5 comments about Invisible New York: The Hidden Infrastructure of the City (Creating the North American Landscape).

1. This book lived up to my expectations with it's beautiful photographs, insightful comments about each location photographed and rich, deep printing. A great book for anyone interested in wonderful black and white location photography, or in learning more about New York City and its' surroundings.



2. I have an obsession with abandoned buildings. They are a place I know I can go to be alone because no one visits them anymore but the spirits of those who brought life to the buildings as more than just concrete and steel still linger.

   It gives one a time to reflect on the temporality of our lives and the finiteness not only of our beings, but of our dreams and visions. It gives us pause to reflect on what is important and profound about life.

   When we are in these places we are really inside of parts of ourselves we don't recognize.




3. "Invisible New York" is a splendid collection of photographs which pay tribute to New York City's technological past. Stanley Greenberg's large format camera yields dignified, poetic images of long-forgotten historic structures throughout the city. These range from beautiful pictures of bridge supports and hidden passageways to a deserted building at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field, once the city's primary airport. Although others have found New York City's architecture to be a rich source of photographic imagery, few have been as tenacious as Stanley Greenberg in creating stunningly beautiful visual poetry. I must commend Johns Hopkins University Press for publishing this beautiful tome of black and white photographs and keeping it in print. I eagerly look forward to seeing Greenberg's next book, which I think may be on a recent project documenting New York City's water supply system. He is surely one of the most distinguished photographers ever to have graduated from New York City's prestigious Stuyvesant High School.



4. Invisible New York is one of the three or four most treasured books in my library. Greenberg's black and white photography is beautiful and lush. To me, the book's one shortcoming is that it's not longer! Greenberg has a sharp eye for reading and presenting spaces. A treat for all of us who wonder what lives down there under the manhole cover or over there behind that fence.



5. Great coffee table book of little-seen aspects of NYC. One warning I'd mention is that not all of the pictures are of things underground/unseen. Some are simply of neglected/abandonded/decaying above ground sites (not exactly what I'd expected but it's still a good collection). Perhaps it would be best to peruse this book at your local bookseller before making a decision on the purchase.

1 comments about Cafe Life New York: An Insider's Guide to the City's Neighborhood Cafes (Cafe Life).

1. Coffee houses have been apart of New York for over three hundred years, with the first opening up in the seventeenth century - 1696. "Cafe Life New York: An Insider's Guide to the City's Neighborhood Cafes" is a guide to one undeniable fact of New York life- New Yorkers love their coffee. A mix of history and guidebook information with a touch of author Sandy Miller's own opinion and personal stories, "Cafe Life New York: An Insider's Guide to City Neighborhood Cafes" covers the best of the best of the coffee houses of New York. Beautiful color photographs throughout adding a grand and excellent descriptive touch, "Cafe Life New York: An Insider's Guide to City Neighborhood Cafes" is highly recommended to coffee lovers and armchair travelers alike - and especially for coffee lovers thinking of visiting the Big Apple.

No comments about Michelin Guide 2009 New York (Michelin Guide New York City).

2 comments about Miffy Loves New York City.

1. I purchased a bunch of these books after moving to NYC for all my friends with kids and one for myself. They have been received with great enthusiasm. I find it very fun to have Miffy explore the city I love so much. A great memory if kids visited NYC themselves or a great preparation for what they will see after arrival. Lots of fun. It is not the original Miffy size though, which is too bad. ALso Miffy seems to be cut out of the other story books and pasted in NYC scenery. Not the best Miffy read ever, but certainly very charming and unique.



2. Obviously Miffy represents a beloved fictional white bunny character that we all adore. What's cool about this book is your sitting down and pointing out famous NY landmarks, I know Miffy superimposed sounds really cheesy and frankly it is, but that's the point of the book! It's a chance to connect her on a photographic trip around the city. We love the book and anyone wishing to visit New York with a young Miffy fan would like this too. They even supplied space at the back of the book for adding your own photographs. It's a cute idea/concept and a useful kid-friendly mini-travel guide.

No comments about Secret New York: The Unique Guidebook to New York's Hidden Sites, Sounds, & Tastes (Secret Guide series).

5 comments about Secret New York: Exploring the City's Hidden Neighborhoods.

1. As a new resident of New York I was thrilled to find this book. The walking tours exposed me to neighborhoods that I probably wouldn't have explored otherwise, and the "secret" facts about more well-known locations made my visits to these areas even more enjoyable.



2. The greatest thing about this book is that it is engrossing and useful not only to people like me, who grew up in New York, but I imagine also to people who want to get to know and love New York. I can't think of a single restaurant or site or anything that this book did not capture -- both the classics and the hidden gems. It is also much more readable and entertaining than other tour guidebooks I have read. I like to read it just for the fun of reading it -- not just for walking tours. This book is a must-read!!



