Origins and History of the Village of Yorkville in the City of New York
Origins and History of the Village of Yorkville in the City of New York

Author: Anthony Lofaso

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2015-01-16

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1499085494

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This second edition digs more deeply into the question of what the village of Yorkville was and who its people were. Who were its leaders? Why did it start? And also the issue of slavery in our city and the major role it played in its development, including the area that eventually became Yorkville and the often neglected role of the area during the revolutionary war, except, perhaps, to scholars. The introduction to this edition is written by two Yorkville alumni, John and Joseph Gindele, PhDs, DITs. They are the coauthors of Yorkville Twins, an engrossing book of the life and times of two twin brothers growing up in Yorkville in the 1940s and 50s. For anyone interested in the history of New York City, this book makes the ongoing connection between the history of the city as a whole and its continuing impact on the area that would become Yorkville. In the process, in sites other areas of the city as well, including Lenox Hill, Harlem, Hellgate Seneca, and others. It is a must-read for any historian interested in the city of New York.

Origins and History of the Village of Yorkville in the City of New York
Origins and History of the Village of Yorkville in the City of New York

Author: Anthony Lofaso

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781450019408

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Origins and History of The Village of Yorkville in The City of New York is an original historical work in local history. The village was located on the island of Manhattan within the physical limits of New York City. Situated in what is now the East 80s between the East River and 8th avenue. The research for the work took place over a period of several years. Searching tax records. Common Council Minutes. The minutes of The Court of New Amsterdam. Fire and Police Department records. Church histories. Diaries, Manuscripts, Letters, Newspapers and Magazines. Recollections and Personal Interviews. The goal was to bring under one roof, so to speak, the existing information so that a picture emerges showing a microcosm of the growth of the city. The book answers questions of why and where streets were opened. What were the motives of the various people who settled in an area so far from the city. Who were the main personalities that emerged to lead its inhabitants ? What support did the municipal government provide, if any ? The activities of the village during the draft riots of 1863. The advent of railroad and horse car service. For almost 50 years the village existed independently. Long before the City of New York grew that far north from the battery to absorb it. During those 50 years streets and avenues were opened in the village in accordance with the Street Plan of the New York City. Most were opened years before the city reached that part of Manhattan. The development of the transportation and road construction on Manhattan during the 19th century is well documented. The role the village played in both of those activities is discussed as well. Overall, it is an informative and valuable work for anyone interested in the history and development of The City of New York, from the perspective of an independent community growing in its midst. It is also well illustrated with many photographs of buildings no longer in existence. Several are one of a kind, taken by the author himself. It is fine book for history lovers.

City on a Grid
City on a Grid

Author: Gerard Koeppel

Publisher: Da Capo Press

Published: 2015-11-10

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0306822849

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The never-before-told story of the grid that ate Manhattan

Hell Gate
Hell Gate

Author: Michael Nichols

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 2018-09-10

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1438471408

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Depicts a man’s exploration of the landscape, history, and toponymy of Hell Gate, a notorious stretch of water in New York City’s East River. Part history and part memoir, Hell Gate tells of a man’s excursions along and through Hell Gate, a narrow stretch of water in New York City’s East River, notorious for dangerous currents, shipwrecks, and its melancholic islands and rocks. Drawn to the area by his fascination with its name—from the Dutch Hellegat,translated into English as both “bright passage” and “hellhole”—what begins as a set of casual walks for Michael Nichols becomes an exploration of landscape and history as he traces these idyllic and hellish images in an attempt to discover Hell Gate’s hidden character and the meaning of its elusive name. Using a loosely constructed set of sketches organized as a kind of tour along the edge of the river and then from a rowboat in the river, Nichols describes scenes and events as they present themselves, mixing history and lore with contemporary scenes. “Hell Gate is a great historical underpinning of colonial culture, as well as a sound landscape metaphor for America in all ages, and one that is vastly under-covered. This book is passionately written and deeply researched.” — Mike Freeman, author of Drifting: Two Weeks on the Hudson

Yorkville Twins
Yorkville Twins

Author: Joseph G. Gindele

Publisher: YorkvilleTwinsBook.com

Published: 2015-06-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780983933762

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

If you want to take a trip down memory lane, this book is for you. Full of humor, wisdom and frank talk, award-winning Yorkville Twins [required reading by college freshmen] is an endearing collection of stories involving immigrants, survival, growing up, coming of age, and learning what it is to be an American. More than a memoir of a 1950s working class neighborhood, it's an experience, a love story of family, friends, neighbors, and the Yorkville of yore, recounting daily life from a historical, social and cultural perspective. "In the 1940s and 1950s, . . . most [urban] people lived in a four- or five-story, walk-up tenement building. Often their apartments had no toilet. Families would share a common toilet in the hallway. There were no showers. The only bathtub in many cases was a washtub located in the kitchen, a tub so small the best a full-grown person could do was sit on the edge and put his or her feet in the water. . . . There was little or no privacy in the railroad style rooms. The time Joe and John Gindele reminisce about is post-war America in a large city. It was a time when news reports, politicians and leaders were believable in the public's mind. It was a time when teachers, priests, and the police were never challenged. It was a time before TV. Some people had telephones. Most didn't. Radio programs which sparked the imagination of children and adults alike were the daily fare." --Anthony Lofaso, author.With 100+ vintage photographs, richly annotated resources, and a multilingual glossary, the book is nostalgic, inspiring, and "laugh-out-loud" entertaining. The twins describe what the city was like then, how it changed, and how they and their family succeeded in living the American dream! It's an American tale full of adventures and misadventures, laughs, sweet memories and sad moments. How did their family ever survive living with these guys who share special bonds and predictive abilities? Readers will (1) Renew childhood memories, (2) Live the immigrant experience, and (3) Have fun doing so.

Before Central Park
Before Central Park

Author: Sara Cedar Miller

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2022-06-28

Total Pages: 568

ISBN-13: 0231543905

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winner - 2023 John Brinkerhoff Jackson Book Prize, UVA Center for Cultural Landscapes With more than eight hundred sprawling green acres in the middle of one of the world’s densest cities, Central Park is an urban masterpiece. Designed in the middle of the nineteenth century by the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it is a model for city parks worldwide. But before it became Central Park, the land was the site of farms, businesses, churches, wars, and burial grounds—and home to many different kinds of New Yorkers. This book is the authoritative account of the place that would become Central Park. From the first Dutch family to settle on the land through the political crusade to create America’s first major urban park, Sara Cedar Miller chronicles two and a half centuries of history. She tells the stories of Indigenous hunters, enslaved people and enslavers, American patriots and British loyalists, the Black landowners of Seneca Village, Irish pig farmers, tavern owners, Catholic sisters, Jewish protesters, and more. Miller unveils a British fortification and camp during the Revolutionary War, a suburban retreat from the yellow fever epidemics at the turn of the nineteenth century, and the properties that a group of free Black Americans used to secure their right to vote. Tales of political chicanery, real estate speculation, cons, and scams stand alongside democratic idealism, the striving of immigrants, and powerfully human lives. Before Central Park shows how much of the history of early America is still etched upon the landscapes of Central Park today.