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r/nycHistory

▲ 274 r/nycHistory+1 crossposts

What’s ur fav NYC Easter egg / cool thing that most people pass without understanding how cool it is

Recently came across a thread from a few years ago and dove into a rabbit hole of cool stuff Manhattan and the other boroughs have that’s just around and show parts of history.

Example the fallout shelter signs you see around are from the Cold War.

Or the owl statues with eyes that light up in Herald Square, a cool little feature.

Or the 23 Wall Street bomb marks from 1920 that are still there, in what was the JPMorgan building at the time.

Stuff like that. Post it here, I love this stuff

reddit.com
u/Royal_Persimmon4751 — 22 hours ago
▲ 34 r/nycHistory+2 crossposts

This is Victoria Muspratt at her home on the corner of 71st and Shore Road. She was murdered just before Christmas, 1934. How do we define a ghost? What makes us gravitate towards spooky stories? II'll be leading 8 spooky tours this Autumn in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst. More Info below.

I love Independence Day and I'm looking forward to our country's 250th Birthday, but Autumn is my favorite time of the year. the spooky tours I led last year went so well that I've already put a bunch of tour dates on the calendar for this autumn. If you're looking at this approaching heat wave and dreaming of crisp nights and leather jackets, this might be for you.

Here are the dates and ticket/more info links and below that is some more information:

Haunted Bay Ridge Walking Tour — Sunday 10/4/2026 6PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haunted-bay-ridge-walking-tour-tickets-1991942584893?aff=oddtdtcreator

Haunted Bay Ridge Walking Tour — Saturday 10/10/2026 6PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haunted-bay-ridge-walking-tour-tickets-1991942594923?aff=oddtdtcreator

Ghosts of Old Bensonhurst Walking Tour — Friday 10/16/2026 7PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ghosts-of-old-bensonhurst-walking-tour-tickets-1987548123942?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

Haunted Bay Ridge Walking Tour — Sunday 10/18/2026 6PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haunted-bay-ridge-walking-tour-tickets-1991943360212?aff=oddtdtcreator

Haunted Bay Ridge Walking Tour — Saturday 10/24/2026 6PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haunted-bay-ridge-walking-tour-tickets-1991943883778?aff=oddtdtcreator

Haunted Bay Ridge Walking Tour — Friday 10/30/2026 7PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haunted-bay-ridge-walking-tour-tickets-1991943884781?aff=oddtdtcreator

Haunted Bay Ridge Walking Tour — Saturday 10/31/2026 6:30PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haunted-bay-ridge-walking-tour-tickets-1991943885784?aff=oddtdtcreator

Haunted Bay Ridge Walking Tour — Sunday 11/8/2026 5PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haunted-bay-ridge-walking-tour-tickets-1991944278960?aff=oddtdtcreator

As of now, I've only got one Bensonhurst tour on the calendar, but if it goes well I'll add another!

Here's some more info about the Bay Ridge tour(s):
As the days grow shorter and the winds begin to howl, ghouls, ghosts, long-legged beasts, and other nameless wretches caught between worlds reinhabit ours and keep us from a good night’s sleep.

From a faceless woman late one night on a lonely street near a local church, to army ghosts and disembodied sounds, to the murders of an old spinster and kidnappers, to the mysteries of the neighborhood's largest park, to a secret society right in our midst, it’s time to turn up our collars, hit the streets, and beware the things that go bump in the night.

Led by James Scully — NYC historian, tour guide, podcaster, director / co-creator of the award-winning historical audio fiction soap opera, Burning Gotham, and creator of the Bay Ridge Digest Podcast — our unique haunted Bay Ridge experience will focus on and include:

• Stories of murder and mayhem, from the death of an old spinster, to the heroic actions of a member of a prominent family, we’ll find out the many motives for crime and how Bay Ridge was the perfect setting for these unfortunate events.

• The story of how a man’s late-night walk down a Brooklyn side-street led him to confront the spirit of a veiled woman with no face in front of a locally famous Basilica

• The story of how a secret society of skull worshipers in Brooklyn started, rose, peaked, and disappeared all near a famous hilltop Bay Ridge mansion

• Ghost stories from both the Fort Hamilton Army base and some of its residents

• The story of the Indian Pond, the border of Gravesend and New Utrecht, and a boy awoken from sleep in the middle of the night by a shadow being standing over his bed

• The story of a revolutionary war cemetery still inhabited by some of Bay Ridge’s most famous residents

• And more!

u/TheWallBreakers2017 — 1 day ago
▲ 1 r/nycHistory

Can someone help me find the rest of the photos linked to this New York Times archive? I am not able to find 4 pages of 5 pages inside that post for that house back in 2010.

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u/mtlqcalex — 1 day ago
▲ 32 r/nycHistory+3 crossposts

The Magnificent Empire State Building: Hope rises out of despair in 1931

The construction of the Empire State Building began in March 1930, and it immediately became a contradiction of its times. It was truly a spectacle, with thousands of jobless and hungry New Yorkers standing on the sidewalks watching the steel skeleton begin to take shape. The emotions of the onlookers swung from awe to resentment and anger. “How do they have money for this?”a man muttered to a reporter, “when half the city can’t afford shoes?” Another woman, watching the steelworkers balance on beams hundreds of feet above the ground, said, “It’s beautiful. And it’s terrible. They’re building a monument while the rest of us are trying not to drown.”

ourgreatamericanheritage.com
u/rosebud52 — 2 days ago
▲ 39 r/nycHistory

The winter of 1779 – A memorable season

From History of Long Island City, New York, J. S. Kelsey, 1896:

>The winter of 1779 was one of almost unparalleled severity. Snow began to fall November 10 and continued more or less daily till the following March. “In the woods it lay four feet upon a level,” says a certain chronicler. A fuel famine was abroad. All over New York Island trees of every sort were cut down, gardens, court yards, and avenues, as well as lanes and forests, were depleted. Apple, peach, plum, cherry and pear trees fell before the woodman. The cold was extreme. The bay and harbor of New York was solid as terra firma. Likewise the East River and Long Island Sound nearly to New Haven.

Sorry, no pics, hope that doesn't break this sub's guidelines. Just found this fascinating.

reddit.com
u/charcoalist — 3 days ago
▲ 139 r/nycHistory+1 crossposts

Sounds like life with the G train

Here’s an old story I found in the Center for Brooklyn History archives.

And if you want to learn a tad more history nestled in a spooky tale, there’s always The Lady in Greenpoint, a 3-mile walking audio ghost story starting at the Pulaski Bridge. www.theladyingreenpoint.com

u/rickpaulas — 7 days ago
▲ 37 r/nycHistory+8 crossposts

A Jewish folk-horror serial about my mom and the thirty-six righteous people who secretly hold up the world

new installment of my serial THE 36 is live today. it's Jewish folk horror about my mother — the one person i know who actually met one of the thirty-six hidden holy ones who hold up the world, at eighteen, and has spent the rest of her life dealing with the fallout. notebooks, birds, candlesticks, gematria, and a darker number she won't say out loud. every other thursday. start at chapter one 👉 here

u/DarkQuarters — 6 days ago