Customer Reviews

Peaceful Places: New York City: 129 Tranquil Sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island

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For the past twelve years I've been traveling to New York City from Ohio volunteering for a children's organization. My major responsibility is transporting the children and I now know NYC better than most livery drivers! During each of my visits I tried to visit places new to me as a tourist emphasizing offbeat and relatively serene, away-from-the-urchins places, especially those reinforcing the hiker and amateur horticulturist in me. I could have used Evelyn Cantor's useful and delightful book from year one.
Peaceful Places New York City is a compilation of 129 'tranquil' sites in the boroughs of NYC with a few beyond added for 'peaceful' day trips. The sites are thoughtfully arranged by area and category, each described succinctly with 'peacefulness ratings', web site, hours, and public transportation information included. Area maps are supplied. The book itself is travel-size-friendly 5 by 7 inches. For the record I've been to about a third of the sites listed and can confirm the accuracy of those listings (even down to visiting J&R across from City Hall Park!) lending credibility to the rest.
Of course when you put together a book like this you open yourself up to criticisms of both what was included as well as what was not included. I can ask why the NY Botanical Garden's Ornamental Conifer Garden, the Metropolitan's Japanese Room with the Mizubachi Fountain, the pedestrian path on the Brooklyn Bridge, and so on were omitted. Every reader will voice examples. But I bet that every reader into this kind of book, whether local or visitor, will also find here many new intriguing places to visit. I did and I've marked them for my next visit to NYC this summer! ( )

New York City is noted for its hustle and bustle, its hurly-burly, its crazy energy. But sometimes, be you tourist or resident, you need a break, and Kanter will help you find it, wherever you are in the city.

I love the way this book is organized. The basic organization is alphabetical, from the African Burial Ground National Monument to the Yeshiva University Museum, but there is also a listing by area (the bulk are in Manhattan, but the other boroughs are well-represented) and another by category (such as "Enchanting Walks", "Quiet Tables" and "Spiritual Enclaves"). Kanter provides a short description of each place, accompanied by information about directions and hours, admission cost (if any, most of these places are free, though, when it comes to the shops she suggests, they are free, "but of course you are also free to purchase"!), websites, etc. She rates them on a "peacefulness" scale, and notes for some that they are not always serene, but tells you the best times to go. The High Line, a new park built on an abandoned elevated rail line, is a good example. I visited it on a weekday afternoon, and it was relatively tranquil, but at other times it can get quite crowded.

Kanter's narratives tell you why she recommends each place, what she likes about them herself, but also often include very personal memories. Knowing that the textiles of the Metropolitan Museum's Asian galleries remind her of her milliner mother's "pride in her precise stitching" or reading how a visit to Green-Wood cemetery and the grave of Charles Ebbetts brings back memories of listening to baseball games from her grandparents' home, makes this more than an ordinary guidebook.

Anyone who has spent time in New York will doubtless have her own special "peaceful places". Had I written this book, I would have included the Gubbio Studiolo at the Metropolitan Museum and the lovely little garden outside the Japan Society's galleries. But I also found myself nodding in agreement with many of Kanter's choices, and making mental notes to visit others when I am next in New York.

I wish I'd had this book before I went to New York earlier this year! I'll definitely bring it next time I go.

This book guides you to those peaceful, little known places in New York that you might normally walk past or just not know about. I wanted to expand my understanding of NYC beyond the places highlighted in Lonely Planet and Time Out (both of which are very good guides) and this book hit the mark. It details tranquil gems in the heart of the Big Apple and encourages the reader to explore further a field. I'm thrilled to have picked up this book. It suits frequent visitors to NYC wanting to find another side to the city, locals and people like me, who have just relocated to the Big Apple, looking to absorb everything this amazing city has to offer.