New York isn’t just a big place - it is MONUMENTAL. I mean that literally. It is full of monuments. You’ve probably seen a lot of them yourself without really looking at them (unless you are like my father - an dedicated plaque reader wherever he is). I thought it might be nice to stop […]

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Congestion Pricing - I’m for it. The current plan being kicked around. Well, I don’t know that it’s exactly what I would have proposed and I’m not sure how all the logistics will play out but it is a move in the right direction and deserves to be tried.
Governor Patterson - listen, Guv. You seem […]

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New York is multi-layered, multi-cultural and speaks with many voices. It makes exploring the city surprising, exciting and fascinating but it becomes all that and more when you have “company.”
What am I talking about? See, the thing is - I’ve recently been listening to a lot of audiobooks, lectures, podcasts and radio documentaries lately. I’ve […]

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It’s a holiday weekend coming up and you know what that means? Even more time to do even more stuff. Never fear for Gotham is, as usual, awash in activities to entertain, educate and delight you and yours.
Books, books and more books, baby! Taschen Warehouse sale is running January 18-20 at their locations worldwide but […]

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 Remember a couple of month ago when I went to the East Side Tenement Museum? I thought it was fantastic and a must see for all. But since some of you make still waffling over whether to go or not, possibly this will convince you. Over on the City Room blog at the New York […]

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Remember the time I came down with a case of Museum Mania? And I said that there was one place I really had to go and see ’cause everyone was raving about it? Well, yesterday was the day. I went to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum yesterday and loved, loved, loved it.
The building went […]

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For those who don’t know, Greater Gotham is just one of the blogs I am involved in. The other is Fabulous Foodie. Today I thought I’d bring them together and this is the result. A view of Gotham through a culinary, online lens.
New York Magazine’s Best of New York Food is always worth reading (and […]

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Today in New York History: The Plaza Hotel opened for business.
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Plaza Hotel!
Happy Birthday to you!
The New York Times has a very nice slideshow of the Plaza through the years and I think I prefer to note the event in that way as opposed to going over […]

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How did I miss the Answers About New York Architecture  series in the New York Times? It’s the very kind of thing I should sense in the air and yet - inexplicably, it slipping under my radar. I occasionally suffer from bouts of architectural nostalgia myself. This kind of series has me considering a series […]

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September 18, 1851: Publication of the first edition of the New York Times.

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New York is a book town. We know it. You know it. And even the long gone denizens of Book Row (may they rest among the great bookshelves in the sky) know it. From east to west and north to south, the book lover can find shops to browse, readings to attend and book […]

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September 8, 1664: The Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who renamed it New York.

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 Many years ago - about six or seven jobs back - I worked in the Flatiron Building. Yes, that symbolic landmark that ends up in most footage of New York at some point.  If most of the pictures of this enormous wedge weren’t showing primarily the east side of the building I’d draw a little arrow […]

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September 1:

In 1896: Chop Suey, supposedly a traditional Chinese meal, is invented in New York.
In 1932, Mayor James “Gentleman Jimmy” Walker resigned following graft and corruption charges.

per New York Times On This Day and/or The History Channel’s This Day In History

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230 years ago today, The Continental Army was forced to abandon Manhattan after the Battle of Fort Washington. The city became the British center of military operations in North America for the remainder of the Revolutionary War.
What made me think of this today? A short stroll through the West Village wherein I heard a variety […]

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