2 comments about New York, New York!: The Big Apple from A to Z.

1. We bought this book after our trip in New York.
   Our sons love it. They remenbered all they did there.
   To buy or to offer.



2. I bought this book for a six year old visitor who has the reading skills of an 8 year old. She was visiting Manhattan and used this book as a guide for herself as we took in the sites. The illustrations are charming and she was able to read the text by herself. Nice guide for the child to read while here in NYC!

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

No comments about Backroad Bicycling in the Finger Lakes Region: 30 Tours for Road and Mountain Bikes, Fourth Edition.

2 comments about The Pratique Guide, Soho and NoLIta: Shopping Block by Block (Pratique Guides).

1. The two editions in this exciting new series are the "must-have" accessories for any New York shopping trip. The starred recommendations helped to maximize my time and I felt like I was living my own "sex in the city" experience! Any New York visitor that wants to feel like a local should pack these two on every trip.



2. The Practique Guide was my Bible during my weekend shopping trip to Soho. The map and descriptions were excellent, informative, and accurate. I highly recommend it for someone who is trying to maximize their shopping experience in a short period of time. Including restaurants was also really useful. The only important piece of information that it does not include are price ranges for the stores. Including a pricing key would better help those looking for designer bargains.

1 comments about LUXE New York (1st Edition) (LUXE City Guides).

1. Excellent guide - short and sweet (and not to mention sharp!) - everything else I saw at the store were heavy bricky things that I had no intention of carrying around. It's so small and yet had way more than enough info for my 5 day visit. I'd used their Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh guides after a friend recommended them, and was so glad when I found out from their website that they'd started doing guides for the US!

5 comments about Brooklyn: A State of Mind.

1. BROOKLYN: A STATE OF MIND, edited by Michael Robbins, is a treat for anyone who wonders about the place they always hear about in movies and t.v. or who was born and raised in the greatest borough of the greatest city on Earth (ahem). In spite of the gimmicky subtitle, this collection of essays and stories, photos and cartoons, film scripts and stills, is as informative, inspiring, stunning, human, and a little bit scary as the place itself. Some of my favorite pieces are:

   1) David McCullough's "Harry Truman: Live and In Color in Brooklyn". (I'm a sucker for anything by McCullough, anyway.)

   2) Glenn Thrush's "The Mistake of '98". In 1898, when Manhattan (which was New York City back then) incorporated the surrounding four boroughs to create Greater New York City, everyone thought it was a fantastic idea--everyone, except for Brooklynites, that is. Brooklyn, which at the time was the third or fourth largest city in the U.S., really didn't want to be associated with the dirty, corrupt and immigrant-filled island on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. (Brooklyn wanted to be its own dirty, corrupt and immigrant filled place.) Thrush's piece is a fascinating look at the events leading up to and years after the consolidation.

   3)Jon Gartenberg's "Brooklyn on Film: The Guy from Brooklyn in World War II". I had always remembered watching old WWII movies and, sure enough, there was always the Brooklyn guy. Even in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the character, Reiben (sp?), is from King's County and wears a Brooklyn bomber jacket. Gartenberg explains why this staple became so common in this movie genre.

   Lastly, the photos, some of the best are by Stanley Greenberg and Genevieve Naylor, provided some breathing room around the enormous amount of text. BROOKLYN: A STATE OF MIND is one of the best books about the greatest place on the planet. Got a problem wid dat?

   Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points




2. I grew up in Brooklyn in the 50s/60s. I now live in Los Angeles but I still miss the old neighborhoods. The stories in this book bring me right back. It's a great read for people who want to reminisce or for someone who would like to get a taste of life in a time of innocence in a place of unparalleled sense of community.



3. 125 stories packed with interest. If Chicago is the city of big shoulders, we learn, Brooklyn is the city of big mouths. Mel Brooks growing up in Williamsburg. Coney Island weirdness. Neighborhoods decline and are reborn. The world's handball champ. Blacks, Jews, Italians. Park Slope, Bed Stuy, bensonhurst, Flatbush, Midwood, Gravesend. A black themed B&B in a Victorian mansion. Comedians, musicians, crooks, athletes , writers all tell their stories. Rivoting.
   
   Great packaging, index, photos.



4. the most enjoyable book i have found to bring back the days of growing up in the wonderful, diverse city of Brooklyn. i keep 5 copies on hand and give them out to people i meet of my generation frim Brooklyn.



5. This is a scrapbook of the world's greatest city from the end of WW II to about the beginnings of television. It's necessarily sentimental because almost everyone who contributed to the volume doesn't live there any more. They (we) did our best and went elsewhere and although we may have succeeded because of the place we came from, most of had to leave to be who we are.
   So this is a sentimental tribute to the old country. The photographs are wonderful-that is, they tell the truth as I remember it and some of the essays are great.
   This is another bedside, bathroom, waiting room book best sampled in small doses and savored.
   
   Lynn Hoffman, Brooklyn Tech '61 and author of New Short Course in Wine,The and the Brooklynesque bang BANG: A Novel

3 comments about LITTLE BLACK BOOK NEW YORK 2nd ED. (Little Black Book Series).

1. Very informative and splits up New York by sections to make it easy to find the area you want to see and what attractions are available.



