3 comments about The Architectural Guidebook to New York City.

1. The most obvious reason to replace the AIA Guide with this book is size. Dealing with only one borough enables the author to go into more detail while reducing the size of the book. The AIA Guide is about half the size of a large yellow pages. The Architectural Guidebook to NYC is about the size of an average novel. That makes a big difference when you're stuffing it into your backpack or purse for a trip on subway or foot.

   The more extensive entries are very welcome. In Union Square with this book and a view of the surrounding buildings, I was able to spend a pleasant and informative hour on a park bench, for free. That's a better bargain than the Staten Island Ferry.

   Morrone keeps the architect's jargon to a minimum and knows his subject well. The historical insights and views on clashing aesthetics were skillfully presented. He pointed out a couple of museums of very high caliber that I wasn't even aware of. A book like this is a perfect jumping off point for thousands of topics, from neighborhoods to cultures to politics to construction.

   I would encourage him to write similar books on the other buroughs, or better yet, an even more detailed work on each of the neighborhoods of Manhattan: each of them has at least a thousand buildings worth writing about.




2. This book is really good and best used if you have a fair amount of time to wander around New York. It is like trailing through the city with a friend who has lived there for a long time; Marrone has great excursive lengthy interesting descriptions of a number of buildngs, and that's great. The problem is that each chapter has its own tiny map, and they are never put together in a larger overall map anywhere, making navigation difficult. If you have a lot of time, and want to do just a few buidings per day, that's fine. If you want to storm through NYC and see as much as possible in a limited amount of time, if is difficult.



3. I was a bit disapointed by this book. There is information on a lot of NY buildings, but the information does not always concern architecture and is usually very limited. Gives you an impression of all there is to see, but does not do much more than that. Photographs are not impressive. Much more intersting is The Architecture of New York City, by Donald Martin Reynolds.

5 comments about Savvy in the City: New York City: A "See Jane Go" Guide to City Living.

1. This book has some really fun, practical ideas for residents new to New York, but they're organized along random, loose lines, with neighborhoods as subsections. Do the authors list video delivery? If they do, would it be in "Treats," "Traumas" or "Tripping"? If it is listed, is it sublisted in my neighborhood? Oh, and where was that description of a store that has every button imaginable--which category and then in which neighborhood? There's no index. The table of contents doesn't offer a clue. Maddening.



2. Although I loved this guide and read through it a couple of times, many of the places mentioned were actually closed. On a recent trip to the city, 4 out of the 5 places we tried to find to eat were non existant. I wish they would come out with a new edition, and if they do, I would purchase it.
   
   Just make sure you call ahead if you plan on going anywhere mentioned in this book, to make sure it still exists and hasn't relocated.



3. The book is great for the most part. I loved that it had maps in the first few pages and it had some reccomendations I had not seen in other New York books. However, it did not mention as to whether it was cheap, middle of the road or expensive.



4. This book will make you declare which Sex and the City character YOU want to be! Forget man hunting in Manhattan ... take on New York on your OWN TERMS! Single and Free without baggage (except a carry-on NOT a kid) is the way to travel in and out of the Bright Lights of the Big City that only is New York. Take a bite out of the Big Apple today! If you can make it there you can make it anywhere - it's up to you New York New York!



5. This book, designed for the large-living single woman, is full of light, sisterly descriptions of some of the most indulgent spots in New York. They are lots of fun to read and provoke wild imaginings of frozen hot chocolate and long massages and all the many (expensive) pleasures of this wonderful city. The listings are also useful if you live in the city or are planning a visit--some of the places mentioned are truly great, often underappreciated spots. Each section contains "Not to Miss", a list of the runners-up, also great. And after some listings the authors write "Psst..." and give an insider tip.
   
