20 New York City Books: Gift Guide 2011, Non-Fiction Edition

2011's crop of New York-centered books yields fantastic stories, uncommon vistas, and (sorry for the cliché) something for everyone. Be sure to bookmark this page while out browsing your favorite bookstore.

• High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky by Joshua David and Robert Hammond. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2011. 352 pages. (paper) The two citizens who founded the city's sensational elevated park tell their story.

• Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture by John Hill. W. W. Norton & Company. 2011. 304 pages. (paper) It's about time we get a book that looks at the new New York architecture. Projects arranged by neighborhoods allow for self-guided adventures.

• Field Guide to the Street Trees of New York City by Leslie Day with illustrations by Trudy Smoke. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2011. 295 pages. (paper) A guide to fifty trees that line New York streets. Let's be well-versed on our strolls through leafy neighborhoods.

• Stories in Stone New York: A Field Guide to New York City Area Cemeteries & Their Residents by Doug Keister. Gibbs Smith. 2011. 256 pages. (hardcover) Photos and GPS directions to the city's permanent residents and their gravesites.

• Andy Warhol's New York City: Four Walks, Uptown to Downtown by Thomas Kiedrowski with illustrations by Vito Giallo. Little Bookroom. 2011. 144 pages. (paper) Warhol fans will delight in following the art giant through his favorite places in the city.

• Raised by the Church: Growing up in New York City's Catholic Orphanages by Edward Rohs and Judith Estrine. Fordham University Press. 2011. 240 pages. (hardcover) Compassionate and humorous story of a New York social worker's life and thoughts about growing up in a charitable institution.

• The Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide (Third Edition) by Sharon Seitz and Stuart Miller. Countryman Press. 2011. 344 pages. (paper) Strange to think, but the city is situated among 42 islands in a complex archipelago. Learn about the other islands beyond Mannahatta.

• High Rock and the Greenbelt: The Making of New York City's Largest Park by John G. Mitchell, edited by Charles E. Little. Center Books. Center for American Places. 2011. 208 pages. (hardcover) Revisiting a 1976 book by an editor at National Geographic, conservationist Charles E. Little adds new information about Staten Island's Greenbelt.

• Fading Ads of New York City by Frank Jump. The History Press. 2011. 224 pages. (hardcover) We spot the ghost signs often on the buildings, signifiers of a fading New York. A New York artist and educator with a passion for the signs and his own life struggle captures the signs in great depth.

• My City, My New York: Famous New Yorkers Share Their Favorite Places by Jeryl Brunner. Globe Pequot. 2011. 256 pages. (paper) Celebrities share their insider secrets.

• Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany by Stephen Sondheim. Knopf. 2011. 480 pages. (hardcover) The accomplished Broadway musical maker continues his story with this second volume. Anecdotes abound. The lyrics and music remain in your head for years.

• Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York by James Wolcott. Doubleday. 2011. 272 pages. (hardcover) The world of gritty and intensely creative New York in the early 1970s, told by Vanity Fair's cultural critic, then a young writer determined to survive.

• Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever by Will Hermes. Faber & Faber. 2011. 384 pages. (hardcover) The story of the music that poured out of New York lofts and studios from 1973 to 1977.

• Decoded by Jay-Z. Spiegel & Grau. 2011. 352 pages. (paper) One of the most powerful figures in the music industry, as a hip-hop artist and executive, tells of his young life in Brooklyn's housing projects and on the streets of Jersey. The story explains the songs.

• Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art) by Peter Kenny, Frances F. Bretter, Michael K. Brown, Matthew A. Thurlow. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2011. 312 pages. (hardcover) A catalog for the Met exhibit details the work of the nation's most well-known cabinet maker. Phyfe worked for New York's wealthiest families.

• Sol LeWitt: Structures, 1965-2006, edited by Nicholas Baume. Other Distribution. 2011. 226 pages. (hardcover) Public Art Fund's assemblage of the Structures, seen this past fall in City Park.

• De Kooning: A Retrospective by Jim Coddington, John Elderfield (editor, author), Willem de Kooning. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. 2011. 504 pages. The prolific mid-century New York artist is the subject of a celebrated exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

• The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936-1951 (Jewish Museum) by Mason Klein and Catherine Evans. Yale University Press. 2011. 248 pages. (hardcover). The catalogue of the Jewish Museum's exhibition of socially-conscious photographers.

