Nerd Nite!
Photo of "Nerd Nite: Consolidation of the Boroughs from flickr
A few years ago in Boston, our friend Chris Balakrishnan was trying to figure out how he could do two of his favorite things: engage in serious intellectual inquiry and get sauced.
Thus, Nerd Nite, a lecture series in a bar that has been described as "The Discovery Channel with beer."
In the course of time, Nerd Nite, like many things worthwhile, migrated to New York City, and eventually found a home at the bar Angels and Kings on 11th St. between A and B.
The next Nerd Nite, May 1, seems particularly relevant to Urbanite's purpose. It will feature official Manhattan borough historian Michael Miscione, who will be talking about the 1898 consolidation of the boroughs.
From the official description:
In 1898 the patchwork of rival municipalities around New York harbor were joined together to create the five-borough New York City that exists today. But the city that never sleeps was almost the city that never was. Michael will describe the clash between the pro-consolidationists, led by civic visionary Andrew H. Green ("the 19th century Robert Moses"), and the Brooklyn loyalists who opposed them. He'll also answer that age-old question, "Why on earth did we let Staten Island join the club?"
Also on the bill is a lecture on human parasites and a talk on car stereos.
Funny how everything seems to come back to Staten Island.
---David Freedlander
Comments (1)
speaking of staten island, at a previous nerd nite that compared the layout of the human brain to the mta subway map, the presenter said, "and here you have the olfactory bulb. notice it looks like staten island. that makes sense, because it smells."
shazam!