Hip Hop
By Bigtimepeace - Own work, Public Domain
DJ Kool Herc gets credit for Hip Hop’s birth, at an August 11, 1973 back-to-school party in the recreation room of his apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx. He used two turntables to extend the instrumental breaks of songs, allowing people to dance longer, and laying the foundation for “breakbeat” DJing.
Hare Krishnas
Photographer: City of Toronto Planning and Development Department, ca. 1971. Flickr
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON, better known as the Hare Krishnas, has a worldwide reach. There are millions of followers today, but the organization can trace its origins to New York City, where A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded the movement on July 13, 1966.
Fantasy Sports
Fantasy sports are a monster, worth nearly $30 billion in economic activity every year. The start of this behemoth was low key, a not-much-loved French restaurant on East 52nd Street. La Rotisserie Française was where the first players of modern fantasy baseball met for lunch and the game became known as Rotisserie Baseball accordingly. Journalist Daniel Okrent gets credit for pioneering the competition, back in 1980.
Source: “Made In NYC,” by Ethan Wolff, March 2024, City Guide New York
Contributed by Bobbie Roggemann