HISTORY

I have always enjoyed history, and recently discovered a couple new blogs that deal with New York City history.  The first and best is The Bowery Boys, whose podcasts and blog really make the history of places we walk every day as New Yorkers come alive with context and humor. The second is Ephemeral New York, which has little tidbits about forgotten areas of the NY and is a great resource for vintage imagery of the city (see above). Another, which I have known about for a while and is the most obsessive and cantankerous of the bunch, is Forgotten New York. There is an entire section on this blog about lampposts! Amazing!

Another great source of historical amusement is the now out of print book New York Then and Now. You can view it online on Google Books. It's great because the "new" comparison shots are from the 70's and look even less familiar than some of the older 19th century ones.

image via Ephemeral New York