2 comments about The Hudson Valley & Catskill Mountains: An Explorer's Guide: Includes Saratoga Springs & Albany, Fifth Edition.

1. This is a thoroughly enjoyable guide book. It was invaluable in helping us plan and enjoy our week in the Hudson Valley. It is so well written and the descriptions of restaurants, attractions and inns are so personal that it inspired us throughout our trip. We enjoyed our tour of the Hudson infinitely more because of the heartfelt enthusiasm that came through from the book's writer.



2. Bought this first for Saratoga Springs where my daughter attends college. Best that I have found browsing booksellers. Not the greatest travel book but the best available. Best feature is that it is comprehensive for small towns and locations all the way up the Hudson. Quite valuable in looking for stores or eating places in Newburgh, Nanuet, and small towns off the NY Thruway. Indeed, I lost the first copy of the book I bought and purchased a replacement from Amazon.

No comments about The New York Times' Book of New York: The Best Stories of the People, The Places, and The Pulse of the City.

1 comments about Doin' New York With Your Pooch: Eileen's Directory of Dog-Friendly Lodging & Outdoor Adventures in New York (Barish, Eileen. Vacationing With Your Pet Travel Series.).

1. I found this guide indispensable to traveling with my golden, Molly. After I exausted every resource to run away for the weekend, and was at wit's end, Eileen's guide came to the rescue. I have referred to it, time and time again, with happy results. I recommend it to anyone who wants to travel with their pooch and not feel like a criminal.

4 comments about Albany: Capital City on the Hudson.

1. John McEneny gives a full coverage of the history of Albany, NY. Well researched; easy to read; some great maps included.



2. The book has many beautiful pictures and may easily be dismissed as just another pictorial Chamber of Commerce celebration of a city's history, a "coffee-table book." But instead, it is a great and accurate account of a city built by Deutsch (Dutch & German) and Irish ethnics, written by a historian and public man of breadth and character, who is intimately familiar, through his family, with the history of the city of Albany to the mid-19th century. I am myself a historian of 19th century New York State, and found the book not only to be very informative, but enjoyable to read as well.



3. This Book Tells About Albany's History. John McEneny Did A Great Job On This Book. It Has The College Of St. Rose In It. It Also Has Historic Areas Like Lark St. Albany's Village, The South End's South Preal St., State St., The New York State Capital And Education Building, The Empire State Plaza, N.Y.S. Museum, The Corning Tower, And It's Bus Company Known As C.D.T.A.



4. Bravo, finally a superb book on the history of Albany and Albany County by the man who lives and breathes Albany, John(Jack) McEneny. Such insight and history into a city I grew up in. From the dutch settlements through the great Democratic political Machine, Jack captures the essence of what Albany was and is like to this day. Memorable photos take you back to a wonderful time gone by. It is truly our great city on the Hudson. I HIGHLY recomend to all.

1 comments about Unique Media Map : New York City/Folded.

1. These unique media maps are like the Internet itself - a wonderfully entertaining way to waste time. I have the NY map on my bedroom wall, and find myself endlessly checking it out, always discovering another interesting little place that I must visit next time I go there. It reminds me of what Monty Python wrote on the back of their interactive CD: "You'll play it, and play it, and play it - and in the end you'll discover you've wasted a great big chunk of your life and can never get it back". That's how I feel with this map.

1 comments about All Around the Town: Amazing Manhattan Facts and Curiosities.

1. It's been said that New York is a city of countless stories, and this book manages to cover a couple thousand of the more interesting ones. This is the "story" of New York City and not your typical history book. The tale is told through neat trivia and short anecdotes that are sure to come up in conversations beginning with "Hey, did you know that..." And, the wonderful black and white photographs and illustrations really make the people, streets and events come alive. It is clear throughout that the author truly has a passion for his subject. If you've got all the other big books of New York City history, get this one for all the interesting stories you'll really remember.

2 comments about New York City 5 Borough Pocket Atlas.

1. This is an excellent reference manuel when traveling within the tri-state area. My husband referred to this book daily as a courier. I need one to send with my boss when he has business meetings in NY, NJ and CT and know that he will be able to find his way there and back again. He doesn't like Mapquest's little maps. He wants his directions easy to follow, clear as a bell and indexed in the back of the book. This book is really the best source book for our area.



2. I hunted for a high quality of map of the New York City region, and this was the best I could find. Most maps are Manhattan only, and I needed detailed coverage of the wider area to consider some commuting/apartment-hunting issues. Other maps are made from dreadfully old drawings -- when you see those sharp new images in travel guides etc, they are dramatically more readable and clearly drawn than the ancient looking draftings in most of the map books I looked at. Other maps don't offer enough perspective--all close-up detail, but no "big picture" pages to give you a sense for how they hook up. Finally, most books have a lousy format--hard to hold open, or poor binding, etc.

