Customer Reviews

Manhattan Block by Block: A Street Atlas

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Any visitor to NYC must buy this book! For less than the price of a Martini in the Carlyle Hotel, you get a wonderful introduction to New York, written by one of the few bona fide Big Apple experts. And for those many New Yorkers who think they know it all, this is a wonderful corrective.

I picked this up along with the latest Flashmaps edition of Manhattan. I returned the Flashmaps book the next day. This little book is all a New Yorker or visitor needs to get around town. I especially liked the essays at the beginning. The development of the city's street plan is fascinating and concise. I can recommend the atlas highly.

Everything you could possibly want to know about Manhattan streets, from which streets go which direction to house numbers to famous buildings. A wonderful resource from someone whose compulsivity about detail benefits the rest of us.

AS A STUDENT OF HISTORY AND SOMEONE WHO FREQUENTLY TRAVELS THROUGHOUT THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN AREA I FOUND THE BOOK TO BE AN EXCELLENT SOURCE OF INFORMATION. I ESPECIALLY ENJOYED READING THE HISTORY OF HOW AND WHY THE STREETS WERE LAYED OUT THE WAY THEY WERE AND WHY OR HOW THEY WERE NAMED. THAT COUPLED WITH THE EASE OF CARRYING THE ATAS IN MY BRIEFCASE AND OR COAT VEST POCKET MADE IT A MOST WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT.

At Last! A meticulously researched, elegantly mapped and portable guide to Manhattan's streets. A must-have for visitors and New Yorkers alike.

Whether you're in New York every day or once a year you'll find this little volume a great treat. Written and compiled by an author of easy humor and astounding knowledge, and completely user-friendly. You'll find yourself looking for reasons to refer to it--and you'll learn something every time you do. I wouldn't be without it.

I have used the Manhattan Block by Block guides for years and they are the absolute best if you want to get around in NYC by something other than cab. If you drive or prefer mass transit, or if you have multiple clients in Manhattan, or if you are touring NYC - buy this book. This is ALWAYS in my purse - and you may catch me using it if you visit Manhattan.

6/28/2010: Wait for a new edition if you are using this for MTA (Metropolitian Transit Authority) info on buses and subways. A number of lines were combined or eliminated in order to cut back on costs.

It is hard to imagine anyone packing more fascinating and useful information into a single pocket-sized volume than Tauranac has packed into this one. It passes every test for good maps--most importantly, it can't help but tell you where you are and get you where you need to go. The introductory essays are written with a delightfully erudite touch--easy to read, yet informative and interesting. This little book sets a high standard. Highly recommended.

This little book slips into your back pocket, where it sticks out just enough to be grabbable for quick reference. For the visitor, it makes all of New York - streets, subways, trains, neighborhoods - almost comprehensible. Succinct, yet amazingly detailed. The introductory essays - and some of the notes sown throughout the maps - are witty and graceful. In fact, it's hard to imagine that the guy who put this together is a New Yorker.

It should be MANDATORY that every person strolling the streets of Manhattan, and every cab driver in NYC (either fully licensed or "gypsy") should have in their possession a copy of this little pocket and purse sized gem. I have visited Manhattan many times, but never have I felt so confident as I have felt since discovering my way courtesy of Tauranac and his book of maps. Public Libraries, churches, playgrounds, theatres, statues of Mother Goose and Robert Burns, a former residence of Jackie Kennedy, etc., are all easily located, and much anecdotal information is provided. Buy it and enjoy Manhattan!