Monday, February 4, 2019, 6:30pm at the Hostel
"East of Broadway in the 1950s: Growing Up Poor on West 105th Street"
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Presenter: William Helmreich, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at City College of New York and CUNY Graduate Center.  Professor Helmreich is the author of 17 books, from his first book about living, working and traveling with the Black Panthers to his recently published The Manhattan Nobody Knows: An Urban Walking Guide 
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Dr. Helmreich, the child of Holocaust survivors, grew up in the 1950s on West 105th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, alongside Puerto Rican, Black, Irish, Italian and Dominican families. His talk will focus on the street life and culture, poverty, family life, barber shops, restaurants and bakeries, nearby movie theaters, public housing and area parks. He'll also talk about his travels around the city with his father--how the two would play a game they called "Last Stop"--riding the subway to a stop and then walking around the new neighborhood. Helmreich says that these trips were the main impetus for his  walking books about NYC. 
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Free and Welcome to All 
Ballroom of the Hostel International-NYC
891 Amsterdam Avenue at 103rd Street
Save the Dates 
Upcoming Presentation in March
Thursday, March 21 at the Hostel
"An Ever Fresh Pleasure--Equestrian Life along the Bloomingdale Road", a Presentation by Judith Woodall
Before there was Central Park, with its miles of bridle paths and drives, avid equestrians and devotees of fast harness horses or slower moving carriages could travel the network of roads and farm lanes that meandered the length and breadth of Manhattan. Day-tripping on the Bloomingdale Road – with its grand vistas, hidden coves, inns, and taverns – was among the most popular pastimes for Manhattan’s riders and drivers. The opening of Central Park only added to the attraction of riding and driving the old roads, and as the city grew, the west side, in particular, became home to some of the most influential riding schools and clubs in the United States.
 
Judith Martin Woodall was the office manager of the Claremont Riding Academy for twenty-seven years. She received the John H. Daniels Fellowship at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia for her project, Witching the World with Noble Horsemanship: Riding in New York City, 1770-2007.

Upcoming Presentation in April
Thursday, April 18 at the Hostel
"Neighborhood Stores, Past and Future" with Jen Rubin, author of We Are Staying: Eighty Years in the Life of a Family, a Store, and a Neighborhood.
Upcoming Presentation in May
Thursday, May 9 at the Hostel
Kurt Schlichting, author of Waterfront Manhattan: From Henry Hudson to the High Line, will speak on the history of the waterfront and railroad along the Upper West Side.
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Free Walking Tours of Historic Bloomingdale
Explore the History of the Upper West Side 
between W. 96th and W. 110th Streets            
Led by Local Historian  Jim Mackin
January 20, 2019 (Sun) at 1pm
February 17, 2019 (Sun) at 1pm
​Meet at Hostelling International-NY
891 Amsterdam Avenue at 103rd Street
More info 212-666-9774
or info@columbusamsterdambid.org
sponsored by the Columbus/Amsterdam BID 
and Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group