NAMING NEW YORK: Manhattan Places & How They Got Their Names

Feirstein, a docent at the New-York Historical Society, has compiled an extensive directory of streets and neighborhoods along with a brief overview of the city from its days as a Dutch colonial outpost. Much like an encyclopedia, the book is composed primarily of listings of streets with brief descriptive entries. For example, the description for Beekman Place: "The mansion of the Beekman family was situated here from 1765 to 1874. The British, who held the city during the Revolution, convicted Nathan Hale of spying and executed him on the Beekman property in 1776." The listings are arranged by neighborhood—East Midtown, Little Italy & NoLIta, Clinton, etc. For each neighborhood, there's a short section highlighting the important history. Even natives to the Big Apple are unlikely to know many of the facts that Feirstein has uncovered in this little gem. Furthermore, the book would be a wonderful addition to school curricula. (June)