New York: 15 Walking Tours Explore: An Architectural Guide to the Metropolis » (Third Edition)

Gerard R. Wolfe is widely regarded as a leading authority on New York's history and architecture. The author of books, articles, and book reviews on his native city, he has also lectured widely and conducted tours,not only in New York City environs, but also in the Midwest and the Southwest. Among his publications are The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side, The House of Appleton: The History of a Publisher, Forty-Second Street: River to River Guide, and the prize-winning Chicago: In and Around the Loop, as well as a series of essays for The Encyclopedia of New York City. He is a graduate of City University of New York, with a master's degree from New York University and a doctorate in American Studies from Union Institute in Cincinnati. He served for many years as a senior administrator at New York University's School of Continuing Education and, most recently, as Director of Arts & Liberal Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee.

“IF THERE IS A BETTER GUIDEBOOK TO NEW YORK CITY WITH A HISTORICAL BENT, WE HAVEN’T SEEN IT.” *

—American Heritage magazine

You can ride the subway and buses, even take a cruise on the Staten Island Ferry. But the best way to discover the architectural majesty of New York City is the old-fashioned way: on foot! And with McGraw-Hill’s newly expanded New York: 15 Walking Tours as your guide, you’ll discover why the architecture of the Big Apple is still recognized as the world’s most powerful, most sophisticated, and most influential.

Packed with little-known historical details that will intrigue both tourists and natives alike, New York: 15 Walking Tours leads you on a journey that reveals New York’s beginnings as a small community clustered at the southern tip of Manhattan to its present-day status as the Great Metropolis. Along the way, you’ll be introduced to its landmark buildings and architectural styles plus a host of historical details that have come to symbolize not only the City of New York, but our entire culture as well.

The revised New York: 15 Walking Tours puts architectural history into fascinating context, and includes:

* Fifteen walking tours marked on easy-to-follow street maps, with travel directions and landmark designations noted throughout

* A discussion of September 11th , 2001, and its widespread effect on lower Manhattan

* The latest historic building and district landmark designations

* Nearly 300 vintage photographs and engravings that bring New York’s history to life

* Unusual historical facts such as the discovery of the African Burial Ground, New York’s hidden first subway, the Draft Riots and other riots, the Triangle Fire, the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, etc.

So no matter if you’re an out-of-towner or a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, do what comes naturally the next time you feel like exploring amazing architecture: take a walk! And do it with New York: 15 Walking Tours as your companion.

THE TOURS INCLUDE:

* Lower Manhattan and Battery Park

* Manhattan’s Financial District

* City Hall and “Newspaper Row”

* Greenwich Village

* The Lafayette Historic Group

* The Lower East Side

* The SoHo Cast-Iron District

* Gramercy Park and Madison Square

* Ladies’ Mile and Union Square

* Old Chelsea

* Forty-Second Street and Times Square

* The Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island

* Brooklyn Heights

Gerard R. Wolfe is widely regarded as a leading authority on New York's history and architecture. The author of books, articles, and book reviews on his native city, he has also lectured widely and conducted tours,not only in New York City environs, but also in the Midwest and the Southwest. Among his publications are The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side, The House of Appleton: The History of a Publisher, Forty-Second Street: River to River Guide, and the prize-winning Chicago: In and Around the Loop, as well as a series of essays for The Encyclopedia of New York City. He is a graduate of City University of New York, with a master's degree from New York University and a doctorate in American Studies from Union Institute in Cincinnati. He served for many years as a senior administrator at New York University's School of Continuing Education and, most recently, as Director of Arts & Liberal Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee.

The New York Times

Excerpts from:So Many Street Corners, So Many Stories By CHRIS HEDGES

JUSTIN FERATE speaks of New York City with touching propriety. Give him a street and he begins to spin it out before your eyes, not only the architecture but also what we really want to know: the gossip, the stories, the lives of men and women who scandalized us or captured our imagination. ... Mr. Ferate, in a bow tie and light green houndstooth-check coat, is animated as he tells one of his favorites about the architect Stanford White. He begins by talking about the old Madison Square Garden, which White designed, and he quotes O. Henry as calling Madison Square "the flywheel of the universe." He continues by telling about Harry K. Thaw, who killed White on the roof of the old garden in a triangle that included the Gibson Girl Evelyn Nesbit. ...

He landed in New York City 25 years ago. ...While wandering around Union Square one day, however, he walked into a bookstore and found New York: A Guide to the Metropolis, " by Gerard Wolfe. Mr. Ferate said he devoured the book and called Mr. Wolfe to tell him how much he loved it. Mr. Wolfe invited him to come with him on a tour; Mr. Ferate never looked back. ...

"The city is magical. It never runs out of stories.