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New York City Travel

Selected Books

We assume you will pick up your own DK Eyewitness, Fodor, Frommer, Lonely Planet or Rough Guide guidebook to New York City if you go. Listed below are some interesting books about New York City that you might not run across in the travel section of a typical bookstore.

But here are library copies of the major guides as well: Eyewitness, Frommers, Fodor's and Lonely Planet.

 
Bike NYC
Blackman, Marci, Ed Glazar, and Michael Green
Bike NYC: The Cyclist's Guide to New York City
GV1045.5.N72 B53 2011
Written by the authors of BikeBlogNYC.com, this guidebook offers a dozen rides through all of the five boroughs. And coming soon is Citi Bike to help you get hold of a bike!
 
Walking New York
Cancila, Katherine
Walking New York: The Best of the City
F128.18.C355 2012x
This is a streamlined, itinerary-driven guide, created in a handy, take-along format by National Geographic. It is divided into Whirlwind Tours and Neighborhoods.
 
Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City
Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City
QH105.N7 D39 2007
Naturalist Day (The Elisabeth Morrow School/Bank Street College of Education) presents a natural history of New York City's lesser-known parks, their wildlife, plants, and geology.
 
Frommer's 24 Great Walking Tours in New York
F128.18.F735x 2008 1st ed.
This compilation is by James and Michelle Nevius, authors of Inside the Apple (see below).
 
Appetite City
Grimes, William
Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York
GT2853.U5 G75 2009
Former New York Times restaurant critic (1999-2003) Grimes chronicles the history of eating out in New York City from the early 1800s to the present.
 
Lox, Stocks, and Backstage Broadway
Groce, Nancy
Lox, Stocks, and Backstage Broadway: Iconic Trades of New York City
F128.3.G76 2010
Library of Congress "folklife specialist" Nancy Groce digs up older trades such as water tower building, bialy making, and lox smoking that have declined in practice in most of the country, but still thrive in contemporary New York City. "The book, which grew out of the Smithsonian Institution's New York City Project, reads like a guided tour of the city without the hassle of climbing on and off a tour bus." -- ALA Booklist
 
Gastropolis
Hauck-Lawson, Annie and Jonathan Deutsch (Editors)
Gastropolis: Food and New York City
GT2853.U5 G37 2009
This collection of essays on food in New York City, begins with its founding in 1624 and chronicles subsequent waves of immigrants, their foods and foodways and how they have been amalgamated into New York cuisine.
 
Brooklyn Was Mine
Knutsen, Chris and Valerie Steiker
Brooklyn Was Mine
F129.B7 B823 2008
A tribute to New York City's most literary borough-featuring original nonfiction pieces by today's most celebrated writers. Of all the urban landscapes in America, perhaps none has so thoroughly infused and nurtured modern literature as Brooklyn.
 
On the High Line
La Farge, Annik
On the High Line: Exploring America's Most Original Urban Park
F128.65.H54 L34 2012x
On the High Line is an engaging, friend-at-your-side guide to everything that a visitor sees when strolling through the park: the innovative gardens and their thousands of plants from around the world; the architecture, both old and new; and the neighborhood.
 
Waterfront
Lopate, Phillip
Waterfront: A Journey Around Manhattan
F128.55.L67 2004
Fusing history, lore, politics, culture, and on-site adventures, esteemed essayist and author Phillip Lopate takes us on an exuberant, affectionate, and eye-opening excursion around Manhattan's shoreline.
 
Inside the Apple
Nevius, Michelle and James
Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City
F128.18.N34 2009
This extremely thorough and comprehensive sidewalk-level guide is written by a husband and wife tour guide team and includes 14 walking tours.
 
NFT
Not for Tourists Guide to New York City
G1254.N4 N68x 2006
Geared towards new residents, NFT guides are books of maps. Each map appears twice; page opposite each map page contains alternating listings identified as "essentials" (containing the headings: banks, car rental, car washes, gas stations, hospitals, libraries, parking, pharmacies, post offices, schools, supermarkets) and "sundries/entertainment" (containing the headings: clubs, coffee, copy centers, farmer's markets, gyms, hardware stores, liquor stores, movie theaters, nightlife, pet stores, restaurants, shopping, video rental).
 
Walking Brooklyn
Onofri, Adrienne
Walking Brooklyn: 30 Tours Exploring Historical Legacies, Neighborhood Culture, Side Streets, and Waterways
F129.B7 O56 2007x
Onfori, a native New Yorker, travel writer and tour guide, takes readers on 30 walking tours of Brooklyn, relating what readers will see along the way and the history, culture, and trivia, as well as providing information on points of interest such as restaurants, museums, parks, and nightlife.
 
New York City Food
Schwartz, Arthur
Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food
TX715.S1457 2004
Although it contains more than 100 legendary recipes, this book emphasizes the history of New York City food, including restaurants and ethnic groups (Germans, Irish, Jews, Italians, etc.). Very nicely illustrated with historic and current photos.
 
Central Park in the Dark
Winn, Marie
Central Park in the Dark: More Mysteries of Urban Wildlife
QH541.5.C6 W56 2008
You don't think of wildlife in New York City? Winn and a group of bird-watchers study the nocturnal inhabitants of New York's famous park.
 
97 Orchard
Ziegelman, Jane
97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement
GT2853.U5 Z54 2010
The families in the tenement at 97 Orchard are just a starting point for this history of New York immigrant eating habits. Ziegelman begins with a German family and describes the popularity of beer halls and sauerkraut, moves on to an Irish family that essentially has no food traditions after being starved by the English. Then she describes the German and Russian Jewish food traditions and closes with the Italians. A very readable food history.
 
