To be notified of new PopSpots entries, follow PopSpotsNYC on Twitter: Follow Popspotsnyc on Twitter


For questions or comments you can email me (Bob) here.


 Unique and Odd New York York CIty


The Whisper Gallery. In the Lower Level of Grand Central Terminal at 42nd and Lex. If you face the wall and whisper into one corner of the gallery, your friend can hear you in the opposite corner, because of the curvature of the ceiling and the tiles of which it's made.




Map 1A+B FIDI - DOWNTOWN (as 2-page spread)



Map 1A FINANCIAL - WEST



Map 1B FINANCIAL - EAST



Map 2A+B The VILLAGES (as 2-page spread)



Map 2A VILLAGE - WEST



Map 2B VILLAGE - EAST



Map 3A+B MIDTOWN (as 2-page spread)



Map 3A MIDTOWN - WEST



Map 3B MIDTOWN - EAST



Map 4A+B PLAZA (as 2-page spread)



Map 4A PLAZA - WEST



Map 4B PLAZA EAST



Map 5A+B UPPER WEST SIDE / EAST SIDE (as 2-page spread)



Map 5A UPPER - WEST



Map 5B UPPER - EAST



Map 6A+B The BOROUGHS (as 2-page spread) (NOTE: BETTER FILES TO COME)


Map 6A BOROUGHS - EAST (Staten Island)



Map 6B EAST BOROUGHS - EAST (Upper Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn)



Whimsical metallic "rats" tryiing to scurry into the Graybar Building next door to Grand Central Terminal on Lexinton Ave. and 43rd Street.






 Below: Addresses for the Labels on the Maps


Famous Historical Photo Locations

Babe Ruth Bades Farewell (Yankee Stadium, Bronx)
Times Square V-J Day Kiss (7th Avenue and 44th Street)
John Lennon's New York T-Shirt (penthouse 434 East 52nd Street)
Titanic related - Pier 98 - where it was to dock; Jane Hotel (113 Jane St.) - (where survivors stayed)

RESIDENCES OF HISTORICAL FIGURES:

Thomas Edison lived here
- 24 Gramercy Park South

Eleanor Roosevelt lived here
- 49 East 65th Street b/t Madison and Park

Eleanor Roosevel lived here (1945-1948)
-29 Washington Sq. West at Waverly Place

Franklin D. Roosevelt lived here
- 49 East 65th Street b/t Madison and Park


AMERICAN HISTORY :
Ellis Island
The buildings on this island processed imigrant from 1892 to 1954.
In the early 800's the iland had been used to hange
pirates. It now received 3 million visitors a year or about 8,200
visitor a day.

Statue of Liberty
The statue was a gift to the US from France
in 1886. It's head was on diplay at the Paris
World's Fair 6 years before that. The actual
name is "Liberty Enightneing the World."

The TItanic - Where the Survivors Came In
The Titanic left Southhampton England bound for NY.
It was supposed to dock at the White Star Lines dock at Pier
59 near Chelsea Piers, instead the rescued passengers
docked at Pier 54 at West Street and 13th Street. You can
still see the words "Cunard White Star" painted on the iron remains of the
dock entrance. Many of the TItanic's survivors were put up at the Jane Hotel across West Street at 113 Jane Street.

TIn Pan Alley.
Before radios, many U.S. households had pianos and played the popular songs of the day from sheet music. 28th Street between 5th and 6th Ave is where the sheet music publichers were located. The constant noise of pianos being played along the row supposedly sounded like the noise of tin cans being banged, and thus you have the nickname "Tin Pan Alley" for music publishing, even today.

TO COME:
Faunces Tavern
Tickertape Parade
Grant's Tomb
Where Lincoln Spoke (Copper Union)
Teddy Roosevelt House
Slocum Disaster




• Famous Celebrity Death / Assasination Sites

John Lennon (Dakota) (Dakota, 1 West 72nd and Central Park West)
John Lennon shot here (1980)

Heath Ledger (421 Broome Street)
Heath Ledger death site (2008)

Jam Master Jay (90-10 Merrick Blvd., Queens)
Jam Master Jay death site (2002).

