Little Italy in New York City

5 April 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City, Shopping Reading Time:  9 minutes

Colour-changing Little Italy sign on Mulberry Street at Broome Street © Jameschecker/cc-by-sa-4.0

Colour-changing Little Italy sign on Mulberry Street at Broome Street © Jameschecker/cc-by-sa-4.0

Little Italy is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, once known for its large Italian population. It is bounded on the west by Tribeca and Soho, on the south by Chinatown, on the east by the Bowery and Lower East Side, and on the north by Nolita. In 2010, Little Italy and Chinatown were listed in a single historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Little Italy, by this point, was shrinking rapidly.   read more…

Cunard Building in New York City

18 January 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  5 minutes

Entrance © Tdorante10/cc-by-sa-4.0

Entrance © Tdorante10/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Cunard Building, also known as the Standard & Poors Building, is a 22-story office building located at 25 Broadway, adjacent to Bowling Green Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The Cunard Building was designed in the Italian Renaissance style by Benjamin Wistar Morris, in conjunction with consultants Carrère and Hastings.   read more…

Dyker Heights in Brooklyn

25 December 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Rhododendrites/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Rhododendrites/cc-by-sa-4.0

Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood is bounded by 7th and 14th Avenues, 65th Street, and the Belt Parkway on the west, east, north, and south, respectively.   read more…

Lower New York Bay

7 December 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  7 minutes

Brighton Beach © Billy Hathorn/cc-by-sa-3.0

Brighton Beach © Billy Hathorn/cc-by-sa-3.0

Lower New York Bay is a section of New York Bay south of the Narrows, the relatively narrow strait between the shores of Staten Island and Brooklyn. The southern end of the bay opens directly to the Atlantic Ocean between two spits of land, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens, on Long Island. The southern portion between Staten Island and New Jersey, at the mouth of the Raritan River, is named Raritan Bay. The Hudson Canyon, the ancient riverbed of the Hudson River which existed during the last ice age when the ocean levels were lower, extends southeast from Lower New York Bay for hundreds of miles into the Atlantic Ocean. The nearby part of the Atlantic Ocean between New Jersey and Long Island is the New York Bight.   read more…

New York University

29 October 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  7 minutes

Washington Square Park, with its gateway arch, is surrounded largely by NYU buildings and plays an integral role in the University's campus life © Jean-Christophe BENOIST/cc-by-3.0

Washington Square Park, with its gateway arch, is surrounded largely by NYU buildings and plays an integral role in the University’s campus life © Jean-Christophe BENOIST/cc-by-3.0

New York University (NYU) is a private research university based in New York City. Founded in 1831 by Albert Gallatin as an institution to “admit based upon merit rather than birthright or social class”, NYU’s historical campus is in Greenwich Village. The core of NYU consists of buildings that surround Washington Square Park. As of fall 2019, the university has a total of 51,848 enrolled students, including 26,733 undergraduate students and 25,115 graduate students. Undergraduate admissions is highly selective NYU is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”.   read more…

The Narrows in New York

11 September 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  5 minutes

One World Trade Center, Upper New York Bay, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and Staten Island © flickr.com - Anthony Quintano/cc-by-2.0

One World Trade Center, Upper New York Bay, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and Staten Island
© flickr.com – Anthony Quintano/cc-by-2.0

The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It has long been considered to be the maritime “gateway” to New York City and historically has been one of the most important entrances into the harbors of the Port of New York and New Jersey.   read more…

Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City

10 August 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  11 minutes

George Washington statue © flickr.com - Ken Lund/cc-by-sa-2.0

George Washington statue © flickr.com – Ken Lund/cc-by-sa-2.0

Federal Hall is a historic building at 26 Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The name refers to two structures on the site: a Federal style building completed in 1703, and the current Greek Revival-style building completed in 1842. While only the first building was officially called “Federal Hall”, the current structure is operated by the National Park Service as a national memorial called the Federal Hall National Memorial. The current structure, one of the best surviving examples of Greek Revival architecture in New York City, was built as the U.S. Custom House for the Port of New York. Later it served as a sub-Treasury building. The current national memorial commemorates the historic events that occurred at the previous structure.   read more…

Hunts Point in the Bronx

31 July 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City, Shopping Reading Time:  12 minutes

Former Hunts Point Avenue station, now serving shops © Jim.henderson

Former Hunts Point Avenue station, now serving shops © Jim.henderson

Hunts Point is a neighborhood located on a peninsula in the South Bronx of New York City. It is the location of one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world, the Hunts Point Cooperative Market. Its boundaries are the Bruckner Expressway to the west and north, the Bronx River to the east, and the East River to the south. Hunts Point Avenue is the primary street through Hunts Point.   read more…

Roosevelt Island in Manhattan

8 July 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  15 minutes

© FEMA - Kenneth Wilsey

© FEMA – Kenneth Wilsey

Roosevelt Island is a narrow island in New York City‘s East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to its west and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to its east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85th Streets on Manhattan Island, it is about 2 miles (3.2 km) long, with a maximum width of 800 feet (240 m), and a total area of 147 acres (0.59 km²). Together with Mill Rock, Roosevelt Island constitutes Manhattan’s Census Tract 238, which has a land area of 0.279 sq mi (0.72 km²), and a population of 11,700. The island was called Minnehanonck by the Lenape and Varkens Eylandt (Hog Island) by New Netherlanders, and during the colonial era and later as Blackwell’s Island. It was known as Welfare Island when it was used principally for hospitals, from 1921 to 1973. It was renamed Roosevelt Island (after Franklin D. Roosevelt) in 1973. Roosevelt Island is owned by the city but was leased to the New York State Urban Development Corporation for 99 years in 1969. Most of the residential buildings on Roosevelt Island are rental buildings. There is also a cooperative named Rivercross and a condominium building named Riverwalk. One rental building (Eastwood) has left New York State’s Mitchell-Lama Housing Program, though current residents are still protected. It is now called Roosevelt Landings. There are attempts to privatize three other buildings, including the cooperative. The FDNY also maintains its Special Operations Command facility at 750 Main St. on the island. Due to its proximity to the headquarters of the United Nations, Roosevelt Island is home to a large number of diplomatic sector employees. At one time these included then-United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.   read more…

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