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You're very welcome! I learned most of what I know about New York City history by reading as much as I could about it. It started off as an interest, became a passion, and over the past few years I've been able to turn my love of city history into a career.

There are definitely some fabulous blogs and websites about NYC that are a good place to start if you're interested in learning more, such as Forgotten New York, Daytonian in Manhattan, Untapped Cities, Ephemeral New York, and The Bowery Boys, to name a few. The New-York Historical Society, The Museum of the City of New York, The Brooklyn Historical Society, and The New York Public Library are all great places to visit, and their respective blogs (here, here, here and here) have a ton of valuable information. Other organizations and groups have websites and social media feeds that are worth checking out. Here is a list with some amazing websites and resources to check out.

In terms of books, I recommend starting with Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace. It is comprehensive, informative, and incredibly well written. I have read it numerous times over the years, and I reference it constantly. Empire City: New York Through the Centuries by Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar is also a good introductory book to get yourself up to speed. I have compiled a list of books for /r/nychistory, which you can view here, and it has plenty of other good choices to pick and includes different categories.

In the event that you enjoy what I do and want to learn more, feel free to check out my Twitter page (you don't need an account to view it), where I have shared over 7,000 unique historical images and photos from the city's history. I also have an Instagram account, where I am able to provide more in-depth stories about the events, buildings, views, and people that have helped make New York City the place that it is today.

The last excellent work of fiction I read was City of Dreams by Beverly Swerling. The book that I feel best captures the feeling of New York City, however, is Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin.

I mostly read nonfiction books about New York City history, and I'll share a few of my favorites with you. The definitive tome, of course, is Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Mike Wallace and Edwin Burrows. Another favorite of mine, as I love the history of New Amsterdam, is Island at the Center of the World:The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto. One of the most fascinating subjects I have been learning about is Native American history at the period of first European contact, and I really recommend checking out Adriaen Van Der Donck's A Description of New Netherland (The Iroquoians and their World), which many scholars agree is just as much of a significant work as William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, and would be the definitive guide to the new world if it had been written in English. Evan Pritchard's Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquian People of New York also offers an incredible look at native culture.

If you are interested in the subway system, check out Stan Fischler's fantastic Uptown, Downtown. One of the most underrated books I have picked up recently explores the construction of the amazing Grand Central Terminal, and I learned an incredible amount from it: Grand Central's Engineer: William J. Wilgus and the Planning of Modern Manhattan. If you are interested in urban planning, I would also suggest The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor.

At this point I've read a ton of nonfiction books about the city, so if you have any questions or want any other recommendations, feel free to ask!

As I explained to the other moron who brought it up

this is a critique over sociopolitical status, not skin color, nor ethnicity, its not a discussion about english people, or Irish people, or Italian People, or german people. nor is it based on skin color, there are Iranian(LITERAL ARYANS) with white skin, there are people living in the Caucasus(LITERAL CAUCASIANS), they not classified as "white".

its more tied to the social construction of "whiteness" than anything to do with skin color or ethnicity. please see this

there is some good writing on the matter by W. E. B. Du Bois, Theodore W. Allen, and a few others, on the phenomena. Noel Ignatiev actually has a pretty good book on the matter, its called "How the Irish Became White"

secondly, As a "light skinned Latino" you sure do have a penchant for defending Nazis and White Nationalist who constantly push White genocide conspiracy theory and talk about "demographics threats"(as if we dont know wtf that means)

thirdly, try to sit back and acknowledge the irony of a "light skinned Latino" who claims to love Dr.King(lets be honest, you are using him to mock POC "SJWs") joining forces with those who have hatred for things from the Civil Rights era like the Hart–Celler Act( Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965) which makes your existence in this country as a "Light skinned Latino" Venezuelan possible today. things like that that the very same people you ally with, want to destroy. You sit here today on the achievements and the fruits of the labor of the struggles of the American Negro(the very same which you have thinly veiled contempt for, lets be honest here).

Perhaps you are quite attached to the "light skinned" part, since for some reason you felt the need to mention it, perhaps hoping to be accepted into the social construct that is the spectrum of "whiteness", hey if the Irish made it, and then the Italians and the Poles after them, why not you too right? climbing the social strata, "Moving on up" like the Jeffersons^^^^(its_a_joke_irony_intended), finally got a piece of the white supremacy Pie. lol

See what you are going to realize if you look into the case of the Irish(Again I cannot recommend Ignatiev's "How the Irish became White" , is that the "whiteness" element was only extended to them, b/c white supremacy in its WASP form was unsustainable with the flux of irish migrants and others from a non WASP background, and that alliances between other marginalized groups mainly the American Negro, had begun to form, the broadening of "whiteness" had more to do with the perseverance of white supremacy and the social strata it defined, than any sudden epiphany on the plight of the irish.

edit: as a sidenote, I was reading a very interesting article in The American Prospect, perhaps it relevant in some way to this conversation.





