The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur

by Eric Ferrara

Travel down the Bowery with New York City author and researcher Eric Ferrara, as he explores its rich, fascinating, and at times, troubling past. Originally a Lenape trail running the length of Manhattan Island, The Bowery has become one of the most notorious thoroughfares in America. Developed in stages by the Dutch, the British, and then Americans, this stretch of street has continually risen from its own ashes, interminably experiencing periods of popularity, poverty and prosperity. It has been celebrated as a haven of culture, entertainment, and theatre, and denigrated as New York's ""skid row."" Home to bums, bohemians, criminals, artists, performers, and the rich and poor alike, The Bowery has attracted the most diverse population of any place in all of New York City's history.

Genres: History, American History

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2011

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast little walk through the Bowery. Opens with a broad overview of the neighborhood, and then takes certain streets one address at a time. Makes leaps and jumps to pull in interesting connections. Focuses mainly on 19th century history, which I really like. Lots of pictures.

Read Rob's 5-star review of The Bowery:: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur by Eric Ferrara
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[Rob Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick but very informative read, this slim volume is divided into two main sections. First, after a rather choppily written introduction by Eric Homberger, Ferrara gives a a general history of this (in)famous New York thoroughfare, from its earliest origins as a Lenape Indian Trail up to its recent phoenix-like rise from the notorious and forlorn skid row of the mid-late 20th century. Perhaps the 'Bowery Bum' is still the image the street's mention first calls to mind, for most. But its real heyday was the mid to late 19th Century, when it was the working man's Broadway, gaudier, louder, flashier and full of saloons, theaters, dime museums, meeting halls and the like. As the cultural melting pot of Manhattan's plebian immigrant communities, it was the site of many firsts in American culture, and the haunt of many colorful characters. Through it all ran a decidedly criminal element, from the Bowery B'hoys and Irish gangs like the Dead Rabbits, to Tammany Hall's constant election rigging, to its dangerous dive bars and 'disorderly houses' like Paresis Hall (Which was a pretty up-front 19th c. gay bar and house of prostitution, full of rent boys with painted faces) and McGurk's Suicide Hall (infamous for its back room, where quite a few customers tried to do themselves in with a deadly combination of whiskey and carbolic acid). It all makes for fascinating, often salacious, reading.

The second section breaks down the Bowery into three stretches, and then details the documented history of the most prominent addresses of each. This is particularly fascinating for any New Yorker or tourist who has walked the Bowery, really serving as a tour guide to its most famous and infamous sites. After reading it in my New York apartment, I'm now eager to return there, perhaps with book in hand, to experience the history on site. With the pace of the Bowery's current renaissance spurring more new and upscale development, and the fact that landmark protections are far less stringent in the East Village/Lower East Side than on the West Side, the traces of that past are under threat, and some have disappeared only recently (The building that housed McGurk's was one recent casualty.) Ferrara makes a compelling case for preservation in this study, full of fascinating and sometimes jaw-dropping true stories that truly elicit the sentiment "Only in New York!"

[Laraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written, researched & illustrated book. By the end of the book I realized The Bowery had centuries of theatrical arts performances and buildings. The illustrations are helpful. He takes the reader through sections of the Bowery at a time from when the Dutch landed on Manhattan.

This history, from the beginning should be taught especially in the 5 bouroughs but in Westchester and the surrounding areas of Long Island and Connecticut. It is so rich with American History, American Indian History, the Dutch and immigration.

Only now as an adult have I learned it. Did you know there was a path from say Canal Street that went all the way to Rhode Island, and that Benjamin Franklin marked the markers? That’s a scavenger hunt right there.

The book is filled with this kind of information. Who stayed and who left after the American Revolution to secure business? What was this plot, that plot. Very well done. Thank you to the writer.

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after taking Eric Ferrara's walking tour of the Bowery. It was very informative and interesting. He really knows what he is talking about. I suggest the tour for history buffs or tourists who want a no touristy tour.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful little book which goes block by block through 200 years of Bowery history, often with some exciting then-and-now photographs. Ferrara is not the most engrossing writer, but the book is well researched and a great addition to the NYC history shelves.

[Armand · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. Holds its own right alongside eternal classics like Herbert Astbury's "The Gangs of New York". I recommend it to any history aficionado interested in the history of New York City. Great, entertaining, informative book.