The Traffic Circle
Sure, rotaries had been around for a long time, but New York City was the first place to install a traffic circle capable of coping with modern automobile traffic. The innovation came from NYC-born innovator William Phelps Eno, who had it installed in Columbus Circle in 1903. (That was the same year he wrote the world’s first traffic code, another NYC-first creation.)
The Rock ‘N’ Roll Record
Tracing the precise birth of rock ‘n’ roll is a murky affair, with smudged borders across the blues, jazz, and R&B. There is no dispute, however, about the first rock ‘n’ roll hit. That honor belongs to Bill Haley & His Comets and the single “Rock Around the Clock.” The recording session took place on the Upper West Side at the Pythian Temple studios on April 12, 1954. (The building still stands today, after its conversion to condominiums. In a bit of pop music serendipity, it’s the childhood home of Lady Gaga.)
The Ice Cream Sandwich
The ice cream sandwich remains one of the top choices for ice cream way more than a century after its invention on the Bowery. From pushcart origins circa 1899, it was just a couple of decades before a first patent was issued for an ice cream sandwich-making device. That patent was awarded to Manhattan resident Russell H. Proper on August 16, 1921. Today, 48 ice cream sandwiches are consumed in America every second.
Source: “Made In NYC,” by Ethan Wolff, March 2024, City Guide New York
Contributed by Bobbie Roggemann