Rob Stephenson
@theneighborhoods.nyc
Photographer currently working on a project visiting and photographing every neighborhood in NYC. https://theneighborhoods.substack.com
“Cities were built to measure time, to remove time from nature. There’s an endless counting down.” Don DeLillo
December 3, 2025 at 9:27 PM
“Cities were built to measure time, to remove time from nature. There’s an endless counting down.” Don DeLillo
I spent way too much time trying to make an interactive map of some of the Civic Center's more architecturally significant sites and landmarks and ended with something that looks like a Ken Burn Safdie Brothers collaboration. More on Civic Center here: theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/civic-cent...
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I spent way too much time trying to make an interactive map of some of the Civic Center's more architecturally significant sites and landmarks and ended with something that looks like a Ken Burn Safdie Brothers collaboration. More on Civic Center here: theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/civic-cent...
The southernmost bridge in New York City is the Outerbridge Crossing, a cantilever span connecting Staten Island to New Jersey. Despite what it suggests, the name isn’t a geographical description but an homage to Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge, the first chairman of the Port Authority of New York.
November 4, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The southernmost bridge in New York City is the Outerbridge Crossing, a cantilever span connecting Staten Island to New Jersey. Despite what it suggests, the name isn’t a geographical description but an homage to Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge, the first chairman of the Port Authority of New York.
Coney Island Cyclone, 2017
July 14, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Coney Island Cyclone, 2017
An 1884 writeup from the New York Times describing the president of the Connecticut Fat Man's Club:
"He is huge, he is ponderous, his obesity borders on the infinite; and the most hardened lean man cannot gaze upon his magnificent proportions without being unconsciously made purer and holier." 6/
"He is huge, he is ponderous, his obesity borders on the infinite; and the most hardened lean man cannot gaze upon his magnificent proportions without being unconsciously made purer and holier." 6/
July 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
An 1884 writeup from the New York Times describing the president of the Connecticut Fat Man's Club:
"He is huge, he is ponderous, his obesity borders on the infinite; and the most hardened lean man cannot gaze upon his magnificent proportions without being unconsciously made purer and holier." 6/
"He is huge, he is ponderous, his obesity borders on the infinite; and the most hardened lean man cannot gaze upon his magnificent proportions without being unconsciously made purer and holier." 6/
Groups like the Fat Men’s Association of New York, the Jolly Fat Men’s Club, and the United Association of the Heavy Men of New York State held elaborate annual events: weigh-ins, parades, banquets, and prizes for the heaviest man in attendance. The prize was often a whole roasted pig. 5/
July 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Groups like the Fat Men’s Association of New York, the Jolly Fat Men’s Club, and the United Association of the Heavy Men of New York State held elaborate annual events: weigh-ins, parades, banquets, and prizes for the heaviest man in attendance. The prize was often a whole roasted pig. 5/
“The consumption of food was a sacrament of success. A man who carried a great stomach before him was thought to be in his prime… America was a great farting country.” —E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime 4/
July 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
“The consumption of food was a sacrament of success. A man who carried a great stomach before him was thought to be in his prime… America was a great farting country.” —E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime 4/
In the decades straddling the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, New York, and much of the country, was in the golden age of the Fat Men’s Club. These organizations had just one entry requirement: you had to weigh at least 200 pounds. 2/
July 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
In the decades straddling the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, New York, and much of the country, was in the golden age of the Fat Men’s Club. These organizations had just one entry requirement: you had to weigh at least 200 pounds. 2/
Before obesity became a health crisis, it was a badge of honor. In early 20th century New York, Fat Men’s Clubs turned girth into a form of social capital. This is one of the stranger corners of city history. 1/
July 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Before obesity became a health crisis, it was a badge of honor. In early 20th century New York, Fat Men’s Clubs turned girth into a form of social capital. This is one of the stranger corners of city history. 1/
Earlier this week, I spent a morning wandering through All Faiths cemetery.
“Young man, as you perambulate down the pathway of life toward an unavoidable bald head bordered with gray hairs, it would be well to bear in mind that the cemeteries are full of men this world could not get along without.”
“Young man, as you perambulate down the pathway of life toward an unavoidable bald head bordered with gray hairs, it would be well to bear in mind that the cemeteries are full of men this world could not get along without.”
May 31, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Earlier this week, I spent a morning wandering through All Faiths cemetery.
“Young man, as you perambulate down the pathway of life toward an unavoidable bald head bordered with gray hairs, it would be well to bear in mind that the cemeteries are full of men this world could not get along without.”
“Young man, as you perambulate down the pathway of life toward an unavoidable bald head bordered with gray hairs, it would be well to bear in mind that the cemeteries are full of men this world could not get along without.”