Jean-Michael Baquiat (57 Great Jones Street at Bowery)
Jean-Michael Baquiat death site (1988).

Keith Haring (325 Broome Street at Christie St.)
Keith Haring death site.

Malcom X (3490 Broadway at 165th St.)
Malcom X assassination site (1965)
(Audubon Ballroom)

Nancy Spungen (The Chelsea Hotel / 222 West 23rd Street / Room 100)
Nancy Spungen death site 1978).

Sid Vicious (63 Bank Street b/t Bleecker and West 4th)
Sid Vicious death site (1979)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (35 Bethune St. b/t Greenwich St. and Washington St.)
Philip Seymour Hoffman death site (2014).

Stanford White (former Madison Square Garden - Northeast Corner 25th and Madison)
Stanford White death site (1906)

Nelson Rockefeller (13 West 54th b/t 5th and 6th Aves)

Nelson Rockefeller death site (1979)

Andy Warhol shot here (1968) (33 Union Sq. West at 16th St., The Decker Building, 16th fl)
Andy Warhol shot here (1968)


• Notorious Organized Crime Assassination Sights
 Famous NYC Mob Locations

Where they lived:

Al Capone (as youth) 21 Garfield Placa b/t 4th Ave. and 5th Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Al Capone (mobster) born here

Frank Costello - 115 Central Park West at 72nd (The Majestic)

Frank Costello (mobster) lived here

Vincent "The Chin" Gigante - 225 Sullivan St. b/t Bleecker and West 3rd

Vincent "The Chin" Gigante (mobster) lived here

Meyer Lansky - 40 Central Park South b/t Fifth and Sixth

Meyer Lansky (mobster) lived here

Lucky Luciano - (The Majestic) 115 Central Park West at 72nd

Luck Muciano (mobster) lived here

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel - Waldorf-Astoria 100 East 50th St. at Park Ave.

Bugsy Seigel (mobster) lived here


The Mob's Greatest Hits: Where They Got Rubbed Out

Herman Rosenthal (sidewalk; Hotel Metropole 147 West 43rd, 1912)

Herman Rosenthal (mob rubout, 1912)

Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein (suite; Park Central Hotel, 870 7th Ave at 55th, 1928)

Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein (mob rubout, 1928)

Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (drugstore phone booth, 314 West 23rd St.; 1931)

Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (mob rubout, 1931)

Abe "Kid Twist" Reles (out a window; Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island; 1941)

Abe "Kid Twist" Reles (mob rubout, 1941)

Albert Anastasia (barbershop; Park Sheraton, now Park Central, 870 Seventh Ave at 56th (1957)

Albert Anastasia (mob rubout, 1957)

Joe Columbo - (standing, at a rally; Columbus Circle; 1971)

Joe Columbo (mob rubout, 1971)

"Crazy Joe" Gallo (dining; Umberto's Clam house; then at 129 Mulberry St. at Hester; 1972)

"Crazy Joe" Gallo (mob rubout, 1972)

Carmine Galante (backyard; Joe & Mary's Italian Restaurant, 205 Knickerbocker Ave., Bushwick, Brooklyn; 1979)

Carmine Galante (mob rubout, 1979)

Big Paul Costellano - (entering car; Sparks Steak House, 210 East 46th St.; 1985)

Big Paul Costellano (mob rubout, 1985)


Former Mob Social Clubs:

Ravenite Soclal Club (John Gotti) - 247 Mulberry, south of Prince; now a shoe store

Triange Civic Improvement Assn. (Vincent "The Chin" Gigante) - 208 Sullivan Street; now a tea store

Palma Boys Social Club (Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno) - 416 East 115th St.

