The U.S. Department of the Treasury has unveiled the new design for the $100 note, in hopes that the redesign will combat counterfeiting efforts. Tim Geithner said, "As with previous U.S. currency redesigns, this note incorporates the best technology available to ensure we're staying ahead of counterfeiters," like this woman caught using a fake $100. The Treasury also posted a YouTube video highlighting those changes, with the bill flying around to some intense MIDI fanfare. more ›

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and recently the Bowery Boys took a look back at its history — which begins with an ash dump. They recall: "the Garden was created out of an ash dump, landscaped by the Olmsted Brothers (later of Fort Tryon fame), 'for the advancement and diffusion of a knowledge and love for plants.' The garden's patron saint is most certainly Alfred Tredway White... an enlightened Brooklyn tenement owner and philanthropist who lobbied for and later helped fund the garden's creation and maintenance." more ›

The 6855-foot-long Manhattan Bridge is turning 100! With a newly reopened archway on the Brooklyn side, it's hardly looking like a centenarian, but the ol' girl's been through a lot, and has a fairly flawed history behind her. The construction for the bridge began in October of 1901, but wasn't open to traffic until December 31, 1909. Once it was put to use, Time Out notes it was realized that designer Leon Moisseiff "didn’t incorporate sufficient support, and placed the subway and streetcar lines on the outer edges of the roadway, putting too much strain on the deck." more ›

The rarely hailed Queensboro Bridge is about to have its shining moment. The structure is turning 100 years old this year with a series of celebratory events. The Daily News reports that before the bridge was built in 1909, "Queens was mostly a rural gateway to the farms and manors of Long Island," with the exception being the more industrial area of Long Island City. Judith Berdy, president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, told the paper, "This bridge made the borough of Queens." more ›

A woman who dropped a hundred dollar bill somewhere near a food cart at East 58th St. and Lexington had the money returned to her! The Daily News reports that an unidentified man found the bill on the sidewalk Monday and gave it to Egyptian immigrant food cart operator Emad Youssef. The vendor then turned it over to Rochelle Meyers, his distraught customer, when she returned the next day. Myers, an infertility clinic administrator from Jersey, needed the money for a new cell phone. “[Youssef] really restored my faith in human beings,” she tells the News. Youssef declares, “I'm Christian. In my religion, if I take somebody's money, it's haram [forbidden]. If I find any money and don't find the person, I give [it] to police." more ›

Between 2008 and the end of 2010, six New York City bridges will turn 100 years old, and the newly formed New York City Bridge Centennial Commission will be making sure they're adequately feted. The six centennial spans are the Madison Avenue, Manhattan, Borden Avenue, Pelham Bay, University Heights and Queensboro bridges. more ›