Neighborhood stories
History, culture, heritage, things to do, food, transit, and family life — written by and for people who live around East 34th St.
- Culture
Queer history on the East Side: from the waterfront to Stonewall
The gay liberation movement, the piers, the bookstores, and the bars that made this part of Manhattan one of the most important queer neighborhoods in the world.
Dec 15, 2025 · 7 min read
- Culture
Loisaida and the immigrant soul of the East Side
How the Lower East Side became Loisaida — and why the Puerto Rican, Dominican, Jewish, Chinese, and South Asian threads running through this part of Manhattan are as vital as any landmark.
Dec 1, 2025 · 7 min read
- Family Life
Raising kids on a busy block: what we've learned
Ambulances at 3 a.m., a tunnel mouth at 36th, and a stroller. Practical things that actually help.
Nov 20, 2025 · 4 min read
- Transit
Getting everywhere from E 34th without a transfer
The honest map: one ferry, two crosstown buses, and four north-south buses get you to most of NYC without ever changing trains.
Nov 12, 2025 · 5 min read
- Food
Where to eat with kids on (and just off) 34th Street
Booths, quick service, kid-approved menus, and one diner that's been here since 1959.
Nov 1, 2025 · 4 min read
- Things to Do
12 free things to do with kids within a stroll of E 34th
Sprinklers, ferries, libraries, secret gardens, and one Carnegie reading room. None of these cost anything.
Oct 25, 2025 · 4 min read
- Culture
The UN, the FDR, and the day our neighborhood became international territory
How a Rockefeller donation in 1946 turned a row of East River slaughterhouses into 18 acres of sovereign UN territory — and why our flags-of-the-world walk is one of the best free things to do with kids.
Oct 17, 2025 · 5 min read
- Culture
Curry Hill: how three blocks of Lex became the city's South Asian heart
Kalustyan's opened in 1944. The rest followed. A short walk through the spice shops, sweet shops, thalis, and dosa counters between 26th and 30th.
Oct 3, 2025 · 5 min read
- History
Tudor City: NYC's first residential skyscraper complex
Twelve brick towers, two private parks, and a 1920s vision of middle-class apartment living perched above 42nd Street.
Sep 26, 2025 · 4 min read
- History
A short history of Murray Hill & Kips Bay
Lenapehoking first — the Munsee Lenape shoreline, fishing camps, and trails that became our avenues. Then the colonial farms, the Murray estate, Civil War shipyards at Kips Bay, and the brownstones we live in today.
Sep 12, 2025 · 7 min read