Our Next Free Zoom Presentation
Jan 29, 2026 06:30 PM "Spatializing History: The Updated Bloomingdale Database Map Presented by Abgail Jack Several years ago, members of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group handstakingly compiled information on every building in the neighborhood, creating a Building Database for every block and lot stretching from W 96th St to W 110th St, from park to park. In order to visualize and update this crucial research, BNHG member Abigail Jack has developed a Building Database Map in ArcGIS Pro. This updated Building Database Map aims to make Bloomingdale’s building history more accessible to a wider audience, and provide additional information about the people who shaped our urban environment and lived in this neighborhood. Click HERE to register for this free Zoom presentation 
The Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group welcomes 2026 and invites you to greet the new year with us as we recall an earlier version of raids in the neighborhood, share encouraging support for the preservation of precious old maps, look into local combat in the revolutionary war that Ken Burns missed, remember a beloved local artist, and hear promising news of the future of the Metro Theater. We look forward to feedback, comments, and ideas here. We hope you enjoy it all and will choose to support us with a donation
Read the Winter Bulletin HERE 
Video of Past BAIP Zoom Presentation
"BAIP Presents: The Uptown Film Center, new vision for Former Metro Theater Click Here to watch video. 
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. Search on the BNHG Website
The Latest Blog now available on our BLOGS page
The Nineteenth Century Squatters of the West Side written by Pam Tice, member of the BNHG planning committee 
The Nineteenth Century Squatters of the West Side
Every era has its squatters, with people living on land or in buildings they do not own. After World War I, veterans camped along the Hudson River. In the Depression in the 1930s, squatters lived in “Hoovervilles” in Central Park and along the river. In the 1970s, people seized abandoned property and became owners through “sweat equity.” Today, people may find squatters in their unoccupied apartments. In nineteenth-century Manhattan, squatters settled in many areas where land was owned but undeveloped, becoming a part of city life. Read this and 51 essays of interest on our BLOGS page |
Free Walking Tours of Historic Bloomingdale
Sunday February 8, 2026 at 2pm Sunday March 29, 2026 at 2pm  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. You can review the story of our neighborhood’s landmark, which began as the Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females, and is now Hostelling International-New York City. The record is preserved at the NYPAP site 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) |
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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.