Governors Island in New York Harbor played an important role in history from being a British fort in the 1700s to a station for the U.S. Army and Coast Guard until 1996. This book brings the legacy to life through never-before-published photographs, blueprints, architectural plans, and interviews with former residents. It reveals an evolving penal system, tells the story worldwide contagion and local sanitation, covers ethnic assimilation, reveals the changing roles of women in the military, and takes a look at military and civilian recreational life on the island.
Governors Island is a 172-acre park just 800 yards from Manhattan. It was a military base for 200 years and only opened to the public in 2004. Today it draws 500,000 visitors a season. This insightful guidebook is for any visitor to the island: a bicyclist who just wants to enjoy five miles of car-free biking, the Civil War enthusiast that wants to visit Castle Williams and see where 1,000 Confederate soldiers were imprisoned, or families on a picnic. The author explores the history of the island, its place in New York and American government, and its long and distinguished military past. More than 80 locations are featured that visitors can explore—from forts to officers housing and much more.
"That is the thing about New York," wrote Dorothy Parker in 1928. "It is always a little more than you had hoped for. Each day, there, is so definitely a new day." Now you can journey back there, in time, to a grand city teeming with hidden bars, luxurious movie palaces, and dazzling skyscrapers. In these places, Dorothy Parker and her cohorts in the Vicious Circle at the infamous Algonquin Round Table sharpened their wit, polished their writing, and captured the energy and elegance of the time. Robert Benchley, Parker’s best friend, became the first managing editor of Vanity Fair before Irving Berlin spotted him onstage in a Vicious Circle revue and helped launch his acting career. Edna Ferber, an occasional member of the group, wrote the Pulitzer-winning bestseller So Big as well as Show Boat and Cimarron. Jane Grant pressed her first husband, Harold Ross, into starting The New Yorker. Neysa McMein, reputedly “rode elephants in circus parades and dashed from her studio to follow passing fire engines.” Dorothy Parker wrote for Vanity Fair and Vogue before ascending the throne as queen of the Round Table, earning everlasting fame (but rather less fortune) for her award-winning short stories and unforgettable poems. Alexander Woollcott, the centerpiece of the group, worked as drama critic for the Times and the World, wrote profiles of his friends for The New Yorker, and lives on today as Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner. Explore their favorite salons and saloons, their homes and offices (most still standing), while learning about their colorful careers and private lives. Packed with archival photos, drawings, and other images--including never-before-published material--this illustrated historical guide includes current information on all locations. Use it to retrace the footsteps of the Algonquin Round Table, and you’ll discover that the golden age of Gotham still surrounds us.
Because of the severe downturn in the travel industry after the tragic events of 9/11, Alex Livingston is transferred from his dream job in a luxurious Honolulu hotel to his company's downtown business property in Brooklyn, where he must face the family he ran away from years earlier and a city still reeling from the horrific attack. While adjusting to life in Brooklyn, Alex discovers that it's denizens are not just trying to make sense of a world gone mad, but dealing with day to day issues in their multicultural neighborhood in Boerum Hill. Alex befriends a firefighter, Ryan Callahan, who is haunted by his role in the events of 9/11. Through Ryan and his firehouse comrades, Alex comes to terms with the bizarre turns his life has taken and has new hope for the future.
Purchased from the Manhattan tribe of the Wappinger Confederacy by the Dutch, Governors Island has long been the secret island in New York's harbor. Although this pristine island has appeared on maps since the 1600s, little regarding it has been known by the populace. It has been the site of horse races, inventions, college classes, hangings, military musters, and unidentified bones. All of these are part of the unique history explored within the pages of Governors Island. Purchased from the Manhattan tribe of the Wappinger Confederacy by the Dutch, Governors Island has long been the secret island in New York's harbor. Although this pristine island has appeared on maps since the 1600s, little regarding it has been known by the populace. It has been the site of horse races, inventions, college classes, hangings, military musters, and unidentified bones. All of these are part of the unique history explored within the pages of Governors Island.
What did New York look like four centuries ago? An extraordinary reconstruction of a wild island from the forests of Times Square to the wetlands downtown. Named a Best Book of the Year by Library Journal, New York Magazine, and San Francisco Chronicle On September 12, 1609, Henry Hudson first set foot on the land that would become Manhattan. Today, it’s difficult to imagine what he saw, but for more than a decade, landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson has been working to do just that. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City is the astounding result of those efforts, reconstructing in words and images the wild island that millions now call home. By geographically matching an eighteenth-century map with one of the modern city, examining volumes of historic documents, and collecting and analyzing scientific data, Sanderson re-creates topography, flora, and fauna from a time when actual wolves prowled far beyond Wall Street and the degree of biological diversity rivaled that of our most famous national parks. His lively text guides you through this abundant landscape—while breathtaking illustrations transport you back in time. Mannahatta is a groundbreaking work that provides not only a window into the past, but also inspiration for the future. “[A] wise and beautiful book, sure to enthrall anyone interested in NYC history.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A cartographical detective tale . . . The fact-intense charts, maps and tables offered in abundance here are fascinating.” —The New York Times “[An] exuberantly written and beautifully illustrated exploration of pre-European Gotham.” —San Francisco Chronicle “You don’t have to be a New Yorker to be enthralled.” —Library Journal
If such a thing as the FIGMENT book existed (but there is no such thing) this might be it (but it isn't). This is not the FIGMENT book; it is a FIGMENT book. This is a case for creativity, for sharing, for collaboration, for learning, for joy, for gratitude, and for love. It is a case against metrics and measurability. This is not a history of FIGMENT (although FIGMENT is celebrating 10 years of history in 2016). This is an invitation to imagine a place where everyone is invited to create and share and contribute and grow and build community-and then to create the world we imagine, and to live in it. This is a FIGMENT book.
