New York Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

Looking for New York trivia? Try our list New York little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

—Embedded in a New York City sidewalk at Seventh Avenue South and Christopher Street is a marker reading, “Property of the Hess Estate which has never been dedicated for public purposes.” The 500-square-inch piece of land was part of a residential site condemned in 1910 to make way for another construction project. The building’s owners refused to surrender the miniature tract to inform others of their small victory against the city.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—The Museum of Television & Radio in New York City is a repository for more than 85 years of radio and TV programming that is available to the general public. Visitors to the library can choose a program from the collection and then watch or listen to it at a console.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—Maitre d’ Oscar Michel Tschirky is credited with creating the Waldorf Salad, which originally included chopped apples, celery and mayonnaise. Tschirky prepared the crunchy salad for New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the 1890s and the dish was an instant hit.

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—The National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa (pop. 5,556) interprets history through an impressive collection of handmade glass bottles and jars. The story of one of America’s first major industries and its relevance to society is told through exhibits, videos and a research library.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—The Ring of Fire is an annual fall tradition of lakefront residents in the western Finger Lakes Region, in which they light flares around the shore. American Indians are believed to have begun the tradition to acknowledge the end of the harvest season.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—Landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing of Newburgh (pop. 28,259) first proposed developing a central park in New York City. After Downing died in a steamboat explosion, his idea was carried on by his partner Calvert Vaux and Downing’s friend Frederick Law Olmsted, who worked together to design New York’s “backyard” in 1858.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—Bialy rolls are little known outside of New York City, but have become a staple in New York delicatessens. The recipe arrived in the United States in the early 1900s when hundreds of thousands of Eastern European Jews immigrated to the Big Apple. The chewy roll is sprinkled on top with onions and/or poppy seeds.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

In 2005, Reader’s Digest named Buffalo as the third cleanest city in the nation, based on data collected from 50 of the most populous metropolitan areas.

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—At the Brooklyn and Long Island Sanitary Fair held in 1864, one of the attractions was the “New England Kitchen” exhibit. Women in Colonial costumes demonstrated activities done by women in the years before the American Revolution. Sanitary Fairs were held as fund-raisers to aid Union soldiers during the Civil War.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—Italian immigrant Italo Marchiony, who began peddling ice cream in wafer cups from a pushcart in New York City in 1896, received a patent for a device to form the cups in 1903. His wafer cup was the forerunner of today’s ice cream cone.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—In Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood stands a house that is only 9½ feet wide. The three-story brick building at 75½ Bedford Street was constructed in 1873 on what used to be a carriageway. Among its inhabitants was poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, who lived there briefly in the early 1920s.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—Legends vary on how Thousand Island salad dressing got its name. Some say the concoction is named for the upstate region of Thousand Islands where, in the early 1900s, Sophia LaLonde, the wife of a Clayton (pop. 4,817) fishing guide, served the dressing at dinner for guests. The dressing’s pleasing flavor ultimately landed it on the menu at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—Washington Square Park in New York City originally was used as a graveyard for yellow fever victims and later as a platform for public executions. It became a public park in 1827, prompting a number of wealthy families to build mansions on the north side.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—The Adirondack mountain range, with an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 black bears, is home to the state’s largest population of these mammals. The Catskill range boasts 500 to 600 bears while 100 to 200 bruins inhabit the Allegany range.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

In 1999, the bones of a mastodon, a tusked mammal thought to have roamed upstate New York between 11,000 and 12,000 B.C., were discovered by homeowners on their Hyde Park (pop. 20,851) property. Today, the perfectly preserved skeleton is housed at the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca (pop. 18,198).

first appeared: 9/24/2006

Flushing, the original Dutch settlement on Long Island, originally was named Vlissingen after the Dutch harbor town. The British had long referred to Vlissingen as Flushing and, after 1664, adopted the English name for this Queens neighborhood.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

John McEnroe, who grew up on Long Island, finished three seasons as the top tennis player in the world. He won four U.S. Open titles (1979-81, '84), three Wimbledon singles (1981, '83-84) and played on five U.S. Davis Cup championship teams.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

A statue of the fictitious "Chief Kisco" was once an elaborate fountain for watering horses in Mount Kisco (pop. 9,983). The landmark was presented to the town in 1907 by a supporter of prohibition who had inscribed on its base, "God's Only Beverage for Man and Beast."

first appeared: 8/13/2006

Dismayed by the lack of marksmanship shown by their troops, Union veterans Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association (NRA) in 1871 in New York City. Today, the NRA is based in Fairfax, Va., and sponsors firearm safety and education programs.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

When the all-black musical Shuffle Along opened in New York City in 1921, it was the first show to bring jazz dancing to Broadway. The most popular song to emerge from the production was "I'm Just Wild About Harry."

first appeared: 7/16/2006

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