No comments about Rand McNally Buffalo, New York: City Map.

No comments about Time Out New York Eating and Drinking 2009: The Essential Guide to the City's Best Restaurants and Bars (Time Out New York Eating and Drinking Guide).

No comments about New York's 50+ Best Little Shops (City and Company).

1 comments about Serendipitous Outings Near New York City: On Foot in New Jersey, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

1. Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (7/06)
   
   Anticipating a trip to the New York City and area, this book certainly has taken the scare out of visiting an incredibly large city. "Serendipitous Outings Near New York City" simplifies the trip and gives the reader an opportunity to visit New York City with ease.
   
   Harrison and Rosenfeld intended this book for all walkers - experienced trail hikers, antique hunters, nature lovers, as well as slow walkers that just love to browse and enjoy conversations with those they meet. The book starts off with the "Deserted" Village in the Allaire State Park of New Jersey. The authors give a brief history, description and when the village is open. They explain that guided tours are available if one so desires, but they also encourage self-guided tours. After the walk, they suggest a trek to the Atlantic Ocean where another small town exists.
   
   This is only one of the many walking trips that the authors suggest. They include an easy to follow map and there is no doubt they have trekked the streets and areas themselves. They say things like "Before leaving Stonecrop, be sure to walk on a small path through the woodland garden: Azaleas, rhododendrons, and other shade-loving plants have been carefully placed to blend harmoniously with this natural habitat. Nearby is a pond surrounded by lilies and groupings of..." How enticing is that! With descriptions like this, one can't help but wander on the path.
   
   I'm looking forward to using this book on my trip to the area. At first I wasn't anticipating visiting some of the areas which include New Jersey, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. However, after perusing this book, the travel plans will have to include these areas.

No comments about Open Road'S Best Of New York City: Your Passport to the Perfect Trip!" and "Includes One-Day, Weekend, One-Week & Two-Week Trips (Open Road Travel Guides).

1 comments about Jazz Guide, New York City, 2nd Edition (Jazz Guide New York City).

1. This book is more than a guide. It's an entertaining lesson in jazz history. The author writes like he's talking to an expert and/ or a novice at the same time. Dollar's expertise is also completely down to earth, often relating stories and anecdotes, which really draws in the reader and gives us a feeling for the depth of the subject.

No comments about Rand McNally Easyfinder New York City, New York: Laminated (Easyfinder Maps).

No comments about New York in Store.

5 comments about The Underground Guide to New York City Subways.

1. I thought I was a wiseass, but once I read this New York kid's views and opinions on the city he lives in, I realized I am not even close. His witticisms can get a bid on the "edgey" side, but in the grand scheme of the work, the author's writing comes through with flying colors. A+. I am looking forward to his future works.



2. Dave Frattini writes with wit and detail about the Subways of New York. As a native of New York, Frattini gives a very candid view of the subway stations and their decor, the subway lines and their neighborhoods and an understanding of the culture of New York City. His humor is great and pokes fun at himself as well as some of the outrageous things that occur in the City. He also gives to the point details of the best and worst of the places that you can or cannot visit. You will laugh out loud at some of the wry observations he makes about his hometown and the City. I would recommend this book to anybody who would like understand the heart of New York City and all of its many neighborhoods and boroughs. Buy it and enjoy!



3. I can't swear for the rest of the boroughs, but I can tell you that the author doesn't appear to have all his Brooklyn facts straight. A couple of examples: He talks of a stop on the "N" line at 86th Street and 8th Avenue (p.259). Not only is there not a stop there....there is no "there" there. Those two streets do not cross. Eight Avenue ends in the 70's. Also, the author talks of the view of the Ave X subway yards and overhaul center that can be "clearly seen from the "N" and the "R" Lines as they begin the Stillwell Avenue descent into Coney Island" (p.5). Problem is, the "R" train goes nowhere near Coney Island. In fact, it is underground for its entire run in Brooklyn. There were others, but I won't bore you with the details. In a book that purports to be a "guide," attention to detail is important. In a lot of cases here, we are not talking about minor details. The prose style, if you can call it that, is way too cute. All in all, if you want a guide to the subway, get the free map from the MTA. If you want to know about the neighborhoods, take a bus tour and see for yourself. Given the unreliability of the book regarding areas of the world with which I'm familiar, I'd be very hesitant to count on it for anything at all.



4. Blessed with a hefty wit (and an appetite to match), Frattini has a good time bouncing his way through the New York City Underground, and his enthusiasm for the subway system he obviously loves rubs off on even the most jaded subway patron (Having spent 18 years myself riding the less than stellar "F" line, I can tell you NO ONE brings the 179 Street Station alive like Frattini does). From Duffers hocking scholky Rolexes in rundown stations to the not necessarily Hi-Class glories of New York cuisine (lovers of Greaseburgers, Indian Buffets, and Jamaican Beef Patties have a friend in Frattini), you really get a distinct feel for the less glamorous, yet no less interesting, underbelly of New York. The addition of local eateries is a Nice Touch, and I hope this "Cesar" of the Subway continues to skewer and yet love, his home town.



5. This book's goal is admirable to anyone who loves the city subway - visit every station and desvribe it for all to know. However, Dave Frattini, makes a pretty bad job of it. While his effort is admirable, his information as duly noted by others is often plain wrong.
   His style could use some work too - how many times can one write "let's face it" in one publication??
   Furthermore he includes completley unnecessary racial comments into the descriptions: why "scary black guy"??(p.180) Why shouldn't residents of Ralph Avenue watch a TV sitcom with white characters?(p.37) Van Siclen Avenue area is not a shanty town - why should it be surprising to see satelite dishes? (pp.179-180) I can't find such remarks informative or funny.
   Real people live and work in all these neighborhoods - they have many more positive sides than can be seen from a brief peek from inside the station - but it seems the author did not really do this much for some of his listings...
   The book presents New York, New Yorkers and the subway as the same old stereotypes from bad movies of a few decades back.
   Some one should us all a favor and write a new and better book!

1 comments about New York's 100 Best Party Places: Weddings, Special Occasion, Corporate Events.

1. Better for bigger "parties" such as weddings and corporate events (unless you have a couple thousand bucks for your birthday party) but overall a very helpful book. I learned about lots of new places I wasn't familiar with before reading this book. I would like to see this book much larger next edition (how about the 500 best places?)