3. I've now picked up 3 copies of Secret New York to give to friends who think they know everything about our adopted city - they don't! This book captures the essence of New York; it's neighborhoods and treasures that the average Joe would not find on his own. Also, it boasts original photography. If you're looking for a guide book with bullet points and stock photos, buy a Fodor's. If you want a really unique insiders look at our town, you'll love this book.



4. When I received this book as a gift a week ago I was reluctant to even open it, as I've become quite disappointed in the superficial nature of most guide books. This, however, turned out to be anything but that. A captivating collection of well-plotted walks through the city's best neighborhoods, "Secret New York" is also loaded with historical depth rarely found in this genre. Best of all, the prose is very well crafted and reminds one that even a guide book can and should be written by a talented writer.
   
   This book is jam-packed with interesting information about New York. Who would have known that Dutch maidens used to wash clothing on what would become Maiden Lane? I didn't. Or that the Bryant Park hotel is meant to resemble a fiery radiator? News to me. How about the fact that a string quartet performs in the Ralph Lauren flagship store around Christmas time? I'll have to check that out.
   
   Now living in London, I often think back to my days in New York with a sense of nostalgia. This charming book full of great pictures had brought the beloved neighborhoods back to life for me, with rich detail pouring off of every glossy page. My only reservation is that the book does not go into enough detail on the outer boroughs, perhaps due to limited space. Hopefully a second edition with more coverage thereof will soon follow.



5. Within the "secret" NYC book, there is a chapter of "secret" places. These include the Brooklyn Bridge and Ellis Island. Also, the book is very focused on Manhattan, and I was hoping to hear about City Island, etc. Obviously, other people love the book, and it probably isn't a bad book, just disappointing if you're looking for "the City's hidden neighborhoods" rather than Grand Central Terminal.

5 comments about The Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide (Second Edition).

1. As a native New Yorker, I heard of many islands that occupied the waters that surrounded the five boroughs of the city. As I flew back into LaGuardia and JFK airports I even began to notice them from above. Obtaining information about these islands was very difficult, even from local libraries, and therefore when I found this book at a local bookstore, I was delighted that someone came up with the idea of publishing such a book.

   From Roosevelt Island to Cuban Ledge, the authors give a very thorough and well researched book on the many islands inhabiting the New York archipelago. Many islands which were once islands, but have long since been connected to the boroughs by artificial landfills are also covered here (e.g. Coney Island-Brooklyn, Hunter Island-Bronx, Battery Park area-Manhattan, etc..) are also covered here.

   If you live in the city or plan on visiting, please make sure to pick up a copy of this guide, and make sure to visit the many hidden treasures found in this city.It makes an excellent companion book while aboard a plane or even in the subway.




2. As a native New Yorker, I heard of many islands that occupied the waters that surround the five boroughs of the city. As I flew back into LaGuardia and JFK airports I even began to notice them from above. Obtaining information about these islands was very difficult, even from local libraries, and therefore when I found this book at a local bookstore, I was delighted that someone came up with the idea of publishing such a book.

   From Roosevelt Island to Cuban Ledge, the authors give a very thorough and well researched book on the many islands inhabiting the New York archipelago. Many islands which were once islands, but have long since been connected to the boroughs by artificial landfills are also covered here (e.g. Coney Island-Brooklyn, Hunter Island-Bronx, Battery Park area-Manhattan, etc..) are also covered here.

   If you live in the city or plan on visiting, please make sure to pick up a copy of this guide, and make sure to visit the many hidden treasures found in this city.It makes an excellent companion book while aboard a plane or even in the subway.




3. NOTE: This is not a review. We are the book's authors and are writing in response to the careless and misleading comments made by reviewer "erikbaard."

   "erikbaard" seems to think we should have written a narrowly focused book catering to his personal interest as a kayaker, describing such minutiae as seagull eggs. But our book is intended as a history and guide book, an approach we believed would entertain, intrigue and inform a far broader audience. So while we did detail the natural beauty-from the garnet and feldspar on Twin Islands to the towering hickory trees of Hunter Island--we gave far greater focus to the tales of colorful people (Nellie Bly and Mae West) and momentous events (the General Slocum fire and the building of the Statue of Liberty) as well as the marvelous attractions that those islands accessible to the public hold.