Bergin Hunt and Fish Club (John Gotti) - 98-04 101st Ave., Ozone Park, Queens; now a pet grooming business


The Main Mob Burial Ground: St. John's Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens:

Buried there:

Joe Columbo
Carmine Galante
Carlo Gambino
Vito Genovese
John Gotti
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Joe Profaci
Salvatore Maranzano
Frank Costello

Mobster Sources

(from New York Daily News photos)
(from Ultimate Book of NY Lists
(Goodfellas Guide to New York )


• Famous Trial Sights

U.S. Federal Courthouse
(i.e. United States Southern District of New York Courthouse)(500 Pearl Street)

(Big federal cases tried here)
John Gotti ("The Teflon Don")
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Alger HIss
Bernard Madoff
James Joyce Ulysses
Pentagon Papers
"The Blind Sheik"


Jefferson Market (a former courthouse)
Mae West tried here for obscenity (1927)
Harry Thaw indicted here for killing Stanford White (1906).
There used to be a Women's Prison next door (1932-1974).
425 6th Avenue

Fed "Perp Walk:"
Officials "parade" the accused
from their cars to the front
door for the photograpgers

People who have been on"Perk Walk":

John Gotti (United States District Court) (500 Pearl Street)
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg(US Southern District of NY Courthouse) (500 Pearl Street
Bernard Madoff (US Southern District of NY Courthouse) (500 Pearl Street)
Harry Thaw (shot Stanford White) (Jefferson Market Courthouse/now Library) (Greenwich Village)
Mae West (obscenity for a play called Sex) (Jefferson Market Courthouse/now Library)

• Where Presidents and Kings Made History

Abe Lincoln - Cooper Union Address (1860; basement of Cooper Union)
Abe Lincoln spoke here (1860)
- The Great Hall of Cooper Union

George Washington Bade Farewell to hIs troops here (1783)
- Faunces Tavern
- 54 Pearl Street at Broad)

Tickertape Parade Route (since 1886)
"The Canyon of Heroes"
Battery Park to City Hall
- Teddy Roosevelt 1910
- Truman, 1945
- Nelson Mendela, 1990

Teddy Roosevelt Birthplace (1858)
28 East 20th St between Broadway and Park Avenue South

Barak Obama lived here in 1981
While a junior at Columbia, Obama shared
apartment #3E here with a roommate.
142 West 109th St. b/t Amsrterdam and Columbus.

Alexander Hamilton Grave
Trinity Churchyard
75 Broadway at Wall St.

"Grant's Tomb" (1897)
General Grant National Memorial
Grant and his wife buried here in an 8.5 ton sarcophagus
Riverside Drive at 122nd St.

Where Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President"
to John F Kennedy
(1962)
The old Madison Square Garden (8th Avene b/t 49th-50th Sts)
(They partied with Bobby and others later at movie producer Arthur Krim's
apt. at 33 East 69th St.)

John F. Kennedy suite - 34th floor of the Carlyle Hotel
JFK kept this suite here during
his presidency. He installed a black bay window as a breakfast nook. You
can see it from the ground on the North side.
35 East 76th Street at Madison Ave

The Fatal Duel Between Hamilton and Burr
The Duel took place in Weehawken, New Jerey, which the parties
reached by boat on the morning of July 11, 1804,
because dueling was illegal in New York. After Hamilton
was shot, they rowed him back and he died the next day at
the WIlliam Bayard House near Gansevoort Street in the VIllage.
The duel took place in what is today Hamilton PArk arcoss the river
from 44th Street.

Where the Grid system of Steet start
To prepare for its grown, New York decided to lay out Manhattan in a grid
system of streets above Houston Street in 1811. The
bottom right corner of the grid is at Houston Street where
East 1st Street meets Avenue A.

Lindberg receives his $25,000 Prize
In 1919 Brevoot Hotel owner Raymond Orteig offered a $25,000 reward
to the first person who could fly the Atlantic solo. After six
competitors died trying, Charles Lindbergh made the Long
Island to Paris trip in 1927. Upon his return, following a
tickertpe parade, Luck lindy got his reward at a breakfast
at the Brevoort with Orville Wright attending.
The Brevoort Hotel was demolished in 1953, and was replaced by the Brevoort apartment building, 11 FIfth Avenue at 8th Street.
Houdini Escapes
In a 1926 magic trick, Harry Houdini was submerged in an airtight
coffinlike case for an hour and a half in the basement pool of this
hotel, but came out alive. At the time is was called the Shelton Hotel. It is now
the New York Marriott East Side.

