Manhattan Under Siege and Standing Tall
930831
I am usually a cozy fan -- no sex or violence -- so I was surprised how well I enjoyed Manhattan Lockdown.  I couldn't put it down!  I love NeYC so I enjoyed the descriptions of the landmarks, even under fire or damaged.  Lots of strong characters and conflict.  I'm reading more of Batista's books asap.
3221726
Wonderful portrait of New York during the Guilded Age.  The 'savage girl' is a fascinating character, submits on the surface to Mr. Delegate's experiment in 'civilizing' what he believes to be a child raised by wolves.  But did she commit those shockingly brutal murders?  A must read!
263744
THIS BOOK KEPT ME READING BECAUSE IT IS A STORY THAT IS  SO REAL AND HAPPENS MORE TIMES THAN WE KNOW.  THE WAY THE RICH OWN THE COUNTRY/WORLD, AND PEOPLE - OR THINK THEY DO.  THEY ARE POWERFUL EVEN THOUGH THEY GOT TO THEIR HEIGHT THROUGH DIRTY DEALING AND MURDER.  LOOK ON A NY MAP TO KNOW WHERE MONTAUK IS LOCATED - COMPARED TO MANHATTAN.  I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DID.
2764638
Interesting effects on the common man view of a monster in Manhattan.  The handheld camera works although it does get a bit dizzying.  However, I think the viewpoint does come off well.
2683245
This book will most likely appeal to NYC history buffs, more specifically, to those who are interested or who grew up in( myself ) Manhattan's northernmost neighborhood. Frankfurt on the Hudson aka The Fourth Reich was at one time the epicenter of German/Jewish community. It never garnered the recognition of Yorkville, which was more a GERMAN and not JEWISH nabe, but without question Washington Heights is where German Jews moved before and during WW2. Author Lowenstein grew up in this area during it's German/Jewish time. Today, as with most NYC neighborhoods, German Jews are not the majority, that distinction would go to Dominicans. since the early 80's The Heights has been "Quisqueya on the Hudson" rather thatn Frankfurt. Being 28 i can remember back to the time when it was still predominantly German/Jewish...so the book is a trip down memeory lane for myself. the book is a very well researched book and it deserves to be back in print. i was lucky enough to come across the LAST COPY last year on amazon, but I notice it is sometimes unavailable, and sometimes goes for upwards of $30. So if the oppurtunity arises, get this! Many NYC nabes are famous for their ethnic foundings such as the Eastern Europeans of the Lower East Side or Puerto Ricans in Spanish Harlem. Not much is known about pre-dominican Washington Heights. Today Broadway above 155th St is almost entirely hispanic, so it is fascinating to think of the area in the 30's and 40's as an entirely Jewish area. White flight and crime relocated most of the then elderly Jews up towards the "nicer" Hudson Heights, the highest natural point on the Island, which retains still to this day an old world German/Jewish flavor. most of the German?Jews are either dead or elderly, but their prigeny still holds down it's part in this beautiful neighborhood, which i proudly call my home. My grandfather came from Austria during WW2 and put down roots here. The ethnicity may have changed, sheesh where has it NOT changed in NYC...but the neighborhood known as Hudson Heights has a rich and underlooked history which is why i love this book so much. The only time tourists really venture this far uptown is to visit the Cloisters or Ft Tryon Park. In recent years, skyrocketing rents have moved quite a few people up here. it's a shame if people move here and not realize the history associated with the area. Great book about a great neighborhood and a practically extinct group of people.
325058
This book shows my New York as it was. Pre  Disneyfing  of Times Square and the destruction of neighborhoods by the national chains with their steel and glass fronts. A must have book for old school New Yorkers and preservationists. Beautifully printed on poster stock paper. I wish I had the photographic eye of these photographers.
HGF, NYC
676291
This is a masterfully woven tale about an Irish immigrant to New York who is made immortal, as long as he stays in Manhattan.  The author, Pete Hamill, takes the time to describe in detail the Irish culture that his hero and many other immigrants immigrants experienced.  The voyage, also, is described, with all its hardships.  The New York segment of the book, though, is most embued with feeling.  It is Hamill's passion, the history of New York, so it only makes sense.  We observe U.S. history as it is seen from Manhattan.  From George Washington to 9/11, Hamill's ageless hero experiences what it is to be American.  This is a beautiful novel and should not be missed.
2371208
It kept my interest from cover to cover.  It has significant meaning for me since my mother wanted me to stay there when I got my first job in Manhattan in the early '70s.  That place was steeped in history.

The book is well written and really reflects that period in history.  Enjoyable read.
2002445
The Watchmage of old New York is a gem. Well crafted, full of pyrotechnical plot elements, it is fascinating from the very beginning. Literature and media is full of tales of Victorian New York City. Mr. Sanders merges the magic of old New York with actual magic. The watchmage is  a guardian of dwellers, paranormal creatures from other planes of existence that cross a barrier that is called The Veil. He watches over them, helping them find decent lives on the earthly plane. His ammunition in this pursuit is an impressive array of magic that he uses to subdue evil humans and dwellers alike.

Those of us who know New York City can delight in the obviously meticulous research that Mr. Sanders has undertaken to resurrect Victorian New York in incredible detail. The slang, the old neighborhoods, like Five Points, now lost to history, all of these will entertain even those readers who know little about New York City. But more than that, The Watchmage of Old New York is a taught, intelligent tale of magic, tough cops, and an immense variety of add creatures from different planes of existence. The most impressive aspect of the story is how the author overlays a fully formed world of paranormal creatures and phenomena over a very definite and  gritty Victorian New York without it being the least bit awkward. The reader accepts a mage, magelings and assorted other dwellers as if they belonged walking with the Irish, paperboys and the Pug Uglies.