   "erikbaard" also attacks us for a "self-congratulatory" tone because we dubbed a handful of islands as being "forgotten." How can they be forgotten, he asks, if he and other kayakers know of them. While kayaking is growing in popularity in New York, it's a safe bet that a small percentage of the 7 million New Yorkers are out there paddling. And having spoken with thousands of New Yorkers about the islands since this book was first published in 1996 we are equally certain that the vast majority of people coming to this book know little or nothing about most of these islands, even those that we didn't call "Forgotten"-islands like North Brother Island or Swinburne Island. We are not self-congratulatory, simply enthusiastic about sharing all we learned in our research.
   (But "Erikbaard" is quite self-congratulatory, and mistakenly so. He boasts several times about visiting these islands in his kayak. However, many of these islands-including Swinburne Island, which he mentions-are part of the Harbor Heron Project and if he visits without permission he may be doing irreversible damage to an important bird refuge through his adventurism.)

   In addition, he implies that we didn't visit the islands and instead relied on interviews with historians. He also criticizes our tone toward working class residents as condescending. We did visit the islands-we even watched them bury the dead in the Potter's Field on Hart Island and Sharon went into the jails at Rikers Island-and did several years worth of historical research but we also talked to ordinary citizens, residents of the islands or people whose lives were touched by them, like Adella Wotherspoon, the last survivor of the General Slocum disaster. And if you ask them-as we have-- they will say not that the tone is condescending but that we accurately captured life on their islands in a way that few other journalists ever have.

   The reviewer also condemns us as squeamish and too liberal because we didn't mention islets-barely more than rocks, actually-that had the word Negro in them. In point of fact, those islets don't exist anymore and we make passing mention of just five of the many such islets that once existed there, picking just a few of the most colorful names like "Bald Headed Billy" and "Bread and Cheese." It seems that "erikbaard" brings this point up solely to glorify a short article he once wrote and to relive his glory days when he got to interview a city parks commissioner.

   Then comes a blatant inaccuracy when the reviewer accuses us of ignoring Native Americans. In fact, they are mentioned throughout the book, where appropriate-however, the reality is that they rarely lived on these islands and used them only occasionally so there is minimal recorded history related to them. If he was not so intent on trashing our book, however, he would have noted our chapter on Bergen and Mill Islands that delves into the Canarsie Indians, the wampum they produced and how they defended themselves from the Mohawks and later traded with the settlers.

   All in all, we were quite dismayed by the combative approach of this reviewer. If you are interested in a book on kayaking around New York, then maybe he will write one for you. In the meantime, if you want stories about Typhoid Mary, the invention of the hot dog at Coney Island, the inspiring presence of herons and egrets in New York, and the development of the tight-knit community of Broad Channel, then we hope you take some time to explore "The Other Islands of New York City."




4. fast, great



5. Whenever we take guests on a cruise around NYC I am the designated tour guide who points out all the sights. People are always amazed by all the little known stories about the history of the city as viewed from the water that I can relate to them. Many of them I gleaned from this wonderful book. After you read this book, a ferry or circle line ride will be a totally new experience.

No comments about The Complete Illustrated Map and Guidebook to Central Park.

2 comments about The Dog Lover's Companion to New York City: The Inside Scoop on Where to Take Your Dog (Dog Lover's Companion Guides).

1. Living in an area where there aren't many dog friendly places, yet within commuting distance of NYC, I thought this would be a good book to add to my collection. It has valuable resources like maps and contact numbers for the places they list. There are a variety of places you can go to with your pet.
   
   The reason I gave this book a 3 instead of a 5 is it lists Eisenhower Park as allowing dogs on leash. I have lived near this park for most of my life. To my knowledge they had never allowed dogs. I called to see if they changed their policy - so happy that a nearby place would allow me to bring my pet. Sadly, they confirmed never in their history have they allowed dogs within the park and you can receive a big ticket if you do.
   
   When I contacted the books publisher, I was told that was why the caveat of checking first is in the book. The caveat is nice, but I was still frustrated they listed this source when it was never an option.
   
   I have not had a chance to check on the other sites listed yet.
   
   So in summary, good for dog lovers living near or visiting New York City, but do your homework before you bring your pet.



2. Exellent. I've bought several books in this genre, but "The Dog Lover's Companion to New York City: The Inside Scoop on Where to Take Your Dog (Dog Lover's Companion to New York City)" is the only one that's easy to read, addresses exactly what you're looking for (the best time for you and your dog) and then get you jazzed to try the exciting destinations listed.

2 comments about The Rough Guide Map to New York City - Edition 2 (Rough Guide City Maps).

1. THIS LITTLE MAP IS PRETTY GOOD. DISCREET. HMMMMM... DON'T GET CAUGHT IN NYC
   LOOKIN AT IT. THAT'S WHAT STARBUCK'S IS FOR...
   
   IF YOU WANNA GET UP TO SPEED QUICK BUY THIS ONE.



2. I found this Rough Guide map easy to use. The information was current and we had no trouble getting around NY using it! I highly reccomend this product to any one visiting the city of New York