Category Archives: Current Projects
The Measure of a Man
The size of a funeral is the measure of a man, and in 1932, Upper West Sider Sol Brill’s departure from this earth was larger than life. An, honest, dignified, gentle soul was cut down by cancer at age 54, at the height of his career as a movie-theater builder and operator. Brill’s funeral was […]
A Review of “East in Eden: William Niblo and His Pleasure Garden of Yore”
From New York Irish History Volume 28 (2014), released November, 2015: East in Eden, William Niblo & His Pleasure Garden of Yore by Benjamin Feldman (The Green-Wood Historic Fund in association with New York Wanderer Press, 2014) William Niblo (1790–1878), an Irish immigrant who amassed an entertainment and real estate empire in New York City […]
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Errata…:-)
A minor correction must be added to my biography of William Niblo East in Eden: William Niblo and His Pleasure Garden of Yore. On page 92, third line, I mistakenly identified the location of the New York City Almshouse in 1818 as being on Blackwell’s (now Roosevelt) Island in the East River. In fact the Almshouse, […]
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The Toast of the Town….
Billy Niblo is quite the man these days, despite being gone since 1878 ! Come hear this blogger speak about Niblo’s fascinating career as New York’s premier tavernkeep and then pleasure garden owner in the early and mid-19th century […]
Also posted in Lost New York, Talks & Events, William Niblo biography
A Sorry End…
In 1940 and again four decades later, New York City’s real estate tax assessment authorities photographed every single one of the more than 800,000 tax lots in the five boroughs. 86 Lefferts Place, Brooklyn, had been the last residence of Henry Knight Dyer and his wife Caroline Lavinia Price Dyer before their deaths in 1911 […]
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William Niblo on CUNY’s Gotham History Blotter !
Take a gander at my illustrated article that CUNY’s Gotham History Blotter put up yesterday. It tells the story, in brief of my current obscure object of desire, the life and times of New York’s pre-eminent tavernkeep and pleasure garden operator of the early and mid-19th century, William Niblo: http://www.gothamcenter.org/blotter/
Also posted in Press, William Niblo biography
WILLIAM NIBLO AND CALVARY CHURCH – JOIN ME SUNDAY APRIL 21, 2013 AT 11:00 A.M.
With the kind invitation of Calvary Church, I will give an illustrated talk about the life and times of one of the many illustrious members of the Calvary parish, Wiliam Niblo. The talk will be given after 11:00 am Mass, at a luncheon in the Parish House. Niblo (c. 1790- 1878) was a warden […]
Also posted in Talks & Events, William Niblo biography
William Niblo Appears at The Hudson Chautauqua: Saturday March 16, 2013
PLEASE JOIN AUTHOR BENJAMIN FELDMAN AT THE HUDSON, NEW YORK CHAUTAUQUA ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 16TH AT 3:00 PM FOR A FASCINATING ILLUSTRATED TALK ABOUT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NEW YORK’S FAMOUS TAVERNKEEP AND THEATER IMPRESARIO, WILLIAM NIBLO. HALF TOOTS SHOR, THE OTHER HALF SOL HUROK, NIBLO RULED THE ENTERTAINMENT INDSUTRY OF EARLY AND […]
Also posted in Talks & Events, William Niblo biography
William Niblo Stars at Open House New York at Green-Wood Cemetery
On October 6th, the door to William Niblo’s multi-drawer mausoleum on Crescent Water creaked open for a daylong series of performances by Niblo’s biographer and alter-ego, Benjamin Feldman, with downtown performance artist Alyson Pou portraying Niblo’s widow Martha, come back from the dead…. Take a gander at the video below, as the Niblos sort out […]
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Toward a Definitive Biography of William Niblo
New York Wanderer Press is pleased to announce its latest project: a definitive biography of William Niblo, celebrated tavern keep and pleasure garden operator in New York from 1814-1861. Niblo’s Wall Street area Bank Coffee House and his uptown pleasure palace, Niblo’s Garden, were both THE places to see and be seen in the first half […]
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