Archive for April, 2013

Everyone knows that despite its nine lives, curiosity kills the cat. For the sea-faring cats in this story, it was curiosity and a war-time ban on ship whistles that left them stranded on the Chelsea Piers ship terminal during WWI and WWII.

On October 27, 1893, thousands of people gathered on East 18th Street near Gramercy Park for what may – or may not – have been a well-orchestrated publicity stunt for a traveling menagerie. Apparently, a giant circus lion named Wallace had escaped his cage inside the small, 12×20 stable at 129 East 18th Street and was eating a prized trotter horse that he had killed. Today, we know 129 East 18th Street as the site of Pete’s Tavern, the oldest continuously operating restaurant and bar in New York City.

Jeff and Major were two very large Irish terriers owned by Frederick Trevor Hill, a well-to-do attorney on Wall Street and a prolific author of novels about politics and the law. The dogs were trained as police dogs. On February 20, 1925, the two Irish terriers came to the rescue of Mary Elizabeth Donnet, a […]

John Bevins Moisant, a pioneer United States aviator, was never without his beloved tabby cat, Mademoiselle Fifi. Even when performing aerial maneuvers over cities or racing his Blériot monoplane around the Statue of Liberty, Fifi was always at his side.

To slow his train down and save the life of a loyal Pomeranian or continue at full speed to stay on schedule. That was the decision 38-year-old motorman Joseph J. Krankoff had to make one morning during rush hour in the summer of 1932.