New York Almanack

Welcome to Fear City: A 1975 NYPD “Survival Guide”

Guest Contributor — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:00:49 +0000

What follows is the text of Welcome to Fear City: A Survival Guide for Visitors to the City of New York, a pamphlet published in 1975 by the Council for Public Safety, a front group for New York Police (NYPD) and Fire Department (NYFD) unions, to support police and fire department budgets by spreading fear of crime.

The incidence of crime and violence in New York City is shockingly high, and is getting worse everyday.

Former Mental Hospital, Now An Oak Brush Plains

Editorial Staff — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 17:30:50 +0000

Edgewood Oak Brush Plains State Forest is an 813-acre property with unique paths to explore the natural beauty and history of the Long Island property, which formerly housed Edgewood State Hospital (later Mason General Hospital), a World War Two-era psychiatric facility commandeered by the War Department to treat soldiers experiencing battle trauma and PTSD.

While the buildings were demolished by the early 1990s, hikers can still spot abandoned fire hydrants, manhole covers from the hospital’s old underground tunnel system, the remains of an historic rail spur, and more.

SPAC Amphitheater Improvements Underway

Editorial Staff — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 16:22:11 +0000

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced construction is beginning on a $2 million project to upgrade utility systems and make safety improvements at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) Amphitheater.

The project will replace three gas-fired water heaters with high-efficiency electric water heaters, upgrade components of the backstage electrical system, and install a new elevator.

Additionally, the area covered by the backstage fire protection system will be expanded.

You Should Be Dancing: New York, 1976 and Beyond

Editorial Staff — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:10:01 +0000

Taking visitors back to a decade when the new music genres of punk, disco, and hip hop sprang up in New York City and then exploded across the world, The New York Historical presents its new exhibition, “You Should Be Dancing: New York, 1976 and Beyond.”

On view through April 4, 2027, the exhibition explores how, in a time of financial crisis, New York City cultivated a new generation of creativity and celebration.

Upstate NY Incidents in the Life of Louisa Jacobs

Editorial Staff — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 13:50:11 +0000

Louisa Matilda Jacobs (1833-1917), daughter of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl author Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897), was born enslaved by Dr. James Norcom in Edenton, North Carolina, but spent considerable time in Upstate New York.

Her mother had written about her under the pseudonym “Ellen,” noting her fear of Louisa suffering the same kind of violence, sexual and otherwise, she had experienced as one of the main reasons for making her escape to freedom.

Historians, DEC Collide Over Lake George Battlefield Management

Anthony F. Hall — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 19:30:07 +0000

What does the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance mean to Lake George Battlefield Park? A more useful question might be: What would Lake George Battlefield Park be without the Alliance?

Established in 2002 with sixty members, the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance now has a membership roster ten times that size.

With an annual operating budget of just $36,000, it raised more than $250,000 in less than three years for projects.

Trump Administration Working to Eviscerate Preservation Law

Editorial Staff — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:30:06 +0000

“The only thing worse than the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation’s gutting of the Federal Historic Preservation Law is a bill the Senate recently introduced,” says a message sent to supporters of the New York Landmarks Conservancy last week.

“The ‘Bipartisan Affordability and Jobs Act’ (S.5653) goes even further to eviscerate preservation law,” they said.

Those opposed to the bill say it’s on a fast-track and a vote is expected the day the Senate returns from recess on November 9th, calling it an affront to the lawmakers who passed the National Historic Preservation Act 60 years ago which ignores its success.

Great Hudson River Revival Signs On Exhibit

Editorial Staff — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 17:30:10 +0000

In 1966, folk singer Pete Seeger (1919-2014) and a group of activists decided to “build a boat to save the river,” envisioning that a sloop would bring people to the shoreline and inspire a movement to protect the Hudson River.

Three years later, Clearwater set sail with a mission to save the Hudson through education, advocacy, and sailing.

Now Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has donated its collection of more than 450 hand-painted signs from the Great Hudson River Revival to the New York State Museum, preserving four decades of history from one of the nation’s longest-running music and environmental festivals.

New York Furniture at the State Museum

Editorial Staff — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 16:30:42 +0000

The New York State Museum has published an expanded edition of New York Furniture at the New York State Museum (2026, RIT Press), documenting nearly three centuries of craftsmanship, design, industry, and everyday life through one of the Museum’s most significant decorative arts collections.

First published in 1984, the expanded catalog features color photographs and descriptions of 242 objects from the Museum’s collection, nearly doubling the 132 objects featured in the original edition.

The Continental Congress’s Canadian Regiments

Editorial Staff — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 15:44:50 +0000

Most people probably have never heard of the Canadian Regiments that played an important role during the American Revolutionary War. These units recruited French and British Canadians and fought throughout the war, spanning campaigns from the northern frontier to the Battles of Saratoga and the Siege of Yorktown.

Two men in stand out in particular: Moses Hazen and Clement Gosselin are examples of patriots who sacrificed much in supporting American freedom from the British crown.