Examination of the concept of mixed-use urban development.

Some are widely celebrated—Radio City Music Hall, the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grand Central Station—and others virtually unknown, all warrant preservation. This book is the first to present great landmarked interiors of New York in all their intricate detail, in a visual celebration of space that captures the rich heritage of the city. In the fifty years since it was established in 1965, the New York City Landmarks Law has preserved for generations to come a remarkable number of significant buildings that represent New York City’s cultural, social, economic, political, and architectural history. Not only do the exterior facades of these buildings fall within the law’s purview, but, since 1973, many of their stunning interiors as well. This book tells the colorful stories of 47 interior landmarks from the oldest to the youngest—from the grand Italianate and infamous Tweed Courthouse, the centerpiece of the largest corruption case in New York history, and the glamorous Art Deco Rainbow Room, constructed shortly after the repeal of the Prohibition—to the modernist 1967 Ford Foundation Building, whose garden-filled atrium exemplified sustainable design well before the concept became fashionable, and was hailed as “one of the most romantic environments ever devised by corporate man.” Located throughout the five boroughs, the interior landmarks include banks, theaters, office building lobbies, restaurants, libraries, and more—spaces in which New Yorkers have worked, learned, governed, been entertained, and interacted with their communities for decades. Readers will learn about their original construction and style, their exceptional design features, materials, and architectural details—then of the challenges to preserving them—whether they were unanimously accepted or hotly contested in legal battles—the restorations or re-imaginings that took place, and the preservationists, philanthropists, politicians, and designers who made it possible. Combining strong visuals and thorough research, this valuable reference work will fascinate all readers with an interest in the city’s history.

The classic work on the evaluation of city form. What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there? What can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and memorable to the city dweller? To answer these questions, Mr. Lynch, supported by studies of Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City, formulates a new criterion—imageability—and shows its potential value as a guide for the building and rebuilding of cities. The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital method for the evaluation of city form. The architect, the planner, and certainly the city dweller will all want to read this book.

Based on the popular blog Daytonian in Manhattan, 'Seeking New York' investigates the back stories of Manhattan's architecture and monuments. Alongside the expected account of architects, dates and styles, it reveals the human history of the buildings and statues: the scandals, the tribulations, the joys and achievements, the humanity, indeed, of the New Yorkers who lived within these walls.

Packed with extraordinary photos, illustrations, and historical facts, a celebration of the legendary Manhattan rail terminal’s first century. Opened in February 1913, Grand Central Terminal—one of the country's great architectural monuments—helped create Midtown Manhattan. Over the next century, it evolved into an unofficial town square for New York. Today, it sits astride Park Avenue at 42nd Street in all its original splendor, attracting visitors by the thousands. This book celebrates Grand Central’s Centennial by tracing the Terminal’s history and design, and showcasing 200 photographs of its wonders—from the well-trodden Main Concourse to its massive power station hidden ten stories below. The stunning photographs, some archival and some taken by Frank English, official photographer of Metro-North Railroad for more than twenty-five years, capture every corner of this astonishing complex.

Gwathmey Siegel’s buildings represent the pinnacle of late-twentieth and early-twenty-first-century modernist design, and this new volume focuses on a single architectural masterpiece: 400 Fifth Avenue. Designed by the award-winning architectural firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects and soaring sixty stories above Fifth Avenue, 400 Fifth Avenue seamlessly integrates an unparalleled collection of spectacular condominium tower residences with the world-class, five-star Setai Fifth Avenue hotel, providing a one-of-a-kind architectural icon in the heart of midtown Manhattan.

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the park's construction and history written by newspapers and people who worked on it. *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "I just want to go through Central Park and watch folks passing by. Spend the whole day watching people. I miss that." - Barack Obama Of all the great cities in the world, few personify their country like New York City. As America's largest city and best known immigration gateway into the country, the Big Apple represents the beauty, diversity and sheer strength of the United States, a global financial center that has enticed people chasing the "American Dream" for centuries. Given that background, it's fitting that the city's most unique landmark, Central Park, sits at the heart of Manhattan and provides a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle surrounding it. As actor Haley Joel Osment once put it, "My favorite place is Central Park because you never know what you're going to find there. I also like that when I look out the windows of surrounding hotels, it's seems like I'm looking out over a forest." In 1811, an ambitious plan was laid out that would transform Manhattan's grid into 2,028 blocks, from Houston Street to 155th Street. Forests would be cut down, hills razed, ponds and streams filled. It took years to survey, and years to complete: at different points in time, one might have seen a long avenue laid out, unpaved, with a scattering of as-yet-unattached six-story buildings amid boulders yet to be cleared and soon-to-be-demolished shantytowns. Ironically, almost no parks were incorporated into the plan, and Central Park would not be built until the end of the 19th century. When Central Park was designed, however, it was an ambitious project on an almost unprecedented affair. As serene as Central Park is today, it's hard to imagine that its creation was an entirely manmade affair consisting of dynamite blasts, tons of imported topsoil, and the labor of thousands of workers. Before the area's transformation, the land was swampy terrain used by impoverished squatters and people who let their livestock roam the grounds, but after nearly 15 years of work, the metamorphosis was nearly complete. Of course, New Yorkers soon came to understand that such a large park required serious upkeep; as historian Robert Caro noted, "Lawns, unseeded, were expanses of bare earth, decorated with scraggly patches of grass and weeds, that became dust holes in dry weather and mud holes in wet...The once beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild party the morning after. Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky..." With city resources being pumped into maintaining Central Park, it has become the most visited urban park in the world, and it is a cultural touchstone that draws not only tourists but events. Locals commonly walk or run through the park, and others play sports or simply picnic, but Central Park is also home to monuments of all sorts, including statues dedicated to artists and playwrights, the Strawberry Fields tribute to John Lennon, and an Ancient Egyptian obelisk known colloquially as Cleopatra's Needle. On top of all that, Central Park has a diverse array of wildlife thanks to a sizable reservoir, over 1,000 different species of trees, a zoo, and more. Put simply, Central Park is the most unique place in one of America's most unique cities. Central Park: The History of New York City's Most Unique Landmark chronicles the construction and history of the Big Apple's most famous park. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Central Park like never before, in no time at all.