Central Park's Dark History Part One: Laying the Foundation

Explicit content warning

04/25/23 • 36 min

In this episode, we go down to New York State and discuss the dark history behind the development of New York City's famous Central Park. We discuss some of the key players in bringing the idea of the park to life- Robert Bowne Minturn- a wealthy shipping merchant, Mayor Ambrose Kingsland, and Senator James Beckman- who tried to play dirty to get the park built the way he wanted. This is a story of wealthy people looking out for themselves under the guise of "working for the people". As a bonus, I bring you the story of a wealthy merchant with a name most people would cringe if it was theirs to bare- Preserved Fish. This story is a multi-parter, we're only just getting started!

https://www.nydarksidepodcast.com/episodes-6-10/episode-6-9-dark-history-of-central-park/episode-6-transcript

The Majority of the information for this episode comes from: Rosenzweig, R., & Blackmar, E. (1992). The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

The complete resource list can be found at https://www.nydarksidepodcast.com/episode-6-9-dark-history-of-central-park

The intro theme for this podcast are sections of Nightmare Machine by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

https://www.nydarksidepodcast.com/episodes-6-10/episode-6-9-dark-history-of-central-park/episode-6-transcript

The Majority of the information for this episode comes from: Rosenzweig, R., & Blackmar, E. (1992). The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

The complete resource list can be found at https://www.nydarksidepodcast.com/episode-6-9-dark-history-of-central-park

The intro theme for this podcast are sections of Nightmare Machine by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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New York's Dark Side Video Trailer

New York's Dark Side is a newer podcast covering dark history, true crime, paranormal activity, and other content from all around New York State. It's currently available in audio only format but I am working to also bring a video version to the show. This is the trailer for the video version, where I talk about the first five episodes that are already published on multiple platforms.

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Central Park's Dark History Part Two: The Truth of the "Park Dwellers"

In the first episode we covered the history behind the idea of creating Central Park. In the second part of the Central Park series we take a deep dive into the "park dwellers"- the residents who had made their lives within the communities such as Seneca Village, that were built on the land that would become the future Central Park. The people living here were freed persons of color as well as immigrants of Germany and Ireland. Their lives and livelihoods tied to the land, and they were forced from their homes and communities for what was thought to be the "greater good" when their land was bought from them or taken through eminent domain. We also discuss two Tammany Hall leaders who grew up on the land that would become Central Park- George Washington Plunkitt and Roger Crocker.

Complete Episode Transcript:

https://www.nydarksidepodcast.com/episodes-6-10/episode-6-9-dark-history-of-central-park/episode-7-transcript

The Majority of the information for this episode comes from: Rosenzweig, R., & Blackmar, E. (1992). The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

The complete resource list can be found at :

https://www.nydarksidepodcast.com/episodes-6-10/episode-6-9-dark-history-of-central-park

The intro theme for this podcast are sections of Nightmare Machine by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons