Twenty-four contemporary writers reflect on life in New York City’s biggest underdog, the “forgotten borough” of Queens.

What sets Staten Island apart from the rest of New York City? The island’s identity has in part been defined in opposition to the city, its physical and cultural differences, and the perception of neglect by city government. It has long been whiter, wealthier, less populated, and more politically conservative. And despite many attempts over the years, Staten Island is not connected by the subway to any of the other four boroughs. Kenneth M. Gold argues that the lack of a subway connection has deeply shaped Staten Island’s history and identity. He chronicles decades of recurrent efforts to build a rail link, using this history to explore the borough’s fraught relationship with New York City as a whole. The Forgotten Borough ranges from when Staten Island first contemplated joining the city in the 1890s to the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, highlighting pivotal moments when the construction of a subway appeared possible. The economics and engineering of tunnel construction, the difficulty of uniting Staten Islanders around a single solution, competition from the other boroughs, and resistance from powerful corporations and public authorities all undermined a rapid transit connection. Gold demonstrates that the failure to establish a rail link during this period caused Staten Island to diverge culturally, demographically, and politically from the other four boroughs. Drawing on extensive archival research, The Forgotten Borough shows how transportation infrastructure and politics shed new light on urban history.

The 1964 Little League World Series was unique and memorable. The final game was won on a no-hitter spun by a pitcher on an All-Star team from the middle of Staten Island, the "forgotten borough" that appeared to have more in common with the American heartland than the rest of New York City. Not only had a Big Apple team never before even qualified for the World Series, but it was the first time a U.S. team defeated an international one for the championship. The members of the victorious Mid-Island Little League team were treated to a ticker-tape parade in lower Manhattan and a reception by the mayor as well as meetings with celebrities and baseball icons. When the Forgotten Borough Reigned takes the reader back to 1964, a transformational year for America in which baseball still firmly held its position as the treasured national pastime. Months before the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which quickly led to a tidal wave of change throughout Staten Island, there was a magical summer during which fourteen boys, none older than twelve, experienced a degree of fame few adults ever do while uniting the borough and city in frenzied celebration.

Emerging from the Revolutionary War and the formation of a new nation, Staten Island was poised to enter the nineteenth century ripe for growth and prosperity. Fueled by waves of immigration, Richmond County became a boomtown of industry and transportation. Piloting his first ferry with just two small masts and eighteen-cent fares, Cornelius Vanderbilt built a transit empire from his native shores of Staten Island. When the Civil War erupted, Richmond played a key role in housing and training Union troops as 125 naval guns protected New York Harbor at the Narrows. At the close of the century, Staten Island was swept up in the politics of consolidation, with 84 percent of locals voting to join Greater New York, yet the promised benefits of a new mega-city never materialized. Author Joe Borelli charts the trials and triumphs of Staten Island in the nineteenth century.

Presents a collection of short stories featuring noir and crime fiction about Staten Island, New York, by such authors as Todd Craig, Linda Nieves-Powell, S. J. Rozan, and Patricia Smith.

From Manhattan and Brooklyn's trendiest neighbourhoods to the far-flung edges of the outer boroughs, Ellis captures the lost and lonely corners of New York. Step inside the New York you never knew, with 200 eerie images of urban decay

The stories, poems, and essays in Forgotten Borough offer twenty-four takes on New York City's biggest underdog: Queens. From the immigrant communities of Forest Hills to the unsung heroes of Maspeth and the bustling crowds of Flushing, Queens is the most diverse county in the United States, but unlike the iconic boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx, it's neither as well known in other parts of the country nor as well traveled by New Yorkers (at least those who don't need to take the 7 Train to get home). Featuring writers who hail from the borough as well as those who have moved there and come to call it home, Forgotten Borough uncovers the New York stories that most of us don't get to hear, tales that reflect not only upon contemporary life in Queens but also its humble history and its evolution to the multicultural community—the community of communities—it is today. Taken together, they offer a vivid, layered portrait of Queens as a microcosm of America, where race, ethnicity, class, and industrial growth all influence our collective past, as well as our present and future.