PODCAST · society
ABC Gotham
by ABC Gotham
Fun weird NYC history. One bizarre new topic for every letter of the alphabet.
Episodes
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Ugliest Buildings, Part II: Modernism
Who thought these were a good idea? Seriously. On Day 1, when the money guys met with the building guys, why didn't they scream and run away? Did they feel any regret once the building itself took form? Jacquetta and Kathleen are disgusted, but they got through Part 2: Modernism and managed to…
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Ugliest Buildings, Part I: Brutalism
Imposing concrete blocks surround New Yorkers, but WHY? Who built them? Were they truly considered to be good decisions at the time? Will we ever get rid of them? (No.) Kathleen and guest host Jacquetta Szathmari from the top-rated podcast Hey You Know It discuss as many of these monstrosities as...
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Toynbee Tiles
Raising the dead on Jupiter! This idea is why one person has embedded linoleum tiles in the asphalt of major avenues of NYC and in other cities around the world. Look down when walking around, and soon you start to notice them. Where did that idea come from? What is "Toynbee"? Who is the person...
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Sailors' Snug Harbor: Special Micro-Episode!
Today, Snug Harbor in Staten Island is a busy cultural center and gorgeous botanic garden. But when Sailors' Snug Harbor initially opened in 1833, it was the country's first home for retired merchant seamen. It consisted of three beautiful Greek Revival- style buildings on a 130-acre plot on the...
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Resurrection Men and the Doctors Riot
Doctors and medical students have not always been respected, rigorously- trained, caring professionals. In fact, around the time of the Revolutionary War and thereafter, they were regarded with suspicion and even horror. Not only was the job itself grisly and failure- prone, but for students,...
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Quaker Cemetery in Prospect Park: Special Micro- Episode!
Discreetly hidden away in Prospect Park, there is a 10- acre cemetery. The land belonged to the Quakers of New York City long before the park grew up around it. It's hard to imagine a more peaceful and happy place to be laid to rest. Join Kate and Kathleen to learn a bit more about Quakers, about...
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Public Art in New York City
New York City has an admirable history of investing in public art. Ordinances require a certain amount of money to be spent on art in all city-owned buildings. Parks Department also strives to bring art to everyone, not just fans of museums and galleries. The upshot is a ton of fascinating...
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Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME)
CSI tells us only part of the story. After an unexplained death, what happens back at the morgue? Who is in charge of making sure clues are recorded so crimes can be prosecuted? New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) is currently one of the best in the world, but that hasn't...
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NAZIS in NYC Part III: Operation Pastorius Ends
The exciting conclusion is here! Listen to Kate and Kathleen explain how the unfortunate members of Operation Pastorius journey across the Atlantic and try to succeed in their mission. Learn about their grim passage, their brushes with the law, their muddled miscalculations, and best of all…
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NAZIS IN NYC, Part II: Operation Pastorius Begins
Nazi spying operations in New York City didn't end with the Duquesne. Germans were reeling from the obliteration of their vast spy ring, and ample resources were dedicated to rebuilding German espionage in the USA. This effort started with Operation Pastorius: a well- researched but poorly-...
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NAZIS IN NYC, Part I: The Duquesne Spy Ring
Remember how we left World War II out of Episode E: Espionage? Here's why! There's so much cool information that we needed to separate it from the rest. You're getting not one, not two, but THREE episodes to tell you about Nazis in New York City. Yes, Nazi spies walked the streets of New York and...
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Morris-Jumel Mansion
Up in Washington Heights, on Jumel Terrace between 160th and 162nd Streets, sits a beautiful Federal- style mansion that played a critical role in American history. The oldest house in Manhattan (but not the oldest in New York City!), Morris-Jumel had residents and visitors including George...
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Local Laws
Some laws in New York City are different than the rest of the state or country, and Kate and Kathleen tell you all about the most interesting ones. Some have recently been amended. For others, amendments are being considered right now! From the tenement regulations and swill milk scandals of a...
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Killers in NYC
Murder is not uncommon in any big city and New York is not without this heinous crime and the monsters who commit it. Kate and Kathleen tell you about four specific killers: a love-crazed chorus girl, a prolific hit man, the most famous NYC murderer of them all, and a jealous arsonist. Listen to...
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Jane Jacobs
Activist, journalist, and groundbreaking outsider who shook up the field of urban planning: Jane Jacobs is one woman you definitely want to know more about. Sometimes credited with bringing down Robert Moses (learn about him in our only 2- part episode: Moses Part 1 and Moses Part 2), she used...
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SPECIAL EVENT: ABC Gotham Pub Quiz
Hello ABC Gothamites! We're thrilled to announce the ABC Gotham Pub Quiz on Sunday Aug 17th at 4 pm! Cherry Tree Bar65 4th AveBrooklyn, NY There is no entry fee. Teams can have up to six members. We'll have great prizes, including prize for best team name and a prize for the person who brings the...
