Portal:New York City/Did you know

These are Did you know? subpages that display on Portal:New York City. One set will be selected randomly, using {{Random subpage}}.

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Did you know 1

Portal:New York City/Did you know/1

... that Aaron Clark (pictured) was the only Whig Party candidate ever elected mayor of New York City?
... that the Staten Island Light was designated as a 'New York City Landmark' in 1968 and still remains a valuable aid to navigation for all ships entering the Ambrose Channel in Lower New York Bay?
... that New York City has been working on the Second Avenue Subway project since 1919?
... that the Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden is rated "one of the finest pick-up spots in Manhattan"?"
... that Brooklyn Brewery hired Milton Glaser, best known as the creator of the logo for the I Love New York campaign, to create their company logo?

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Did you know 2

Portal:New York City/Did you know/2

... that the Andrew Freedman Home (pictured) served as a retirement home for "aged and indigent persons of both sexes" who had formerly been of "good circumstances"?
... that Richard Ravitch was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New York on July 8, 2009, in a move that New York's attorney general claimed was unconstitutional?
... that Sid Bernstein helped start the British Invasion by getting The Beatles to play at Carnegie Hall?
... that President Barack Obama has appointed two former Presidents of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to positions in his administration?
... that the Big Apple has "apple green" taxis?

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Did you know 3

Portal:New York City/Did you know/3

... that Jacob Aaron Westervelt (pictured), the former Mayor of New York City, attempted to uniform the Police of New York, a move seen by some as "un-American"?
... that New York City authorities asked the Museum of Sex not to locate itself within 500 feet of a church or school?"
... that New York Mets mascot Mrs. Met debuted in the 1960s, shortly after Mr. Met, making her one of Major League Baseball's oldest mascots?
... that the National Debt Clock in Manhattan ran out of digits on September 30, 2008, when the United States public debt passed the $10 trillion mark?
... that more than 700 of the caricatures on display at Sardi's restaurant in New York City were drawn by a Russian refugee in exchange for meals at the restaurant?

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Did you know 4

Portal:New York City/Did you know/4

... that the Henry Clay Frick House (pictured) on New York City's Fifth Avenue was the model for the Avengers Mansion?
... that Major League Baseball manager Billy Martin served five separate terms as manager of the New York Yankees?
... that "Donde quiera que estés", a collaboration with Mexican-American singer-songwriter Selena, became the first number-one hit for the Barrio Boyzz?
... that after its colonel was cashiered for drunkenness, the 68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment was commanded by a German prince?
... that Seinfeld co-creator Larry David modeled the character Cosmo Kramer after his neighbor Kenny Kramer?

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Did you know 5

Portal:New York City/Did you know/5

... that the $45 million penthouse at One Madison (pictured) comes with a free butler?"
... that the original St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church of Woodside, Queens, New York was built by Franz J. Berlenbach Jr.?
... that despite her illiteracy, Catherine Ferguson founded the first Sunday school in New York City which later became known as Murray Street Sabbath School?
... that 1 William Street was designated as a New York landmark in 1996 by the New York City Landmark's Preservation Commission?
... that in 1969, noted writer Norman Mailer ran for Mayor of New York City advocating New York City secession?

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Did you know 6

Portal:New York City/Did you know/6

... that New York's Sony Building (pictured), with its distinctive Chippendale roof, was originally built by AT&T as its headquarters, but they no longer needed the space after the Bell System divestiture?
... that three Nobel laureates affiliated with the City University of New York graduated together from the City College of New York in 1937?
... that Dorothy Miner was acknowledged as the person "who helped establish the legal right to designate landmarks" in the U.S. for her role in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City?
... that Rabbi Stephen Wise founded New York City's Free Synagogue in 1907 after turning down a position at Temple Emanu-El because its trustees would review his sermons?
... that the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory has been cited as having the best ice cream in New York City?"

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Did you know 7

Portal:New York City/Did you know/7

... that the King Jagiello Monument (pictured) in Central Park, New York, was forced to remain in the United States after the Nazi invasion of Poland made its return from the 1939 New York World's Fair impossible?
... that Manhattan's Rose Hill neighborhood was the original site of Madison Square Garden, where millionaire Harry K. Thaw killed architect Stanford White over Evelyn Nesbit?
... that the February 1969 nor'easter resulted in the first time in history that the New York Stock Exchange closed for a full day due to the weather?
... that Chirlane McCray, who wrote the "groundbreaking" 1979 essay "I Am a Lesbian" for Essence, later married Bill de Blasio?
... that the Broadway play Bronx Bombers stars married couple Peter Scolari and Tracy Shayne as Yogi Berra and his wife, Carmen?

