In Naming Gotham: The Villains, Rogues, and Heroes Behind New York Place Names, CUNY Law Professor and Astoria Resident Rebecca Bratspies takes the reader on a quirky tour of New York City.
Hear all about Naming Gotham in Rebecca’s interview on PBS MetroFocus with Rafael Pi Roman.
Are you Bruckner curious? Watch Rebecca’s interview on CUNY TV’s Book It With Carol Anne
Want some Anne Hutchinson and Gertrude Whitney gossip? Listen to Rebecca and Jessica Cale on Dirty Sexy History
Listen to Rebecca spill some Kosiuszko tea on Professor Buzzkill.
Get your Major Deegan fix on D Listers of History
Fun Facts from Naming Gotham:
The Outerbridge Crossing was named after Eugenius Outerbridge and is called a “crossing” because the Outerbridge Bridge sounded absurd.
When Robert Van Wyck was elected mayor of New York City, drunks, gamblers, and criminals marched through the Tenderloin chanting, “Well, Well, Well, Reform has gone to Hell.”
Thousands of children once picketed Bronx Borough President Henry Bruckner demanding that he reduce the cost of ice cream sodas.
Gertrude Whitney was not only a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor but was also on the National Dairy Association’s Honor Role.
The New York Mets used to play at Shea Stadium, named after William A. Shea, “the unofficial chairman of New York’s unofficial permanent government.”
****Winner, Association of Public Historians of New York 2023 Award for Excellence in Local History****
****Winner, American Legacy Book Awards 2024 US History Award****
***Winner, New York Big Book Award 2024 Regional History***
****Finalist, Eric Hoffer Award 2024****
WANT MORE NYC GOSSIP? One problem with writing a book is that you run out of pages before you run out of words (at least I do). So, now that Naming Gotham is finished, I am busy writing blog posts.
In Yale Notice and Comment Blog I wrote “What’s in a name? Urban Infrastructure and Social Justice. In it, I muse on the themes of social justice that emerged from writing the book. Thank you to the Center for Progressive Reform for republishing What’s In a Name
For a dose of Major Deegan gossip, including who he was and why he (maybe) rated a road, check out my post on Metropole: the Urban History Association Blog,
If corrupt developers ignoring the law is more your style, The Faculty Lounge has the backstory and aftermath of the Macomb's Dam(n) Bridge saga.
At Nature of Cities I muse on the urban sustainability lessons from Naming Gotham, and how far ChatGPT is from replacing my friends as trusted resources.
Are you Bruckner-curious? Interested in corrupt elected officials? Check out this blog post for Classic New York History.
Why are so few NYC landmarks named after women? History at the Margins published two of my essays. One about Gertrude Whitney and one about Jane Matilda Bolin (who is not in Naming Gotham because nothing is named after her . . . yet. )
Oh, look . . .more on rich people coopting public resources for their own private benefit. If you have been stuck in traffic on the Long Island Expressway, this Dirty Sexy HIstory essay titled “Who on earth was Horace Harding?” is for you!
For a brief time, CUNY paid close attention to the importance of representation in naming. Check out my PSC Clarion op-ed on Naming CUNY: What’s in a Name? Lots!.
Book Events
Upcoming
Bayside Historical Society, March 13, 2025 (details coming soon)
Maple Grove Cemetery, March 8, 2025 (details coming soon)
Past
Voelker Orth Musuem, Oct 8, 2024, 149-19 38th Avenue Flushing, NY
Temple Beth El of Manhattan Beach, May 20, 2024, 111 West End Ave, Brooklyn NY 11235
Seaford Public Library, May 8, 2024, 2234 Jackson Ave, Seaford NY 11783
Jane’s Walk: Who Was Major Deegan Anyway?, May 5 at 11 AM, virtual talk, register here
Rock Hall Museum-Town of Hempstead, March 10, 2024, 199 Broadway, Lawrence NY 11559
Gotham Center, Naming Gotham Zoom Course, Wednesday’s 5:30-7:00 PM (April 3-24, 2023) register here
Bayside Historical Society, January 16, 2024 in person. Register here.
How We Name the City, Nov. 16, Forrest Hills Library (with The Queens Library and the Queens Memory Name Explorer)
Naming Gotham, CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences, Nov. 10 3 pm. Watch here
Naming Gotham, Municipal Art Society + Housing Works Author Series, August 23 6 pm at Housing Works, 126 Crosby Street (register here)
Jane’s Walk: Who Was That Major Deegan Anyway? May 5 online(register here)
Jane’s Walk: Renewable Rikers May 6 online(register here)
Queens Memory Name Explorer Project, April 4 (via Facebook live). You can watch the recording here.
New York City Bar Association New York Affairs Committee, March 21st, 6:00pm
Greater Astoria Historical Society, February 28th, 7 pm via zoom. Free Registration here
Astoria Bookshop: My first in-person book talk on January 24th. NAMING GOTHAM by Rebecca Bratspies with Bob Singleton Tuesday Jan 24 2023 7:00pm - 8:00pm. Register at https://astoriabookshop.com/events
@UntappedNY I am delighted to invite you to my (first) virtual book talk for Naming Gotham on January 25 sponsored by @UntappedNY. Come geek out about with me over the gossipy parts of New York City history. You can watch the video here.
