New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of the New York Times

by Constance Rosenblum

Overview

These forty essays from the New York Times’ City section tell “stories of human life in all its quirky richness” (The Boston Globe).
 
Featuring a cast of stellar writers, this collection brings some of the best essays from the City section to readers beyond the five boroughs. New York Stories profiles people like sixteen-year-old Barbara Ott, who surfs the waters off Rockaway in Queens, and Sonny Payne, the beloved panhandler of the F train. Other essays explore memorable places, from the Greenwich Village townhouse blown up by radical activists in the 1970s to a basketball court that serves as the heart of its Downtown neighborhood. The forty essays collected here reflect an intimate understanding of the city, one that goes beyond the headlines. The result is a passionate, well-written portrait of a legendary and ever-evolving place. 
 
Contributors include: Andre Aciman, Thomas Beller, Laura Shaine Cunningham, Jim Dwyer, Jill Eisenstadt, Vivian Gornick, Chuck Klosterman, Robert Lipsyte, Phillip Lopate, Jan Morris, Richard Price, Joe Queenan, Suzanne Vega, Meg Wolitzer, and more
 
“Unassuming, elegant dispatches, suffused with a wise but unsentimental affection.”—The New Yorker
 
“All of the pieces are engrossing  . . . This is both an excellent addition to New York history and a pleasure for casual browsing.” ―Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814777237
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	306
Sales rank:	934,995
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Constance Rosenblum, most recently the author of the Habitats column published in the Real Estate section of The New York Times, was a longtime editor of the paper’s City section and a former editor of the Times’s Arts and Leisure section. She is the author of Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope Along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Part I A Sense of PlacePart II Moods and MoresPart III New YorkersPart IV City LoreAbout the Contributors About the Editor 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A reminder that there are stories still untold in New York, and writers hard at work to find them for us.”
-The New York Times Book Review

,

“You don't have to have a particular interest in the Big Apple to pick up this book. These are stories of human life in all its quirky richness. . . . New York Stories is a series of love letters to a city that, for all its problems and peculiarities, beckons people from all over the world.”
-Boston Globe

,

“Rosenblum, who edits the City section, has collected 40 representative pieces that showcase the ups and downs of life in a metropolis that still exerts a gravitational pull on those seeking their fortune. Many of the essays are by well-known authors, such as Jan Morris, Phillip Lopate and Vivian Gornick, but others, equally winning, are by emerging writers. All of the pieces are engrossing and share a painstaking attention to craft. ... This is both an excellent addition to New York history and a pleasure for casual browsing.”
-Publishers Weekly

,

“This collection of engaging stories will appeal to a broad range of adult readers interested in pushing back the concealing vapors of legend to discover the otherwise hidden gears and cogs that keep the enchanted ideal of New York City humming smoothly along.”
-Foreward

,

“Given the subject matter, it should come as no surprise that the pieces evoke a powerful sense of place. Coming as this does from the pages of the New York Times, it is also no surprise that the material is of high literary caliber.”
-Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

The City section of the Sunday edition of the New York Times features vivid accounts of life, past and present, in the five boroughs. Rosenblum, who edits the City section, has collected 40 representative pieces that showcase the ups and downs of life in a metropolis that still exerts a gravitational pull on those seeking their fortune. Many of the essays are by well-known authors, such as Jan Morris, Phillip Lopate and Vivian Gornick, but others, equally winning, are by emerging writers. All of the pieces are engrossing and share a painstaking attention to craft. Mel Gussow dramatically evokes the day in 1970 when the Greenwich Village townhouse next door to him, occupied by members of the radical Weather Underground, was blown apart in an accidental detonation in their basement bomb factory. On a lighter note, Tara Bahrampour recounts the paradigmatic New York experience: searching for an affordable apartment. Field Maloney and Jill Eisenstadt each relate the glory days of Queens's Rockaway Beach as a summer resort, its sad decline and enduring allure. This is both an excellent addition to New York history and a pleasure for casual browsing. B&w photos. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

In 1993, the New York Times introduced a weekend section-the City Section-devoted to life in the five boroughs of New York. Because it is distributed only in papers in New York City, most of the essays in this collection will be new to readers outside the area. Organized in broad categories such as "New Yorkers," "A Sense of Place," "Moods and Mores," and "City Lore," the topics of this compilation range from the humorous, such as the reluctance of New Yorkers to acknowledge the bizarre behavior happening around them, to the poignant, as in the essay about the vulnerability one writer feels after being burglarized. Given the subject matter, it should come as no surprise that the pieces evoke a powerful sense of place. Coming as this does from the pages of the New York Times, it is also no surprise that the material is of high literary caliber. Recommended for medium to large public libraries; academic libraries with journalism or New York City collections may also wish to consider.-Rita Simmons, Sterling Heights P.L., MI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"You don't have to have a particular interest in the Big Apple to pick up this book. These are stories of human life in all its quirky richness. . . . New York Stories is a series of love letters to a city that, for all its problems and peculiarities, beckons people from all over the world."

Boston Globe

"This collection of engaging stories will appeal to a broad range of adult readers interested in pushing back the concealing vapors of legend to discover the otherwise hidden gears and cogs that keep the enchanted ideal of New York City humming smoothly along."

Foreward

"A reminder that there are stories still untold in New York, and writers hard at work to find them for us."

The New York Times Book Review

Given the subject matter, it should come as no surprise that the pieces evoke a powerful sense of place. Coming as this does from the pages of the New York Times, it is also no surprise that the material is of high literary caliber.”
-Library Journal

“A reminder that there are stories still untold in New York, and writers hard at work to find them for us.”
-The New York Times Book Review

“This collection of engaging stories will appeal to a broad range of adult readers interested in pushing back the concealing vapors of legend to discover the otherwise hidden gears and cogs that keep the enchanted ideal of New York City humming smoothly along.”
-Foreward

From the Publisher