• Famous Manhattan Invention Locations
The Otis Elevator
Broome Steet and Broadway
After perfecting a way top prevent elevators from accidental falling,
Elisha Otis installs the first successful passenger elevator
in a 6-story department store, the Haughwout Store at Broome
and Broadway (still there) in March of 1857. It success leads to the
skyscrapers of Manattan.

The Manhattan Project
Beginning in August of 1942, this was the secret main headquarters
of the team of scientists and engineers building the atomic bomb.
230 Broadway at Chambers Street, 18th floor.

Pupin Hall (Pupin Physics Laboratories)
Located on the Columbia campus and distinguished by having obsevatory
domes on the room, the Pupin Labs were instrumental in experiments
to split the first atom, leading to the atomic bomb. Enrico Fermi
spit the first uranium atom in the U.S. here in 1939, ten days after
one was split in Copenhagen
Location: The northwest corner of campus, near Broadway and 120th Street.

Toilet Paper first sold here
Joseph Gayetty is credied with being the first person to sell packaged toilet paper in 1857. His business was located at 41 Ann Street at Nassau Street. The paper was sold in flat sheets, 1,000 for a dollar.

Oreo Cookies invented
Oreo Cookies were invented in New York at the flarge flagship Nabisco factory at 9th Ave and 15th Street in 1912. That factory is now Chelsea Market, a block-long food mall. The Oreo was similar to Hydrox Cookies, invented earlier. Tootsie Rolls invented
Tootsie Rolls were invented in New York City in 1907 by New York City by candy maker Leo Hirshfield. He named it for his daughter, Clara, who he called his little "tootsie." For many years the candy was made at the "Sweets Factory" at 325-329 West Broadway across from the Soho Grand Hotel near Grand Street.

• Famous Manhattan Graves and Graveyards
Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum
155th and Broadway
Ed Koch
John Audubon
Estelle Bennett (The Ronettes)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Clement Moore
Jerry Orbach

Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church
Lillian and Dorothy Gish buried in St. Bart's Chapel
108 East 51st. St. at Park Ave

Famous Cemetaries in the Boroughs


Green-Wood Cemetary, Brooklyn
500 25th Street, Brooklyn
Southwest of Prospect Park
F.A.O.Schwartz
Samuel Morse
Charlet Ebbets (Dodgers)
Boss Tweed (corrupt NY politician)
Louis Comfort Tiffany (lamps)

Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Webster Avenue and East 233rd St. Bronx
F.W. Woolworth
J. C. Penny
Fiorello LaGuardia
Duke Ellington
Miles Davis

Houdini's Grave
Machpelah Cemetery
82-30 Cypress Hills Street
Queens, New York


• Famous Bars, Nightclubs, and Restaurants of the 20th Century.
Delmonico's Restaurant (1837)
56 Beaver Street at WIlliam Street

The 21 Club (1929)
Originally: Jack and Charlie's 21 Club"
For years the Top Celebrity Club 50's-90's
21 West 52nd Street b/t 5th and 6th

The Stork Club (1929-1965)
One opf the world's great nighclubs
Columnist Walter Winchell had a table. Used in the
film All About Eve.
Was located at 3 East 53rd Street where Paley Park is now

The Cedar Tavern
A center for Beats and Abstact Expressionists in the 50's-60's.
24 University Place b/t 8th and 9th St.

The Stonewall Inn
A series of demonstarions against police raids here in 1969 helped gived birth to the
gay rights movement. Lou Reed lived upsatirs once.
(53 Christopher Street b/t 7th Ave South and Waverly Place.)

The White Horse Tavern
40-60's folk, beat, and literary hangout in the West Village.
Dylan Thomas' final drinking binge was here.
(567 Hudson Street at West 11th St.)

Elaine's (1963-2011)
Famed hangout for writers and celebs like Woody Allen
(1703 2nd Ave at 88th Street)


• Famous Hotels of the 20th Century.