This is a book not to be missed.
2405897
Every city has its own unique public housing and problems that go with it. New York City has huge high-rises in bad areas, where land is nonetheless at a premium. Chicago had the Robert Taylor high-rises far from the city center, on a strip of land that nobody wanted. New Orleans had the Iberville Houses, only four stories high, and possible the very first of its kind in the USA. Boston had Old Colony, London had Broadwater Farm, and Paris has its banlieues. Wherever you go, public housing usually stinks. The questions of this book are as follows; why do they stink, and were there any that worked?
  Nicholas Bloom begins with the Depression in the USA, a time when everyone in the USA was broke and desperate for work. In NYC, the crumbling fire-trap tenements needed to be torn down, and with Hoovervilles springing up in Central Park, there was also a need for cheap apartments. Under Mayor LaGuardia there was a lengthily study of this problem, and it led to the founding of NYCHA. The New York City Housing Authority would start with just a few buildings, and for the most part it went well. But as the years went by, NYCHA would build many more buildings and become less adept at managing them.
  Bloom defines NYCHA as having higher standards than other cities, but staying cheap without going shoddy. New York Citys public housing does have a higher standard than Chicago, as with the poorly-built projects like James Honer, Robert Taylor, Ida Wells, and Cabrini-Green. Soviet visitors to Chicago once remarked on the poor quality of the Honer buildings, and how such terrible construction would cost a Soviet architect his job (and possible his life too) if he were to skimp on quality. Under Federal laws, the buildings couldn't be far-off from the main parts of the city, or in an area badly-served by transit. This meant that to cram more people in, NYCHA had to use the high-rise approach, which didn't foster a sense of neighborhood.
  Robert Moses also comes into play here. He didn't want the public housing in the outer-reaches of the city; that would necessitate bringing public transport all the way to the suburbs. He also designed the Patterson Houses to be occupied by two-parent families, no single moms, prospective tenants had to show their marriage certificate to get in. The wicked Robert Moses thought such a rule would keep unruly tenants out, and for a while, he was right. But heres where the problem started, one which nobody anticipated. Once the small 1950s houses came within their means, the regular working people left the projects, replaced by Black and Puerto Rican families. The next wave of tenants didn't meet the 21 traits of Robert Moses, and there weren't enough gainfully-employed two-parent families to fill the buildings. Single mothers on welfare with unruly kids moved in.
  Compared to Chicagos housing and the Pruitt-Igoe houses in St. Louis, NYCHA buildings worked. But just because they're still standing doesnt mean they're any good. They still look horrible, and they still diminish the sense of neighborhood. But unlike the extensive South Side of Chicago, NYC land is limited and costly. Thats the only reason the tenants in the worst buildings don't move out. Did NYC public housing really work? Maybe, at first, it did.
4234340
This is a superb book of New York photographs framed with a true artist's eye.  It is the New York of today in living, breathing color. A New York reflected in puddles after a rain; a beautiful New York like the bicycle rider in Central Park, or the Jackson Pollack style graffiti, and a poignant New York, like the homeless woman with her bundles staring in the window of Bulgari's 5th Avenue store window.  I don't want to spoil the pleasure so come to these pictures with your own eyes and Margery Harnick will reward you with a new New York -- her New York which is now my New York and will soon be yours. And there is the added gift of Sheldon Harnick's witty, pungent poetic commentary. You may recall that he was the lyricist for Fiorello -- the best musical ever written about New York. Together with his wife Margery Gray Harnick they offer their love letter to New York City, and Margery gets and deserves her top billing here. If you love New York City, people, puddles, or just plain great photography, don't wait until Valentine's Day to visit this outdoor museum.
3606143
A nicely detailed account of one of New York City's treasures.
2560747
Even apart from the influence, good and bad, he had on New York, the book is a mesmerizing account of gaining, using and misusing power.
2798917
Absolutely wonderful book - excellently written and researched.  It's a murder mystery in mid 19th century New York City.  New York is a great place to live but not back then! Lyndsay Faye has a wonderful command of the English language and she writes beautifully and accurately about a time most people would rather forget. Her writing is so good that you'll believe you are actually living in Manhattan in the 1840's. The crimes described are very grim; and so are the politics.  The characters are vivid and realistic. This is a must book.
4892202
Really wonderful addition to the Manhattan series. It encompasses the first two stories and gives much extra detail. A must read if you enjoyed the other books
3973503
This lovely little edited volume of essays paints an indelible picture of New York City throughout the ages, in all its diversity, glamor, poverty, cruelty, excitement, and hope. The selections are from authors as varied and notable as Kerouac, Capote, Wharton, and Diaz. Each of them is known in their own way as a New York writer, and through this mosaic of stories we get a full picture of New York city and the hope and misery that life there has long brought. None of the stories is longer than 35 pages.
2456459
This event of Muslims powers of the Barbary Coast attacking American ships 200 years ago could be from todays headlines. Just like Irans taking an American ship and crew hostage last week. America needs to be strong and not put up with political correctness of bullying. Thomas Jefferson and his people knew that if we paid tribute and ransom money, America would never be a free nation. So with strong brave men America did what was needed to be done to free her enslaved countrymen and stop the attacks on American ships.

 I hope that anyone thinks that what is happening today with the Radical Muslims and ISIS is new, needs to read this book. Americans need to stop having their heads buried in the sand and stand strong and destroy those that would destroy us. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates is a quick read wonderful flow of action and history, a must for those that want to know the great courage of Thomas Jefferson, The U.S. Marines and the many men that took a brand new nation from being the target of pirates to a great naval force. Ensuring that wherever America is needed to protect her people and others, the strength of her navy will be there.