- Hardcover: 296 pages
- Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (Nov 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0415950139
- ISBN-13: 978-0415950138
- Product Dimensions: 28.4 x 22.1 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #698,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"Want to know what's amazing underneath New York City? Want to know about all the stuff that you'd never guess is below Manhattan, including everything from secret subway stations to cave crickets? Then start digging into Julia Solis' anatomical report on the Big Subterranean Apple, which is dark and deep and, despite eight million people living on top of it, largely unknown." - Robert Sullivan, Author of Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants
Book Description
Did alligators ever really live in New York's sewers? What's it like to explore the old aqueducts beneath the city? How many levels are beneath Grand Central Station? And how exactly did the pneumatic tube system that New York's post offices used to employ work?
In this richly illustrated historical tour of New York's vast underground systems, Julia Solis answers all these questions and much, much more. New York Underground takes readers through ingenious criminal escape routes, abandoned subway stations, and dark crypts beneath lower Manhattan to expose the city's basic anatomy. While the city is justly famous for what lies above ground, its underground passages are equally legendary and tell us just as much about how the city works.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
New Yorkers have long been fascinated by the underground. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
New Yorkers have long been fascinated by the underground. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still Plenty to Explore,
By
This review is from: New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City (Paperback)
Having ordered this book from Amazon, I did not clue in that it was a large format, paperback, glossy book. I had expected the typical nonfiction book print treatment. This is not a negative just a heads up - it does lend itself to the photographs, maps and plans provided. It is an extremely interesting subterranean history but I would recommend it only for those who are fascinated with New York and/or tunnels and below ground architecture. The author's love of the subject and associated explorations shines throughout the book and that enthusiasm is passed to the reader.I am a huge fan of the history of New York and this took my interest in a new direction...down. Solis takes us on journeys through the subway and train systems, underground passageways and the immense and sometime interlocking building foundations. The amazing stories that she "digs up" along the way hold interest and the accompanying photographs do not rob one's imagings of what it is like underground New York - they enhance the whole experience. It is also a history of the growth of New York and how strains on fresh water, transportation, electricity, and communications drove the need to tunnel and burrow. As well, it ably proves that 'progress is mostly the product of rogues' by telling the stories of the rich and the entrepreneurial who headed many of the large capital projects underground. The opulence of some of the now abandoned or destroyed work is awesome. This includes City Hall Station closed since 1945, McAdoo station's vaulted ceilings, the incredible Pennsylvania Station (sad that it is gone), and Grand Central. The Chapter, The Lost Tunnel of Atlantic Avenue, reads like an Indiana Jones movie. Because of reading the book, I may now have to book a private dinner in the restaurant Philip Marie which has a long buried living room beyond its basement which must have resulted when Manhattan was leveled for planned urban development. A very interesting contribution to the incredible history of New York and an area where much more is waiting to be discovered.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews) 9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Truth May Be Stranger Than Fiction,
By Rosemarie S. "Radcliffe" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City (Hardcover)
This is a great book for anyone interested in learning more about the Tunnels under New York City. Solis gives interesting accounts of the history behind each kind of tunnel and her own experiences exploring them. She warns that while popular fiction on this topic may be overly romanticized, she sticks solely with the FACTS. However, even thought I am a BIG fan of one such fictional account of the people living below New York City, the '80s TV series "Beauty & the Beast," I was still very much intrigued and amazed by her "real life" stories. Great pictures of the Tunnels found throughout the book as well.
30 of 37 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Much of the Author,
By D. N. Roth - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City (Hardcover)
The book is an interesting look into the lost and forgotten places of the New York Underground. There is a lot of history presented by the author which is interesting and insightful.However, after the book starts exploring the author's expeditions, it sort of becomes like watching a relative's slide show of their recent RV trip. The photographs become "Here I am in [x aqueduct]" and "Here I am in [x tunnel]." In other words, the book loses its focus on being informative, and rather focuses on the author herself. 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
underground review,
By Andrew Beneze "azpicman" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City (Hardcover)
Excellent book if you are looking for the real stories behind (or below) the streets of NY. Nicely written. Sticks to the facts and the author's impressions of the scenes did not affect the character of the book. The photographs are amazing! If you want a good introduction into the NY underground this is the place to start.
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