The Bowery Boys: New York City History

A city this size certainly has its share of ghosts, and the Bowery Boys spend the spooky season with some of the most famous -- a suicide showgirl, a grumpy landowner, a womanizer theater owner and a rich spinster.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

The New York Public Library may be one of the most revered libraries in America, but it took a far flung combination of bookworms, millionaires and do-gooders to make it into the institution it is today.  Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Lady Liberty -- her torch may shine bright, but what story is she hiding under that copper-toned skin? The Bowery Boys bring you the story of the French dinner party that created an American icon. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Harlem's jewel, the Apollo Theater, has more than lived up to its promise as a place "where stars are born and legends are made." It's been the cultural centerpiece of New York for more than seven decades, not bad for a former burlesque theater. And find out which icon made his name -- and held his funeral -- on the same stage.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Back when New York was New Amsterdam, it was the domain of the bullheaded, pear-growing, peglegged Peter Stuyvesant, who cleaned up the city and gave us our most important street. Find out why he still matters and why he's the king of the East Village.We've recorded a more comprehensive podcast on Peter Stuyvesant in 2018. You can listen to it here. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

By popular demand, we return to the creepier tales of New York City history, ghost tales and stories of murder and mayhem, all of them at some point involving great American icons -- Alexander Hamilton, P.T. Barnum, Dorothy Parker and Mark Twain. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Come see the Wonder Wheel, the king of hot dogs, the "Freaks" in the Dreamland Sideshow, a beached whale and Donald Trump's dad -- all in one place! It's Coney Island in the 20th Century. But will it be around much longer in the 21st? Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

A world of amusement starts here in New York -- Coney Island, the world's oldest and strangest collection of amusement parks, a mishmash of sideshows, concession stands, gambling halls, new-fangled rides and luxury hotels. Take a daytrip with us back to the early days of Coney Island. Hold on to your hat! Part one of a two part mega-episode.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Ah, the classic Chrysler Building! She's got style, glamour and all that jazz. But what magical surprise did she spring on New York in October of 1929? Join us as we tell the story of New York's most beautiful art deco treasure. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

From an odd assortment of abandoned creatures, to one of the most notorious zoos in the world, take a tour with us through Central Park's storybook zoo. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

The fashionable district of NoLIta happens to be home to a few ghosts as well, tucked behind the walls of St Patrick's Old Cathedral. Come with us as we unearth some info about a mysterious New York fraternal order, the occupants of a few cemetery crypts, and the origins of a legendary film director. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Learn about New York's most famous luxury apartment building and the classic horror film set here. Plus: Lauren Bacall, Connie Chung and some dumb waiters!Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Something's afoot in Washington Square Park. Join the Bowery Boys this week on an expedition through one of New York's quirkiest -- and most beloved -- parks, from Hangman's Elm to Bob Dylan. And you say there's WHAT buried in the ground underneath the park?Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

New York's most under-appreciated treasure gets the Bowery Boys treatment. It's Governors Island: a fort, a small town, a prison and a Burger King ... all bought for one dollar. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Flash back to the summer of 1977, when Star Wars and the Yankees ruled, gas prices were high, a serial killer roamed the streets, and the city experienced a little convenience called the New York City blackout.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Green-Wood Cemetery is one of New York's oldest burial grounds, but its development reaches back all the way to the beginning of Brooklyn's surprising history -- in fact, to the founder of Brooklyn Heights.  Find out why it took an inventive city planner with a funny name, a dead New York icon, and a few errant parakeets to make this place a beautiful, richly historical place to visit today.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

We tackle the New York Stock Exchange in this episode, beginning with Alexander Hamilton, some pushy auctioneers, a coffee house and a sycamore tree. And find how this seminal financial institution ended up in its latest home -- that beautiful, classically designed George Post building, with a marble goddess on top who was almost too heavy for her own good. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

The Mets are movin' out to Citi Field, but we can't overlook the great stories contained in their own home, Shea Stadium, a Robert Moses project took years to get off the ground. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Today it's the Met Life Building. It's been called the ugliest building in New York City. It sits like a monolith behind one of the city's most enduring icons Grand Central Terminal. But it's got some secrets you may not know about. In this podcast, we scale the heights of this misunderstood marvel of modern architecture. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys 

Part two of our "Five Points" podcast. Join us as we explore the "wicked" neighborhood's clean up, fall from grace, and eventual destruction.      Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys