Bob Mayer·Oct 27Fall Special: Two of My Best Free and Latest News and a Date ChangeThe heat finally broke here; but we’re still pretty much in a drought. One day of rain since the beginning of August. So we’ve got hoses…
Bob Mayer·Sep 28In 1703, New York Had the Second-Highest Percentage of Enslaved People in the ColoniesWe think of the South when we talk about American slavery. In 1703, New York City ranked second in the colonies by percentage of enslaved…
Bob Mayer·Sep 9Before Nine Eleven, New York’s Deadliest Day Was on the East RiverOn 15 June 1904 the *General Slocum* left a Manhattan dock carrying 1,358 passengers plus crew to a church picnic on the north shore of…
Bob Mayer·Sep 5Manhattan’s Water Came From Forty-One Miles Away, With No PumpsBy the early nineteenth century, the streams and ponds that once covered Manhattan had mostly been filled in and built over. What remained…
Bob Mayer·Aug 25The Largest Planned Explosion Before the Atomic Age Happened in the East River — Hell GateIs it just me, or did anyone else call it Hells Gate? I did, for years. It’s Hell Gate.
