To European explorers, it was Eden, a paradise of waist-high grasses, towering stands of walnut, maple, chestnut, and oak, and forests that teemed with bears, wolves, raccoons, beavers, otters, and foxes. Today, it is the site of Broadway and Wall Street, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, and the home of millions of people, who have come from every corner of the nation and the ...
Rich harvest of rare photographs recalls "good old days" in Maspeth, Jamaica, Astoria, Jackson Heights, other areas. Vintage views include DeWitt Clinton mansion, hotel where Washington slept (1790), plus recent landmarks — Astoria Studios, 1939 World's Fair, more. Captions. 261 prints.
This "exemplary social history" (Kirkus Reviews) is the first full-scale account of Central Park ever published. Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig tell the story of Central Park's people--the merchants and landowners who launched the project; the immigrant and African-American residents who were displaced by the park; the politicians, gentlemen, and artists who disputed its design and ...
A powerful, beautifully illustrated remembrance of the terrible morning of September 11, 2001 and the amazing courage, strength and patriotism that followed from the award-winning editors and photographers of Life Magazine. This is about firemen going in amidst the rubble, but it is also about a Frenchman in Paris holding up a sign that says "We are all Americans". This is about leaders taking ...
The Almanac of New York City is an innovative companion for urban enthusiasts. Nowhere else will you find the name of the city's first comptroller (Selah Strong) and Staten Island's most recently designated historic district (Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grotto) next to the city's best-attended cultural institution (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with five million visitors annually) and ...
Walk the bustling streets of Manhattan and imagine the lush and solitary land that greeted New York’s first settlers. Visit Ellis Island and envision the gateway to the New World teeming with immigrants. Vacation on Lake Champlain alongside the ghosts of voyageurs. New York is a state as rich in history as in modern-day wonders. Juxtaposing ...
Describing Washington Square, Henry James wrote that it was "as if the wine of life had been poured for you, in advance, into some pleasant old punch bowl." Created in 1826 through the visionary efforts of philanthropist and New York City mayor Philip Hone, the elegant and vibrant square anchors one of the world's most storied neighborhoods, Greenwich Village. Today, the quarter retains much ...
New York is the oldest continually occupied city in America, yet its rich history is largely obscured by development. New Yorkers are surrounded by hundreds of place names, from those that survive from Manhattan's earliest days as a Dutch trading post to those that reflect the city's rich colonial, African and immigrant heritage. They provide a veritable encyclopedia of the city's history. ...