Stephen Butler
Latest Stories
Labor
Bread and butter issues at center of NYU strike
(Editor's note: this piece was written before the NYU Contract Faculty labor dispute was settled.) As another Irish-American Heritage month nears c...
Former lovers probe shared past
In the early 2000s, before I was married, I lived for five years on the Sunnyside/Woodside border with a good buddy whose mom is from Longford and ...
The Ghosts of Trotsky and Mrs. Ryan
This summer I spent some time doing research for a history of Woodside, Queens that was just published in Volume 38 of New York Irish History, the ...
On using (and not abusing) history
A President from the great state of New York serving one of his two nonconsecutive terms in the White House. A precocious political talent running ...
On truth, Trump, Biden and BS
By the time this article appears, Donald Trump will have been sworn in again as President of the United States. The freezing temperatures will have...
'Undead President' still haunts
When someone hears that I worked for many years as a doorman in Manhattan, the usual follow-up question is “Did anyone famous live in your building...
On the Mets, the Yankees and 'intolerable suffering'
The hopes and dreams of Mets fans have died their annual death. There was to be no Subway Series this year. The first and only time the Metropolita...
'Maybe, maybe there's peace inside'
With his dark quiff, modest sideburns, blazer, blue jeans and Doc Martens, the look of Thomas Patrick Maguire might remind you of another singing-s...
When hope and history don’t rhyme
Sixty-five summers ago, in August 1956, two Irish immigrants living in South Buffalo got married. To be precise, my paternal aunt, Philomena (“Phil...
