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Rating: 
Summary: A MUST FOR LICENSED NYC TOUR GUIDES
Review: I learned more about Manhattan's Lower East Side in this book, than any other in my collection. As a licensed, NYC tour guide, this is now the first book I go to, the ultimate reference. 15 neighborhoods are highlighted with solid information on the architecture of hundreds of buildings as well as nuggets of fascinating stories. Read about how one now defunt NYC Dept. store shipped an albino elephant to one skeptical customer. All true! Anyone studying for the NYC sightseing exam needs to have this book in their collection.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST FOR LICENSED NYC TOUR GUIDES
Review: I learned more about Manhattan's Lower East Side in this book, than any other in my collection. As a licensed, NYC tour guide, this is now the first book I go to, the ultimate reference. 15 neighborhoods are highlighted with solid information on the architecture of hundreds of buildings as well as nuggets of fascinating stories. Read about how one now defunt NYC Dept. store shipped an albino elephant to one skeptical customer. All true! Anyone studying for the NYC sightseing exam needs to have this book in their collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Map doesn't match text
Review: I took my first walk today, taking one of the tours in the book, Greenwich Village. Although the book led me through a nice, interesting tour, it committed an unpardonable sin. At one point on the tour, the map did NOT match the textual guidance. It was only a few blocks off, but this is a mistake that should be caught prior to publishing.
Rating:
Summary: Best pictures
Review: The best thing about this book is the pictures, not just of what you will see, but what was there before. Those wonderful nostalgic glimpses into the past are scattered among contemporary photos, though all in black and white. Full page maps of each area are provided for walking tours and other reference. A wealth of information spans 300 years and covers all architectural styles and districts. The twenty chapters are organized by neighborhood, and at the back an extensive recommended reading section. This edition makes a wonderful gift for the soon to be vistor as well as an impressive source for reference or perusing at leisure.
Rating: 
Summary: Sloppy
Review: There is only one word to describe this book: Sloppy. So sloppy that you have to ask yourself if the author has ever taken his own tour. I don't know if the blame falls to the author, or publisher McGraw Hill, for failing to edit this book. I pulled a page (142) from a neighborhood I happen to know something about and found these errors on a single page: # 21 "The former Metropolitan Savings Bank", opened in 1867 not 1868. He uses the apprehensive phrase "attributed to Carl Pfeiffer." A newspaper article about the grand opening day of this building as a bank reports it as May 21, 1867, and declares that the builder is Carl Pfeiffer. Then he repeats an urban myth from a discredited revisionist "historian" that McSorley's Old Ale House did not open in 1854, but in 1862. He goes on to describe the items "on the grimy sheet-tin walls." The bar has no tinned walls. (With the exception of the lavatories) Step inside if you are going to describe the inside! Save your money. McGraw Hill did when it came to hiring an editor to check his facts. Buy the AIA guide and make your own tour. Although the old photos are pretty good, they are not quite enough to be the saving grace here. Wolfe gets the addresses right, but if this one page is any indication., no one checked his historical facts, and that makes me even more surprised by the American Heritage review of this work.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy
Review: There is only one word to describe this book: Sloppy. So sloppy that you have to ask yourself if the author has ever taken his own tour. I don't know if the blame falls to the author, or publisher McGraw Hill, for failing to edit this book. I pulled a page (142) from a neighborhood I happen to know something about and found these errors on a single page: # 21 "The former Metropolitan Savings Bank", opened in 1867 not 1868. He uses the apprehensive phrase "attributed to Carl Pfeiffer." A newspaper article about the grand opening day of this building as a bank reports it as May 21, 1867, and declares that the builder is Carl Pfeiffer. Then he repeats an urban myth from a discredited revisionist "historian" that McSorley's Old Ale House did not open in 1854, but in 1862. He goes on to describe the items "on the grimy sheet-tin walls." The bar has no tinned walls. (With the exception of the lavatories) Step inside if you are going to describe the inside! Save your money. McGraw Hill did when it came to hiring an editor to check his facts. Buy the AIA guide and make your own tour. Although the old photos are pretty good, they are not quite enough to be the saving grace here. Wolfe gets the addresses right, but if this one page is any indication., no one checked his historical facts, and that makes me even more surprised by the American Heritage review of this work.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite guide to NYC!
Review: This is the best guide of its kind which I have seen. Wolfe is thorough, engaging, sometimes funny and a joy to read. As a tour guide I have read many books on NYC, and this is one of my favorites. Unlike many other authors, he pays more than lip-service to the outer boroughs, and also offers a good guide to Roosevelt Island. Let's see an updated edition!!!
Rating:
Summary: My favorite guide to NYC!
Review: This is the best guide of its kind which I have seen. Wolfe is thorough, engaging, sometimes funny and a joy to read. As a tour guide I have read many books on NYC, and this is one of my favorites. Unlike many other authors, he pays more than lip-service to the outer boroughs, and also offers a good guide to Roosevelt Island. Let's see an updated edition!!!
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