From Barnes & Noble
This informative, entertaining, and exhaustive volume covers Gotham from A to Z. It contains more than 4,000 entries by more than 650 contributors, many of whom are recognized authorities on their subjects. You'll pick up The Encyclopedia of New York City to learn a bit about, say, Yankee Stadium only to find yourself perusing an essay on Coney Island, a brief bio of the "Little Flower," Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, or an overview of the immigrant communities that have made their new homes on Manhattan's Lower East Side. This is that all too rare educational resource that is difficult to put down.
From the Publisher
Everything you've ever wanted to know about the nation's most fascinating city is now available in this authoritative and entertaining one-volume encyclopedia. The only comprehensive reference work on New York City ever compiled, it covers subjects throughout the five boroughs from prehistory to the present. The encyclopedia contains more than 4300 alphabetically arranged entries by more than 650 contributors, along with nearly 700 illustrations and maps, many of which are previously unpublished. A wide range of topics is covered: architecture, government and politics, business, religion, weather, the arts, education, transport, the law, science and medicine, and sports and recreation. Entries reflect the city's colorful past and present, describing hundreds of neighborhoods and immigrant groups as well as more than a thousand figures from all fields and historical periods. The encyclopedia displays the richness and diversity of New York City as they have never before been documented. Overseen by an editorial board composed of distinguished scholars and experts and edited by one of the leading urban historians in the nation, it is an indispensable resource for residents and visitors alike.
New York Times
. . . [W]ave goodbye to family and friends. You'll be so seduced...you may not be seeing them for a while.
Library Journal
How can you review a book when all you want to do is look up just one more item, check out just one more fact, and answer just one more question? This compendium, 13 years in the making, is the first work ever to try to encompass the wonder that is New York City and does so with remarkable success. Edited by academic Jackson (history, Columbia Univ.), it supplies information on people, places, events, and experiences, from prehistory to today, along with illustrations and maps, charts, and tables. Thus, this reviewer could find the Brooklyn public high school she attended; the Manhattan private schools to which she sent her children; a description of alternate side parking (a particularly New York phenomenon); the inception of one-way traffic; the New York Giants, baseball and football teams; Frank Costello and Philip Roth; the Lambs Club and the egg cream. A dictionary arrangement with uppercase cross references makes it simple to use, the editorial board of outstanding scholars makes it reliable, and the subject makes it irresistible. A reference work for all natives, visitors, or the simply curious; for all collections in the metropolitan area and for every major collection elsewhere. A word of caution: this book can be addicting. Highly recommended.Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York
BookList
The premier metropolis and cultural capital of the U.S. now has its own encyclopedia. More than a decade in the making, this collaborative effort between Yale University Press and the New York Historical Society has been edited by the distinguished urban historian Kenneth T. Jackson, chair of the history department at Columbia University. It contains more than 4,000 entries by more than 650 contributors, many of whom are recognized authorities on their subjects (e.g., Martin Marty on religion, Arnold Rampersad on the Harlem Renaissance, Marion R. Casey on the Irish, Sean Wilentz on labor, Phyllis Dain on libraries, and George Chauncey on gays). The five boroughs, more than 400 neighborhoods, and various ethnic and religious groups each get individual articles. In the case of restaurants, magazines, buildings, or business firms, the choice of subjects is highly selective. The people covered were chosen on the basis of important connections with the city; the entry on Thomas Jefferson focuses on the six months he spent there in 1790
Longer articles (a page or more) cover such subjects as the alternative press, saloons, histories of the city, slavery, theater, architecture, science, communism, and cosmetics. In addition to an article on public health are ones on occupational health, developmental disabilities, and mental health. There are biographies for Captain Kidd, William Kunstler, and Donna Karan (but not Claude McKay, Meyer Berger, or B. H. Haggin) and for Ruth, Gehrig, and Jackie Robinson (but not DiMaggio, Mantle, or Mays). Items of "New Yorkiana" get their entries: automats, bagels and egg creams, cockroaches, and graffiti. A number of tables and lists bring elusive information conveniently together: daily newspapers, English and foreign-language; changes to the city charter; presidential election returns for the city and boroughs; and ticker-tape parades
While some original material has been contributed, the intent is to summarize current scholarship; many "articles conclude with brief bibliographies, arranged by date of publication. The encyclopedia is beautifully illustrated with expertly selected black-and-white photographs and maps. At the back are a section of notes on contributors and a name index listing persons not having an individual entry. (One can therefore find Sidney Biddle Barrows but not a topic like "decentralization," which is covered in the entry "Public Schools"). It is difficult to think of topics that should have had an entry (proportional representation in city elections? Jesuits?), and even typographical slips are rare (the restaurant critic appears as Seymour "Britchkey" )
This encyclopedia is an outstanding and long-needed contribution to reference publishing. Not just of local interest, it will be an indispensable resource wherever there is curiosity about the history, culture, and diverse life of our nation's greatest city.
New
It has 1,350 pages, covers more than 4,000 topics and is a bargain even if you have to pay retail.
Time Out New York
Giving any New York buff this long-awaited authoritative tome is like giving them the city itself.
William Grimes
Comprehensive...No one with even a passing interest in New York will be able to live without it.
New York Times Book Review
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