#twofoxes

HISTORICAL SITES:

1) City Hall Park (bordered by Broadway, Chambers St., Centre St., and Park Row)

This is the real-life Newsie Square, complete with a statue of Horace Greeley.  Pulitzer’s World Building, along with several other newspaper offices, was located along this section of Park Row in order to get news directly from City Hall.  The World Building was torn down in the 1950s in order to build an entrance ramp for the Brooklyn Bridge, but there are still a few old-fashioned buildings nearby to give the place a historic feel.

2) Brooklyn Bridge (from Manhattan, the entrance to the walkway is near City Hall Park; follow the signs after crossing Park Row)

Located surprisingly close to Newsie Square, the Brooklyn Bridge is about a mile long and well worth the walk.  Stay out of the bike lane, bring Spot a couple of “real good shooters,” and don’t forget to yell over the edge.

3) (former) Tompkins Square Lodging House (northeast corner of East 8th St. and Avenue B)

(please ignore this half a car...I don’t know what happened.)

This used to be another C.A.S. lodginghouse, which you can read about here.  It’s where I headcanon Jack as having lived before the Refuge, and you can actually reach out and touch the same bricks or climb the same steps that the boys would have done, which is pretty amazing.  (Just keep in mind that people still live here, so don’t scare anybody.) :)  It’s located across from Tompkins Square Park, and East Village is a great place to walk around.  (We walked from the Tenement Museum (site #12) to sites 3, 4, and 5.)

4) (former) Elizabeth Home for Girls (307 E. 12th St., between 1st and 2nd Ave. - look for the distinctive roof)

.You can read about this former girls’ lodging house here--I’m pretty sure that the single rooms were all named after flowers, but I can’t find the source for that at the moment.  I headcanon Boots’ sister as having stayed here for a while, and today there’s an Italian restaurant that used to be a speakeasy across the street.

5) former location, Irving Place Theater (southwest corner of Irving Place and E. 15th Street)

Although the Irving Place Theater would have been a hike for the boys at Duane Street--they frequented the Windsor Theatre, and the musical calls Medda “the greatest star on the Bowery”--movie!Medda’s theater was called the Irving, and I have to assume this was its namesake.  It was apparently a German, not Swedish, venue in 1899.  The building no longer stands, but the site is only a block from Union Square Park, which is worth a look.

MUSICAL-RELATED SITES:

6) Nederlander Theatre (208 W. 41st Street)

For when you want to cry a single tear because Newsies is gone.

7) Schnippers (several locations; 8th Ave. and 41st is near the Theater District)

A restaurant frequented by the cast of Newsies.

8) Schmackary’s (362 W. 45th Street; also a Brooklyn location)

The best cookies you’ll ever eat--and also the site of this video.

OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST:

9) Sheep Meadow (southern end of Central Park)

Even if you’re not dying to see where Jack and Spence take the horses, Sheep Meadow is worth visiting because it’s beautiful, and probably the biggest stretch of open land Jack would have ever seen.

10) Roosevelt Island (former location of the Blackwell’s Island Penitentiary)

Although the movie never names the jail where Jack’s father was imprisoned, Blackwell’s Island is one possibility (and the one referenced on this blog).  Besides a prison, the island contained asylums and hospitals, as well as a lighthouse which still stands today.

11) St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Fifth Avenue and 51st Street

This beautiful church opened in 1879, and as such would have been a possible location for Irish Catholic newsies to attend Mass.  The “Irish Outsiders” tour at the Tenement Museum (see below) explained that even if Irish immigrants weren’t particularly religious, they often donated to the church to spite the anti-Catholics in government, and St. Patrick’s was a prominent sign of Catholic influence in the city.

12) Tenement Museum (Delancey and 103 Orchard Street)

Historic synagogue on the walking tour

Signing the guestbook :)

@textsfromnewsiessquare recommended this museum, and I definitely second that for anyone interested in learning about the experiences of lower-class immigrants...i.e., many of the newsies.  What was once an abandoned tenement house has been restored to show the living conditions of several groups from different countries and time periods, and excellent tour guides give visitors a thorough understanding of the culture at that time.  There are also walking tours through the surrounding neighborhood, focusing on themes such as daily life and different foods, as well as “meet the residents” tours (only available on certain days) where visitors can interact with interpreters portraying past residents.  I took the “Irish Outsiders” and “Outside the Home” tours, and--coming from a carriage tour guide at a living history museum--both were very well-done and worth the cost.  (The museum is currently running a special: 40% off one tour when you book both a building tour and a walking tour.)  Check the website for tour times, and I recommend booking a bit in advance (we booked ours the day before) because they do sell out. 

The gift shop on the ground level is also very good, and has lots of books on newsies-related subjects (I bought How the Other Half Lives, a turn-of-the-century look at lower-class life by Jacob Riis, and Island of Vice by Richard Zacks, which is about how Teddy Roosevelt ended police corruption in NYC, and both are fascinating.)

X) A “Tibby’s” of Your Choice (such as Ben Ash Delicatessen at Seventh Avenue and West 55th St.)

No trip to New York would be complete without a meal at a deli, so choose a likely spot and keep your eye out for Our Man Denton.  (Note: we are not responsible for the consequences of tap-dancing on tables, spinning on ceiling fans, or hoisting reporters onto your shoulders, giving them tablecloth capes, and proclaiming them “King of New York.”)

THINGS TO SEE NEXT TIME:

Although we didn’t have a chance to visit these locations this trip, they’re all the more reason to return to New York in the future.

Randall’s Island (former location of the House of Refuge)

45-47 Bowery (former location, Windsor Theater - popular with the boys at Duane Street)

NYPD Headquarters (approximate location of the Duane Street Newsboys’ Lodging House; the historical intersection no longer exists)

the Brooklyn newsboys’ lodging house (55-65 Poplar Street)