|
Search on the BNHG Website
Happy Spring!
The Spring season should be especially delightful this year after such a challenging winter. As usual, we have many opportunities for you to learn more about our neighborhood. In April and June, join our colleagues at the Columbus-Amsterdam BID for two events they’ve planned for us. Share your feedback, comments, and ideas here. We hope you enjoy it all and will choose to support us with a donation Read the Spring Bulletin at our BULLETINS page. 
Save the Date:
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 6:30pm Free Zoom Presentation (a link for reserving this webinar will appear on this site in early June) "Hidden Histories of Jazz Age New York" with author Jonathan Goldman More information at our UPCOMING EVENTS page 
Rob Garber, a member of the BNHG planning committee, created a series of 11 exhibits that were displayed at the Bloomingdale Library. He covered a multiude of topics beginning in March of 2023 with "History of Police in Bloomingdale until concluding in October 2025 with "Riverside Park Then & Now."
See the complete project at our EXHIBITS page. The Latest Blog now available on our BLOGS page
"The Pasteur Institute on Central Park West at 97th Street" written by Pam Tice, member of the BNHG planning committee 
"The Pasteur Institute on Central Park at 97th Street"
In 19th-century New York, a dog bite by a “mad dog” was a sure way of terrorizing a New Yorker, especially in the summer months. If a snarling, rabid dog with a foaming mouth bit us, within a few weeks, we would die from the disease, hydrophobia. This was an especially fearful event in the summertime.The scientists of the era, particularly at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, were applying “germ theory” to many diseases, discovering antidotes, and treating patients from around the world. Louis Pasteur was a highly respected scientist who had discovered how to make milk safe to drink by heating it to reduce bacteria. In 1884, he announced a cure for hydrophobia with a series of inoculations that, if taken in time, could prevent the onset of the disease and save the life of the person bitten by a rabid dog. It wasn’t long before New York City had its own research and treatment facility, the Pasteur Institute, built on Central Park West at 97th Street. Read this and 51 essays of interest on our BLOGS page |
Free Walking Tours of Historic Bloomingdale
Wednesday June 10th, 2026 at 6pm  Jim Mackin
Meet at south end of Straus Park,
Broadway at W.106th Street No reservations needed Explore the history of the Upper West Side between W.96th and W.110th Streets Led by renowned local historian, Jim Mackin More Information at our UPCOMING EVENTS page Availability of the BNHG Library Collection!
Our public archive of documents related to the history of the neighborhood is at the Bloomingdale branch of the New York Public Library, on West 100th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. The files are easy to find, near the circulation desk. Whether you are researching a specific topic or just browsing, you're welcome to copy pages in the library or to take a folder to one of the tables to read through it in comfort.
See the material available by clicking BNHG Library Collection See a new list of the books in our collection HERE 
Check out our Resources pages.
At our Resources pages you'll find fascinating Bloomingdale history under the following headings: Sources of Historical Information Useful Links and Resources Paterno Archive Bookshelf 2020 Project NYT Articles about Manhattan Valley from 1865-1998 Peter Salwen Collection Upper West Side History Quiz PRESERVING NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY
The New York Preservation Archive Project was organized in 1990 to “preserve preservation history.” Every effort to save an historic building or place has a story. NYPAP exists to provide an archival record of the people involved, their victories and defeats, and the many documents that tell the story of each place. Thanks to Pam Tice (member of the BNHG planning committee) , the story of 891 Amsterdam Avenue is now a part of that record. The record is preserved at the NYPAP site HERE. You can also read Pam Tice's website blog about this landmark, which began as the Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females, and is now Hostelling International-New York City HERE 
We are a group of neighbors who banded together 23 years ago to explore the history of our region of the Upper West Side, roughly 96th to 110th Streets --- an area historically known as Bloomingdale.
We promote research and education about the history of the Bloomingdale neighborhood, and we are available as a resource. We share our findings through free public programs, walking tours, workshops, publications, a blog, our website, and a Neighborhood History Collection of materials housed at the Bloomingdale Branch of the New York Public Library. We’re reaching out to our Bloomingdale community for your support through a tax-deductible donation. (Checks should be made out to Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District. If you wish to donate from a donor advised fund, Our EIN is 13-3466792) |
To receive email notification of upcoming monthly presentations and seasonal bulletins, please share your email at our CONTACT US page. Of course, we will not give your information to others.
The content of this website is offered for educational purposes; You may not reproduce, distribute, copy, sell or otherwise use any portion of this website for political or commercial purposes. If you know the identity of people depicted in historical photographs reproduced here, we’d love to hear from you.