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Isolated
In Episode I, Kate and Kathleen tell you all about areas of New York City that are somehow separate or apart from the rest of us. These aren't islands, like we discussed in our previous episode I, but they're still isolated. Surrounded by Nassau County, national parkland, or even another borough,...
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The Harlem Hellfighters
"The Harlem Hellfighters" was the nickname of the 369th Infantry Regiment, a regiment made up entirely of African-American and African Puerto Rican soldiers. Most of the men came from Harlem, San Juan Hill (around Fifty-ninth Street in Manhattan), and the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. They…
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The Grid
The layout of New York City can be a mystery. Why are blocks in Manhattan so long when you walk east/ west, but so short when you walk north/ south? How come the Bronx has a nice, user- friendly grid system but Queens and Brooklyn are trickier to navigate? And why does the whole system disappear…
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Foster Care in New York City
Join Kathleen and Kate as they discuss the evolution of the foster care system in New York City. Learn about the bad old days of childhood indentured servitude, children living on the street, orphanages, and the infamous orphan trains. Then hear all about the vast improvements by reformers like...
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Espionage in New York City
Espionage and spying have been part of New York City history (and, indeed, US history) since before the Revolutionary War. Right or wrong, spying is a vital part of national defense, whether we're at war or living in peacetime. Learn about several important figures in New York City's clandestine...
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Derring-Do
Brave men have done astonishing (stupid?) things to shock and awe New Yorkers since New York started. And we love every minute of the spectacle, even as some New Yorkers faint dead away from such sights! From bridge jumpers to base jumpers, from Ben Dova (seriously) to Philippe Petit, you'll hear...
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Crack Epidemic
Join Kathleen and Kate as they discuss the crack epidemic. It struck not just New York City, but the country as well. Learn all about the controversy behind it, because nothing's as simple as the journalists would have us believe.
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Nellie Bly, Girl Reporter
We'd like to introduce you to Nellie Bly, Girl Reporter. Ever feel that travel bug coming on? Learn how to travel around the world in 72 days without a change of clothes. More of a home body? Consider having your self checked into a mental asylum to uncover the atrocious conditions patients were...
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The Anthora
Here comes Season Two!! Kate and Kathleen revisit the alphabet starting with one of the most iconic symbols of New York City, the Anthora. Learn about the design behind the cup and where the name came from. Don't forget to check out NY Times website with the History of New York in 50 objects:...
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Zoning
Wait, come back here!! Zoning is RIDICULOUSLY important and surprisingly interesting. In Episode Z, your hosts Kate and Kathleen take you through the ups and downs of NYC zoning. From the Equitable Building, which scared everyone into creating the city's first official land- use regulations, to…
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Yellow Cabs
Yellow cabs are everywhere throughout New York City, but where did they come from? Why do we have them? And why are they, of all possible colors, yellow? Kate and Kathleen, but mostly Kate, tell you all about the iconic form of NYC transportation. Want a real Checker Cab for a wedding or a photo...
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Malcolm X in NYC
Malcolm X had an immeasurable impact around the world, but a great deal of his activism happened while he was living in New York City. Kate and Kathleen tell you all about his crimes in his youth, which led to prison, which led him to the teachings of Elijah Muhammed and the Nation of Islam. His...
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Weeksville: Special Mico- Episode
Weeksville was a bustling community, far off in the wilds of Brooklyn, established by former slave James Weeks in 1838 for free African- Americans. This was only 11 years after the abolition of slavery in New York state-- a time when African- Americans had very few opportunities for land…
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Van Cortlandt Park
There are 1165 acres of hills, ridges, valleys, verdant forest, wide- open fields, and other assorted gorgeousness waiting for you up in the Bronx! Van Cortlandt Park has a hiking trail that is a National Historic Landmark, world- class running paths and trails, two public golf courses, boccie...
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Underground Railroad in NYC
The Underground Railroad was an organization of safe houses, churches, schools, and brave people willing to break the law to help slaves escape to safety. New York City was the site of several important locations, including Plymouth Church, "the Grand Central Station" of the Underground Railroad....
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Tammany Hall: Special Mega- Episode
Today it is merely a symbol of corruption in city government, but Tammany Hall was once the political machine to end all political machines. New York City politics were controlled thanks to those ubiquitous tools of leadership: graft, corruption, patronage, cronyism, and exploitation. From its...
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Secret Subway Stations: Special Micro-Episode!
Secret subway stations are the lonely places where trains and riders no longer go. Many of the “ghost stations” were abandoned when the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) unified the Interboro Rapid Transit (IRT) and Brooklyn- Manhattan Transit (BMT) lines, which resulted in redundant stations...
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RIOTS: Special Mega-Episode!
What happens when a group's simmering rage boils over? Kate and Kathleen describe 3 of the many riots that New York City has seen: the Draft Riots, the Stonewall riot, and the Crown Heights riot. Hear about the complex social problems that led up to them, the days of violence, and what changed…
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Queens Museum Panorama: Special Micro-Episode!
