A History of New York in 27 Buildings: The 400-Year Untold Story of an American Metropolis

New York Times urban affairs correspondent Roberts (A History of New York in 101 Objects) delivers a lively history of 27 architectural structures symbolic of New York City’s progression from Dutch colony to urban colossus. Chosen for their importance to the city’s economic, political, and cultural evolution, these 27 “buildings” include High Bridge, the oldest standing bridge linking Manhattan to the U.S. mainland; First Houses, the nation’s first low-income public housing project; and the Coney Island Boardwalk. Roberts’s selections range from the legendary (the Flatiron Building; Grand Central Terminal) to the obscure (123 Lexington Ave., the brownstone where Chester Arthur was sworn in as U.S. president after the assassination of James Garfield in 1881). Some have been preserved (the Bowne House in Queens, site of an important chapter in America’s history of religious freedom), while others have been stripped of nearly everything but their exteriors (the Bronx branch of Bank of United States , where a bank run in December 1929 helped to kick off the Great Depression). Though Roberts can occasionally get bogged down in the details, he proves to be a witty and informed narrator whose enthusiasm for his subject is contagious. This lucid account will help New Yorkers to see their city in a new light. (Oct.)