New York City

Allene Goodenough (right) and Helyn James of the Young Women's Christian Association mop up a spot on the sidewalk where someone expectorated by an anti-spitting sign during a public health campaign in Syracuse, New York, in 1900.

When a Women-Led Campaign Made It Illegal to Spit in Public in New York City

While the efficacy of the spitting policy in preventing disease transmission was questionable, it helped usher in an era of modern public health laws

Among the artifacts believed to be lost are letters written by Chinese immigrants, photographs of Chinatown and an 1883 document on the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Fire at Museum of Chinese in America Caused Less Damage Than Initially Feared

Around 200 boxes recovered from the building have been deemed "very much salvageable," but they represent only a "fraction" of the museum's collection

The top ten include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hungry Caterpillar and The Cat in the Hat.

New York Public Library Announces Its Most Borrowed Books of All Time

The list, dominated by children's literature, spans 125 years of reading

Farley Granger and Jeanne Crain star in 'The Gift of the Magi', one of five stories by O Henry grouped together under the title of 'O Henry's Full House.'

The History of O. Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi'

The beloved Christmas short story may have been dashed off on deadline but its core message has endured

With two fingers Babe Ruth pointed (above: a re-imagined illustration of Babe Ruth calling his shot in the fifth inning of the third game, 1932 World Series). Some thought he was scolding the Cubs’ bench, many more believed he was pointing toward centerfield, where he hit a soaring home run.

When the Yankees Got the Larger-Than-Life Babe Ruth

It was a fateful December a century ago, when the Red Sox-Yankees trade launched a dynasty; a Smithsonian curator reflects on the legendary home-run hitter

Alfredo Ramos Martínez’s 1929 Calla Lily Vendor is one of 200 works on view at the Whitney Museum by Mexican artists and the U.S. artists they influenced.

The Unheralded Influence of Mexico's Muralists

These painters, the focus of a new exhibition at the Whitney, put their own stamp on 20th-century art

New York is the largest city to implement legislation requiring bird-friendly construction.

New York Is Poised to Require Bird-Friendly Glass on All New Buildings

Each year, up to a billion birds in the United States die from glass collisions

A New Yorker captured this image of a flooded subway entrance on November 20.

How the New York City Subway Is Preparing for Climate Change

“We’re doing this because climate change is real,” the MTA account wrote on Twitter after a local shared a snapshot of a flooded subway entrance

The New Croton Dam at Croton Gorge Park, about 40 miles north of New York City.

How New York City Found Clean Water

For nearly 200 years after the founding of New York, the city struggled to establish a clean source of fresh water

Alec Baldwin as Moses Randolph and Edward Norton as Lionel Essrog in Motherless Brooklyn.

Edward Norton on Why He Placed ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ in Robert Moses’ New York

The actor, director and screenwriter brings Jonathan Lethem's acclaimed novel to the screen—with a few unsubtle changes

A double ambrotype portrait of Albro Lyons, Sr. and Mary Joseph Lyons

NYC Monument Will Honor African-American Family Displaced to Make Way for Central Park

But the project has drawn criticism, particularly because the monument will stand some 20 blocks north of Seneca Village's historic location

The tower had undergone a $7.9 million renovation.

New York’s Last Fire Watchtower Has Been Restored

Built in the 1850s, the structure was once part of the city's fire-fighting network

Ming at Noah's Lost Ark, Inc., a non-profit exotic animal sanctuary in Ohio.

A Farewell to Ming, the Siberian-Bengal Tiger Who Spent Three Years in a Harlem Apartment

Antoine Yates, Ming’s owner, once said that the tiger was his ‘only friend, really’

Illustration by Edward Kinsella III

The Mayor and the Mob

William O'Dwyer was beloved by New York City. So why did he abruptly leave office and head to Mexico?

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