- Paperback: 260 pages
- Publisher: Museyon Guides (6 Jun 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0982232063
- ISBN-13: 978-0982232064
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.2 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,006,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Chronicles of Old New York
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love this guide. If you are looking to visit Manhattan this walking guide is a great way to learn about the city before you go and whilst you are walking around the neighbourhoods.
It's full of historical information about Manhattan, as you walk you have the history at hand to enhance your visit to this wonderful city. James Roman gives you lots of guided walks to follow, and each with each walk he tells you how far the walk is and how long it will take. He also includes the relevant subway/bus lines to use and there are thumbnail photos highlighting some of the major buildings/places on each tour.
Not only do you get a great walking guide, but you get plenty to read on the history of this city, how it has changed with photos from the past to give you a comparison with modern streets and buildings. Even if you have visited Manhattan and don't plan to return, this is well worth buying as it is just a great read.
It's full of historical information about Manhattan, as you walk you have the history at hand to enhance your visit to this wonderful city. James Roman gives you lots of guided walks to follow, and each with each walk he tells you how far the walk is and how long it will take. He also includes the relevant subway/bus lines to use and there are thumbnail photos highlighting some of the major buildings/places on each tour.
Not only do you get a great walking guide, but you get plenty to read on the history of this city, how it has changed with photos from the past to give you a comparison with modern streets and buildings. Even if you have visited Manhattan and don't plan to return, this is well worth buying as it is just a great read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
edutainment
11 July 2010
Format:Paperback
Chronicles of Old New York hits the sweet spot of edutainment.
New York City's history is visible if you know where to look, and author James Roman knows just where that is, and entertains us with well researched, bite size nuggets that constantly relate back to existing neighborhoods and buildings.
Some of my favorites:
-11th St was shaped by a landowner who protected his turf with a chained up bear.
-When NYC homes were first electrified, a burned out bulb required a call to the Edison Co (forerunner of today's ConEd), which would then dispatch a technician to the home for the task of putting in a new bulb.
-For some years in the 1800's, upper classes resided in townhouses that lacked indoor plumbing and so chamber pots and outhouses were a fact of life, while at the same time many of their servants lived in apartments with indoor plumbing.
-A group of mothers in the 1950's turned public opinion against NYC Commissioner Robert Moses's overeaching projects that would have destroyed Soho and Washington Square (if only he had been stopped before demolishing Penn Station!)
- Central Park is built on in part on the area formerly known at "Seneca Village," a community of modest farms developed by blacks, where runaway slaves had found safe haven. The graveyard of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is located in what is now Central Park.
Author James Roman has included walking tours - a big big plus! Each tour is clearly labeled with how far and how long each walk is, the relevant subway and bus lines, and includes easy to read thumbnail descriptions of highlights of the tour. For those like me who are easily geographically confused, there are plenty of recent and vintage photos of the sights of each tour.
Other pluses - The book itself is small enough to carry comfortably, and sports a cover that does not shout "tourist." i
New York City's history is visible if you know where to look, and author James Roman knows just where that is, and entertains us with well researched, bite size nuggets that constantly relate back to existing neighborhoods and buildings.
Some of my favorites:
-11th St was shaped by a landowner who protected his turf with a chained up bear.
-When NYC homes were first electrified, a burned out bulb required a call to the Edison Co (forerunner of today's ConEd), which would then dispatch a technician to the home for the task of putting in a new bulb.
-For some years in the 1800's, upper classes resided in townhouses that lacked indoor plumbing and so chamber pots and outhouses were a fact of life, while at the same time many of their servants lived in apartments with indoor plumbing.
-A group of mothers in the 1950's turned public opinion against NYC Commissioner Robert Moses's overeaching projects that would have destroyed Soho and Washington Square (if only he had been stopped before demolishing Penn Station!)
- Central Park is built on in part on the area formerly known at "Seneca Village," a community of modest farms developed by blacks, where runaway slaves had found safe haven. The graveyard of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is located in what is now Central Park.
Author James Roman has included walking tours - a big big plus! Each tour is clearly labeled with how far and how long each walk is, the relevant subway and bus lines, and includes easy to read thumbnail descriptions of highlights of the tour. For those like me who are easily geographically confused, there are plenty of recent and vintage photos of the sights of each tour.
Other pluses - The book itself is small enough to carry comfortably, and sports a cover that does not shout "tourist." i
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Well done Mr. Roman
16 May 2011
Format:Paperback
Chronicles of Old New York, even to a wizened old New Yorker like myself, added a lot of interesting and entertaining looks around our great city. The walking tours, something that I encourage for all out of towners, along with important subway information iced the cake on this neighborhood look at New York. The period pieces and great photography make this a must have for our visitors and we locals. Well done!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A Contemporary Time-Traveler's Guide to Manhattan
11 July 2010
Format:Paperback
This is a fun and readable 4-dimensional guide to today's New York (the fourth dimension being time.). It's not just about where you are in the city, but who was there before you, and why the neighborhood looks and sounds and feels like it does - maybe even why it smells like it does. This is deep New York, and the added dimensions the author provides make a walk along even Manhattan's most familiar sidewalks a new and (I'm going out on a limb here) transcendental experience. If you love (and who doesn't) Jack Finney's "Time and Again" and ever wondered (and who hasn't) what it would be like to be its protagonist, well, you will never be closer to that experience than when taking James Roman's walking tours from "Chronicles of Old New York." The lively biographies of past New York denizens and luminaries provide plenty of characters with whom to interact in your guided time travels. If you live in New York, this book will enrich your life every day. If you're visiting Manhattan, it will leave you with memories and knowledge that will delight you long after your "I Heart NY" souvenir t-shirts have gone up to the attic.
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