The Plaza Hotel (1907)
The iconic NYC hotel; also Eloise, The F. Scott Fitzgeralds in Pulitzer Fountain out front, and many movie scenes. (768 5th Avenue and 59th St.)

The Sherry Netherland (1927)
Part hotel, part co-op; roof somewhat resembles
Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany. Famous
Cipriani bar downstairs.
781 Fifth Avenue at 59th St.

The Waldorf Astoria (1931)
The choice of kings, presidents, and celebrities
for years: Kennedys, Marilyn, Sinatra
301 Park Avenue and 50th Street

ETHNIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY


• NYC Gay History Sites in Popular Culture

The Stonewall Inn
Protests and riots following a police raid in 1969
helped launch the Gay Rights movement.
53 Christopher St b/t 7th Ave South and Waverly Place

"Gay Liberation" - a monument by George Segal
A grouping of 2 men and 2 women in Christopher
Park celebrates the Gay Rights movement founding nearby.

Julius (bar)
159 West 10th at Waverly Place

The Cubbyhole (bar)
One of NYC's oldest lesbian bars, since 1994.


• NYC African-American History Sites in Popular Culture

Malcom X
(The Audobon Ballroom / 3940 Broadway at 165th St.)
Malcom X assassination site (1965)
(Audubon Ballroom)
3490 Broadway at 165th St.
Hamilton Heights

Apollo Theater
(253 West 125th St.bet Frederic Douglass/AC Powell)
A bastion of black entertainment since 1934. Most every legendary black performer from the 30's-70's played here. Holds famed Wednesday night amateur night with audience participation. Sidewalk hall of fame out front. 253 West 125th St b/t Adam CLayton Powell and Frederick Douglass.

Langston Hughes Residence
The writer and poet lived here from 1947-1967.
Hughes was a big player the Harlem Ranaissance,
a flouriging of the arts in Harlem during the 20's and 30's.
His ashes are under the foyer of the the Schomberg Center library.
20 East 127th St. b/t 5th and Madison.

The Hotel Theresa
2090 Adam Vlayton Powell Jr. Blvd at 125h St.
The premier hotel in Harlem from 40's to the 60's. Joe Lewis lived here. Many
entertainers playing the nearby Apollo stayed here. Fidel Castro and
an entourage of forty famously stayed here in 1960 after finding
a mid-town hotel not suitable.


• NYC Latino History Sites in Popular Culture

El Museum del Barrio (1230 FIfth Avenue)
NYC's leading Lation Cultural Institution with Latino, Caribbean, and
Latin American cultural events.
1230 5th Avemue b/t 104th and 105th Streets.

Nuyorican Poet's Cafe (1973)
Early center for poetry slams and open mike nights. Founded by
Puerto Ricans in the East VIllage.

Ballet Hispanico (1970)
Ameria's premier Hispanic and Latino American
dance company.Present location is a
carriage house next to former Claremeont Riding Stable
167 West 89th str. b/t Amsterdam and Columbus.



• NYC Women's History Sites in Popular Culture

Barbizon Hotel For Women
Built as a residential hotel for women. Open 1930's-1970's. Former residents: Grace Kelly, Candine Bergen, Liza Minelli

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)
146 garment workers, mostly aged 16-23 perished in a three
floor fire because stairwell doors were locked in March, 1911.
It led to the founding of the Internationa Garment Worker's
Union (ILGWU.)
23-29 Washington PLace at Greene St.

Jane Jacobs Apartment.
Jacobs was a public advocate against destroying neighborhoods with giant buildings and roadways and saved neighborhoods like Soho. Her urban planining book: The Death and Life of Great American Cities is a classic. She lived at 555 Hudson Street b/t Perry and West 11th St.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis Apt. After the destructionof Penn Station 1963
Jacki O spearheaded the drive to save Grand Central - and won.
leading to the creation of the Landmarks Commission in 1965.
She lived at 1050 FIfth Ave at East 86th Street.

