The Historic Districts Council of New York City is a consulting party to the Section 106 Historic Review Process for proposed Link5G Towers. This summer, CityBridge, the private contractor installing 32-foot tall 5G towers, sought to begin the review process. HDC called the process “so haphazard and opaque” that the historic preservation organization joined forces with colleague organizations to appeal directly to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Together thy were successful in halting the Link 5G Section 106 Historic Review Process until CityBridge could provide clear and accessi ..read more

Halloween is full of spooks and frights, and one of the most celebrated holidays in the US, but also one of the most wasteful. To keep your Halloween green by following these tips: Compost Your Pumpkins: Decomposing organic material can release methane gas in landfills. To limit methane emissions, compost your pumpkins and food scraps at home or participate in a drop-off or residential collection service. Get Creative with Costumes: The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions worldwide, with 23 billion pounds of clothing ending up in landfills across the US. Read more ..read more

During the American Revolution in August 1778, given advanced warning of an impending raid by Loyalist and their Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) allies, scores of families around Pakatakan (Margaretville, in the town of Middletown, Delaware County, NY) began leaving their homes to seek shelter with families and friends near Kingston. Finding such shelter was not an easy task when so many frontier families descended on the more settled parts of Ulster and surrounding counties.  Fortunately for the Henrich Yaple clan, even though Henrich has been taken captive, they had an existing place to welco ..read more

This week on the Historians Podcast Historan David Pietrusza talks about his new book Gangsterland: A Tour Through the Dark Heart of Jazz-Age New York City (Diversion Books, 2023). Gangsterland is a site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through Roaring Twenties Manhattan, where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night. Pietrusza is also author of a book about gangster Arnold Rothstein, most noted for his role in fixing baseball’s infamous 1919 World Series. Read more ..read more

The city of New York, founded in 1625, is teeming with history in plain sight. Nestled between famous landmarks and colossal skyscrapers are streets and avenues that reveal much about the community’s history. The Museum at Eldridge Street will host a virtual talk about the spies and traitors, soldiers and politicians, and governors and royals who gave the Lower East Side streets their names. This event is free but donations are suggested. Read more ..read more

Almost all media covering the 1777 Battles of Saratoga tell a story of American Generals Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates embroiled in a nasty conflict of personalities which peaked when Gates stripped Arnold from command. Nevertheless, Arnold famously defied Gates and participated in the decisive October 7 Battle of Bemus Heights anyway. But, come to find out, the story’s not exactly true. A letter written by Nathaniel Bacheller, a militia adjutant from New Hampshire, to his wife, Suzanna, on October 9, 1777 was recently rediscovered by historians when it appeared on the auction site eBay ..read more

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Division of Water conducted sampling in the Hudson and Mohawk rivers this past summer to study the macroinvertebrate community, evaluate current conditions in these large rivers, and compare the observations in 2023 to the community studied in the 1970s. Monitoring took place at 32 of the same locations as those originally sampled and used the same collection methods and type of equipment. Along with evaluating the biological condition of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, DEC and the United States Geological Survey conducted analys ..read more

During the Adirondack Park Agency’s October 12 meeting, I noted with appreciation the APA members who asked pertinent questions about the staff’s proposed permit for Carver Sand and Gravel in the town of Ephratah, Fulton County (Project 2022-0037). These questions and concerns included but were not limited to the proposed dramatic rise in the maximum number of daily truck trips out of the mine (from a maximum of 75 per day to a max of 200 per day). Read more ..read more

On November 23, 1861, hundreds of men dressed in the blue uniforms of the United States Army mustered in Saratoga Springs. Hailing from villages and towns across Saratoga County as well as from Fulton and Essex counties, the soldiers of the newly formed 77th New York State Volunteer Infantry Regiment were heading off to war. Nearly seven months earlier, on April 12, successionist forces had opened fire on the federal government’s Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor. Read more ..read more

In March 1791 Treasury Secretary and Federalist Party leader Alexander Hamilton shocked the western frontier when he proposed a domestic excise tax on whiskey to balance America’s national debt. The law, known colloquially as the “Whiskey Act,” disproportionately penalized farmers in the backcountry, while offering favorable tax incentives designed to protect larger distillers. Although Hamilton viewed the law as a means of both collecting revenue and forcefully imposing federal authority over the notoriously defiant frontier, settlers in Western Pennsylvania bristled at its passage. Read mor ..read more