One of the oldest military structures in the nation, the fort and surrounding area (once inhabited by Lenape natives) sits on 226 acres on the northeastern shore of Staten Island, on the Narrows of New York Harbor. It is made up of several forts, including Fort Tompkins and Battery Weed. Originally named “Fort Richmond”, the structure kept New York safe from the British during the American Revolution. It remained a defense fort through the War of 1812, and stood major guard during the Civil War along with Fort Hamilton directly across the water in Brooklyn, defending entry points from the Confederate armies. In 1865, Fort Richmond was given its current name, “Fort Wadsworth”, in honor of Brevet Major General James Wadsworth, who died during the Civil War. Although the Fort no longer functions defensively today, it is still a major destination along the Staten Island shoreline, providing magnificent views of New York Harbor. Residents can be seen taking walks or riding their bikes along the overlook and paths, early in the morning and on nice days. Fort Wadsworth is also well known as the starting point of the Annual New York City Marathon, as well as the ending point of the Five Boro Bike Tour. The name "Fort Wadsworth" also refers to the residential neighborhood that surrounds the old fort. This area roughly includes the areas south of Rosebank, north of South Beach, west of the shoreline, and east of Shore Acres and Arrochar. These neighborhoods contain a variety of single-family homes and townhouses of many styles, marketed to those “looking for an escape from city life”. The area is easily-accessible to most residential needs, like schools, stores, parks and playgrounds, and is located right at entrance/exit of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the Staten Island Expressway. The neighborhood is also only a few miles away from the Ferry, making it a big draw for commuters. Filled with much history and grand scenery, Fort Wadsworth is the first sight seen by visitors and residents alike, as they enter Staten Island over the Verrazano. The “Forgotten Borough” need not be forgotten anymore. #knowyorkcity 🗽

DYKER HEIGHTS - Streets By Air (Ep. 14) Locally recognized for their elaborate annual Christmas decoration displays 🏘🎄 Dyker Heights is a mostly residential neighborhood located in the southwest corner of Brooklyn. Sitting on a hill, surrounded by neighborhoods like Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst, Dyker originated in 1895 as a real estate project for luxury housing. Walter Loveridge Johnson leveled the woods in the area to create a suburban community for the wealthy; many of the original residents being wealthy professionals and officials from local government. Throughout the 1900s Dyker has sustained its wealthy reputation, although the architectural character of the neighborhood has changed. Only about half of the roughly 150 homes built by Johnson now remain. Starting in the 1940s, Dyker Heights began to have a majority Italian-American population. The older homes have been replaced by magnificent "Mediterranean villas, condos, as well as semi and fully attached homes", making it a different fit from the "historic context of Dyker Heights." There are very few apartment buildings here. The streets are lined with trees. Many of the homes have private driveways and backyards; a tough luxury to find in this city. The area above 86th street where these homes are located, is the central region of the neighborhood and the best representation of the character of Dyker Heights. South of 86th is almost entirely covered by Dyker Beach Park and Golf Course, while the northern region, above Bay Ridge Parkway, is "more closely integrated with [its] surrounding areas". Dyker Heights Boulevard, also known as 13th Avenue, is the only commercial district in the neighborhood, home to many Italian-owned businesses, a big reflection of the neighborhood's demographic. Since the 2000s however, a rising influx of Asian residents has been growing in the neighborhood as well. The 2020 census data from NYC shows, "for the first time in history, the Asian population in the neighborhood has surpassed the White population", bringing in a wealth of new culture to the area. Dyker Heights is now mostly recognized for its annual Christmas lights and decorations, once referred to as "Con Ed's warmest heartthrob". One of the original and most visited displays, is the home of Lucy Spata with her Santa and Wooden Soldiers theme, located on 84th Street, between 11th and 12th Avenues. These Christmas displays, now make up the central identity of Dyker Heights, "because the whole community, not just one home or one block, participates", in true Brooklyn fashion. Families, friends, and tourists flock every year, walking down street after street, grabbing hot chocolate from rebranded ice cream trucks, and taking in the bright decorative cheer of the Holiday Season.