To learn more about Middle Village or other neighborhoods in NYC, you can check out my newsletter here: www.theneighborhoods.nyc
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May 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
To learn more about Middle Village or other neighborhoods in NYC, you can check out my newsletter here: www.theneighborhoods.nyc
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/end
The airport scheme fizzled. Rothstein was gunned down in 1928 over gambling debts, and the city chose Floyd Bennett Field instead. The Phantom Village slowly rotted back into the swamp, eventually becoming a dumping ground for subway debris and rubble from the demolished Wallabout Market. 9/
May 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The airport scheme fizzled. Rothstein was gunned down in 1928 over gambling debts, and the city chose Floyd Bennett Field instead. The Phantom Village slowly rotted back into the swamp, eventually becoming a dumping ground for subway debris and rubble from the demolished Wallabout Market. 9/
To inflate the land’s value, Rothstein threw up 48 shoddy houses—empty shells without foundations, propped up by cheap lumber and pure grift. He hired watchmen “energetically assisted by a set of strong-jawed dogs” to patrol the property. The press dubbed it the “Phantom Village.” 8/
May 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
To inflate the land’s value, Rothstein threw up 48 shoddy houses—empty shells without foundations, propped up by cheap lumber and pure grift. He hired watchmen “energetically assisted by a set of strong-jawed dogs” to patrol the property. The press dubbed it the “Phantom Village.” 8/
Known as “the Brain,” he ran bootlegging operations during Prohibition and was suspected of orchestrating the Black Sox scandal where Chicago White Sox players threw the 1919 World Series. 6/
May 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Known as “the Brain,” he ran bootlegging operations during Prohibition and was suspected of orchestrating the Black Sox scandal where Chicago White Sox players threw the 1919 World Series. 6/
In 1904, a sleepwalker named Clarence Smith wandered into the bog at night and became trapped. By morning, only his head and shoulders were visible above the muck. Though he was eventually rescued, he was pronounced dead from exposure. 4/
May 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
In 1904, a sleepwalker named Clarence Smith wandered into the bog at night and became trapped. By morning, only his head and shoulders were visible above the muck. Though he was eventually rescued, he was pronounced dead from exposure. 4/
This week, as part of my Every Neighborhood in New York project, I explored Morris Heights in the Bronx, home to the borough’s tallest buildings, Roberto Clemente State Park, and the birthplace of hip hop.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
May 17, 2025 at 3:33 AM
This week, as part of my Every Neighborhood in New York project, I explored Morris Heights in the Bronx, home to the borough’s tallest buildings, Roberto Clemente State Park, and the birthplace of hip hop.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
Marble Hill is the only Manhattan neighborhood that’s physically part of the Bronx. The Harlem canal was built in 1895 cutting the tip of Manhattan off from the rest of the borough. In 1914, infill from the Grand Central excavation fused Marble Hill to the Bronx.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
April 25, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Marble Hill is the only Manhattan neighborhood that’s physically part of the Bronx. The Harlem canal was built in 1895 cutting the tip of Manhattan off from the rest of the borough. In 1914, infill from the Grand Central excavation fused Marble Hill to the Bronx.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
Bulls Headin Staten Island was named after the Bulls head Tavern, a famous Tory watering hole. It’s also the final resting place of the real life Ichabod Crane and the preferred burial spot for the victims of Bonanno hitman, Tommy Karate.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
April 13, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Bulls Headin Staten Island was named after the Bulls head Tavern, a famous Tory watering hole. It’s also the final resting place of the real life Ichabod Crane and the preferred burial spot for the victims of Bonanno hitman, Tommy Karate.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
This week I wrote about Crown Heights, Brooklyn looking at Weeksville (one of America's earliest free Black communities), the Kings County Penitentiary, the 1991 riots and the building at 770 Eastern Parkway, headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
March 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
This week I wrote about Crown Heights, Brooklyn looking at Weeksville (one of America's earliest free Black communities), the Kings County Penitentiary, the 1991 riots and the building at 770 Eastern Parkway, headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
During its heyday, Ramblersville was known as the Venice of New York. The tiny, frequently floooded patch of land on the edge of Jamaica Bay is the smallest neighborhood in the city.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
March 20, 2025 at 11:28 PM
During its heyday, Ramblersville was known as the Venice of New York. The tiny, frequently floooded patch of land on the edge of Jamaica Bay is the smallest neighborhood in the city.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
This week, for my Neighborhoods project, I visited Manhattan's Lincoln Square. It is home to the former Trump City, Tower of Gozer and Lincoln Center, which replaced San Juan Hill, once NYC's largest Black community, which was razed in the 1950s.
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/lincoln-sq...
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/lincoln-sq...
March 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
This week, for my Neighborhoods project, I visited Manhattan's Lincoln Square. It is home to the former Trump City, Tower of Gozer and Lincoln Center, which replaced San Juan Hill, once NYC's largest Black community, which was razed in the 1950s.
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/lincoln-sq...
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/lincoln-sq...
Holy Land 2011, 2013, 2019, 2025
February 16, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Holy Land 2011, 2013, 2019, 2025
Tribeca, the tony neighborhood that The New York Times once described as a “dirty, degraded little rat-hole,” is Manhattan's most expensive zip code. Tribeca is also home to an $8 million stainless steel bean and a brutalist NSA listening facility.
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/tribeca-ma...
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/tribeca-ma...
February 9, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Tribeca, the tony neighborhood that The New York Times once described as a “dirty, degraded little rat-hole,” is Manhattan's most expensive zip code. Tribeca is also home to an $8 million stainless steel bean and a brutalist NSA listening facility.
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/tribeca-ma...
theneighborhoods.substack.com/p/tribeca-ma...
Last week I visited Charleston on south shore of Staten Island the neighborhood once known for its clay beds and brick factory.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
February 4, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Last week I visited Charleston on south shore of Staten Island the neighborhood once known for its clay beds and brick factory.
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
open.substack.com/pub/theneigh...
Well the second picture is right on the border but the other ones are definitely in Parkchester which is a name that applies not only to the building complex but also the surrounding neighborhood.
February 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Well the second picture is right on the border but the other ones are definitely in Parkchester which is a name that applies not only to the building complex but also the surrounding neighborhood.