Customer Reviews

Off the Beaten (Subway) Track: New York City's Best Unusual Attractions

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a librarian, I am frequently asked for recommendations for travel books. Without any question I will suggest "Off the Beaten Subway Track." Whereas other travel books focus on the common and mundane, Ms. Reisman highlights unknown treasures that are easily accessible by public transportation. I am a native New Yorker and am embarassed to say that I was unaware of many of these sights. With this book as my guide, I will set about exploring my city.
Let me add that most travelogues are written in a dry style. That is certainly not the case here. With wit and warmth, Ms. Reisman conveys a love of NYC and its hidden treasures.

As a native New Yorker, I was thrilled to finally find a source that discussed the unusual attractions that existed in my beloved city. It is a refreshing change from the usual guidebooks that point out the obvious attractions. Instead, it dares to delve into the world of the lesser traveled which also includes many gems that were new to even a native New Yorker like myself. I've dog-eared all the pages that made me say, "They have that here?" I cannot wait to visit and experience a whole new New York. The book is entertaining, humorous and a fun read packed with interesting tidbits. The author provides information in a friendly and enduring manner. I absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants to experience a New York beyond its skyscrapers and crowds.

This book is an excellent resource for not just tourists, but residents as well. As someone who lived in NYC for a couple of years, I was impressed by all the sites in Suzanne's book that I didn't know existed. Sure everyone knows the standard tourist attractions in NYC, but one of the many things that makes NYC unique is all the other less known attractions like the Lower East Side Troll Museum (reviewed on page 37). This is the beauty of Suzanne's book. This book is also well written and funny. There's not too many tour books out there that have humor in them as well. I definitely recommend this book. This book would make a fun gift as well.

OFF THE BEATEN (SUBWAY) TRACK by Suzanne Reisman is the kind of book I wish was available in the early 70s when I carried my wife to New York.

We bought a book called something like NYC ON $15 A DAY. OFF THE BEATEN TRACK is much better. There are plenty of museums and attractions on every subject in the Big Apple, but I think most first time visitors consider most places either on 5th Avenue or Off 5th Avenue. If it is in the Off 5th Avenue category, then it might be too hard to find.

Ms Reisman gives you excellent directions, by street or by subway.

The places visited are presented in almanac style, kind of. It gets right to the meat of the matter, and gives you a good descriptive run-down of just what the museum or attraction is trying to do. But not without throwing in her excellent wit.

And for no extra charge, if there is an eatery with character near the attraction described you will get a run-down on it too and maybe even some advice on what to order or what not to order. The eateries are highlighted in a shaded gray and has some kind of symbol that looks like two shoes doing the two-step.

The book is designed to easily find things. They are divided into different segments, such as Lower Manhattan, Middle Manhattan, the Bronx, etc. And on top of that you have an index. If you wanted to check out the Forts, go to the index and look up Forts. She made it as easy as it can be to find places, the next step would be she met you with a cab as you stepped out of your hotel, and she asked you, "Where you folks from? Whacha wanna see?"

I think it is a great tour guide book.

If you're in NYC & want to avoid the crowds at the major sites, or even if you're a native New Yorker, you may want to pick up this book to discover unique museums, eateries and historical sites. You will find many unsung attractions in each of the boroughs. The book conveniently directs you how to reach your destination by public transit, broken up into sections of the city. Details on the sites include the offerings at the gift shop, if any, and nearby restaurants to lure you in after your visit.
The author's personality & preferences shine through in the writing. I counted no less than 5 times the use of the word 'ginormous' to describe certain attributes. This tome cannot be all-inclusive due to the sheer number of obscure sites, but it does run the gamut, covering most anything you can think of. From Edgar Allan Poe's cottage to the Masonic Hall to the Steinway Piano Factory to the Coney Island Museum, you can find something to interest almost anyone.

Having recently moved out of NYC after a LONG time living there, reading this book makes me want to move back right now! I wish I knew about all these cool places while I was living close by.
This book highlights a lot of little-known and interesting places all over the city that are easily accessible on public transportation. The wide range of places means that anyone can find something of interest. It is organized by location, so the visitor can plan on doing several things with one trip and gives great directions on how to get there and what to expect. A little bit of the history of each place rounds out the vivid descriptions, so I felt like I was actually visiting the places just by reading. What a great and out of the ordinary guide-book!

The colorful front of the book attracted me when I was in a book store last week, and I admittedly judged the book initially based on the cover. Fortunately, it did not disappoint when I got it from Amazon. As a life-long New Yorker, I was pretty surprised to find that I was largely unfamiliar with most of the sites profiled in the book. There is some truly weird stuff in here, including home-based museums and bizarro stores all across the five boroughs. There was a nice balance, though, of some fairly 'normal' places that the city does nothing to promote, such as the predecessor to LaGuardia Airport which gives tours out in Brooklyn.

The book takes a breezy narrative for each of the places highlighted, which helps give some flavor to each of the locations. That differs from staid guide books that only list the location of sites. Reading this book provides a pretty good sense for what to expect.

In summary, I am pretty excite to use my unlimited Metrocard, since I'll be heading out to some of the places right away.

There are so many books on New York's attractions that one might wonder at the need for yet another, but this book is a key and the first to focus on a hundred off-the-beaten-path destinations, from small museums and nearly forgotten historic places to odd shops and small oddities. A geographic arrangement aids in the journey, with chapters offering addresses, hours, directions, web sites, and long paragraphs of enticing description. Recommended for any travel library strong in New York City attractions.

I was given this book as a gift from my mother, which I had thought to be odd since I've lived in Manhattan for over 10 years and feel like I've got a pretty good handle on what there is to do in the area. Therefore I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the book was chock full of hidden gems all across New York City. It was a refreshing change from most city guides that focus primarily on well-known tourist spots and mostly stick within Manhattan without venturing out to Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, or the Bronx.

Since receiving the book over the holidays I've found myself exploring areas I would never have otherwise found myself. Even for a "hardened New Yorker" such as myself, I've been amazed at what fun, new sites the book has led me to see. Highly recommended - for yourself or as a gift for your favorite NYC resident!

I love love love this book! I've been to 3 of the places so far and love that everything is easily (mostly) accessible and pretty spot on with the descriptions in the book.

Plus, each attraction's description is not only digestable, but filled with a great traveler's context, unlike some Lonely Planet versions where you never really get the context of WHY something is fun to visit!