New York's Unique and Unexpected Places [Hardcover]

Judith Stonehill (Author), Alexandra Stonehill (Photographer), Ethan Hawke (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2009

New York’s Unique & Unexpected Places is written for adventurers and dreamers who want to explore the city’s uncommon, but fascinating, less familiar sites. This beguiling book will delight urban enthusiasts, New Yorkers, and the countless tourists determined to discover—and sometimes rediscover—these fifty memorable destinations. Visit a cutting-edge center for architecture, a Dutch farmhouse surprisingly perched on Broadway, the sublime chapel designed by Louise Nevelson, idiosyncratic museums dedicated to finance and firefighting and subway cars, the historic home of Louis Armstrong, and a spectacular garden overlooking the Hudson.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An intriguing guide for the local resident or the intrepid traveler who wants to take full advantage of what New York City has to offer.

"The arrival of New York's Unique & Unexpected Places brought an unexpected amount of pleasure. Its selection of fifty places in the five boroughs reminded us that we haven't completely lost our eccentric shops, our hidden corners, and moments of grace." ~Manhattan User's Guide

"New York's Unique & Unexpected Places delivers on its promise even to seasoned New Yorkers. The text is informative and the photographs are inviting," ~New York Times

"So many New Yorkers don't know about these uncommon places ... hidden gems right under our noses." ~WABC News

"Beautiful and informative." ~Connecticut News

"New York's Unique & Unexpected Places is a treasure trove of oft-overlooked delights." ~Indagare

"Delightful book..." ~New York Times Book Review

"No New Yorker should be without this lovely guide to forgotten and hidden places around the city. Compiled with loving authority by NY expert Judith Stonehill and her talented photographer daughter, this is a book that will not only grace the coffee table but will help fill many a Sunday with ideas for great excursions." ~Idlewild Books, New York

About the Author

Judith Stonehill is the author of Greenwich Village: A Guide to America's Legendary Left Bank and co-author of Brooklyn: A Journey Through the City of Dreams. She was a partner at New York Bound Bookshop.

Alexandra Stonehill is a professional photographer whose work has been printed in publications in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

Ethan Hawke is an internationally acclaimed actor, writer, and director.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Universe (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789320118
• ISBN-13: 978-0789320117
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NYC Journeys, March 14, 2010

By 

Goldbug (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New York's Unique and Unexpected Places (Hardcover)

As a New York fanatic, I collect books about the city and was really happy to discover "New York's Unique & Unexpected Places." This book has sent me on a serendipitous journey, from Poets House downtown in Battery Park to Louis Armstrong's house in Queens. I even took the ferryboat across the river to the Chinese Scholar's Garden in Staten Island to see if it was as spectacular as described. It was.

The book is great: the writing is lyrical, the photographs are superb, the design is bold. So where will it take me next? I've bookmarked the NYC Transit Museum in Brooklyn, which should intrigue a young nephew visiting here on the weekend. My list includes the Hispanic Society of America, where I'll bring a friend who loves Goya's paintings, and then I'll go to Economy Candy as a reward for being a tour guide. I'm saving the Hua Mei Bird Garden for warmer weather.

24 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Photos, But Too Little Substance, October 14, 2009

By 

UpperWestSal (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New York's Unique and Unexpected Places (Hardcover)

With a large collection of New York City guide books, I am pretty well read in this area. I like to keep myself current on both popular tourist sites and obscure stuff since I act as a tour guide myself when I have guests from out-of-town. There seem to be a run on new books the feature 'unusual' places in New York. "New York's Unique and Unexpected Places" is the third guide I've see published in the past year, following "Off the Beaten Subway Track" and "Secret New York", each which also sit on my bookshelf. Unfortunately, this title covers no new ground.

Starting with its strengths, the photos are crisp and nicely capture the spirit of some of these lesser known sites. The photos are the star of the show, but the writing is only acceptable and it lacks personality. This title would have been better as a coffee table book of photo essays, rather than a hard cover guide book. In terms of value for your money, "Off the Beaten Subway Track" is a soft-cover book that cost me half as much money, covered all of the same sites with dozens that are not in this book, and featured a more engaging narrative structure.

If you are looking for interesting places to visit in New York, this book provides a sample of the oddity that New York contains. However, it is not alone in a growing niche. Since I tend to be a bit of an outlier when it comes to NYC books (I literally have dozens), I suspect most people only need one book regarding this narrow subject. Explore the alternatives, since this book falls short.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable read for any true New Yorker., March 1, 2010

By 

LA Coin Boy "Paul" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New York's Unique and Unexpected Places (Hardcover)

Full disclosure, I am a friend of the the author and her family. Having said this, this was a great book to read, especially since I lived in downtown manhattan for almost 13 years, but the past 10 I have lived and worked in Los Angeles. I thought that I was a well versed new yorker who had seen most of what had to be seen in the years I had been here. I was wrong. This book makes you want to fall in love with the city all over again and will reawaken your sense of discovery about New York and all of its special places. Go ahead, be a tourist, get the book, read it and go discover these places for yourself.