New York Streetscapes: Tales of Manhattan's Significant Buidlings and Landmarks (Paperback)
From Publishers Weekly Having once been called a "building
genealogist" by a stranger, Gray is definitely something more than an
architectural historian. His "Streetscapes" column for the New York
Times has taken readers through the architectural history of Gotham for
15 years, and now his book will make that journey comprehensive and
just as immediate. Winding from lower Manhattan to uptown, the
vignettes present an image of a structure-sometimes a garden or viaduct
or something besides a building-with a revealing short text. More than
300 black-and-white (often period) photographs depict the lavish and
strange interiors and exteriors of the structures. The combination of
Gray's elegant architectural writing (on MoMA's facade: "After that the
curved canopy was replaced and the panels were either all replaced or
altered to eliminate their variegated, milky quality") with his gossipy
and historical anecdotes ("In 1893 Delmonico's was found guilty of
serving woodcock out of season") makes this an indispensable book for
New York and architecture enthusiasts. Gray does a service for a place
where, as he writes, "information is lost to local memory far sooner
than in a suburban or rural environment." New York becomes a
four-dimensional object with his revelations, a layered thing that can
be peeled and examined in time and space.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description Christopher Gray's engaging
tales of historic Gotham locales transport readers back in time for a
stroll through the streets of old New York. The noted architectural
historian, who writes the popular
"Streetscapes" column in
The New York Times,
here gathers 190 of the best-loved of those columns to captivate
readers with his wealth of information about sites and buildings and
the intriguing lives of the people connected to them. From the
Bridge Cafe (New York's oldest surviving bar) on Water Street to the
Revolutionary War-era Morris-Jumel Mansion in upper Manhattan, Gray
turns the spotlight on both obscure and familiar landmarks, and each of
his witty, urbane essays is illustrated with at least one period
photograph. Gray's vast enthusiasm and love for New York's architecture
is evident in all that he writes, as is his concern for the
preservation of the city's architectural treasures.
Hardcover448 pagesPublisherHarry N. Abrams; Flexibind edition (May 1, 2003)Product Dimensions9.7 x 6.9 x 1 inchesShipping Weight2.2 poundsLanguageEnglishAuthorChristopher Gray, Suzanne Braley,
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