The early days of the Williamsburg Bridge

Opened in December 1903, the Williamsburg Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world (until 1924, that is). Here it is in a 1907 postcard, tinged with green and blue just like the sky above and the East River waters below it.

Opening day of the bridge was filmed by Thomas Edison; it features officials in top hats, members of the press carrying big boxy cameras, a brass band, and lots of ribbons. Watch the clip here.

Fast-forward 45 years, and the bridge (as well as a lot of the old Lower East Side) is featured in the film noir The Naked City. Follow a police chase on foot and by car (and catch great glimpses of a subway on its way to Brooklyn) here.

How did an ancient obelisk get to Central Park?

Below is a 1920 photograph of Cleopatra’s Needle, the nickname for the 68-foot ancient Egyptian obelisk that has stood off of about East 80th Street in Central Park since 1881.

 With its hieroglyphics and inscriptions, the obelisk is majestic and mysterious. Its presence in the park begs the question: who brought it here, and why? 

Turns out it was offered to the United States in 1869 as a gift from an Egyptian leader who wanted to cultivate trade between the two nations. It’s part of a pair; the other obelisk was given to London.

The US-bound obelisk stayed in Egypt until railroad titan and New Yorker William K. Vanderbilt put up the dough to bring it across the Atlantic and assemble it in Central Park.

 That was a delicate task. The granite monument weighed almost 250 tons. It took 32 horses to move just the pedestal from the Hudson River pier to Fifth Avenue. A special trestle had to be built to bring it from Fifth Avenue to the park. 

And despite it’s name, it has nothing to do with Cleopatra. The obelisk was built more than 3,000 years ago, predating her existence. 

Here’s Cleopatra’s Needle in Alexandria, Egypt, before being shipped to Central Park. It may be the oldest object in New York City, charming and perplexing park-goers for over a century.

The Aquazanies: Astoria Pool’s kid diving troupe

These boys, clad in signature jailhouse-striped swimsuits, were part of a group of Astoria kids who called themselves the Aquazanies. 

In the 1940s, they regularly put on a diving and comedy show (with props, music, and even animals joining them for some high-dive fun) on Wednesdays nights at Astoria Pool, one of the massive public swimming facilities Robert Moses built in the 1930s.

The group drew big crowds in Depression-era New York, and they had quite a following at different pools around the city.

So what happened to the Aquazanies? According to the Department of Parks & Recreation website, one Aquazany, Ernest Haridopolos, joined the FBI and worked undercover on the French Connection and Abscam cases.