Lastly I leave you with this, an excerpt from Dr.King for when you next want to profess your love for Dr.King.

>I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistic-ally believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season."

>"Letter From The Birmingham Jail" April 16, 1963

I'll say this: my experience is that Verizon just doesn't offer comparable speeds to TWC but TWC speeds can drop to utter shit thanks to over-subscribed nodes.

Example: Trying to watch Netflix one night. I have an eye for video quality and I noticed that Netflix was just refusing to hit HD quality. Did a speed test and I wasn't even get 5 Mbps. :/

Sadly though TWC is still most likely the better choice, unless you can find a bunch of reviews saying that Verizon is pretty stable in your neighborhood.

Also, this is offered on a "please please please don't come back pissed if you do this and I'm wrong so please do further research first" basis, but if you live in an area where Time Warner offers "wideband" (DOCSIS 3.0) service, even if you don't sign up for that, buy a DOCSIS 3.0 modem such as this and there's a good chance that you can eke out a good more 5 Mbps than you're supposed to be entitled to. (Also even if this doesn't work, modem rentals from the ISP are usually priced such that you come out ahead after the first year of owning your own modem at the ~$80 price point.)

For anyone genuinely interested in what crime was really like in New York City when it was mostly of the "European ancestry" /u/senseofdecay keeps going on about, I highly recommend Luc Sante's excellent Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York. Link It's meticulously researched and reads like the historical background to Gangs of New York. Fascinating stuff.

It was a long time ago, but when our son was still stroller age we had a City Mini. They are light and maneuverable. We didn't store a lot of things in it, so it was easy to collapse and get on a bus, train, or taxi. It was comfortable for our son and had a higher handlebar to make it easier for me (over 6') to push.

There are a lot of places to buy them used online or on any parent forum, but we bought ours new and it lasted us for several years.

It was like this but orange: https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Jogger-Stroller-Black-Frame/dp/B00G8ZQ4N8?th=1

That is an awesome idea! I would love to see a documentary like that!

In the meantime, you might want to pick up this book.

Clearly this right-wing libertarian dude doesn't have to commute through Penn Station.

He's just wrong. Honestly, if there was a reasonable argument against historical preservation, it is not present in this blog post. Does he really think that Grand Central would still be standing if it didn't have landmark status? GCT was bought for a measly $80 million in 2006 because it's worth nothing to real estate developers as a train station (contrast that with the tiny footprint of 432 Park Ave. which has >$1B in value), but it has an incalculable benefit to New Yorkers.
He doesn't even make the case that landmarks increase rent prices (which could be worth discussing). He just wants to build things faster and without obstruction. Which is EXACTLY how they built things between the 1920's and the 1960's.

The beauty of NYC is that it's total chaos. That is something to dive into. People try to re/make NYC as kind of cleaned up Toronto. Doomed.

For in the middle of chaos, well that the secret of it all I guess. If you can't handle. Well I guess you can leave. No one will notice. It's a tough town. No tears will be shed. NYC is in/different to your suffering. Sorry.

But the good news, as they say (updated): "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, even on Mars."

Friend has an amazing rooftop view of Manhattan from Greenpoint. At night he points to the glimmering Manhattan skyline and says to us gathered there:

"We're all pirates here, we go to Manhattan and we plunder their gold and silver created from unfettered capitalism, and we bring it back to Brooklyn. That is our goal. To plunder Manhattan and bring those riches back to Greenpoint. Our true home, where the artists live and thrive. For this is what pirates do."

He is kind of a sane guy, thought that was an insightful observation of all things NYC.

OH, HIGHLY recommend this book, it's really a great read about the history of NYC, of all people, Charles Schumer pointed it out to us at a conference, and said "Read this book. It's cool." He was right. :-)


The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America (on amazon of course!)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400078679/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_sZkACbVX4PEDT

First of all, we don't say "y'all" here. That's a stereotypical Texas/Southern United States thing. We're hardy Northeasterners. If anything, you would use "youze" for the regional accent stereotype.

If you're an architecture student, you should pick up the American Institute of Architecture Guide to New York City to help you plan an itinerary of interesting buildings to look at.

Beyond that, you'll need to specify things like a budget (we can send you to Per Se for the restaurant you must go to, but that would perhaps be impractical) and your interests. New York is diverse and expansive, and you're basically asking us to tell you about "stuff" (i.e., someone is visiting Brazil and he's asking to be shown coisas, just coisas). That said, you can look at this thread for a prospective visitors very complete itinerary, along with helpful suggestions.