Sitting on a high plateau on the west side of Upper Manhattan, rests Morningside Heights; one of the three neighborhoods that make up West Harlem. Located between Morningside and Riverside Parks, the area was hard to access until the late 19th century. Native Americans settled throughout Manhattan, but the nearest settlements were in Central Park, because of the area's steep terrain. It wasn't until Broadway completed its extension in 1703, that the area even had a route connecting to the rest of Manhattan. Large-scale development didn't start until the 1890s. By the 1900s, the neighborhood's first subway line provided a quicker connection to Lower Manhattan, "the city's economic center at the time." Morningside Heights soon began turning into a residential neighborhood. Jewish and Italian developers most notably led the influence of the area's early-20th century development. "A large portion of Morningside Heights is part of the campus of Columbia University...[and] numerous other educational" and religious institutions, and landmarks. Even the city's oldest Korean church, the Korean Methodist Church and Institute, has been in the neighborhood since 1927. "Through the 1930s, many residents were white and middle-class professionals like academics, engineers, doctors, lawyers, and businesspersons who worked in industries such as the garment trade." After WW2, many white residents left the neighborhood, giving way to a growing Black and Latin demographic. After a period of decline, Morningside ended up gentrifying in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, the neighborhood feels like a quiet college town. Most of the businesses and residences are catered around the educational institutions, especially Columbia. Located a few blocks down Broadway, is the notorious Tom's Restaurant; widely recognized by it's corner neon exterior, from the hit-television show, "Seinfeld". The streets, shops, bars, and cafes are filled with students, artists, academics, working professionals and children, making up a community of families and intellectuals coexisting in the neighborhood that Morningside Heights was always meant to be.

Resting along the Little Neck Bay and the Long Island Sound sits the neighborhood of Bayside, Queens. Originally inhabited by Matinecock tribe, the area was settled by the Dutch, and soon followed by the British. During the 1800s, Bayside was mostly farmland, where Manhattan's wealthy would visit as a "rural resort". However, in the 1920s/30s, it was the proposed site for the original "Hollywood". With the major movie studios in nearby Astoria, Bayside quickly became the home of sprawling estates lived in by socialites, gossip columnists and mostly, household names of theater and silent films like Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, and Charlie Chaplin. Unknown to many today, the Queens neighborhood was once the center of glamour and entertainment. After WWII, residential development of the neighborhood increased significantly as transportation on the train helped commuters get to Midtown Manhattan in under 30 minutes. Today, that train is now part of the LIRR, but many residents heavily rely on NYC buses, since the nearest subway station is a bus ride down Northern Blvd to the first stop on the 7 train. Although Bayside contains a lot of free-standing homes, it ranks "high to very high" in population density, nationwide. Large apartment buildings, co-ops, condos and multi-family homes have been built to accomodate the growing number of residents. A part of the NYC Dept. of Education's District 26, Bayside is "the highest performing school district for grades K-9 in all of New York City, making Bayside a more educated community than other American communities." Bayside is also more recently a home to a plurality of Asian-Americans (many of South Korean or Chinese heritage). The overall neighborhood is an evenly diverse mix of people from all cultural backgrounds, while other parts of the neighborhood are majority white and, mostly inhabited by those of Italian, Greek, and Irish descent. Bayside remains one of the safest and most affluent neighborhoods in Queens. However, Bayside has been the setting to several organized crime incidents involving groups like the Lucchese, Gambino, and Bonnano crime families. A home to parks and playgrounds, greenspace is plenty here. Crocheron Park is a local treasure that leads out to the Little Neck Bay. Alongside the water you can see a scenic exercise path for bikers and joggers, looking out at the bay, seeing the boats at the Bayside Marina, and the Throgs Neck Bridge leading into the neighboring Bronx. The lifeblood of the neighborhood, Bell Boulevard, is known to many throughout the borough as a notoriously popular bar/restaurant strip. “If you grow up in Queens, this is the place you start your drinking life." The street is lined with at least a dozen bars, and maybe another dozen or so restaurants, making it a hot destination for dates, dinners, drinks and dancing for regulars and visitors. The people of Bayside are very proud New Yorkers, who reflect it well in the care of their neighborhood. These are "people who keep the city running: cops, firefighters, teachers and other civil servants. They are nurses, people in the construction trades, union workers, as well as white-collar professionals." These are the reasons why Bayside is the multidimensional neighborhood it is, and hopefully it stays that way for a very long time. #knowyorkcity