• Diego Rivera: Murals for The Museum of Modern Art by Leah Dickerman and Anna Indych-Lopez. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. 2011. 148 pages. (hardcover) The exhibition catalogue fully tells the story of Rivera's special solo exhibition in New York in the early 1930s.

• Cecil Beaton: The New York Years by Donald Albrecht, with contributions by The Museum of The City of NY. Skira Rizzoli. 2011. 240 pages. (hardcover) Aristocratic Beaton's years in the city as a celebrity photographer, glamorizing New York's fashionistas and art celebrities.

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Museums in New York Open on Mondays

Please see this post for current announcements of reopenings . Please consult the museum websites for changes in days and hours. UPDATED September 23, 2020 Advance tickets required for many museum reopenings. Please check museum websites for details. • The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) reopened to the public on August 27 , with new hours for the first month, through September 27: from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday to the public; and from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Mondays for MoMA members on ly. Admission will be free to all visitors Tuesday through Sunday, through September 27, made possible by UNIQLO. See this new post on WOTBA for a sense of the experience attending the museum . • New-York Historical Society reopened on August 14 with an outdoor exhibition, "Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine,” in the rear courtyard. The exhibit by activist Kevin Powell and photographer Kay Hickman will highlight how New Yorkers weathered the quarantine

25 Things To Do Near the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

(updated 2016) The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) at 11 W. 53rd Street is near many other New York City attractions, so before or after a trip to the museum, a short walk in any direction could easily take in additional experiences. Drawing a square on a map with the museum at the center, a shape bounded by 58th Street to the north and 48th Street to the south, with 7th Avenue to the west and Park Avenue to the east, proves the point of the area's cultural richness. (A map follows the list below.) While well-known sightseeing stops fall with these boundaries, most notably Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the great swath of famous Fifth Avenue stores, cultural visitors may also want to check out places such as the Austrian Cultural Forum, the 57th Street galleries, the Onassis Cultural Center, and the Municipal Art Society. The image above shows an intriguing glimpse of the tops of two Beaux-Arts buildings through an opening of the wall inside MoMA's scu

Visiting New York on a Monday

Mondays are OK. Let's have a look at some of the museums open Mondays - • American Museum of Natural History • Jewish Museum • Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) • National Museum of the American Indian • Neue Galerie • Guggenheim Museum • South Street Seaport Museum Any of these museums could be paired with a nearby restaurant or bar, making a complete full afternoon or day in New York. Monday is especially good for a museum visit, because the crowds tend to be thinner, and restaurants, too, tend to be less busy than on a weekend. A fun museum and bistro walk on the Upper West Side would be a combination of the American Museum of Natural History and the nearby Cafe Lalo on W. 83rd St. I also would suggest a pairing of the Neue Galerie with a nearby cafe, but the two cafes inside the musuem are so good, why go anywhere else? Image above: The Guggenheim on left and Beaux-Arts townhouse on right. View from E. 88th St. by Walking Off the Big Apple.

10 Short Walks from Grand Central Terminal

(updated March 2017) Famously crowded Grand Central Terminal functions as a major crossroads for the city, hosting busy commuters as they come and go from the suburbs via the Metro-North Railroad or within the city via a few subway lines, but the terminal also happens to be a good place to launch short walks. With its south side fronting E. 42nd Street and its massive structure interrupting Park Avenue, Grand Central provides quick access to many of the city's most well-known attractions. The New York Public Library and Bryant Park are only a couple of blocks away from the terminal, a quick jaunt on 42nd Street. And from there, Times Square is just another block or two farther west of the library, its neon shimmering in the distance. One wonders, standing near the intersection of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, how many souls have been lured away from their well-meaning library studies by the beckoning lights of the Theater District. Grand Central Terminal : Before setting

25 Things to Do Near the American Museum of Natural History

After visiting the American Museum of Natural History, explore attractions on the Upper West Side or in Central Park. Visitors to New York often run around from one major tourist site to the next, sometimes from one side of the city to the other, and in the process, exhaust themselves thoroughly. Ambitious itineraries often include something like coffee in the Village in the morning, lunch near MoMA, a couple of hours in the museum, a ride on the Staten Island Ferry in the afternoon, cocktails at the midtown hotel, a quick dinner, and then a Broadway show. It's a wonder people don't pass out at the theater. While sitting on the steps of the American Museum of History, consider exploring the Upper West Side and nearby sites of interest in Central Park. There's a better way to plan a New York trip. Consider grouping attractions together geographically. Several posts on this site address this recommended approach. The Wild West of the Tecumseh Playground Groupin