I have this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X528FNE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's not the cheapest, but video quality is very good and I haven't had any issues with it. I can strongly recommend.

I can't find the actual text, so I'm paraphrasing from Shorto's excellent Island at the Center of the World

Since the basic needs of living were far exceeded for a small subsection of people living in colony of New Amsterdam, that cultural section could afford luxuries. And so the luxuries sprang up, including fine women's clothing and pastry shops creating non-essential sweets, such as cakes - in 18th century dutch, "koek." The smaller versions became known as "koekje" or "koek-yees" or any of the other spellings. Yada yada yada, that's why Americans call them "cookies" and Britons call them "biscuits."

>I don't see any reason for this to be the case.

Taste and health spoilage are both based on bacterial overgrowth. Precautions taken to affect one will generally affect the other, as it is in this case.

If you meant soured milk, that would be milk that tastes off but due to fermentation.

For more information, I suggest Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages by Anne Mendelsohn. Really great book about the history of dairy.

https://www.amazon.com/Milk-Surprising-Story-Through-Ages/dp/1400044103

Amazon.com. Their prices are better than most hardware stores and Home Depot, and if you have Prime or sign up for the trial you can get it shipped 2-day for free, or 1-day for $3.99. Then you just have to get it upstairs and into the window.

This Frigidaire 5,000BTU unit is pretty highly rated and is only $115.

Try to get your hands on this book and dig in a little bit. Super readable and amazing history.

http://www.amazon.com/Island-Center-World-Manhattan-Forgotten/dp/1400078679

You're welcome. Amazing book.

Read the book. The reverence thet took to clean them is honorable. Also, Harry Houdini's handcuffs are there.

https://www.amazon.com/Two-McSorleys-My-Dad-Me-ebook/dp/B01LL8BVVQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2H6NWXYBUR0NX&keywords=mcsorleys+bar+book&qid=1563065417&s=gateway&sprefix=mcsorl%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1

I was thinking about cards! I definitely want to pursue that! and of course - book's not out for a while (2014) but pre-orders are happening here http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062303112 - good news is I am going to continue to make conent and post it here: https://www.facebook.com/NYCBASICTIPSANDETIQUETTE

Welcome, mate! Glad to have you. This will help.

I really love Luc Sante's "Low Life." It tackles the true grit of the LES from 1840-1919.

If you are considering upgrading, I have this little guy.
http://www.amazon.com/Frigidaire-FRA052XT7-000-BTU-Window-Conditioner/dp/B003F4TH6G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333637053&sr=8-1
For the price, it's been great and cools off my bedroom enough to hide in there without spending the money it would cost to cool off my whole apartment. Also, check with coned because you can switch your payment plan to a level plan that will spread the cost over the whole year rather than getting slammed for 2 or 3 months.

There's a book on the progression of the NYC Subway system: 722 Miles. It's less about the actual construction and more about the politics behind it all, but a good read nonetheless.

If you want more, there's a 1300 page Pulitzer-prize winning book about Moses

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall/dp/0394720245

Sure this is the one I got from amazon. It comes with a very long wire so I ran it on the corner and edge of the window to keep it always plugged in. The camera turns on by itself when I start the car, and turns off after few seconds after you turn on the car. Didnt really need to configure anything on the camera itself.

I think theres a subreddit for dash cams as well and they have a lot of recommendations there also.

Here's the Amazon link for those interested: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall/dp/0394720245

If you liked this there's a fantastic book on the subject titled The Island at the Center of the World.

/u/nathanwpyle may be able to provide more links but here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Tips-Etiquette-Nathan-Pyle/dp/0062303112

The Works; Anatomy of a City

Printed book:
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Tips-Etiquette-Nathan-Pyle/dp/0062303112

Animated ebook:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/nyc-basic-tips-and-etiquette/id838645454

Questions: nycbasictipsandetiquette@gmail.com

BuzzFeed 27 page preview:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanwpyle/do-we-need-to-be-touching

All illustration, animation, music, cinematography by Nathan W. Pyle

> have yet to understand how everything here works.

try this book which explains how NYC's various infrastructure systems work.

Just finished this and enjoyed it https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801880548/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

More power consolidated into one position, not possible to recreate in today's circumstances...for worse...and better.

Island at the Center of the World.

https://www.amazon.com/Island-Center-World-Manhattan-Forgotten/dp/1400078679

AIA Guide to New York City

I got mine from Amazon.com with delivery to my door for less than it costs to buy one in store. It keeps my room freezing cold. http://www.amazon.com/Frigidaire-FRA052XT7-000-BTU-Window-Conditioner/dp/B003F4TH6G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370950580&sr=8-1&keywords=frigidaire+air+conditioner