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Did you know 8

Portal:New York City/Did you know/8

... that the 19th-century swindler Bertha Heyman (pictured), known as "The Confidence Queen," conned men by pretending to be a wealthy woman who was unable to access her fortune?
... that the New York Stars were the champions of the Women's Professional Basketball League in its second year, but never played another game as the team disbanded after the 1979–80 season?
... that over 100 countries are represented and almost 170 languages are spoken in the ethnic enclaves of New York City?
... that Lighthouse Hill on Staten Island got its name from the Staten Island Lighthouse, built in 1912, which towers 141 feet (43 meters) above the Lower New York Bay and can be seen as far as 18 miles (29 km) away?
... that The New York Times moved in 1858 to a building at 41 Park Row, making it the first newspaper in New York City housed in a building built specifically for its use?

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Did you know 9

Portal:New York City/Did you know/9

... that exhibits at the New York City Police Museum (pictured) include the machine gun used by Al Capone's gang in the 1928 murder of Frankie Yale?
... that while Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was a "very appropriate place" to build it, 64% of polled Americans felt it was wrong to build the Park51 mosque near Ground Zero?
... that New York talent agent Sam Cohn, who Time magazine called "the first superagent of the modern age", liked to eat paper?
... that Andrew Freedman, owner of the National League's New York Giants, bought the American League's Baltimore Orioles from John Mahon to raid Baltimore's best players?
... that in 2005, the Bruce High Quality Foundation pulled a floating island of parkland, complete with living trees, around New York Harbor, turning a drawing by Robert Smithson into reality?

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Did you know 10

Portal:New York City/Did you know/10

... that the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center (entrance pictured) is located in the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated?
... that the New York Sunday Mercury was the most widely read weekly newspaper in the United States in the mid 19th century?
... that public perception of graffiti in New York is slowly changing from an act of vandalism to a form of art?
... that during his senior season at St. John's, basketball player Boo Harvey hit three buzzer-beating, game-winning shots?
... that the City University of New York system (CUNY) is the United States' largest urban public university system?

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Did you know 11

Portal:New York City/Did you know/11

... that the Islamic Cultural Center of New York (pictured), which opened in 1991, was the first purpose-built mosque in New York City?
... that the Skyscraper Museum in New York City was forced to close temporarily as its space was commandeered as an emergency information center after the September 11, 2001 attacks?
... that Alfred J. Kahn spent 57 years on the faculty of the Columbia University School of Social Work, where he wrote multiple reports regarding child welfare in New York City for the Citizens' Committee for Children?
... that the Fifth Avenue Theatre became the first air-conditioned theatre in the world in 1877?
... that after 33 years in jail as the "Elevator Bandit", 63-year-old Arthur Williams went on a final crime spree with a gun in one hand, a cane in the other and an oxygen tank hooked up to his nose?

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Did you know 12

Portal:New York City/Did you know/12

... that 1520 Sedgwick Avenue (pictured) in The Bronx has been recognized as the "birthplace of hip hop"?
... that Mildred Dunnock played the role of Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman in three mediums — on Broadway, and for both film and television?
... that the current Brutalist synagogue building of Temple Israel of the City of New York was completed in 1967?
... that Max Kase wrote in support of jazz and flappers in 1922, helped found the NBA in 1946, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1952 for exposing college basketball point-shaving scandals?
... that the Palazzo Chupi is named after a lollipop?

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Did you know 13

Portal:New York City/Did you know/13

... that the schooner Shearwater (pictured) was hit by falling debris from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001?
... that the NYU University Village is a former Mitchell-Lama housing complex that hosts a Pablo Picasso sculpture?
... that much of the recorded rowdyism in New York of the 1820s took place at the short-lived Lafayette Circus?
... that the Drexel Collection, a collection of over 6,000 volumes of books about music and musical scores owned by The New York Public Library, was donated by Joseph W. Drexel?
... that the term "hatchet man" originated from the weapon of choice used in killings on Chinatown's Doyers Street, known as the "Bloody Angle" for its frequent gang murders in the early 20th century?

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Did you know 14

Portal:New York City/Did you know/14

... that the Gotham Book Mart in Manhattan's diamond district, with its iconic Wise Men Fish Here sign, was frequented by distinguished authors such as Henry Miller and Allen Ginsberg?
... that the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden at the Bohemian Citizens' Benevolent Society in Queens has a lime tree that was planted by former Czechoslovakia president Václav Havel?
... that Robert Tishman co-founded Tishman Speyer in 1978 with his son-in-law Jerry Speyer, a firm that is one of the largest owners and builders of office buildings in the New York?
... that TriBeCa's St. John's Park was a farm, a private park, and a freight depot on the West Side Line before being used for exits of the Holland Tunnel?
... that the 19th century New York City saloon Hole-in-the-Wall employed two female criminals as bouncers?