   The problems are as follows: this book is very clearly written for women in a specific, Sex and the Cityesque niche. Though people outside this niche can certainly benefit from the suggestions, they will find the language (which doesn't go a page without mentioning weight management or how to get your boyfriend to propose) perhaps less amusing. It's also poorly edited, with some spelling and grammatical issues and not-always-excellent writing. Some reviews are too short and say nothing useful (one review for Me Kong, a restaurant, reads, "Innovative yet simple Vietnamese in disappointing portions but at satisfying prices. Probably not chic enough for the terrain, but enjoyable all the same"). There is also the problem, as another reader mentioned, of the organization. The scatterbrained quality makes this book useful only as an idea bank for when fancy strikes, and not as a resource for looking up things you actually need. I worry that this book is not exhaustive, either--where, for instance, is H&H, widely-accepted home of the best bagel in New York? It seems that by reading New York magazine you could get, for a lower cost (or free online), the same sort of reviews as are in this book.
   
   But if you can deal with these things and still want a cute, witty, stylish guide to New York, this book is a good option. Most of all it's fun to read and will provide you with hours of dreamy pleasure. And it would make a great gift!

No comments about Not For Tourists Guide 2009 to Brooklyn (Not for Tourists Guidebook).

5 comments about New York City with Kids, 2nd Edition (Special-Interest Titles).

1. I moved to NYC recently so I'm not exactly the target audience for this book which is really geared at those visiting the city on vacation with kids. But I nonetheless found it very valuable as a new resident in terms of where to take my kids and the overall approach to keeping kids happy in New York. Certainly it would be even better for the tourist. In particular it has much information specifically targeted at teens which is an age group the other books on this subject mysteriously omit altogether in favor of younger kids. This one covers all age groups and is very well indexed plus terrific maps that I use even as a resident. It happens to be well written by someone who seems very expert and experienced. This same author has written a book on relocating to the New York area and it contains some more information about kids that is specific to residents such as how to find good schools and how to understand the public school system. This one is all the fun stuff, though.



2. I highly recommend Ellen Shapiro's book. I just returned from a trip with 7 family members to New York and I used the book to help decide where to stay and planned our daily outings based on her excellent recommendations. The book is well organized and fun to read. Ms Shapiro's reviews of resturants and shopping areas are particularly helpful. I used this book along with the green Michelin Guide to New York City which contains wonderful maps and descriptions of the sights. These two books gave us everything we needed to have a wonderful stay in NYC!



3. When you are limited on time the last thing you want to do is
   waste it going to places in which have changed thier hours and
   days they are open. Some stores had moved. It should have only been a 2001 guide not 2002! There were to many errors! They might have been related to 9-11 as far as the hours changing
   However, it is not fun to waste precious time.



4. The new 2003 edition of this great guide book contains a ton of new, updated information -- particularly openings, closings, and new hours and events in light of 9/11 and the major resulting changes in downtown Manhattan. It's still a good idea, as the book says in many places, to call ahead before you make plans based on hours and locations printed in any source, but the information has been right 100% of the time that I've used this new, fully rewritten edition.



5. What does it mean when you write a book about New York, cover every 'neighborhood' you can think of, yet don't mention Harlem? For the author's information, Harlem is undergoing dynamic change and does have some wonderful restaurants to enjoy, i.e, Copelands, Sylvia's, Amy Ruth's! I just visited New York and did go to Harlem, but this book wasn't the resource. In general, I thought it fell short in alot of areas. I found more updated and useful information in the AAA guidebook and WHERE magazine. Save your money!

No comments about Vandam New York City/ Manhattan, New York Pop-Up Map.

1 comments about The Cool Parents' Guide to All of New York: Excursions and Activities in and Around Our City That Your Children Will Love and You Won't Think Are Too Bad Either (City and Company).

1. I just returned from a week+ trip to NYC with my 9 year old and I thought that this book was very helpful. The authors describe a number of day trips to take with your child, including dining suggestions. It gives you lots of things to do in a small area and in NYC that is VERY important. I liked the notes on how to get to places on the subway and the small maps that pointed out the location of each thing they suggested for that "trip". As an out-of-towner what I found most helpful were the tips on kid friendly restaurants. There are a millions places to eat in NYC and it was nice to go to places that had been kid tested and enjoyed by adults.

4 comments about Gangsters and Gold Diggers: Old New York, the Jazz Age, and the Birth of Broadway.

