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Putting his feet to the test, he decided that the only way to truly understand New York was to walk virtually every block of all five boroughs - an astonishing 6,000 miles. His journey took him to every corner of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Helmreich spoke with hundreds of New Yorkers from every part of the globe and all walks of life. He finds that to be a New Yorker is to struggle to understand the place and to make a life that is as highly local as it is dynamically cosmopolitan. Truly unforgettable, The New York Nobody Knows will forever change how you view the worlds greatest city.
About the author
William B. Helmreich (1945-2020) was the author of many books, including
The Manhattan Nobody Knows,
The Brooklyn Nobody Knows, and
The Queens Nobody Knows. He was Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the City College of New York's Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and at CUNY Graduate Center.
Summary
As a child growing up in Manhattan, William Helmreich played a game with his father called "Last Stop." They would pick a subway line, ride it to its final destination, and explore the neighborhood. Decades later, his love for exploring the city is as strong as ever. Putting his feet to the test, he decided that the only way to truly understand Ne
Additional text
"By necessity, given the size of the city, Helmreich calls his book no more than a much-needed 'introductory work' to the diversity of New York City. His method is, in some ways, a throw back to a much earlier form of social criticism, when walking was curiously in vogue for the self-styled intellectuals and elites of 19th century Europe. Think of Charles Dickens's night walks through London or the well-dressed flâneurs of Paris. And it's one that anyone can learn from. 'If I accomplish anything besides sociology,' Helmreich says, 'it's to encourage people to walk through what I call the greatest museum in the world.'"---Stephanie Garlock, The Atlantic