2. I travel to NYC for work and I enjoy being able to explore during my free time - this book has proven itself helpful over and over again. The fold out subway map is the main reason I bought the book - I think I need to have that page laminated!
   
   Still, I have three small suggestions to make this Little Black Book even better: 1) a place to stash a pencil/pen (a small elastic loop would work) 2) two or three blank pages in the back of each section for adding our own "finds" for each neighborhood and 3) a small envelope in the front for tossing in business cards, Metro cards, etc.
   
   Can't wait for the second edition!



3. I brought this book with me when I revisited New York City last year, and it came in extremely handy in helping me navigate the different sections of Manhattan. The book divides the big city into eight neighborhoods, each given its own fold-out area map and chapter that gives a brief history & overview of that neighborhood, as well as suggestions and tips for activities, places to eat, and hotels at which to stay. There's also a fold-out map of the MTA subway system that's easier to use than the giant folded ones you get at the subway stations.
   
   The size of the book is perfect for carrying in your jacket pocket or small handbag, and because it's in a nice little black-book format, it's not as conspicuous as some other tourist guides. I read through the book before my trip and made good use of sticky flags to mark pages that contained info I was sure to need during my trip. I recommend this book for any first-time visitor to New York City, but it's also great if you've already been there several times but could still use a few tips.

2 comments about Queens: What to Do, Where to Go (and How Not to Get Lost) in New York's Undiscovered Borough.

1. I'm told Queens is the new Brooklyn, and as a long-time Brooklyn resident I thought, Fuggedaboudit! But that was until I read Freudenheim's book. Wow. And I thought Queens was famous for Shea Stadium, the old Worlds Fair and two airports. I stand corrected, and after reading just one part of the book I'm hungry. Having already wet my whistle at the beer garden I think I'll head over to Flushing for some authentic Asian cuisine. I suggest you read this book and head to Queens too, before all the trustafarians and folks priced out of Brooklyn and Manhattan over-run the place.



2. Ellen Freudenheim's "Queens: What to Do, Where to Go (And How Not to Get Lost) in New York's Undiscovered Borough" is a delightful guidebook to an often forgotten part of New York City. As the author points out, "were it to secede from New York City today, Queens would be the fourth largest city in America." If you enjoy diversity and value history and culture, Queens is the place for you: 120 languages are spoken here, ethnic food stores and restaurants abound, and Queens features cultural institutions, historic sites, and sports venues that are well worth a visit. Like so many formerly underappreciated parts of New York City (many in Brooklyn), Queens is being rediscovered and is on the upswing.
   
   After an informative and witty introduction, Freudenheim devotes thirteen chapters to neighborhoods from Astoria (named after the wealthy fur trader, John Jacob Astor) to Woodside. Within these chapters, she covers the basics: where the neighborhood is located, how to get there, its history, things to see and do, where to shop, points of cultural interest, restaurants, and nightlife. Sprinkled throughout the chapters are lively anecdotes and essays, some written in the first person by Queens residents. At the back of the book are sections about JFK and LaGuardia Airports, tours you can take, and recommended Web sites. The detailed and well-organized subject and alphabetical indexes make the book easy to navigate.
   
   Even if you plan never to set foot in Queens, this guidebook is fun to read solely for its entertainment value. The author has a brisk and spunky writing style that makes "Queens" a browser's delight. Turn to any page, and you will find a fascinating tidbit of information presented with wit and verve. Did you know that jazz great Louis Armstrong lived in Queens for for twenty-eight years and that his house is a National Historic Landmark open to the public? I love New York (especially Brooklyn), but Ellen Freudenheim tempts me to board one of the many subway lines leading to the "hidden gems" of Queens.
   
   

1 comments about The Rough Guide to New York City 10 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. Nice guide. It lacks more pictures, for people who buy this book but will not travel to NYC.

5 comments about Subway Style: 100 Years of Architecture & Design in the New York City Subway.

1. Interesting - The book is copyright 2004 by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The legal name for the parent agency is Metropolitan TRANSPORTATION Authority. So is this book legal?



2. After having seen too many books narrating the history, especially the first years, of the NYC Subway, this book is quite a surprise. Stunning photographs, with interesting details!



3. Finally a book that appreciates New York's iconic subway system..yeah London has the clean and modern "Tube" and Paris has it's efficient "Metro", but the most famous or infamous and most recognizable is the NYC "Subway". The images in this book are fantastic and the text kept me interested all the way to the last word. I really came away with an appreciation for the history of this great transportantion system and it's surprising beauty..who knew? Highly recommended.



4. I've always appreciated the unique style and details of the NYC subway system. And being a history affecionado as well, this book satisfied my curiosity. A nice blend of historical description, nice collection of photos. I think ultimately it's more on the photo side, but there are succinct captions for each of them.
   
   This is not really a thorough history book but I would describe more as a jumping point should you decide it's something you want to know more about.



5. This book is a beautiful catalog of the visuals associated with the New York City subway system. I have seen books with pictures of the cars, but no other book shows the stations, the history of the transit maps, subway advertisements, even the various designs of tokens that have been used. It's a great job and I'm happy to give it a 5-star rating!