The world is full of firsts, but from the city that has everything, we bring you a list of lasts.
LAST TIME THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE WENT DOWN BROADWAY: November 27, 2008. In 2009, the city changed the route to accommodate more viewers, eliminating the run down Broadway.
LAST TIME THERE WAS A SHUTOUT AT EBBETS FIELD: September 24, 1957, when lefty Danny McDevitt and the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2–0. That game also happened to be the last played at Ebbets Field.
LAST TIME TO SHOP AT GIMBEL’S: September 26, 1986. The department store, much loved and co-featured in the movie Miracle on 34th Street, closed September 27.
LAST TIME STREETCARS RAN IN BROOKLYN: October 31, 1956. (But there’s talk of bringing them back on a limited basis.)
LAST TIME EDDIE CANTOR FLOATED DOWN BROADWAY: November 21, 1940, when his likeness was made into a balloon for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Technically, this was also the only time the Eddie Cantor balloon was featured in the parade. Kids found his image “scary.” (The Three Stooges also once enjoyed their own balloon images.)
LAST TIME NEW YORK WAS NOT AMERICA’S LARGEST CITY: 1809. The following year, New York City surpassed Philadelphia in population to reach #1, a title it hasn’t relinquished since.
Kurt Vonnegut’s suggested name for Manhattan: “Skyscraper National Park”
LAST TIME YOU COULD DANCE AT THE ORIGINAL STUDIO 54: Early in the morning of February 4, 1980. The club closed later that day when managers Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were fined and sent to prison for 3½ years on charges of conspiracy and tax evasion. The club reopened briefly several times over the years, but never achieved the original’s notoriety or fame.
LAST TIME TO SEE JUDY GARLAND ONSTAGE IN THE BIG APPLE: August 26, 1967, when she performed at the Palace Theatre with her two youngest children, Lorna and Joey Luft.
LAST TIME YOU COULD SMOKE IN NEW YORK CITY’S BARS AND RESTAURANTS: 2003, when the City Council passed a resolution banning smoking inside public places. In 2011, the City Council passed another law banning smoking at the city’s parks and beaches. The punishment for defying the ban: a “quality of life” summons that’ll cost you $50.
LAST TIME YOU COULD BE PART OF THE STUDIO AUDIENCE FOR THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW: February 7, 1971. The program was canceled shortly afterward.
LAST TIME YOU COULD RIDE IN A CHECKER CAB IN THE CITY: July 26, 1999. The last vehicle was about 17 years old at its retirement.
LAST TIME YOU COULD CHECK INTO ST. VINCENT’S HOSPITAL IN MANHATTAN: 2010. In April, the board voted to close the hospital due to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
LAST TIME YOU COULD DUMP YOUR TRASH AT FRESH KILLS LANDFILL ON STATEN ISLAND: March 22, 2001, although the dump was temporarily reopened for burial of 9/11 attack debris. The 2,200-acre area is now being developed into a park.
LAST TIME TO SEE A LIVE MASTODON IN THE CITY: Around 11,000 years ago, according to scientists who studied a mastodon jawbone found by construction workers near Broadway and Dyckman Streets back in 1925.
Last time a New Yorker was nominated on a national ticket by a major party Jack Kemp (Buffalo), for vice president in 1996.