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Did you know 15

Portal:New York City/Did you know/15

... that the People's Library (pictured) was formed when an abandoned cardboard box full of books was discovered in Zuccotti Park, New York?
... that the Stillwell Avenue/Surf Avenue intersection in New York City is the site of the world's largest subway station?
... that, unlike other Colonial Revival post offices in New York, the Lenox Hill station on Manhattan's Upper East Side has two main entrances on either side?
... that the New York City Fire Department lost 12 firefighters in the 23rd Street Fire in 1966, the department's largest loss of life in a single incident until 343 officers were killed on September 11, 2001?
... that a meeting on May 24, 1963 brought black leaders together with U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who complained, "You can't talk to them the way you can talk to Martin Luther King"?

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Did you know 16

Portal:New York City/Did you know/16

... that Hal the Central Park Coyote got his nickname from his temporary lair in Hallett Nature Sanctuary (pictured) in Central Park, New York City?
... that Seymour Pine, who led the NYPD raid that triggered the Stonewall riots, later admitted that such raids were seen as an easy way to improve arrest numbers as the gays "never gave you any trouble"?
... that the New York-based mock metal / glam metal band Satanicide replaced their bassist when they became aware that he "secretly liked Billy Joel"?
... that the British Army used sugar houses in New York City to hold prisoners during the American Revolutionary War?
... that Doc Cheatham (1905–1997) has been described as the only jazz musician to create his best work after the age of 70?

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Did you know 17

Portal:New York City/Did you know/17

... that the Latting Observatory (pictured), described as "New York's first skyscraper", was the tallest building in the United States at 315 feet (96 m) during its brief life from 1853 until it burnt down in 1856?
... that Four Freedoms Park was built from plans found in the architect's pocket when he died of a heart attack?
... that as of 1981, New York City's Toy Center was the site of 95% of the toy business transacted in the United States?
... that center George Gregory led the Columbia Lions in 1930–31 to its first title in what was to become the Ivy League, and was later named as the first African American All-American basketball player?
... that Bagel Bakers Local 338 controlled bagel making in New York City for decades, with a 1951 strike creating a "bagel famine" that resulted in sales of lox dropping up to 50% in area delis?

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Did you know 18

Portal:New York City/Did you know/18

... that Thaddeus P. Mott (pictured), a 19th century adventurer and soldier of fortune, recruited ex-Union and Confederate veterans for service in the Egyptian Army?
... that personal injury lawyers mapped the sidewalks of New York City for defects, rendering the city liable for $600 million in judgments between 1997 and 2006?
... that New York Judge Charles Fraser MacLean earned the first U.S. Ph.D. in philosophy and was among the first non-combatants to enter Paris after the French surrender in the Franco-Prussian War?
... that the Archdiocese of New York fought unsuccessfully to have the National Museum of Catholic Art and History remove the word "Catholic" from its name?
... that diners at beefsteak banquets "keep score" by piling up the bread slices that come with their beef tenderloin?

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Did you know 19

Portal:New York City/Did you know/19

... that the Tontine Coffee House (pictured), established in 1793, is recognized as the antecedent to the New York Stock Exchange?
... that 66th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan was once proposed by Donald Trump as the site of a 150-story building that would have been the world's tallest?
... that U.S. Army Special Forces reservist Gary Rader was arrested in 1967 for draft-card burning in Central Park?
... that the Beaux Arts exterior of the 1907 Surrogate's Courthouse in New York features no fewer than 54 sculptures of historical and allegorical figures?
... that Super Bowl XLVIII has been dubbed the Mass Transit Super Bowl?

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Did you know 20

Portal:New York City/Did you know/20

... that the United States Navy built the battleship USS Recruit (pictured) in New York City's Union Square?
... that some 9,000 weddings a year are held in Queens Borough Hall in New York City, and Friday is the most popular day?
... that the New York City government purchased the once-luxurious Concourse Plaza Hotel in The Bronx in 1974 and turned it into a senior citizens' residence?
... that the four large housing cooperatives that make up Cooperative Village on the Lower East Side of Manhattan were sponsored and financed by trade unions with ties to the Socialist Party of America?
... that at Masa, an elite New York City restaurant, no menus are available, because the chef, Masa Takayama, cooks whatever he wants?

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