Christmas in the city. I love multi-colored lights. I’m old school. It just feels more like Christmas. Along those lines, I miss the old school tinsel, which was made from lead, so toxic. But still. Much prettier.

My Christmas decorations instead of a tree. Because I have cats. The thing I love about cats and Christmas trees is watching videos of cats destroying Christmas trees. Never gets old.

I loved the Desperately Seeking the ‘80s podcast discussion of my book, The Killing Fields of East New York. Meg MacCary & Jessica Jones, who had a deep understanding of the issues, summarized them in both a thorough and entertaining way. Thank you! tinyurl.com/nhbca978

My grandmother (Daisy) & great-grandmother (Jennie), pictured here, were members of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (I joined briefly to honor them). Our veteran ancestor, my great-great grandfather, James Lynch, is not pictured. He died in 1878. www.nyduvcw.org 1/2

Get a NYC ID! You get things like a free one-year membership to the New York City Ballet, which includes four opportunities to go to free rehearsals. I immediately picked The Nutcracker tickets. The pics are from their rehearsal on Wednesday. www.nyc.gov/site/idnyc/a...

I was interviewed by author, educator and singer Stuart Stotts for his podcast, “How can I keep from singing?” Singing with other people is one of the best things in my life. Dick Van Dyke says it keeps him alive! howcanikeepfromsinging.podbean.com

A plaque in memory of Rev. French, the Blackwell’s Island missionary I wrote about in my book, Damnation Island. “No person can have an idea, until he sees it, of the degradation of the city poor,” French said. 1/2

Music lovers! My friend has a fabulous new Etsy store. “This past year I developed a love for the blues, all varieties …” The Tom Lehrer Tribute T-Shirt! All the vintage looks and posters! Mugs coming soon. Everything is 25% off until 12/3. www.etsy.com/shop/UptownS...

My book, The Killing Fields of East New York, is on NPR’s 2025 Books We Love list!! “Horn offers a more complex diagnosis of East New York’s decline with her searing investigation of a white-collar criminal conspiracy …” apps.npr.org/best-books/#...

Although ruins are beautiful too, it breaks my heart that this building was allowed to come to this. It’s the Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island, designed by James Renwick. I wrote about the 19th century history of this building and the island in my book Damnation Island.

Pictures from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Double Helix Medals Dinner at the Natural History Museum (in the squid and the whale room!). Pic 2, scientists who were asked to stand, pic 3, Martina Navratilova. Who doesn't love celebrating science?

I owe my life to my affordable apartment. "Imagine what the world would be like if everyone had a decent, affordable home." tinyurl.com/4xhvpphd

Former Lindsay aide Sid Davidoff died on Nov. 16. I interviewed him about Lindsay’s response to the civil rights uprisings in 1966 for my book, The Killing Fields of East New York. It was the first year of the Lindsay administration, and “We were still novices in a lot of ways,” he said. 1/3

Fort Tryon Park is my favorite park in NYC, and this cottage at the entrance is my fantasy dream home. I mean, look at this place. I don’t know if it is as enchanting inside, but in my fantasy I will renovate and restore as needed. (In my fantasy I am rich.)

The next entry in a limited series I’ve decided to call: Oh, come on. That can’t be comfortable.

The next entry in my ongoing series, Faces I Can’t Resist. (I work in an animal hospital and I love your babies.) Someday I will be able to have a pitbull, my favorite breed since working in the hospital. This baby was very drool-y, probably due to meds. Look at that face. Who can resist?

On Monday I saw the Tiffany’s renovation for the first time. It breaks my heart, but I love parts of it. Bottomline, this will be Tiffany’s for people growing up now, whose hearts will be broken the next time it changes. That’s life.

I’ve posted about the steep angles of planes taking off and how scary it must be for passengers inside a plane taking off at this angle. Look at this! It’s going straight up. How is that tolerable? It’s not a rocket ship! I’d be screaming my head off.

I will never forget how proud I was to get this NYPD press pass when I was doing pieces for NPR’s All Things Considered. Sigh. Those were the days! (I would still be proud, just saying I’m not doing that anymore.)

Long Islanders! On 11/10 @6PM I’ll be giving a talk at the Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library, 1 South Country Road, Brightwaters, NY! FYI: I grew up in Huntington.

Today is my book talk in East New York! I hope to see some of you there! Take the 2 or 3 to New Lots Avenue, the event is at 613 New Lots Avenue, at the UCC Community Center.

Elsbeth will be back in my neighborhood on Monday, but this time only a half a block away!

The next entry in my ongoing series, Faces I Can’t Resist. (I work in an animal hospital and I love your babies.) This gorgeous little one goes into the category of: “Tell the owner we lost him. I’m not giving him back."

