The plan was quite the controversial undertaking and the Times reports how the wealthy created all sorts of problems: “One obstacle was that the island was already parceled into irregularly shaped, privately owned properties.”

At first they were opposed to the grid, but soon discovered that their newly divided lots were worth a lot of money, and this is what birthed the city’s real estate market. Although not even these visionaries could have expected an era when $88 million apartments aren’t the most expensive and can be topped by offers on property that doesn’t even exist yet. (Image 54th and 55th Streets near First Avenue circa 1866: Museum of the City of New York/NYT)

Part of a larger occupations at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, these protests were commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1929 Stock Market Crash by taking a stand against the financial support of the nuclear industry. OWS was a bit more whimsical than today, weren’t they?

Get out your 3D glasses and stereoscopes! Because 2D is just not enough anymore, the Library of Congress brings Civil War photos recently spruced up with red and cyan to make “digital anaglyphs,” ooh, aah, eee! If you prefer old timey stereographs, their archives are stuffed with 50,000 of them, from the 1850s to the 1930s, from sexy ladies to Lincoln’s New York funeral. Nerds.

The Library of Congress recently uploaded 43 videos from the early 1900′s. Check out a grainy New York City blast from the past below. Pretty nifty.

Behold, the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge and a parade of first crossers in silly hats.

Now this little gem of film footage shows a dozen workers riding a construction load suspended from a crane, waving merrily. I guess workers’ comp hasn’t been invented yet?

And this here is a bunch of fast-moving dorks from the past skating all jagged-like in snowy Central Park having stupid fun… I’m jealous.

See more on YouTube.

A rapper you’ve likely heard of, Big Daddy Kane, explains the definition of a “freestyle” in the 80s. He says, “When we said we wrote a freestyle rap, that means it was a rhyme that you wrote that was ‘free’ of ‘style” meaning its not a subject matter…it’s basically a rhyme just bragging about yourself.” Nowadays of course, it’s mostly used when rappers recite written lyrics over instrumentals. |Nah Right|

Yesterday marked 32 years to the day that George Willig aka “the human fly” ascended the South Tower (WTC 2). Using custom climbing gear, it took the Queens resident about 3.5 hours to reach the top where he was immediately arrested by the NYPD, leading us to wonder: when did he have the opportunity to tag his name on a rooftop beam? The city ended up fining him $1.10 (one penny for every story), but never buffed the high altitude graffiti which remained visible until the building was destroyed.

Photos by Maksimal

“Beloved Students: It is my request that you start a daily newspaper at once, and call it the Christian Science Monitor. Let there be no delay. The Cause demands that it be issued now. You may consult with the Board of Directors, I have notified them of my intention.”

Although she demanded the “inclusion of “Christian Science” in the paper’s name over initial opposition by some of her advisers” she did maintain some level of church and state, and as noted, “the “Monitor was not established to be a religious-themed paper, nor does it promote the doctrine of its patron church.” Her only request?: a daily fictional religious article in every issue.
|Photo: Rapster|

Here’s a great old school documentary called “Story of a City” that was released post-World War II, a period that represented boomtime for NYC. Watch and learn how this city revitalized an entire nation as opposed to now when Wall Street is dragging it down.