Archive for June, 2021

Most farmers of old Flushing, Queens, kept their chickens and cows outside in barns and pens. But the cows and chickens that lived at the Sprong-Duryea homestead lived in the former drawing room and bedrooms of the old house.

The Winter Garden Theatre was home to the original Broadway production of Cats from 1982 until the production closed in 2000. But about 50 years before the creepy human cats appeared on stage, the theater was famous for its real cats. Cat mascots, that is.

Thomas Wood was one of the many feline tenants of 290 Washington Street, a large, six-story brick factory building on the northwest corner of Washington and Chamber streets. Originally the pet cat of a dye maker at the factory, he made his home on the third floor, which was occupied by the American Wood Decorating Machine Company.

Join me on Wednesday, June 9, at 7 p.m. (ET), for a virtual trip back in time to explore New York City’s history via amazing stories about theatrical cats, flying feline mascots, famous hotel cats, and other fabulous felines that made the news headlines in the late 1800s and early 1900s.