"Time Out" Book of New York Walks ("Time Out" Guides) - Softcover

"Time Out"

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140296220 ISBN 13: 9780140296228

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, 2000

Synopsis

This guide includes 23 walks exploring the Big Apple. The contributors - a collection of historians, novelists, journalists and comedians - are united by their passion for the city, drawing on personal infatuations and professional expertise. Whether exploring the ever-changing face of the Lower East Side, or the varied neighbourhoods of uptown Manhattan, the result is a collection of walks to be enjoyed at home or explored on the streets and in the parks, shops and bars of New York.

About this title

Review

There is perhaps no more walk-able place on earth (and no more walked) than Manhattan, the handy numbered grid north of 14th street meaning you will rarely get lost. Yet no matter how many times the streets are strolled, they always throw up some new curiosity. All of which makes New York a prime candidate to be the third in Time Out's series after London and Paris. Detailed listings of cafés, restaurants, bars and sites mentioned accompany each story, along with clear maps and colour photographs.

What sets this guide apart from more conventional tourist route planners is the idiosyncratic, unique nature of the 23 urban-hikes highlighted. The book finds the city's quirky nooks and crannies. Contributors write in the first-person, telling of their personal favourite strolls or following cultural themes--from the beat generation and a "Rock & Roll Shopping Spree" to the punky meat-packing district art scene or the ghost of the Algonquin Hotel literary circle. New York Walks also goes beyond the usual Manhattan territory to Harlem parks and the hairy edges of Alphabet City; to Brooklyn Heights, "Perfume Greek" and Flushing, Queens.

Tread William Boyd's regular Upper East Side route via his favourite café. Go down memory lane with former Moscow resident Valeria Stivers amid Brighton Beach's Russian community. Explore gay New York with drag queen Lady Bunny, who promises, "inexpensive eateries, bargain basements and places to meet men". Find out where Gerry Adams drinks when in New York and visit the site of the Stonewall gay riots. Yep, Time Out's collection is definitely not your "usual" Big Apple exploration.

The streets are brought alive with the anecdotes of the writers. Alternative social/cultural histories are pursed with enthusiasm. Pioneering activist Peter Stringer's walk flashes back to the early 1970s, when he was writing Animal Liberation, the book that spawned the modern movement. Former homeless crack-addict Lee Stringer re-walks the 50-block route from his dealer to Grand Central Station's roof ("the crawlspace I then called home").

Perhaps the most notable "walk" of all, is the "Urban Jungle Safari" by Christina Veran. This takes you to the hip-hop sights of Harlem and the Bronx, encompassing "Rocksteady Park", the site of Malcom X's assassination, Keith Haring territory, Afrika Bambaataa's housing project and Jimmy's Bronx Café where Puff Daddy hangs out. --Sarah Champion

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0140296220
• ISBN 13: 9780140296228
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304