Hidden New York: A Guide to Places That Matter (Paperback)

~ Steven J. Zeitlin (Author), (Author), Martha Cooper (Photographer)
Key Phrases: magic table, sister sites, New York, Coney Island, Martha Cooper (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Despite its innumerable tourist attractions, New York City still has many secrets, hidden in the most unlikely places. There is the Edison Hotel in Times Square, where magicians gather ’round the Magic Table to socialize and compete. There is Hua Mei Garden in the Lower East Side, where elderly Chinese men meet to display exotic birds. And there is Sahadi’s in Brooklyn, where the culinary arts thrive, and New Yorkers go for just the right ingredients for a Middle Eastern meal. This book details thirty-two unusual locations such as these and enhances them by including a cluster of additional, related spots. Hidden New York shows you why these places matter and guides you through the historical and cultural significance of each one.

Many of them matter because of the opportunities they provide for socializing, such as the Empire Roller Disco in Brooklyn that attracts a community of skaters and the Cube sculpture on Astor Place, which is a meeting spot for homeless youth. Others matter because they are focal points for communities and the spaces are intertwined with how people share in each others’ lives. Still others have been lost, like the house under the roller coaster in Coney Island, made famous by Woody Allen in Annie Hall.

This book is not just about Manhattan, but covers all five boroughs in New York City. It is an invitation to visit, revisit, learn, and enjoy all that you didn’t know the city has to offer. It will show you what’s there, what used to be there, and why it will be there for years to come. The chapters, illustrated with appealing black-and-white photos, include first-person remembrances and commentaries from New Yorkers themselves. Each entry functions as a small travel essay, evoking how certain destinations are experienced. As a guide to the New York City that is less traveled, this unique book shows that some of the best places to visit are ones that you never even thought existed.

About the Author

Marci Reaven is the managing director of City Lore, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the living cultural heritage of New York City and America. Within City Lore she heads up Place Matters, a public history and historic preservation initiative to advocate for the city’s places of historical and cultural significance.

Steve Zeitlin is the director and cofounder of City Lore. He received his Ph.D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to arriving in New York, Steve served for eight years as a folklorist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (October 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813538904
• ISBN-13: 978-0813538907
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,745 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cube, the Mosaic trail, the Hua Mei Garden: What a great New York!, May 16, 2007

By	Jesse Kornbluth "Head Butler" (New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Every week, it seems, someone writes from the country beyond the Hudson River to announce a visit to New York.

"What shall I do?" you ask. "What should I see?"

It's a funny request: Because I live uptown, in a lovely, quiet neighborhood that you probably wouldn't want to visit and I never want to leave, I rarely go to what you may think of as "New York."

Still, I muster a list. Soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. Cafe con leche and flan at La Taza de Oro. Avoid everything in Little Italy. Ditto Times Square. Ditto just about any play/musical on Broadway. Seek out downtown music clubs. Stroll the newly hip Lower East Side. Have a brisket or pastrami sandwich, washed down by Dr. Brown's Cream Soda, at Katz's Deli. Don't overlook the Frick Museum. Like that.

My list has a bias. I can do without anything big, corporate or hyped --- as a general rule, if you've heard of it, I probably don't like it. My preference is for the small, authentic, ethnic. The New York that was. The New York that's threatened daily by the incessant march of gentrification.

Someday --- maybe someday soon --- the New York I cherish will be gone. Manhattan will become Manhattanland, a destination for foreign tourists who are drawn by American media and, even more, the puny American dollar. The residents will be hedge fund titans and media moguls and the upper echelons of those who serve them. The new, the interesting, the ethnic --- you'll find them in the Outer Boroughs and in New Jersey.

But let's not look too far into the crystal ball. There's good news. Marci Reaven and Steve Zeitlin --- who direct a fine site called City Lore --- have pulled together a thick (360 page) paperback of the city's overlooked gems. And more: Their team of writers dug in and did actual reporting, so we not only get directions to some hidden pockets of interest, we get the back story.

They get all the low-hanging fruit: the arches of Grand Central Station just outside the Oyster Bar where a whisper can richochet to a distant pillar, the "Imagine" memorial to John Lennon in Central Park, the pickup basketball game at 6th Avenue and West 3rd Street, Arthur Avenue.

But they also lead you to places I've never heard about, and I've lived here since...oh....I vaguely recall Abe Lincoln's speech at Cooper Union. Like the Hua Mei Bird Garden, in Chinatown, where Chinese men spend their mornings tending rare singing birds. To the casual bystander, it's just guys standing around. Read the history of this garden and the Hua Mei birds before you head downtown, and you'll go home with an experience a lot more interesting to hear about than the latest revival of a grizzled musical.

Many of the selections involve field trips to the Outer Boroughs. And I know, it's not likely that you'll want to hike out to Queens to be served by Pete Benefaremo, "the lemon ice king of Corona." But there are more than enough hidden treasures to keep you hopping around Manhattan. And won't you feel special when you tell your pals, "Meet me at the Cube."

What cube? Why, the one right near the lamppost that Jim Power is decorating with tile. You don't know about "the mosaic trail"? Gee, where you been --- Times Square?

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique NYC Guide Book, November 20, 2006

By	David Bellel (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are many, many NYC guide books but this one is unique in celebrating the places that matter to ordinary New Yorkers. I am sure there are hidden treasures and heroes that sadly have gone uncelebrated in every community. The book is well written, organized and graphically appealing. The research is compiled from information gathered from oral histories with real New Yorkers whose hidden achievements would otherwise go unrecognized.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exploring NY, April 26, 2009

By	Book Junkie (USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased this because I'll be going to New York on my own for a month and I wanted to find some out-of-the-way places that might also save me a little cash. It's well-organized and well-written and there will surely be interesting sites listed for just about anyone. I'd suggest stopping by a bookstore and flipping through first, however, just in case it won't help you as much as you'd like. Especially for budget travelers worried about shelling out too much on guide books, it may not be worth the cost since it only covers very specific places in detail.