Viewing NYC Articles by Matt Coneybeare

[WATCH] A Day at the Most Hyped Mexican Restaurant in NYC

2026-08-13T12:00:00-04:00

Bon Appétit spends a day at Corima, a New York City restaurant that earned a Michelin star just 11 months after opening. Head Chef and owner Fidel Caballero guides viewers through Corima's dedication to Northern Mexican cuisine, which involves whole-animal butchery of lamb, dry-aging proteins, fermentation, and making fresh sourdough flour tortillas daily. The team showcases their impressive techniques while preparing dishes for their tasting and à la carte menus, including a morel taco stuffed with lamb sausage and lamb fat-roasted morels. Additionally, Chef Caballero and his wife Sofia Ostos visit their new bar, Bar Chucho, in Chinatown, where they're putting the finishing touches before opening, offering a distinct menu with items like a burger and various cocktails. The video concludes with the team at Corima preparing for a busy dinner service, highlighting their meticulous prep and collaborative kitchen environment.

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[VIDEO] Why Times Square’s Billboards Are Required By Law

2026-08-12T12:00:00-04:00

Architect Michael Wyetzner leads a walking tour of Times Square in New York City, exploring the surprising zoning laws and urban design decisions that transformed the area from a gritty red-light district into a global attraction. He explains how current regulations mandate extensive illuminated signs, noting that buildings like Three Times Square must incorporate 50 square feet of LED signage for every linear foot of street frontage. Wyetzner highlights the historical context, tracing the area's evolution from its early days with signs designed by O.J. Gude to its revitalization efforts in the 1980s under Mayor Ed Koch, which aimed to maintain its illuminated character while deterring crime.
The tour delves into specific landmarks: One Times Square, where the iconic New Year's Eve ball drops, was originally built as the headquarters for The New York Times. Its subway connection facilitated newspaper distribution and drew crowds, solidifying its role as a public gathering spot. Wyetzner interviews Michael Phillips, President of Jamestown, owners of One Times Square, who discusses the ongoing evolution of the New Year's Eve ball and the building's current use as a 21st-century visitor center.
He also visits the Winter Garden Theatre, which was originally the American Horse Exchange, and the historic Knickerbocker Hotel, built before zoning laws required electric signs. The video underscores how these individual buildings and the city's continuous efforts in urban planning have shaped Times Square into the vibrant, light-filled "Crossroads of the World" it is today.

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[WATCH] The Richest Family That Owns Manhattan

2026-08-11T12:00:00-04:00

The video explores the powerful families who own significant real estate in Manhattan, delving into ten dynasties that shape the city's landscape. It highlights their strategies, from the Resnick Family who built their empire on patience and holding assets for decades, to the Durst Family at the top, known for transforming areas like Times Square and their stake in One World Trade Center. Other featured families include the Rose Family who focused on luxury residential buildings like those on the Upper East Side and revitalizing the Financial District, the Zeckendorf Family behind ultra-luxury condos such as 15 Central Park West, and the Fisher Family who own numerous corporate fortresses in Midtown. The Malkin Family controls the iconic Empire State Building, transforming it into an eco-friendly tech campus. The Speyer Family owns and revitalized Rockefeller Center. The LeFrak Family built entire communities like LeFrak City in Queens and Newport in Jersey City. Finally, the Goldman Family maintains a vast, privately held portfolio across Manhattan, often through ground leases, demonstrating how these long-standing families exert quiet but immense influence over New York City's past, present, and future.

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[VIDEO] How Brooklyn’s Best Pancakes are Made

2026-08-10T12:00:00-04:00

Chef Jake Leiber of Chez Ma Tante in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, shares his perfected pancake recipe, renowned for being “crispy, fluffy and delightfully simple” (according to The New York Times). The process involves building the batter with eggs, extra egg yolks, sugar, salt, baking powder, whole milk, clarified butter, and a touch of lemon zest. Chef Leiber emphasizes resting the batter for at least an hour to hydrate and cool it, resulting in a thick consistency. The pancakes are then fried in a generous amount of clarified butter (also known as ghee) on a hot griddle, ensuring a crispy edge and a toasted marshmallow flavor. Finally, they are stacked high, topped with whipped salted butter, and drenched in Pennsylvania maple syrup.

