History Lessons
How the city got here, from a Dutch trading post to eight million people.
A Short History of Central Park, and the Village It Replaced
Every stream, hill and wood in Central Park was built. So was the decision to clear Seneca Village, a community of about 225 people, to make room for it.
How New York Invented the Skyscraper
It took a lift, a steel frame, a zoning law and a race between two former business partners. The story of how Manhattan came to look the way it does.
The Immigrant City: Where New Yorkers Actually Came From
Twelve million people through Ellis Island, and then a second, larger wave after 1965 that most histories skip. How the city kept remaking itself.
From New Amsterdam to New York: How the City Changed Hands
A Dutch trading post of about 1,500 people surrendered to an English fleet in 1664 without a shot being fired, largely because its own citizens refused to defend it.
Three Fires That Rebuilt New York
The fire of 1776 that burned a quarter of the city, the Great Fire of 1835 that destroyed the entire business district, and the factory fire of 1911 that changed American labour law.
The History of the New York Subway
It started as a private business, was built by three competing companies, went bankrupt, nearly collapsed entirely in the 1970s, and still runs 24 hours a day.