Gloria Steinham Apt. (since 1966)
Steinham co-founded Ms. magazine, starting as an insert
in New York magazine in July 1972. Ms. was the
first mainstream women's magazine about social issues and was a landmark in feminist history and women's rights.
118 East 73rd St. b/t PArk and Lex.
Martha Graham Dance Studio
Founded in 1926. America's oldest dance studio.
316 East 63rd Street b/t 1st and 2nd Aves.

Eleanor Roosevelt Apt. (29 Washington Square West; 20 East 11th Street)
Bryant Park ((rally at end of first Women's Strike For Equality-1970) (xxxxx)
Edith Wharton Apt. (writer) (7 Washington Square North)
Martha Graham Dance Studio (original) (66 Fifth Ave.; 316 East 63rd Street)
Gloria Steinham apt. (1966-present) (2nd floor, 118 east 73rd Street)
Alqonquin Hotel (Dorothy Parker writer) (59 West 44th Street)

SMALLER MANHATTAN HISTORICAL DISTRICTS AND NEIG HBORHOODS OF MANHATTAN YOU MIGHT WANT TO EXPLORE


Ethnic Neighborhoods in Manhattan

Chinatown - Tradition neighborhood - centered around Mott St. and Canal St. then 2 -3 blocks in all directions. (Map 1B -3A)
Chinese Street of Shops/Markets/Restaurants - Grand Street between Mott Street and Allen Street (Map 2B - 3D)
Indian Restaurants District - Centered along 6th Street between 1st and 2nd Aves. (Map 2B - 3B)
Little Brazil - 46th St. b/t 5th-6th Aves. (Map 3B - 3A)
Little India - Centered between 26th-28th Street along Lexington Ave. (Map 3B - 3A)
Little Italy - Mulberry St. from Canal to Broome Street (Map 2B - 3D)
Koreatown - Centered around 32nd St. between 5th and 6th Aves. (Map 3B - 3C)

Business Districts

Antiques District: 59th-60th Street b/t 1st and 3rd Ave. (Map 4B - 4C)
Art Gallery District (Chelsea)- centered along 18th-25th Sts b/tween 10th-11th Street. (Map 3A - 1D)
Art Gallery District (Lower East Side) - centered around Bowery to Suffolk b/t Hester St. and Houston St. )(Map 2B - 3C)
Bookstore Row (1930-1960)
Diamond District - 47th St. b/t 5th to 6th Aves (Map 3B - 3A)
Flower District - West 28th Street b/t 6th and 7th Aves.(Map 3A - 2C)
Fur District - West 29th St. b/t 7th and 8th Aves. (Map 3A - 2C)
Garment District - 35th to 41nd Streets. b/t 5th to 9th Aves. (Map 3A-2B)
Millinery, Buttons, Beads and Costume Jewelry District - 36th-39th Sts. centered around 6th Avenue. (Map 3B-3B)
"Restaurnt Row" - 46th between 8th - 9th; specializing in pre-theater dinner (Map 3A-2A)
Noveltiy Jewelery and Nicknacks Wholesale District - centered on Broadway between 25th to 28th Streets (Map 3B - 3C)

Historic DIstricts
"Bookstore Row" - 1890's 1960's - 4th Avenue between 8th St. and 14th St.(Map 2A - 2A)
Village Nightclubs District - Bleecker and MacDougal Street (Map 2A - 2C)
"Counterculture" District - St. Mark's Place (an extention of 8th St.) between 2nd and 3rd Ave. (Map 2B- 3B)
"TIn Pan Alley" - center of sheet music publishing in the 1900-1930's - centerered on 28th St. b/t 5th and 6th Aves. (Map 3B - 3C)
"Swing Street" - 52nd Street betwen 5th and 6th (1940's-1960's)
"The Deuce" - 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Aves,(1940-1960)
"The Bowtie" - where Broadway and 7th Avenue cross at 45th Street
"Music Row" - 48th Street bwtween 6th and 7th Aves. (1930's-2015)
"Museum Mile" - 5th Ave from 80th Street to 105th Street.