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[WATCH] The Most Depressing Island in New York City

2026-08-09T12:00:00-04:00

This video delves into the unique and often overlooked history and infrastructure of Randalls Island (which merged with Wards Island), revealing its transformation into a central hub of crucial but often undesirable city services. Once two separate islands, it became a dumping ground for facilities like orphanages, hospitals, asylums, and reformatories starting in the mid-1800s. The video highlights how urban planner Robert Moses dramatically reshaped the island in the 1930s with the construction of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, turning it into a major highway interchange for Manhattan, Queens, and The Bronx. The island also hosts the Hell Gate Bridge, a vital rail link on the U.S. East Coast, and the massive Wards Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. Despite being filled with extensive recreational areas like Icahn Stadium and numerous ball fields, it remains geographically central but largely isolated from the rest of the city, accessible primarily by car or pedestrian bridges, with no direct subway access.

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[VIDEO] NYC's least talked about Abandoned Station

2026-08-08T12:00:00-04:00

This video delves into the Myrtle Avenue Elevated line in Brooklyn, highlighting a section that has been abandoned for decades and an even older, underground station that was also abandoned. The current M and J subway lines utilize a portion of the original elevated structure, which once extended to Downtown Brooklyn and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge before 1944. The video illustrates the complex junction where the M train diverges towards Middle Village, emphasizing the capacity challenges this creates. It also points out the remains of the abandoned elevated structure, where tracks have been removed but the ironwork still stands. Additionally, the narrator discusses an abandoned underground station of the BMT line, located beneath Flatbush Avenue near Myrtle, which closed in 1956 and notably lacked a connection to the elevated line. This missed connection is cited as a factor in the elevated line's eventual closure in 1969, with its route largely replaced by the B54 bus.

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[WATCH] How New Jersey Lost Staten Island to New York

2026-08-07T12:00:00-04:00

The video investigates the popular legend of how New Jersey lost Staten Island to New York in a sailing race. According to the tale, Captain Christopher Billopp of New York supposedly won Staten Island by circling it in under 24 hours in his ship, the Bentley, aided by empty barrels to catch the wind. However, a deep dive into historical records, including articles from The New York Times and various historical books, reveals inconsistencies in dates, details of the race, and even the identity of Captain Billopp. The narrator traces the story's origin to Reverend Gabriel Poillon Disosway, a local chronicler, who likely shared it as an embellished oral history in the mid-1800s. The investigation, which included visiting the New York Public Library and the Conference House (also known as Billopp Manor) on Staten Island, ultimately reveals the Staten Island race story to be a charming but historically unsubstantiated "tall tale" that evolved over centuries.

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[VIDEO] 'Lunch on a Beam' explores mystery surrounding iconic photo of Rockefeller Center workers

2026-08-06T12:00:00-04:00

This video delves into the enduring mystery surrounding an iconic photograph of 11 workers eating lunch on a steel beam, suspended 850 feet above Midtown Manhattan during the construction of the Rockefeller Center in the 1930s. Long assumed to be a spontaneous moment, author and Rock Center Archivist Christine Roussel reveals in her new book, Lunch on a Beam: The Making of an American Photograph, that the photo was actually part of a meticulously planned publicity campaign. Roussel discusses the challenges and triumphs of identifying the men in the picture, explaining how some names were found through archival clues and family connections. She also shares her personal journey into the Rockefeller Center family, starting her career helping Vice President Nelson Rockefeller with his art collection before becoming a pivotal figure in preserving the landmark's rich history.

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[WATCH] The Terrible Engineering Behind New York City's $3.1B Collapsing Skyscraper

2026-08-05T12:00:00-04:00

This video delves into the engineering woes plaguing New York City's luxurious 432 Park Avenue skyscraper. Designed as one of the slenderest residential towers, its ambitious height on a narrow footprint introduced unprecedented forces. Wind interaction causes the entire building to oscillate, leading to a cascade of internal failures like stressed pipes, stalled elevators, and shifting interiors. The video explains that these systemic issues stem from a fundamental design decision about the tower's shape, making re-engineering a completed, occupied building financially and practically overwhelming. It serves as a compelling case study on the consequences when architectural ambition outpaces practical engineering limits, particularly in the realm of expensive, high-rise construction.

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[VIDEO] The Oldest Pasta Machine Still Being Used In NYC

2026-08-04T12:00:00-04:00

Meet George Joseph Switzer III, who runs Queen Ann Ravioli, a pasta shop in Brooklyn founded by his father in 1972. The shop prides itself on using vintage machinery, including a pasta machine from 1909 believed to be the only one of its kind still in daily operation in the country. These machines, operated by a dedicated team, produce thousands of pounds of pasta weekly, contributing to nearly $2 million in annual revenue. Despite the challenges posed by rising costs, mass production from larger companies, and the changing demographics of the neighborhood, George is committed to preserving this traditional way of doing business, ensuring each batch of ravioli, tortellini, and manicotti maintains its unique, handcrafted quality.

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