Committee on Design

Heartily agree with Ronette's suggestion of Island at the Center of the World.  It is amazing how bits and pieces of the city earliest history still appear here and there throughout the 5 boroughs.  Also Luc Sante's Low Life for a rich view of the "Lures and Snares of Old New York".  A bit unwieldy (large) but The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, Yale University Press, is really comprehensive.  I also recommend it highly to my fellow New Yorkers who do not know of it.

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Stephen Alastair Wanta AIA
wanta-architect pllc
New York NY
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As former 3 borough dweller -  I think you need to experience it   

• Get in a car and drive around or get on your feet and walk the neighborhoods. 
• Get behind the glitz, Walk from 103 street to the tip of Manhattan. Real People live in this city.
•  Like Patty Duke walk Brooklyn Heights. Get lost and then find your way back
•  Take the  a subway ride from one end to the other. Take the from one the main Train stations - Grand Central Terminal or Penn Station.
• Take that Staten Island Ferry 
• Hike thru Prospect Park which can feel like a real wilderness on cross country ski's
• Go Find a coffee shop and sit. Go to the burger joint near the Museum of Modern Art 
• Grab your sketchbook and camera and go

If you need a book

• Carl Condit's The Port of New York, Volume 1 & 2: A History of the Rail and Terminal System.
• Bob Stern's series on NY is excellent
• So is the AIA Guide

I learned as a member of the AIA NY  Learning By Design Committee,  New York City really is a "City of Neighborhoods"

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David DeFilippo AIA
Tsoi/Kobus Associates; Cambridge, MA
Cambridge MA
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I applaud the suggestion to experience the city close up on foot and the subway. An additional suggestion is to visit the Lower East Side Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/ for a better understanding of New York's evolution.

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Ann Thompson
Essex Library Association
Essex CT
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2014 08:08
From: David DeFilippo
Subject: New York

As former 3 borough dweller -  I think you need to experience it   

• Get in a car and drive around or get on your feet and walk the neighborhoods. 
• Get behind the glitz, Walk from 103 street to the tip of Manhattan. Real People live in this city.
•  Like Patty Duke walk Brooklyn Heights. Get lost and then find your way back
•  Take the  a subway ride from one end to the other. Take the from one the main Train stations - Grand Central Terminal or Penn Station.
• Take that Staten Island Ferry 
• Hike thru Prospect Park which can feel like a real wilderness on cross country ski's
• Go Find a coffee shop and sit. Go to the burger joint near the Museum of Modern Art 
• Grab your sketchbook and camera and go

If you need a book

• Carl Condit's The Port of New York, Volume 1 & 2: A History of the Rail and Terminal System.
• Bob Stern's series on NY is excellent
• So is the AIA Guide

I learned as a member of the AIA NY  Learning By Design Committee,  New York City really is a "City of Neighborhoods"

-------------------------------------------
David DeFilippo AIA
Tsoi/Kobus Associates; Cambridge, MA
Cambridge MA
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I was surprised by the book Scoundrels in Law by Cait Murphy. It's about the trials of Howe and Hummel in the last half of nineteenth century New York City. If you ever wondered what was going on during the architectural evolution, this explains some of the social activity. It includes the trial of Stanford White's murderer, Harry Thaw, since they represented the defendant.

It you ever wondered what the word "tenement" actually meant during those times, this book paints a picture you will remember.

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Walter Hosack
Author
Walter M. Hosack
Dublin OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-12-2014 08:11
From: Ann Thompson
Subject: New York

I applaud the suggestion to experience the city close up on foot and the subway. An additional suggestion is to visit the Lower East Side Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/ for a better understanding of New York's evolution.

-------------------------------------------
Ann Thompson
Essex Library Association
Essex CT
-------------------------------------------