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Ask A New Yorker interviewed Joep de Koning, Chairman and President of The Tolerance Park Foundation, on the history of New York. He discussed the history of Dutch colonial life in New York. Ask a New Yorker:  What’s the biggest myth about New York’s history? Joep: That is a real estate myth. The story about… Read more »

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At the start of April, some of my aunts and uncles mentioned to my Grandmother, Mary Sheahan, that her birthday was coming up, reminding her that her birthday is April 10. “Oh,” she said as casually as if she were discussing the bus schedule. “I’m not going to make that.” She passed away less than… Read more »

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New York is a city of many firsts. It was the first capital city of the United States; it had the first hot dog, first American public brewery, ATM, mobile phone call, and children’s museum. It also promises to be the first American city to institute congestion pricing on cars driving into its busiest areas…. Read more »

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This week begins the Year of the Pig according to the Chinese zodiac calendar. All New York City public schools are closed for the celebration. There will be a big parade in downtown Flushing this weekend and there is no shortage of family-friendly events in the city to celebrate. We commonly called this Chinese New… Read more »

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Fifteen years ago, it was a cold night in an apartment in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn where maybe two dozen people gathered for a Burns Night party. Burns Night is January 25 and celebrates the birthday of Robert Burns, the Scottish poet who lived in the late 1700s. Several of us had brought our volumes of… Read more »

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My family puts up a traditional Christmas tree. Well, not that traditional. A truly traditional Christmas tree would be paraded through town and then set on fire. But Christmas is a festive time of year, a time when our shared pagan heritage is proudly on display, albeit via the yoke of Christianity. And, godless as… Read more »