The next entry in my ongoing series, Faces I Can’t Resist. (I work in an animal hospital and I love your babies.). Cute kitten says, “Let me outta here,” successfully conning pretty much everyone who walked by into opening his cage and taking him out to love on him.

My East New York book talk is next week! It is the first one to take place in East New York. If you have never been to East New York before, please come and you should consider coming early to explore.

A few shots I also took last night, 11th Street, West Village, NYC. These decorations look so great in the dark.

Okay, this creepy girl is the best! Thank you to whoever did this! Took this on my way to choir practice last night. (11th Street, West Village, NYC.)

Glued to watching Hurricane Melissa, via Ryan Hall’s livestream. It’s larger than Katrina and due to make landfall in Jamaica around 11am EST. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qitH...

The last true snowstorm in NYC in 2020. It wasn’t deep like the old days, but it was thorough and pretty. I miss when it was truly deep though. When I would go up to the roof, where, without plows it would go up to two, three feet or more.

I was married once and my friends were curious about my ex-husband. He was a very nice guy, and we're still friends. He is also a twin!

Still more shots of Halloween decorations in the West Village, NYC. While I have your attention, why isn’t The Uninvited (1944) airing this year??

A NYC Christmas favorite, the Choral Society’s Christmas concerts at Grace Church: Friday, 12/5, at 8PM and Saturday, 12/6, at 3PM. The program features works by Palestrina, Gabrieli, Bach, and more. For tickets: www.thechoralsociety.org/event-listing

More West Village Halloween decorations. I’ll be working on Halloween at the animal hospital & I get off just when my neighborhood turns into an absolute madhouse (the Halloween Parade!). I’ll be in scrubs so I’ll say my costume is Exhausted Healthcare Worker who spent the day kissing cats & dogs.

White-collar criminals turned East New York from a “small cluster of farms to a community of modern homes, churches, and schools,” which preserved “the best elements of suburban character,” to what is pictured below. Sign up for my book talk about this history here: forms.gle/6Rvjw3XAGbqz...

Saw this on Perry Street, by the Sex and the City apartment. I realized I used to see shoots like this, and more elaborate, all the time all over the West Village, but now hardly ever. What happened?? It was fun to see them.

From the No Kings March in Manhattan yesterday. It was massive and uplifting. I needed to be with my people, and to see how many there were, but did it help?

Please help this zoo, which is really a sanctuary. A Beloved Zoo of Misfit Animals Is Almost Out of Money www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/n...

When you’ve pissed off WeRateDogs so much they’re calling you “fucking losers” on Main you have absolutely lost all merit in the court of public opinion

This reminds me, I am very interested in researching and learning more about the Young Lords. There must be books. But this is a great and impressive story. How a Hospital Takeover Changed How We Treat Addiction in America www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

The OG creepy little girl on a swing and still the best! West Village, NYC, 2013. youtu.be/l3yzgLutCRY?...

More Halloween in the West Village, NYC, photos. Creepy little girls on a swing are a Halloween thing now. This is the best one I’ve seen so far.

How did East New York go from a “small cluster of farms to a community of modern homes, churches, and schools,” which still preserved “the best elements of suburban character,” to what is pictured below? Sign up for my East New York book talk here: stacyhorn.com/2025/10/14/s...

More Halloween decorations in the West Village, NYC. I love decorations put up by people with a good color sense.

More Halloween in the West Village, NYC. Every year I miss whoever used to live at Waverly and 11th Street. They always had the best decorations. Where did they go?? Maybe this year will be the year they return. Sob.

Halloween begins to appear in the West Village, NYC. I always love the old school windows of the Jackson Square Pharmacy.

A good source for genealogists and others: the archives of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. They have baptismal and death records for people who were baptized or died on Blackwell’s Island (Roosevelt Island) in the 19th C. And more.

Remnants of a horse stable at 10th and Greenwich Streets, NYC. Why oh why are there not time machines?? I so want to walk around 19th century NYC. And earlier. But mostly the 19th C. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to this time period.

The next entry in my ongoing series, Faces I Can’t Resist. (I work in an animal hospital and I love your babies.) Another sweet baby who isn’t entirely convinced we mean no harm.

Just got back from a free performance of the first half of the Bach B Minor Mass at Trinity Church. At the end I turned to the stranger sitting next to me, and said, “Oh my God.” It was that good. She said, “We’re so lucky” & we stood and applauded like mad. trinitychurchnyc.org/events/bach-...

Only just heard about this important book! “Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs & the Police Killing That Galvanized New York City,” by LaShawn Harris. “… an elegantly written and riveting view of a pivotal but little-remembered political sea change.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review.