The Bowery: The Strange History of New York's Oldest Street

The Bowery: The Strange History of New York's Oldest Street

From peglegged Peter Stuyvesant to CBGBâ€™s, the story of the Bowery reflects the history of the city that grew up around it.
It was the street your mother warned you aboutâ€”even if you lived in San Francisco. Long associated with skid row, saloons, freak shows, violence, and vice, the Bowery often showed the worst New York City had to offer. Yet there were times when it showed its best as well.
The Bowery is New Yorkâ€™s oldest street and Manhattanâ€™s broadest boulevard. Like the city itself, it has continually reinvented itself over the centuries. Named for the Dutch farms, or bouweries, of the area, the pathâ€™s lurid character was established early when it became the site of New Amsterdamâ€™s first murder. A natural spring near the Five Points neighborhood led to breweries and taverns that became home to the gangs of New Yorkâ€”the â€œBowery Bâ€™hoys,â€ â€œPlug Uglies,â€ and â€œDead Rabbits.â€ In the Gaslight Era, teenaged streetwalkers swallowed poison in McGurkâ€™s Suicide Hall.
A brighter side to the street was reflected in places of amusement and culture over the years. A young P.T. Barnum got his start there, and Harry Houdini learned showmanship playing the music halls and dime museums. Poets, singers, hobos, gangsters, soldiers, travelers, preachers, storytellers, con-men, and reformers all gathered there. Its colorful cast of characters includes Peter Stuyvesant, Steve Brodie, Carry Nation, Stephen Foster, Stephen Crane, and even Abraham Lincoln.
The Bowery: The Strange History of New Yorkâ€™s Oldest Street traces the full story of this once notorious thoroughfare from its pre-colonial origins to the present day.
Country USA
Brand Skyhorse
Manufacturer Skyhorse
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2017-11-07
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781510726864

Country	USA
Brand	Skyhorse
Manufacturer	Skyhorse
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2017-11-07
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781510726864

The Bowery: The Strange History of New York's Oldest Street

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