163. Only two percent were rejected, in part because many were examined by the shipping companies prior to their departure.  First and second class passengers did not have to go to Ellis Island. The two major reasons for rejection were: if a person had an infectious, contagious disease, particularly Trachoma, an incurable infectious eye disease; or if it was suspected that they had to work to pay for their transport arrangements as indentured servants. The ships that brought those immigrants who were rejected were obligated to return them at their own expense.
164. A 19th century style street lamppost that turns down on the top. Only seventeen originals have been catalogued in Manhattan, such as the one near The Dakota. Replicas can be seen throughout the city.
165. An infamous high crime street littered with slum tenements and saloons that attracted roughnecks, scam artists, murderers, knockout drop robbers, pickpockets and lowlifes in the 19th century, in the Five Points district. Coincidentally, Al Jolson and Irving Berlin began their performing careers there. Now it is a part of Chinatown and is located east lower Mott Street.
166. While the other three sides were adorned with more costly limestone, it was believed by the powers that be, at the time, that the northern side would not be seen as it was “so far north”! Completed in 1811, it is the oldest city hall in The United States. Since then the northern exterior has been covered in limestone.
167. The Taxi and Limousine Commission is responsible for managing, licensing and enforcing the laws governing the taxi and for-hire vehicle segment of the city’s transportation industry.  The TLC employs its own enforcement staff.
168. On August 1, 2007 a medallion was sold for $600,000 and the seller had paid only $30,000 for it in 1981. There are 11,878 medallions issued by the city, which mandates their issuance.
169. The 191st Street station of the 1 line is 196.8 feet deep. Two elevators are well used there.
170. Theodore Roosevelt. He was given credit for busting crime and effective efforts that lead to breaking  up the Tweed Ring.
171. The U. S. census clocked 1,206,299 residents in New York City in 1880 and the city at the time did not include current areas such as Brooklyn and The Bronx. By 1900 it surpassed 3.5 million!
172. It is 450-million year old glacial rock that is extremely dense and durable. This geologic foundation is unique in New York City, particularly Manhattan, and is the underlying foundation of its magnificent skyline.
173. The Con Edison electric power failure resulted in mass looting, fires and criminal activity, most notably in The Bronx.
174. The U.S. census of 1930 listed 1,867,312 residents in Manhattan, more than at present, and 2,560,312 in Brooklyn. It is interesting to note that in 1920 the population of Manhattan was 2,284,103 and Brooklyn was 2,018,356!
175. Approximately 1,250,000 people.
176. $325 million, through city government and private donations, largely through the Central Park Conservatory.
177. In honor of her tireless efforts to restore the reservoir, it was named for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
178. John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) who, shortly before his death, lamented, “If I had to do it all over I would have bought every square foot of Manhattan!” If he could see it and sell it now!
179. The largest of the Vanderbilt mansions in New York City, containing 137 rooms, was sold by Alice G. Vanderbilt to real estate developer Fredrick Brown. She was tired of paying $130,000 in annual real estate taxes! Brown constructed the mansion-like structure that was purchased by Bergdorf’s in 1948.
180. Allegedly to thwart arguments and competition for corner offices.
181. The Empire State Building elevator’s speed is 1,397 feet per minute. Therefore, the ride is about one minute.
182. Cast iron holds up poorly under fire conditions. It has sufficient vertical strength but minimal horizontal strength. Additionally, the cost of steel plummeted by 90% from the mid 19th century into the early 20th century, rendering the weaker cast iron a “dinosaur”.
183. Brooklyn Heights, directly across the East River from lower Manhattan where over 600 antebellum homes still stand.
184. Penn Station, built in 1910, a magnificent beaux-arts stone, steel and glass structure reminiscent of 19th century crystal palaces and The Baths of Caracalla. One of New York City’s foremost buildings it was demolished in 1963 and was replaced by Madison Square Garden and 1 Penn Plaza. One felt as if they were entering New York City like royalty when they arrived at the old Penn Station, while now it’s just a functional station filled with fast food restaurants and the like. Now, you enter New York like a “rat”!
185. Before 9 AM and after 9 PM.
186. 50% discount for those 65 years of age and older.
187. Roland Hussey Macy who sold his interests to Isidor and Nathan Straus in 1896. Macy, as a young man, returned from sea with a red star tattoo on his arm and that became the store’s logo.
188. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., aka “Junior.”
189. Beneath the George Washington Bridge on the New York City side.
190. The Trinity Church through a charter granted by the British Crown. Those rights are still legally in effect!
191. It is a concrete wall surrounding the perimeter of “Ground Zero” also known as “the tub.” Its purpose is to prevent the Hudson River from flooding the site and to protect the integrity of the building foundations. The surface of the river is above the foundation of the wall, and underground mechanical systems, pipes, etc. would, if the wall collapsed, flood the site and penetrate the subway as well.
192. It is symbolically designed to be 1776 feet tall and is currently under construction at the northwest corner of “Ground Zero,” due to be completed in 2012. Through a quid pro quo Larry Silverstein, of Silverstein Properties, the lessee of the buildings at Ground Zero since July 2001 has released this building back to The Port Authority due to his belief that finding tenants for it would be arduous.
193. This is New York City’s non-emergency information and complaint service line, implemented during Mayor Bloomberg’s administration.
194. Vehicular transportation such as town cars or limousines.
195. The Coliseum, a convention center constructed in 1957. It fell into disuse when the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center replaced it as New York City’s largest. It became a blighted, abandoned site until it was replaced by the Time Warner twin tower shopping, condo, restaurant, Jazz  Concert Hall and Mandarin Hotel complex.
196. The ceiling of Grand Central Terminal depicts the constellations viewed from outside the Milky Way. It is not known whether the French artist, Paul Cesar Helleu, designed the constellations with a mirror image view by mistake, or whether it was a creative stroke of genius.
197. Andrew Carnegie. He provided the grant on the condition that the city donate the land, maintain and stock the libraries. In total, he paid for the construction of over 2,500 libraries worldwide.
198. On March 25, 1990 Julio Gonzalez torched the Happyland Club, a Honduran social dance establishment in The Bronx, costing 87 people their lives. He was enraged because his girlfriend, the club’s coat check girl, had rejected him. He was subsequently convicted of murder and arson.
199. He built New York City’s first department store on Broadway between Chambers and Reade Streets in 1848. The building still stands on the northeast corner. He became New York’s third wealthiest person, with a net worth of $40 million! Currently the former department store houses the City’s Building Department.
200. In 1911 Samuel Battle was appointed and rose to the rank of lieutenant.

Please contact me with your dream tour wishes:

Your name:
Your E-mail:
Your Phone (optional):
Your tour wishes are: Please include date(s), # of people, etc.
*Enter Code: