Excerpt from Illustrated History of the Borough of Queens, New York City For these reasons the history of the Borough 'of Queens-contained in the fol lowing pages does not confine itself to the past. It does indeed furnish a complete sketch of the settlement of the territory from the time when the first white man set foot upon the soil of Long Island, and it follows the efforts made to change a wilder ness into a blooming garden through the march Of the centuries, but it goes further. It shows how the borough has been developed, and in what manner, and for what reasons it is apt to grow in the future. It points out the great natural advantages the territory possesses, and the enterprises which, in the near future, will tend to bring about even greater changes than the past has produced. The history naturally deals with the men who have played important roles in the shaping of the destinies of the localities now forming the Borough of Queens in the past, and who have left their mark upon the conditions evolving slowly from insecurity almost amounting at times to chaos, until a staple and regular government was formed. But it shows, in addi tion, in the biographies of men who are at the present time interested in the welfare of the borough, and who, in public life or private enterprise, are devoting themselves to the upbuilding of the community, the forces that are at work. No better way could be found, in our opinion, to show what Queens is now, and what it is destined to be, for the work of man, even if intended for the day only, always influences the future and it is impossible to draw a line that divides sharply the work of those living from that of coming generations. Those who come after us will have to build upon what we have accomplished; they cannot entirely get away from it, and even if they choose new paths, they must reckon with those laid out by their forerunners. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A New York Times Notable Book of 2017! Here is New York, as you've never seen it before. A perfectly charming, sidesplittingly funny, intellectually entertaining illustrated history of the blocks, the buildings, and the guts of New York City, based on Julia Wertz's popular illustrated columns in The New Yorker and Harper's. In Tenements, Towers & Trash, Julia Wertz takes us behind the New York that you think you know. Not the tourist's New York-the Statue of Liberty makes a brief appearance and the Empire State Building not at all-but the guts, the underbelly, of this city that never sleeps. With drawings and comics in her signature style, Wertz regales us with streetscapes "Then and Now" and little-known tales, such as the lost history of Kim's Video, the complicated and unresolved business of Ray's Pizza, the vintage trash and horse bones that litter the shore of Brooklyn's Bottle Beach, the ludicrous pinball prohibition, Staten Island's secret abandoned boatyard, and the hair-raising legend of the infamous abortionist of Fifth Avenue, Madame Restell. From bars, bakeries, and bookstores to food carts, street cleaners, and apartments both cramped and grand, Tenements, Towers & Trash is a wild ride in a time machine taxi from the present day city to bygone days of yore.

An imaginary historian. One immaculately imagined history. Told from the invented Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker’s perspective, Washington Irving’s ‘A History of New York’ weaves a rip-roaringly funny and dangerously dark account of the rise – and fall- of The Big Apple. Kick-starting with the creation of the world, we follow the origins of life and love as we know it, through to the new world discoveries and dangers of the Dutch Dynasty. Crafting a tale full of mystery and might, Irving’s satirical ‘A History of New York’ is ideal for American literature fans of Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz and Jim Broadbent in ‘Gangs of New York’. Washington Irving (1783- 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. A prolific author, Irving wrote ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent’, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle.’ Whilst his celebrated historical biographies span Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, his 15th-century histories of Span explore Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors. Having served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s, Irving remains a rich cultural insight into both American and Spanish history. His human touch and deep emotional insight are reflected throughout his thought-provoking novels.

NOW in its fifth Printing which includes the events of September 11, 2001.Selected by the American Association of University Presses as one of The Best of the Best from the University Presses.(2000)

Compiled from newspaper archives and richly illustrated with historic images, this fascinating chronicle traces the city's growth from Wall Street to Harlem during the period between 1783 and the early 20th century.

Within the pages of STORE FRONT, the reader may explore entire blocks that have not changed much in the past century, engaging in startling encounter with contemporary New York. Details of an architectural and cultural heritage that is fast disappearing such as signage, architectural adornment and window displays are presented in context, as they exist on the street, all in amazing detail.