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NYC Treasures

Gothamist is highlighting items from the New York Public Library's first-ever permanent exhibition, The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library's Treasures, which showcases items spanning 4,000 years from the Library's research collections. The objects and the stories behind them are meant to inspire, spark curiosity, and encourage deeper thinking about our history and world—we'll be publishing one NYC-related object a day throughout September, and you can see everything at gothamist.com/treasures.

Latest Articles Tagged "NYC Treasures"

Arts & Entertainment

Jacob Riis’s Handwritten Reminder Of New York City’s Grim Past

Here's the first page of a manuscript draft for Riis's book How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York.

By

Declan Kiely, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

Romare Bearden’s "Black Manhattan" Is A Reflection Of 1960s Harlem

“What Bearden wanted to do is show the beauty of the city. People looking out the window. The bustle of the streets. It’s a reflection of urban life."

By

Leah Drayton, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

Andy Warhol Gave Truman Capote This Studio 54 "VIP" Painting

On a strip of green tape fastened to the back of the painting Warhol wrote, probably with a black Sharpie pen: "To Truman Love Andy ’78."

By

Declan Kiely, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

The Official Hat Of The 1939-40 NYC World’s Fair

The design is attributed to Peggy Boone and incorporates the blue and orange of New York’s City flag adopted as the fair’s signature colors.

By

Sara Spink, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

What Could Bleecker And MacDougal Have Looked Like In 1523?

From Saul Steinberg, the artist who created the iconic “View of the World from 9th Avenue" New Yorker cover, here's an interpretation of this Greenwich Village corner in the 1500s.

By

Deirdre Donohue, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

The Original First Page Of The Powerful "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" Script

“It’s almost a documentary—you get a sense of just her voice as a radical storyteller."

By

Leah Drayton, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

See The Original, Annotated Script Of "A Streetcar Named Desire" Stage Production

This script, revised on October 6th, 1947 and used by Kazan, bears many annotations and is the only known surviving script of his from the production.

By

Annemarie van Roessel, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

Here's Jack Kerouac’s Original Cover Design For "On The Road"

“I submit this as my idea of an appealing commercial cover expressive of the book," Kerouac wrote.

By

Declan Kiely, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

Transit Station Drawing Encapsulates Futuristic Vision For 1939 World's Fair

This drawing is just one document of the millions which fill over 2500 boxes comprising the New York World’s Fair 1939-1940 Incorporated records.

By

Tal Nadan, NYPL

Arts & Entertainment

“Worth Reading In Its Entirety”: Draft Of James Baldwin Speech Provides Insight Into His Process

This speech is likely from 1960, and it's suggested he is talking to younger people as he says he “expects a great deal from this generation.”

By

Leah Drayton, NYPL

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