Stephen Nessen

John Lennon is murdered.

A day that will live in infamy.

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg is suing his former rival, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, for blocking his plan to re-open a Brooklyn jail. Thompson has refused to sign off on a $34-million contract to renovate the Brooklyn House of Detention, a project he calls flawed, wasteful, and a ...

Rosa Parks is arrested Dec. 1, 1955.

JFK laid to rest.

As we roll into the sixth day of Independent Bookstore Week (11 days actually) there are still plenty of events to check out. Grab some free food, take part in photo scavenger hunt, or attend readings, lectures, and costume parties.... There are ...

The Brooklyn-born, American composer Aaron Copland was born Nov. 14, 1900. He is best known for incorporating indigenous American music, jazz and folk, into his compositions. A child of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, he eventually went on to study music in France. When he ...

Front Page of the Times, Nov. 11, 1918

Today is Veterans Day, originally known as Armistice Day, a remembrance of the end of the 'Great War,' WWI. The signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, ...

Mayor Fiorello Henry LaGuradia courtesy of the WNYC Archives Collection

 

On the eve of election day we combed through the WNYC archives to find what New York's first three-term mayor, ...

Chinese dumplings-jiao zi (China Photos/Getty Images)

It goes by many names: pierogi, gnocchi, tamale, pot sticker, wonton, palitaw, kuih koci, idli or just dumpling. It can be found in dozens of countries and ...

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

The museum known for its distinct spiral and ramp, which the architect Frank Lloyd Wright said was designed to create 'an atmosphere of the unbroken ...

Parents of elementary school children in New York City are receiving swine flu vaccine consent forms this week. The citywide voluntary - and free - vaccine program is starting next Wednesday at local elementary schools.

Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (courtesy of wmf.org)

The World Monuments Fund (WMF), a group dedicated to protecting places and buildings that are, 'irreplaceable monuments to human culture,' ...

Furtive glances down darkened subway tunnels may be a thing of the past, now that the MTA has set a timeline for installing countdown clocks. They'll display how long until the next train arrives. The authority says more than 150 stations, along the numbered lines will have clocks up and ...

Korean violinist Hanh-Bin is in good company. Like Philippe Quint and Gidon Kremer who forgot their violins, or Yo-Yo Ma and Lynn Harrell who forgot their cellos in New York taxis, Hahn-Bin left his 18th century, $600,000 violin in a taxi yesterday.

On a ride from Lincoln Center to Chinatown, ...

When Superman is crippled by Kryptonite, sometimes he just needs the help of an 11-year old and his speech teacher.

Brooklyn eighth grader, Hakeem Bennett, and his special education teacher, Matthew Brown, are featured in a new Superman ...

HRH Prince Harry smiles as he helps plant a tree during an official naming of the British Garden at Hanover Square on May 29, 2009, in New York City.

Prince Harry, is known for his partying, but that may change with his first official visit to the U.S. today. The 24-year old Prince of Wales first stopped at Ground Zero to lay a wreath and was then whisked to nearby Hanover Square to officially name a British garden in honor of 67 Britons who died in the terrorist attacks.

John Farrell lives nearby and noticed recent renovations to the park, and stopped by to have a look. He's not much impressed with British royalty, but has to admit the changes are nice.

Children from the Audrey Johnson Day Care Center quietly protest city plans to close their school at hearing today.

At a state hearing ...

Yankee's pitcher David Cone and catcher Jorge Posado joined Mayor Bloomberg for today's unveiling of the new 153rd Street Station Metro North station at Yankee Stadium. The station is a 10 minute ride from Grand Central and provides express service to and from Poughkeepsie and New Haven. The mayor says the Yankees have that over the Mets.

This year the Yankees kicked off their new seasons in a shiny new $1.3 billion ballpark. While fans have marveled at the culinary treats and the massive LED screen in the outfield, not everyone is so enthused. The All Hallows High School baseball team in the South Bronx is forced to play their home games on the road and often practice in the school’s cafeteria. That’s because in 2006 theirfield was demolished to make way for the new Yankee stadium. Without a regular field to practice on, the team improvises, but it has already been three years.

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning, the sun is high, it’s over 80 degrees outside, a perfect day for baseball. But three hours before their fourth game of the season members of the All Hallows Gaels, are pitching and taking swings indoors.

"Basketball gym, slash church, slash theater, slash everything."

That’s Misaell Cabral, a 16-year-old, junior. He’s the right fielder for the Gaels and is standing about mid-court while his teammate lobs a large soft dimpled ball at him. Cabral takes half-swings, not wanting to make full-contact.

"We can’t practice with actual baseballs, cause we can’t break all the windows," says Cabral. "The team practices pitching on the basketball court and batting in the cafeteria. For pop-ups they toss balls outside in a narrow courtyard next to apartment buildings. It’s concrete, it’s not really baseball material. It’s frustrating at times."

The Gaels used to play at nearby Macombs Dam and John Mullally Park, until construction of the new Yankee stadium began three years ago. State and federal law mandates that park land be replaced an acre for an acre, but due to cost delays and the discovery of barrels of oil along the waterfront, building of new parks has been delayed.