The Queens Museum of Art, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, has the coolest thing you've never seen: The Panorama of the City of New York. It's a model of the whole damn city-- all 5 boroughs. It contains every building in the city built before 1992 (the year it was last updated). It was built by...
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The Prison Ship Martyrs
During the Revolutionary War, British forces imprisoned 11,000 captured Americans in foul, overcrowded, disease-infested, rotting ships with scarce food, water air, space or even sunlight. This is one of the most tragic, but little-known, events in American history. Three times as many Americans...
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Oysters
Like Maine's lobster, New York's oyster used to be our iconic food. New Yorkers feasted on them, exported them, and bragged about them. This attracted visitors (including Charles Dickens!) to our town, where you could find oysters of every possible preparation, if you were careful to walk around...
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Brooklyn Navy Yard
From 1806 to 1966, The Brooklyn Navy Yard in Wallabout Bay, Brooklyn, constructed and repaired our nation's ships-- especially battleships-- in its 4 dry docks. The 200 acres were covered with offices, store-houses, factories, hospitals, barracks, and extrordinarily lavish homes for admirals and...
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Robert Moses: Part 2 of 2-- Special Mega- Episode
In the second part of the Robert Moses podcast, Kate and Kathleen discuss Moses’ downfall: his compromises, his miscalculations, and his failures. While the U.N. worked out as planned, the Mid- Manhattan Expressway, the Battery Bridge, and World’s Fair certainly didn't. Hear about the…
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Robert Moses: Part 1 of 2-- Special Mega- Episode
It's almost impossible to overstate the impact Robert Moses ("Master Builder") had on New York City, Long Island, and New York State. Head of the Parks Commission plus countless other titles, he's the man who brought us the Brooklyn- Queens Expressway, the Long Island Expressway, the Cross- Bronx...
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Fiorello LaGuardia
Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was one of the greatest mayors in US history. New Yorkers agree-- they reelected him twice. The Progressive Republican ran the city from 1934 to 1945, managing to turn around the city after the Depression, defeat Tammany Hall, and crack down on the mob starting with…
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The Kissing Sailor
It's August 14, 1945, V-J Day, in Times Square. The war is finally over and everyone's celebrating. A sailor grabs a nurse and plants one on her. "Life" magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt happens to be nearby, and the rest is history. Kate and Kathleen tell you all about the coincidences,...
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Jefferson Market Courthouse: Special Micro-Episode!
Stunning and unusual, with a basement dungeon and a tower you ascend by spiral staircase, Jefferson Market served as a courthouse, survived the 6th Ave elevated train, was saved from destruction, and finally became a branch of the New York Public Library system. Your ABC Gotham hosts Kathleen and...
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Islands
The largest cemetery in the United States is right here in New York City, on Hart Island in the Bronx. There's a sovereign nation on U Thant Island just below Roosevelt Island. And you'll find thriving seaside communities on City Island and Broad Channel. Learn about some of New York City's...
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Hell Gate & the H.M.S. Hussar- special micro- episode!
The Hell Gate, part of the East River that passes between Astoria in Queens and Randall/ Ward's Islands, is the site of hundreds of shipwrecks. Hear about the biggest sunken treasure in NYC history!
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Governors Island
Crumbling ruins + free bicycle rentals + people in Revolutionary War uniforms + ice cream + art + hammocks + Buttermilk Channel = Governor's Island! Governors Island opens for the summer starting May 26, 2012!!
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Five Points
In Episode F, your hosts Kate and Kathleen describe the fetid rancid squalid nightmare that was the Five Points neighborhood. This was the worst slum in the history of the planet. (Okay, tied for worst with London's East End circa 1841.) Learn where it was and how it came about. Hear about the...
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Evelyn Nesbit & the Trial of the Century
The Trial of the Century was a smoking- hot mess that made a mockery of justice and ultimately destroyed the life of the luminously beautiful It Girl Evelyn Nesbit. Her cracked-out husband, Pittsburgh heir Harry K. Thaw, shot her paramour, world- class architect Stanford White, in the FACE…
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Debunked
In Episode D, ABC Gotham's amateur historians Kate and Kathleen debunk some of the NYC stories you learned in school or heard from friends. Albino alligators in the sewers are just the beginning. There are a million myths in this town and we deliver the truth about the best of them. If your...
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Contagion: Special Mega-Episode
In Episode 3, ABC Gotham's amateur historians, Kate and Kathleen, discuss the history of contagions NYC, including intractable battles with yellow fever, cholera, smallpox, and Spanish influenza. This mega- episode will tell you about famous patients, major hospitals, heartless conspiracies, and...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does ABC Gotham have?
ABC Gotham currently has 52 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is ABC Gotham about?
Fun weird NYC history. One bizarre new topic for every letter of the alphabet.
How often does ABC Gotham release new episodes?
ABC Gotham has 52 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to ABC Gotham?
You can listen to ABC Gotham on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts ABC Gotham?
ABC Gotham is created and hosted by ABC Gotham.
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