25 Things to Do Near the Metropolitan Museum of Art

(updated) Sitting on the steps in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of those iconic things to do in New York City. On a sunny day, the wide steps can become crowded with the young and old, the tourist and the resident. It's tempting to stay awhile and soak in the sun and the sights. Everyone has reasons for lingering there, with one being the shared pleasure of people watching along this expansive stretch of Fifth Avenue, a painting come to life. Certainly, just getting off one's feet for a moment is welcome, especially if the previous hours involved walking through the entirety of art history from prehistoric to the contemporary. The entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue The Metropolitan Museum of Art should be a singular pilgrimage, uninterrupted by feeble attempts to take in more exhibitions along Museum Mile. Pity the poor visitor who tries "to do" multiple museum exhibitions in one day, albeit ambitious, noble, and uplift

The High Line and Chelsea Market: A Good Pairing for a Walk

(revised 2017) The advent of spring, with its signs of growth and rebirth, is apparent both on the High Line , where volunteers are cutting away the old growth to reveal fresh blooms, and inside the Chelsea Market, where new tenants are revitalizing the space. A walk to take in both can become an exploration of bounty and surprise, a sensual walk of adventure and sustenance. A good pairing for a walk: The High Line and Chelsea Market Walking the High Line for a round trip from Gansevoort to W. 30th and then back again adds up to a healthy 2-mile walk. Regular walkers of the elevated park look for an excuse to go there. Especially delightful is showing off the park, a model of its kind, to visitors from out of town. A stroll through Chelsea Market. Time check. If you haven't stopped into Chelsea Market lately, you may want to take a detour from the High Line at the stairs on W. 16th St. and walk through the market for a quick assessment or a sampling. Among the sampli

14 Useful Mobile Apps for Walking New York City

Texting and walking at the same time is wrong. Talking on the phone while strolling down the street is wrong. Leaving the sidewalk to stop and consult the information on a cellphone, preferably while alone, is OK. What's on Walking Off the Big Apple's iPhone: A List Walkmeter GPS Walking Stopwatch for Fitness and Weight Loss . While out walking, Walkmeter tracks routes, time, speed, and elevation. This is an excellent app for recording improvised or impromptu strolls, especially with many unplanned detours. The GPS function maps out the actual route. The app keeps a running tally of calories burned while walking, useful for weight loss goals. Another welcome feature is the ability to switch over to other modes of activity, including cycling. An indispensable app for city walkers. $4.99 New York City Compass , designed by Francesco Bertelli, is an elegant compass calibrated for Manhattan, with indications for Uptown, East Side, Downtown, and West Side. While facing a cert

Taking a Constitutional Walk

A long time ago individuals going out for a walk, especially to get fresh air and exercise, often referred to the activity as "taking a constitutional walk." The word "constitutional" refers to one's constitution or physical makeup, so a constitutional walk was considered beneficial to one's overall wellbeing. (Or, as some would prefer to call it, "wellness.") The phrase is more common in British literature than in American letters. As early as the mid-nineteenth century, many American commentators expressed concern that their countrymen were falling into lazy and unhealthy habits. Newspaper columnists and editorial writers urged their readers to take up the practice of the "constitutional" walk. One such essay, " Walking as an Exercise," originally printed in the Philadelphia Gazette and reprinted in New England Farmer , Volume 11, 1859, urges the people of farm areas to take up walking. City dwellers seemed to have the

From Penn Station to New York Landmarks: Measuring Walking Distance and Time in Manhattan

(revised 2017) How long does it take to walk from Penn Station/Madison Square Garden to well-known destinations in Manhattan? What are the best walking routes ? What if I don't want to see anything in particular but just want to walk around? In addition to the thousands of working commuters from the surrounding area, especially from New Jersey and Long Island who arrive at Penn Station via New Jersey Transit or the Long Island Rail Road, many people arrive at the station just to spend time in The City. Some have questions. Furthermore, a sporting event may have brought you to Madison Square Garden (above Penn Station), and you want to check out what the city offers near the event. This post if for you. The map below should help you measure walking distances and times from the station to well-known destinations in Manhattan - Bryant Park , the Metropolitan Museum of Art , the Empire State Building , Times Square , Rockefeller Center , Washington Square Park , the High Line

Walking Off the Big Apple

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