BUZZ and NEWS About Naming Gotham
Inside Voices Podcast, Rebecca talks NY history with her CUNY Law colleague Natalie Gomez-Velez (Sept. 2024).
Onest Podcast Olga interviews Rebecca about New York’s Hidden History (May 27, 2024)
Most Popular Dig in to NYC history and find out why Thaddeus Kosciuszko should be Most Popular! (May 1, 2024)
Tell Me About Your Book join the gossip about Adam Clayton Powell Jr, Jackie Robinson and so many more (May 1, 2024)
PIX 11 You’re Saying It Wrong: New York City Street Names (Mar. 14, 2024)
D Listers of History Fayge and Mazal quiz Rebecca about Major William Francis Deegan (Nov. 27, 2023)
Batting the Breeze Steve and Rebecca talk about Jackie Robinson ending racial exclusion in baseball (with some Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. info thrown in for fun) (Nov. 16, 2023)
Fascinating People, Fascinating Places Dan asks Rebecca “who was that Major Deegan Anyway? (Oct. 27, 2023)
Curiousaholic Learn about Gotham’s Villains—the Rikers Family—and the horror that is Rikers Island—The Dark Secret of New York City (Oct 26, 2023)
Nobody Knows Your Story fun conversation combining Naming Gotham, Environmental Justice, and Sailing the Pacific on the Endeavour, (Sept. 29, 2023)
Lean to the Left and Justice Counts podcasts teamed up to interview with Rebecca about the Environmental Justice Chronicles, climate change, and how to build a better, fairer city.
Author’s Alcove conversation with Agnes Wolf about writing Naming Gotham, and spilling some tea about who I think are the heroes and villains of the NYC story. (Sept. 20, 2023)
Memoir Lane conversation with Allison Santana about Mott Street and Naming Gotham (Aug. 15, 2023)
The Rotunda 99WBOB Scott Rotondo interviews Rebecca about Major Deegan, traffic jams, and more (Aug. 16, 2023).
Awesome Gang Interview with Rebecca about Naming Gotham, and about writing more generally
Qns.com article about Rebecca and her online lecture in collaboration with the Queens Memory Project (March 26, 2023)
CUNY Research Foundation featured Naming Gotham and Rebecca’s work in its Women’s History Month Coverage
FAQNYC Podcast, interview with Rebecca about the policy of naming and Naming Gotham (March 26, 2023)
Its in Queens Podcast, interview with Rebecca about Naming Gotham (March 8, 2023)
TheCityLife.Org wrote about Naming Gotham on February 17.
Gothamist featured Naming Gotham on February 16, 2023 under the headline “Extra, Extra, Rikers Island Is Named After an Infamous Slaveholder Who Led NYC’s Effort to Capture People Who’d Escaped Slavery”
Hellgate published a wide-ranging interview about Naming Gotham titled “So Who the Hell Was Major Deegan” on February 16, 2023.
The New York Daily News devoted a 2-page spread to Naming Gotham in the January 29, 20230 print edition. The article is titled Good, Bad, and Forever, written by Jacqueline Cutler. You can read the online version here
WBAI City Watch (99.5 FM) Had a great conversation with Jeff Simmons at 8:30 on Sunday January 22nd to talk NYC history. You can listen here (I start around minute 27)
1010WINS interview https://omny.fm/shows/winsam-on-demand/a-new-book-uncovers-the-history-behind-new-york-ci
The Queens Gazette https://www.qgazette.com/articles/naming-gotham-the-villains-rogues-heroes-behind-new-yorks-place-names/
Untapped Cities: Nicole Saraniero wrote The Hidden Stories Behind New York Place Names. You can read it here.
Praise for Naming Gotham
“Rebecca Bratspies’ "Naming Gotham” presents a sometimes dishy, sometimes disturbing, always fascinating look at the lives of the men and women whose names grace New York City’s neighborhoods, roads, bridges, stadiums and monuments. . . . This deeply researched but never dry or academic look at NYC will delight both visitors and New Yorkers alike, and give them a lot to think about as they walk, ride and drive around the city.“
-Pauline Frommer, editor Frommer’s Guides, author Frommer's EasyGuide to New York City and Frommer's New York City Day by Day
“A fun book . . .. In the rush of daily life, we tend to traverse our communities with little awareness of the visions, struggles and travails of those who shaped vital structures or whose lives are memorialized in their names. For the world’s greatest metropolis, Rebecca Bratspies has helped fill that awareness gap by crafting an illuminating guide to the people behind New York City’s transportation, recreational and institutional landmarks.”
-Andrew Revkin, journalist and co-author with George Steinmetz of The Human Planet – Earth at the Dawn of the Anthropocene
As we play in the parks or drive down the highways, as we travel the bridges or live in the neighborhoods, the names of our favorite spots become part of our everyday language - but we never stop to think about them. In “Naming Gotham,” Rebecca Bratspies brings those names - and the people behind them - to life. In a dynamic and lively way, Bratspies beautifully captures the personalities and history behind the amazing landmarks and places we call home. And after reading Bratspies’ well-researched, wonderfully-told tale, and learning the good, bad and ugly within each story, we’ll likely never look at New York City the same way again.
- Randi Marshall, Queens mom and writer