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Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
discovering, preserving and sharing our history
Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
discovering, preserving and sharing our history
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Our Next Free Presentation at the Hostel
Thought You Knew the North Part of Central Park? 
Presented by Dr. Steven Wolf, author of Central Park Love Song: Wandering Beneath the Heaventrees, moderated by local historian Jim Mackin
Free and Welcome to All Monday, January 14, 2019 at 630pm Ballroom of the Hostel International-NYC 891 Amsterdam Avenue (103rd) Upcoming Free Walking Tour
December 16, 2018 (Sun) at 1pm Meet at Hostelling International 891 Amsterdam Avenue  Jim Mackin
Explore the history of the
Bloomingdale Neighborhood with local historian Jim Mackin. More information at Upcoming Events 1917 New York Military Census
 Throngs of 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 The Latest Blogs
See a complete list with links to all 34 BNHG Blogs at BNHG BLOGS. 
Bloomingdale’s residential development brought numerous retail food shops into the neighborhood, from the late 1880s to today, when the latest food store opening can still create excitement (see the frequent reporting on the new Trader Joe’s!) BNHG planning committee member Pam Tice began this blog as a search into our neighborhood food stores, focusing primarily on 86th to 110th Streets. Read her latest blog accompanied by 17 historic photos at Provisioning Bloomingdale
BNHG planning committee member Marjorie Cohen rounded up recommendations from local historians and authors of resources to begin exploring New York City's vast past. In two previous blogs, she described their picks for
The 25 best books about the history of New York City's boroughs and neighborhoods, and The 25 Best Books about New York City Now, she has their choices for the best blogs, websites, podcasts, and social media feeds at The 10 Best Web Resources about New York City History |
Video Enhancement of our PAST EVENTS
Thanks to the Columbus Amsterdam BID, videos of past BNHG presentations are being added to our PAST EVENTS page. Check out the two initial offerings, Jim Mackin's Sculpture presentations on
March 19, 2018 and January 23, 2017  Peter Salwen receiving award
On October 16, 2018 the BNHG presented its first annual Jim Torain award to Peter Salwen, noted author and historian, for his research and sharing of local history.
Read more at our PAST EVENTS page BNHG Bookshelf
Books BNHG members are reading and discussing 
Seymour Durst, son of the founder of one of New York City’s most prominent family-owned real estate firms, was a passionate collector of all things New York. Before his death in 1995, he amassed almost 35,000 pieces of New York history—books, prints, maps, photographs, and postcards. In New York Rising, which is scheduled for publication on November 20, ten scholars chose items from the Durst collection and occasionally images from other sources to tell the story of New York’s development over the past 400 years. New York Rising is a companionable guide to how the city got from there to here, from the image of a 1628 print of Fort Amsterdam, with its tiny houses clustered just outside the fort, to the final image in the book, a contemporary photo of Times Square.
(Marjorie Cohen, BNHG planning committee member) About Us
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. This poetic name for the Upper West Side is 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. 
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 |