The beautiful Brooklyn Heights. Since 1834, this neighborhood has been a special area of the borough, originally referred to as Brooklyn Village. Low-rise architecture, specifically the many pre-Civil War brownstones and rowhouses, line the blocks. It is the home of the first art gallery in #Brooklyn, the sightseeing Promenade, and the site of many old and notable religious/educational institutions. Brooklyn Heights occupies a plateau on a high bluff that rises sharply from the river's edge, known to the Lenape Natives as "Ihpetonga", or "the high sandy bank". Ferries travelling across the East River were running as early as 1642, helping the lowland area to thrive, especially the farms and factories. With the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, and the subway line in 1908, the neighborhood's development took rise. It was advertised as the"first commuter suburb" for Manhattanites, being easier and faster to get to Manhattan by ferry than it was to commute from upper Manhattan. "The resulting ease of transportation into the neighborhood and the perceived loss of the specialness and 'quality' began to drive out the merchants and patricians who lived there; in time their mansions were divided to become apartment houses and boarding houses. Artists began to move into the neighborhood, as well as writers, and a number of large hotels were constructed." Throughout the 1800s, Brooklyn Heights remained an elegant neighborhood, and became Brooklyn's cultural and financial center. By the mid-1950s, a new generation of property owners had begun moving into the Heights, pioneering the "Brownstone Revival" by buying and renovating pre-Civil War period houses. As a result, preservationists worked to protect the neighborhood from unchecked development by the creation of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, the first such district in New York City. This preservation was cemented in the following decades by the growing gentrification of the neighborhood into a "firmly middle-class area"; a home to local shops, eateries, bars, schools, and friendly neighbors, making it known as "one of New York City's most pleasant and attractive neighborhoods."

DITMAS PARK (Streets By Air - Ep. 10) A true hidden gem, this Brooklyn neighborhood was built on rural farmland originally owned by the Ditmas family. It stayed that way until the 1890s when Brooklyn was becoming more desireable after the development of Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Bridge, along with a better New York City transit system. The area is most notable for it's crown jewel; the Ditmas Park Historic District, also known as, "Victorian Flatbush". Victorian Flatbush is located in the western section of Flatbush, bordering Midwood, that is characterized by very large classic homes designed by developers like Lewis Pounds, and Thomas Benton Ackerson, as "country living". With the subway underground, the area is laid out with tree-lined avenues, including the Flatbush Malls, and country clubs. Many of the houses in the Historic District are "large, free-standing, single-family homes with gables and front porches". Examples of design and architecture include Victorian, Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Greek Revival, Tudor, and even Japanese Cottage. Residents are very proud of their homes and, over the years, have shown that in the unique design and bold colors of their houses. With today being Halloween, trick-or-treaters and their families will enjoy a variety of spooky seasonal decorations prepared every year by members of the neighborhorhood. Due to increasing gentrification, a wave of young transplants and artists have become drawn to the area. An example of this is Cortelyou Road. "Cortelyou enjoys a number of delis, bars, coffee shops, restaurants, the Flatbush Food Co-op, and more upscale restaurants. Cortelyou is also home to many venues, which attracts many local musicians, as well as more well-known artists." Nestled within the historical haven of Flatbush, close to Prospect Park, and away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, Ditmas Park is a neighborhood you would usually picture somewhere in suburban America. Without knowing where you were, you wouldn't realize you were even in the middle of New York City; and yet, you very much are. •

