WELCOME TO THE BNHG WEBSITE
Amsterdam and 111th Street,
July 18, 2020
The Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group is collecting traces of these difficult and transformative times. If you are moved to contribute a photograph or a paragraph about the year 2020, become part of the project by submitting your experience for our 2020 History Project. Information is available at the 2020 Project page.
The database was compiled mainly to answer two questions that we at BNHG are often asked: “How old is my building?” and “Who designed it?”
The database table is the product of more than two years of research and field work by BNHG members, led by Gilbert Tauber. The table lists all of the 1,056 buildings in the area from the north side of 96th Street to the south side of 110th Street between Central Park West and Riverside Drive. In the table, the buildings are arranged by street address. (A corner building is usually shown by its avenue address.) Also shown for each building are its tax block and lot number; the number of floors; its estimated year of completion and architect; and, for residential buildings, the number of apartments in the building. To read a complete introduction and download the database table, go to our Resources page or click here for Bloomingdale Building Database The introduction and the table have copyright protection. Postponement of Spring, 2020 Presentations
In order to be certain not to endanger the health of the terrific people who attend our monthly programs, the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group has postponed our Spring programs.
Check out our Upcoming Events pages for our planned programs for the near future when we can meet safely. Free Neighborhood Walking Tours
The free monthly Bloomingdale neighborhood walking tours will resume when the current health crisis passes.  Jim Mackin
Explore the history of the
Bloomingdale Neighborhood with local historian Jim Mackin. More information at Upcoming Events The Latest Blog
See a complete list with links to all 39 BNHG Blogs at BNHG BLOGS. 
The latest blog, the effect of the 1918 influenza pandemic on the Bloomingdale neighborhood, by Pam Tice, member of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group’s Planning Committee:
Back in March when New York went on “pause” I decided to learn about the 1918 flu epidemic in New York City, and then learn how the illness may have played out in the Bloomingdale neighborhood on the Upper West Side. I wanted to understand what local life would have been like at that time. I started with the articles about 1918, focusing particularly on New York City. I looked in the academic journals, and searched the newspapers. My search was all online, of course, as all archives are currently closed. I read all the contemporary pieces where the historians discuss 1918 in light of today’s ongoing event. Nothing I found (almost) related directly to Bloomingdale. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about New York City in 1918. I decided to share what I’ve learned—about the flu epidemic, about the public health and the nursing profession, and about World War l in New York City—and how all of these things might have touched the lives of those living in Bloomingdale. Read the entire blog with its 17 photos: Spanish Flu in Bloomingdale: A Search for How Our Neighborhood Coped in 1918 Recommended by Pam Tice, BNHG planning committee member
Spy Sites of New York City
H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace, Georgetown University Press, 2020 A companion volume to another on spy sites in Washington, DC, this glossy guide is full of photos of the sites, arranged by historical period, covering the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, to the rise of communism and fascism in the 20th century to Russian sleeper agents in the twenty-first century. The 200+ sites are described and often photographed. Better still, there is a map grouping sites, so I checked out the Upper West Side to see if our Bloomingdale neighborhood had sheltered any spies. There was Sidney Reilly, at 260 Riverside Drive who spied against the then-new Bolshevik government, trying to save the Romanovs and assassinate Lenin. Unfortunately, he was lured back to Russia where he was executed in 1925. . . Read more of this recommendation and More Books at BNHG Bookshelf |
Watch video of some of our Past Events
"Tin Pan Alley" video available on our Past Events Page For the past 20 years the BNHG has offered monthly presentations of local historical interest between September and June. While waiting for the schedule to resume, check out some of our past presentations. Thanks to the Columbus Amsterdam BID, videos of past BNHG presentations have been added to our website. October's popular "Tin Pan Alley" presentation is the latest addition at our PAST EVENTS page.
Join Our Mailing List If you would like email notifications of our monthly presentations, send a request through our Contact Us page.  Cal Jones receiving award
As part of its "Tin Pan Alley" presentation on September 24, 2019, the BNHG presented its "Second Annual Jim Torain Award" to Cal Jones, Manhattan Borough Historian Emeritus, for his work in furthering the public’s knowledge of, and interest in, the history of the city. Dr. Rob Snyder, the current Manhattan Borough Historian, made the presentation in behalf of the BNHG.
See the video at our Past Events page. About Us
Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group promotes education and research on the history of the Bloomingdale neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side from 96th to 110th Street between Central Park and Riverside Drive. For more than 300 years, the area has been referred to as Bloomingdale after the Netherlands town of Bloemendaal, Dutch for "valley of flowers." Learn more about our group's activities at our ABOUT US page. The Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group began in 2000 as the Park West Neighborhood History Group. 
BNHG Library Collection
During renovation of the Bloomingdale branch of the New York Public Library, public access to the collection is limited. Come visit the collection when the library reopens. 
The BNHG Library Collection, located at the Bloomingdale branch of the New York Public Library, contains more than a thousand items of local history in 150 categories, for example, this book excerpt from the "Pasteur Institute" file. Explore the history of your Bloomingdale neighborhood. Come to the library to explore the many items in this file and the 150 other files!
More information at BNHG Library Collection. Read historical background on the New York Pasteur Institute at Pam Tice’s blog: The New York Pasteur Institute 
'Park West Village was one of Robert Moses's earlier housing projects. It was intended to provide an incentive to middle- income residents to return to the Upper West Side and be part of the multi-economic, multi-ethnic neighborhood. Winifred Armstrong and Barbara Earnest wrote this pamphlet in 2007 for the Park West Neighborhood History Group (predecessor of the BNHG.)
Read the entire pamphlet at Park West Village. 1917 New York Military Census
 New Yorkers fill the streets of Manhattan to celebrate
Armistice Day, November 11
While doing historical research at the New York County Clerk's office, Gilbert Tauber, member of the BNHG planning committee, came across a surprising document. In this article he notes the significance of the long overlooked and highly informative 1917 New York Military Census and its possibilities for further research. Read his account at
1917 New York Military Census. |