Six weeks after Hurricane Sandy, the city remains starkly divided. In much of Manhattan, it seems like nothing happened. In substantial portions of Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens, however, much of the damage waits to be repaired, stores wait to be reopened, and people wait to return home. This storm has made clear the vulnerability [...]
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History Lesson: In Corona, jazz hangs its hat
107th street in Corona is a small, tree-lined block dotted with single-family homes of clapboard and brick. If you walk down that street, it’s easy to pass the two-story house at 34-56 without giving it much thought. It’s a modest mid-century home, with a tall front stoop set back from the sidewalk and a simple [...]
In the time capsule: Flushing Town Hall
If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to live in Flushing 150 years ago, you have two more weekends to find out. “Flushing Town Hall 1862-2012: 150 Years of Community, Creativity, and Culture,” an exhibition that celebrates the historic building’s sesquicentennial and closes Oct. 7, will transport you back to the year that the [...]
History lesson: Seeds of tolerance sown in Queens
Recently, the New York Times put out an interactive list of 50 objects that best reflect New York City history. While it’s always difficult to try to “sum up” a place like New York, the list contained an impressive breadth of objects. They ranged in size from a speck of dust to an entire house, [...]
History Lesson: Who put the ‘Queen’ in Queens?
Each of the boroughs has its own naming history. The Bronx is named after early settler Jonas Bronck. Brooklyn comes from a Dutch word meaning “broken land.” Manhattan derives from a Lenape word for “land of many hills,” which famously has also been interpreted as meaning “place of general inebriation.”
Historic Queens photos on display in Central Park
(above) Bathers in Surf, Far Rockaway Beach, Queens, c. 1897
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