New York City: Appreciating Its Most Precious Resources

New Yorkers have been distressed in recent years (and with good reason) over the many venerable (and still viable) shops, restaurants and taverns that have had to close—not because their business had dropped off, but merely because their landlord had doubled, tripled, even quadrupled their rent. It’s an issue many residents of New York City care deeply about, as more and more chain stores and restaurants move into the city. The very nature of the town we love seems to be changing, and not for the better.

But it’s good sometimes to stop and remember that all is not lost—that we still have many unique establishments that offer a quirky character all their own. Here’s a Buzzfeed list any New Yorker (and even more so, any tourist) should have handy as he make their way around the Big Apple.

44 Amazing NYC Places That Actually Still Exist

New York City: Russ and Daughters storefront

NYC as it was

Frank Oscar Larson (1896-1964) was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, of Swedish immigrant parents and lived in Flushing, Queens most of his life. As an adult, Larson spent his days at a branch of the Empire Trust Company (now Bank of New York Mellon), working his way up through the ranks from auditor to vice-president, and spare time on weekends taking photographs of street life throughout New York City.

He was an accomplished photographer who eloquently documented 1950s Chinatown, the Bowery, Hell’s Kitchen, City Island, Times Square, Central Park, and much more.

This exhibition is compiled from thousands of negatives recently discovered stored away in his daughter-in-law’s house in Maine in 2009. Soren Larson, his grandson and a television news camera man and producer, has been scanning and printing the 55-year-old images found stored in over 100 envelopes filled with mostly medium format, 2-1/4 x 2-1/4″ negatives, and neatly noted by location and date in Larson’s own hand.

Frank Oscar Larson: 1950s New York Street Stories is on view at the queensmuseum.org through May 20, 2012.


The above text is from queensmuseum.org

Our favorite New Yorkers: Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is one of our favorite New Yorkers. Did we ever tell you she once took our photograph (many film rolls’ worth of photographs, actually)? No? Well, you can read all about it in the story we wrote for Salon.com at the time.

Anyway, we read with avid interest Time Out New York‘s interview with Annie, Why I Love NYC, and it came as no surprise whatsoever that we’re big fans of all six of the sites she cites (well, five out of six—we never had the pleasure of visiting Margaret Bourke-White’s studio on the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building, but we are perfectly willing to take Annie’s word for it that seeing it was an amazing experience).

If you’re traveling to NYC, you could certainly do worse than to visit the five places Annie mentions in the interview. I mean, who wouldn’t want Annie Leibovitz for a tour guide?

All aboard the Nostalgia Train!

Great news! A grand NYC holiday tradition is again renewed as the Nostalgia Train makes its weekly runs once again.

Vintage Semdac advertisementGoldenberg's Peanut Chews advertisementVintage Berkeley Blades advertisementVintage Alka-Seltzer advertisementVintage Burma-Shave advertisementVintage Postum advertisementExterior of vintage subway carInterior of vintage subway carInterior of vintage subway carInterior of vintage subway carVintage subway seatsVintage WNYC-AM advertisementVintage hat advertisementVintage Subway Sun panelVintage Subway Sun panelVintage Subway Sun panelVintage Subway Sun panelVintage Subway Sun panelCelebrate Citizenship DayVintage Subway Sun panelHelpful Hints panelVintage Subway Sun panel
View the Slideshow

What’s the Nostalgia Train, you ask?

Every holiday season in recent years, the good folks at the NYC transit have run the Nostalgia Train, which is made up of subway cars that operated from the 1930s to the 1970s. Not only do train fans and nostalgia buffs get to experience subway cars from another era, but all the ads that line the upper walls of the cars are vintage ones, ranging from the 1930s through the 1960s.

Our first experience with the Nostalgia Train came some years back, on a special express run from midtown to Coney Island on a hot summer day, but it’s even more fun at holiday time.

The train runs on Sundays from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m., November 28 thru December 26, making the same stops as the M train, traveling from the 2nd Avenue station on the Lower East Side to Queens Plaza and back again.

You can catch a ride on these classic R1/9 subway cars at stations along the weekday M Line icon line between Queens Plaza and 2 Av. You can board the train at these stations:

Queens Plaza

• Court Sq-23 St

• Lexington Av/53 St

• 5 Av/53 St

• 47-50 Sts/Rockefeller Center

• 42 St Bryant Park

• 34 St Herald Sq

• 23 St (6 Av)

• 14 St (6 Av)

• W 4 St Wash Sq

• B’way-Lafayette St

• 2 Av

Departures from 2nd Avenue are at: 9:58 a.m., 11:27 a.m., 12:57 p.m., 2:27 p.m., and 3:57 p.m..

Departures from Queens Plaza are at: 10:43 a.m., 12:13 p.m., 1:42 p.m., 3:13 p.m., and 4:43 p.m..

In the past, we’ve donned vintage clothing when riding the nostalgia train, and in a perfect world, everyone else would do the same—think how it would heighten the experience! But if you’re in from out of town and left your vintage wear at home, don’t let that stop you from enjoying this little bit of time travel.

The photos in the slideshow are from a ride we took in December 2008. They’ll give you an idea, we hope, of what a delightful experience the Nostalgia Train is.

A Day of Gratitude

On a stroll up Fifth Avenue this morning, as the preparations were underway for today’s Veterans Day parade, we came across this beaut of a 1938 Packard. The kind gentleman who owns this beautiful car, a proud veteran of the Vietnam War, admired our vintage garb and insisted on taking a picture of us standing by his car.

After chatting a bit about the car (he’s had it 32 years and has done all the restoring of the car himself), we thanked him for his service and for sharing that lovely auto with us and continued on our way.

Here’s to all those who have served in our nation’s armed forces over the years; we truly appreciate your sacrifice and your service.