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Videos

New York: A Documentary Film
This eight episode series by Ric Burns chronicles the history of New York City from its beginnings in 1609 as a Dutch trading post, through the depression, onto the turbulent years of change in the following decades after WWII, to its present day status as one of the most important and influencial cities in the world. There is a companion book and PBS web site.
 

Browse the Catalog

For additional titles, browse the library catalog under the subjects:

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Online City Guides

  • NYCgo.com
    This is the city's official tourism web site, brought to you by NYC & Company -— the city's official tourism marketing organization.
  • Manhattan User's Guide
    called "the best insider's guide" by the New York Post, publishes a monthly newsletter –now exclusively online – that features the best of New York. With 8 years of searchable, constantly updated, articles.
  • New York City
    The Official New York City government website provides information on city agencies, programs and services, and links to external sites on cultural, educational, and recreational activities. Click on their "Visitors" section for information on where to stay and eat, what to do and see, and how to get around.
    • NYC Media
      Watch TV shows about New York City online
  • www.nyc.com
    Guides to hotels, attractions, music, nightlife, restaurants, etc.
  • New York Magazine
    Includes weekend getaways, best of New York Eating, Cheap Eats, shopping, entertainment, restaurants, etc.
  • New York Times: Travel: New York City
    A collection of free articles and multimedia from The Times as well as hotel, restaurant, sightseeing information and travel tips from Fodor's.
  • Time Out: New York
    One of a series of City Guides from a British Publisher. This is a good guide to inexpensive and moderate restaurants and accommodations.
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Accomodations

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Attractions

  • American Museum of Natural History
    Located at Central Park West and 79th Street. Their website will tell you what their current exhibits are.

  • Carnegie Hall
    Search for concerts by date or check out what's new and notable.
  • Central Park
    The official site from the Central Park Conservancy features information on musical concerts, free walking tours, recreational and educational programs, and when plants are in bloom.
  • The Flea Marketing of New York
    "...in recent years, with nearly half a dozen major flea markets springing up across the city, the flea marketing of New York is all but complete." Check out this May 13, 2011, article from the New York Times for where to find flea markets in New York City.
  • Guggenheim
    Modern and contemporary art.
  • The High Line
    The High Line is a rail line located on Manhattan's West Side that is being turned into a rail/trail and park. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. Section 1 of the High Line, which opened to the public on June 9, runs from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street.
  • I Love NY Theater
    The official website for Broadway show tickets.
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    One of the world's largest and finest art museums with more than two million works of art spanning five thousand years of world culture, from prehistory to the present and from every part of the globe.
  • MoMA: Museum of Modern Art
    The world's finest collection of modern and contemporary art
  • NYC Arts
    The complete guide to things to do in New York City: Dance, Festivals, Film, Galleries, Gardens, History, Libraries, Museums, Music, Parks, Theater, and Zoos.
  • Washington Post: N.Y.C. With Kids: Think Outside the Frame
    Take the kids to New York City for a cultural vacation. Includes 10 Tips for Introducing Your Kids to Art.
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Food and Drink

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Neighborhoods

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News, Media, Weather, Calendars

  • NYC Arts
    A Culture Guide and Calendar from the Alliance for the Arts to help visitors and New Yorkers make better use of the amazing number of cultural attractions throughout the city's five boroughs.
  • New York Radio Guide
    A great guide to AM and FM stations with information, schedule, website, and whether or not they have audio broadcasts over the Internet.
  • New York Times
    Includes entertainment and an NYC Guide.
  • The New Yorker
    Check out their "Goings On About Town" and "The Critics" for movie, music, art, theater, and entertainment reviews in the Big Apple.
  • Newsday
    This New York Daily newspaper offers an Entertainment section with movies, theater, restaurants, broadway shows, and city guide.
  • PAPERMAG
    An online entertainment guide for New York. Includes paper daily with what's happening today.
  • Thirteen: WNET New York Public Media
    This is the PBS TV station for New York City and it has lots of interesting programs, many about the city itself.
    • New York on the Clock
      A series profiling the New Yorkers who make our city work
    • The City Concealed
      An online video series exploring the unseen corners of New York. Visit the places you don’t know exist, locations you can’t get into, or maybe don’t even want to.
  • The Village Voice
    Includes a "Best of NYC" collection for the categories: Arts & Entertainment, Bars & Clubs, Food & Drink, People & Places, Shopping & Services, Sports & Recreation.
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Transportation

  • MegaBus
    Do you need to get from Pittsburgh to New York City? Megabus provides low-cost, express bus service via State College to New York City on luxury double decker buses that offer free wi-fi, panoramic windows and a green alternative way to travel.
  • Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)
    includes maps and schedules of subways, bus, and rail transit
  • New Jersey Transit
    Official web page. Click your rail station from their route maps, choose your destination and they will retrieve the schedule and rates.
  • NYC DOT: The New York City Pedestrian Safety Study & Action Plan
    The government of New York City is trying to make the city safer for pedestrians. As a first step, they examined over 7,000 records of crashes that occurred in New York City from 2002 to 2006 that resulted in serious injuries or fatalities to pedestrians and tried to indentify underlying causes. Read a short report in the New York Times from August 16, 2010.
  • New York City Bike Maps
    All kinds of information about biking in New York City including information on annual tours like the NYC Century Bike Tour. Get to know New York City!
  • Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
    Under airports, contains information about John F. Kennedy International Airport(JFK), La Guardia Airport (LGA), and Newark International Airport (EWR), as well as information about PATH.

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Walking New York

Last updated Wednesday January 23 2013.