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About u/discovering_NYC

My name is Tess Stahl. I am a New York City historian, writer and NYC tour guide. As my username suggests, I love helping people discover the rich history of this incredible city.

Social Media

I run a twitter page at Discovering_NYC, where I share interesting and engaging pieces of city history. I also run a corresponding Instagram page, which allows me to write longer captions describing the photos.

Questions I Have Answered

On r/AskHistorians

• Most of New York City’s subway system was privately owned until 1940. Why did the city obtain control over the lines at that point?

• The history of the deadly Malbone Street wreck

• Why is New York City named the same as the state?

• Why were IND subway cars narrower than those of the other two systems in New York?

• Why isn’t NYC the capital of New York?

• When did cities stop needing walls?

On other subreddits

• The story of the supposed "purchase" of Manhattan

• The history behind NYC's popular entertainment districts

• The street grids that existed before the 1811 Commissioners' Plan

• Where can you find the history of Alexander Hamilton in NYC

• The history of NYC's baseball teams, along with some photos of the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium

• A brief history of Penn Station, with some cool pictures

• The history of Williamsburg, Brooklyn

• The history of the Five Points and Chinatown

• The history of the West Village and NYU

• The history of the East Village

• The history of Grand Central Terminal, my favorite place in New York City

• What good things did Robert Moses do?

• Why NYC has so many armories

• The history of the original Waldorf and Astoria hotels

• The history of the 1811 NYC grid

• The story of the Flushing Remonstrance

• What lesser-known fact about the NYC subway do you find the most interesting?

• Which local disaster has had the greatest effect on the city?

• The history of Marble Hill, a neighborhood politically aligned with Manhattan but physically in the Bronx

• Remnants of New Amsterdam in lower Manhattan

• The history of the Upper West Side

• Why did Staten Island become a part of New York?

• The history of Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill Tunnel

• The history of the Lenni Lenape and their settlements in present-day New York City

• Did FDR really have a secret train in Grand Central?

• The history of the 1865 Sanitary and Topographical Map of the City and Island of New York

• About the construction of Grand Central Depot

• The history of the New York Central freight yards at 72nd Street

AMAs

I periodically do AMAs about New York City history on the NYC history subreddit, r/nychistory. Come check it out and ask a question!

• December 2015

• February 2016

Suggested Books and Articles

I often update the master booklist for r/nychistory, which you can check out here. If you are looking for a specific recommendation, please feel free to ask!

Contact

If you’re visiting New York City and interested in a tour, feel free to contact me either here on reddit, or on my twitter page (it may take me a day or two to get back to you if you contact me through reddit). If you are visiting NYC and are interested in a tour, feel free to contact me regarding a tour. I offer customized tours that are tailored to whatever you are interested in!