In the spring of 1899, 18 years after the Windermere opened at 400 West 57th Street, a war broke out between the cat-loving and cat-hating tenants.
I must warn you that this true story involves gun violence against cats, but it also provides a unique insight into life at the Windermere (one of the city’s oldest apartment buildings) and life in Old New York.
With the 2023 baseball season upon us, the story of the Brooklyn Robins feline mascot is a great “Did You Know?” story to share with the cat lovers and baseball fans in your life.
The story also has ties to the Old Stone House of Gowanus, where hundreds of Maryland soldiers lost their lives while trying to save George Washington and his troops during the Revolutionary War.
This is Part 1 of a two-part story.
Two days after the pet kitten of Charles Neal Leigh and his wife Mollie Carpenter disappeared from their apartment on Lexington Avenue, Charles placed an ad in the newspaper. His intention was to offer a $5 reward for the cat’s safe return…
An Old New York cat tale set in the historic Kips Bay neighborhood. with some loose ties to Old Spice cologne and Poland Spring Water…
Here is the fun tale of Mike, the female Williamsburg Post Office cat. Not only was Mike misnamed, she was “missent.” If there had been an Internet back then, this story would have surely gone viral.
When director Edwin Middleton needed dozens of cats for the comedic moving picture “A Corner in Cats,” he turned to the streets of Flushing and the Bide-a-Wee home for animals in Manhattan.
This fun tale features cats, a film studio in Flushing, Queens, and an old mansion in College Point with secret tunnels that may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.
