August 27, 1894: "The Sidewalks of New York" (East Side, West Side) Is Published

August 27, 1894: "Sidewalks of New York" is published, with lyrics by James W. Blake, and melody by Charles B. Lawlor. It becomes one of the most familiar songs about New York City.

The song is better known by its first line, "East Side, West Side":

East Side, West Side, all around the town
the tots sang "ring-around-rosie," "London Bridge is falling down."
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O’Rourke
tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York

The song mentions a few neighborhood characters, but in the 4th and final verse, it's revealed as a lament for a lost youth. "Up in G" was an 1890s slang term meaning "doing well":

Things have changed since those times, some are up in "G."
Others they are wanderers, but they all feel just like me
They'd part with all they've got, could they once more walk
with their best girl and have a twirl on the sidewalks of New York.

Assemblyman, Governor and 1928 Democratic Presidential nominee Alfred E. Smith made "The Sidewalks of New York" his campaign theme song, usually singing just that verse, ignoring the other verses, including the sad 4th and final verse, and making it one of New York's great saloon singalongs. The song has also been rewritten for various causes, and for TV commercials, most notably for Hot Shoppes restaurants and Rheingold beer in he 1950s and '60s.

Lawlor died in 1925, Blake in 1935. Each man was 72 at the time of his death. "Sidewalks of New York" is the only song written by either man that is still widely remember.

It became the post parade (pre-race) song for the Belmont Stakes, the 3rd and final leg in thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown, as "My Old Kentucky Home" is for the Kentucky Derby and "Maryland, My Maryland" is for the Preakness Stakes.

In 1996, Belmont Park management, trying to appeal to a younger demographic, decided to alter tradition and changed the post parade song to "Theme from New York, New York" ("Start spreadin' the news... ")

There is speculation that a jinx has fallen over any horse attempting to win the Triple Crown of after having won the 1st 2 legs. Since 1996, 7 horses who won the Derby and the Preakness have failed to win the race since the song was changed, and 1 was scratched the morning of the race due to lameness.

It is said that the ghost of Mamie O'Rourke (a real person, a childhood friend of lyricist Blake) will never let another Triple Crown winner emerge unless and until "The Sidewalks of New York" is reinstated as the post parade song for The Belmont Stakes. However, this doesn't explain why 4 horses between 1979 to 1996 had already failed to win the Triple Crown after winning the 1st 2 legs. But after the wins of American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018, if such a curse existed, it's gone now.

*

August 27, 1894 was a Thursday. The only professional sports league in America at the time was baseball's National League, in which these 3 games were played:

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 19-9 and 9-5. These games were played at the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds. This was a temporary stadium built after the one of the same name burned down. It was replaced the next season, with the National League Park that would later be renamed Baker Bowl.

* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago Colts, 12-3 at Union Park in Baltimore. The Orioles were contracted out of the league after the 1899 season, while the Colts became the Cubs.