Tucked away in a corner of The Bronx, across from the top of Manhattan, sits the residential neighborhood of Spuyten Duyvil. Not quite as visited by the average New Yorker, this place is a diamond in the rough. From classic suburban homes, to tall standing condos, it is an enchanting place to visit/live. Located south of Riverdale to the Harlem River, Spuyten Duyvil rests between the Hudson River and Kingsbridge. The area gets it's name from the Spuyten Duyvil Creek (known to the Lenape Natives as "Shorakapok"). The Dutch origin, "Spuitende Duivel", has a debated definition. Some translations call it "Spouting Devil", "Devil's Whirlpool", or "In spite of the Devil". A popularized story speaks of a man named Antony Van Corlear, who attempted to warn of a British invasion. He swam across the Harlem River, where strong and intense tidal currents, common of the waters there, pulled him under to his death. From the mid-1800s through the 1920s, once the New York Central and Hudson River railroads connected, development of the neighborhood grew too. Still used today, the lines allowed trains from Albany to connect with the Harlem line into Grand Central Terminal down "4th Avenue", or what is today known as Park Avenue. The 1950s-80s saw the rise of large condos and co-ops. This brought in a larger affluent demographic, marking the neighborhood as mostly "upper middle class". Spuyten Duyvil's relaxed and peaceful atmosphere located on the water is a major draw. From Half Moon Overlook, to parks like Henry Hudson, Ewen, or Shorefront Park, there are many places to enjoy. The most popular image of Spuyten Duyvil, is a photogenic Bronx staple located along the western cliffside. The Villa Charlotte Bronte apartment houses, is a 17-unit co-op built in 1926 and designed by Robert Gardner. This mix of river cottage and Amalfi-Coast-esque homes, which overlooks both rivers, is a classic work of art. Spuyten Duyvil remains one of the Bronx's most interesting and beautiful neighborhoods. A nice escape from the rest of the city, this quaint area has been largely encapsulated, and seems to want to remain that way. 🗽 #knowyorkcity

Located in the center of the 18th century village of Dutch Kills, "Queens Plaza" was built in 1909 as a connection for the Queensboro Bridge and Queens Boulevard. By 1928, 86,000 cars were passing through the plaza each day, and the area came to be known as "a new downtown". In the 1920s through World War II, it was home to many industrial warehouses, factories, and banks. The Brewster Building (currently the JetBlue corporate HQ), a factory along the plaza, made horse-drawn carriages, Rolls-Royces, and fighter planes. The Chase Manhattan Bank Building aka the Clocktower (once the tallest building in Queens) still stands as a landmark today. Sadly, with the city's economic decline of the 1970s, Queens Plaza became a territory for drug dealers, pimps, and sex workers; a place of municipal neglect, littered with trash, drugs, and broken glass. Through the 1990s, the Plaza remained a dusty hub of transportation, surrounded by strip clubs, "aging Chinese takeout restaurants, humid fried-chicken joints, sad-seeming doughnut shops, [and] the Queens Plaza Municipal Parking Garage, a brown concrete structure", that many longtime commuters remember. However, the gentrification of the 2000s has created a city of the future, and brought with it valleys of glass buildings towering over the plaza. What was once (by the year 2000) merely a population of 1,000 living on the streets immediately surrounding the plaza, has suddenly turned into one of the fastest growing populations of affluent new transplanted residents in Western Queens. The 7, N, W, E, M, and R trains all pass through this hub daily. Commuters are usually caught looking out their windows at the magnificence of this revived Queens neighborhood. A sign of things to come for the borough abroad, the area is now a symbol of the unstoppable developments growing all over the city. And even though the rent is borderline insanity, and the buildings look like something out of Tron, the classic sounds of the trains screeching and rumbling into the plaza, preserves some LIC nostalgia. 🗽