   This book at least covers the 5-boroughs, but totally excludes the nearby NJ areas, Westchester or Nassau. It also doesn't offer enough big picture regional info-- the subway map is Manhattan-only, the regional highway map doesn't offer a close-up of how to get in/out of Manhattan, there are no "medium-scale" maps that show how the huge chunks of ultra-detailed Queens all link together. The drafting is old but pretty readable. They chose odd landmarks to put in and exclude. The book is sturdy enough, but the giant spiral binding ruins the middle section of every page! There is surely a more elegant way to lay out the map around the spiral. Good luck finding Little Italy intersections or downtown Brooklyn addresses or many other key locations. What terrible corner-cutting with that one. Where is the Thomas Brothers guide for NYC...?

No comments about Walking Around in South Street: Discoveries in New York's Old Shipping District.

No comments about A Parent's Guide to New York City.

5 comments about Zagat Survey 2006 New York City Restaurants (Zagatsurvey).

1. The Zagat Survey of NYC Restaurants is becoming less and less useful. Rather than serving as a valuable means of "tracking" the progress of restaurant quality, as some have alleged, the Survey increasingly takes on the role of "cheerleader," as evidenced by the steadily increasing trend of ratings (e.g. a 20 Food rating in place of an 18 several years ago for comparable quality) and by the growing predominance of "upbeat" quotes in the reviews.
   
   A case in point is the supposedly Argentine-Italian "Sosa Borella" with two branches in Manhattan. The review tells us that the menu here is "terrific." One's first clue to the completely inauthentic character of the "Argentine" portion of S.B.'s menu is the ubiquity of chicken dishes, including a chicken-containing(!) "Parillada." The knowledgable diner will search in vain for such Argentine staples as morcilla, matahambre or ensalada russa. Likewise, the ubiquity of mashed potatoes negates all claims to authenticity of either the "Italian" or "Argentine" aspects of the bill of fare.
   
   How, then, does Sosa Borella get a Food rating of 20? Only by the votes of people who are completely ignorant of actual Argentine cuisine and are content with familiar U.S. cooking enlivened slightly with hints of something foreign. Here, the recently-floated theory that superior wisdom and accuracy can be derived from the accumulated opinions of the ignorant and the inexpert falls flat on its face. A restaurant guide authored by a highly competent reviewer looks more and more appealing.



2. ..and there is no substitute for an updated Zagat for NYC where restaurants open and close faster than in other cities.



3. If you're wondering about a restaurant in NYC, the first (and only) guide to grab is Zagat's. More efficient than the internet, if not as detailed. Very easy to read up on a place before you go. It's the one guide locals and tourists can both agree on. The only challenge is keeping current, as the restaurant scene changes so quickly. Get the 2005 version, and you're already out of date!



4. Brought it along for my trip to NYC. I basically planned my day based on where we are planning to eat. The restaurants' ratings are accurate and I was never disappointed.



5. I recently attended fifteen restaurants in NYC using this guide. For the most part, the review was pretty close with a few exceptional misses along the way. The breakfast at Norma's was a huge disappointment despite the rave review by Zagat as one of the most hailed breakfast joints in NYC. I thought the food was rather bland and uninspired. In addition, the reviews for Cafe des Artistes and The Modern was way off. Both of these restaurants have great ambiance and decor, but when it came down to the food... well, it left much to be desired. Can anyone say, "Way too salty or bland!" I thought the reviews for Le Bernardin was way too generous. The dining experience between Daniel and Le Bernardin was like night and day, with Daniel striding far ahead of Le Bernardin. Le Bernardin was still plenty good, but not the out of this world experience I received at Daniel.
   
   Where it did get it just right were the lunch bargain reviews for Jean Georges and Gotham Bar and Grill. Zagat hailed the lunch at Jean Georges as the steal of the city and boy were they right! The 3-course prix fixe lunch at $24.07 was sure bliss and highway robbery!
   
   It also hit it on the dot about the friendly staff at Union Sqaure Cafe. The dining experience at Daniel, Nobu, and Grammercy Tavern were out of this world, just as Zagat had described.
   
   The addition of cross streets for each restaurant made the navigation a simple task.
   
   Overall, Zagat nailed 12 out of the 15 restaurants on the dot. I'll take the 80% chance when I review the 2007 Zagat for my next trip to NYC.