1. Gangsters and Golddiggers is a fascinating book that introduces you to the unique characters that made up early broadway. From its early existence as an Indian trail to the rise of theater and organized crime, this book offers a glimpse into a world that vibrates with violence and lust. Gangsters and Golddiggers reads almost like an epic motion picture. Definately pick this one up.



2. Author Jerome Charyn provides the reader with a cast of colorful characters such as Arnold Rothstein who used to enjoy wasting his time in Lindy's Restaurant, Al Jolson who was very difficult to live with and a self promoter, Legs Diamond, who detective Johnny Broderick once stuffed into a garbage can, Flo Ziegfeld, who glamorized the American girl, former singing waiter Irving Berlin who sang at Nigger Mike's and then went on to become the writer of over one thousand songs. Author Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and wife Zelda, gangster Owney Madden, Fannie Brice and her husband Billy Rose who was 5' 3 1/2" in his elevator shoes "who walked with the bounce of an overwound toy." Bert Gordon, W.C. Fields, Ruby Keeler, boxers Jack Dempsey and Johnson, and, of course, The Bambino himself, George Herman Ruth. The book is filled with anecdotes of these and other famous and infamous characters that made The Great White Way the historic place it is today. If you like social history you should love this book. I did come to one conclusion about a great majority of these individuals. As famous or infamous they may have been, many of them shared a feeling of loneliness even though they were major players in American social history.



3. Well, this book is filled with lots of interesting stories, but it's so disorganized it seems like it was written by an Jazz age drunk! Better editing would have done wonders for this book which has great stories about some of the celebrities of the 1920's, but flows sloppily from one anecdote to another.



4. This book is simply awash in great little anecdotes about the folks who spent their days in and around the Broadway of the early part of the 20th century. We get tales of the famous and the infamous, the good and the bad, the rich and the not so rich, and a myriad of supporting characters so colorful they could fill a Damon Runyan book of stories. It's not meant to be a book of mini biographies, but there are some interesting lives explored. The book also contains one of the most incisive analyses of "The Great Gatsby" I've ever read. If the author leaves you wishing for more information about some of the people you meet, that may be the book's only failing: it's too short. I could really have enjoyed reading another few hundred pages about the people and places he describes!

No comments about The McSorley Poems: Voices from New York City's Oldest Pub.

2 comments about Brooklyn: A Journey Through the City of Dreams.

1. While this is not a review of the book, it is a review of the author. I took a class from Francis Morrone at NYU and was captivated every day by his breadth of knowledge, his ability to either synthesize or extrapolate at will and, best of all, his ability to convey his undying love for the greatest city in the world. I could wander through NYC with this guy for a month and never tire of the stories he could tell. I don't live in NY right now, but every day I wake up missing the sights and sounds of the city, and that is in no small part due to what I learned from Francis. He is a cultural treasure. Take his class; walk on his tours; and buy his book. I'm online to do just that right now. Oh, and I'm pretty sure Brooklyn is his favorite borough, so it's gotta be good!



2. What a beautiful book -- for your coffee table or your nightstand. It will make you proud to live in Brooklyn, if you do already (I do!), and it will make you want to visit if you don't. Francis Morrone is, to my view, our city's best architectural historian, and here he also brings his incredible knowledge of food, baseball, and just plain fun to bear on the city's most delightful borough.
   
   A book for anyone who cares about the beauty and majesty of New York City.

2 comments about New York State of Mind.

1. ....before it was Starbuck-ed, Disney-ized and Giuliani-fied, before "Sex & the City" made it a boring cliche... If you can remember when real people could still afford to live in Manhattan, this book is for you. The black-and-white photographs are not of landmarks and tourist attractions, but of the everyday miracles that made New York the city it was back then. A bunch of guys helping to push out a car stuck in the snow. A lady doing a grand jete over a massive puddle. A child peeking out of an upper window, a sense of wonder in her eyes. The photos are simple, sometimes elegiac and often brilliant in composition. Wandering through these photographs felt as intimate to me as leafing through a family album.



2. The pictures presented in this book are original and historic. The one you can't make anymore.