The 1948 crime film The Naked City (later a television show) ended with this iconic line “There are eight million stories in the naked city.” Things have not changed either before or since: every era and neighborhood is full of true tales and legends about which even residents are likely to be unaware. Strange And Obscure Stories Of New York City takes the reader on a breathtaking tour of the five boroughs in search of these accounts. Some are eerily fascinating in their own right while others explain how the city became the great metropolis that it is. Before the World Trade Center 9/11 tragedy, the aftermath of a fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum in the East River was the city’s greatest disaster. The 1904 event occurred during an outing for a church group. The loss of life—1,021 out of the 1,358 passengers—devastated the German-America community that inhabited Manhattan’s East Village. To escape bad memories, they relocated to the Upper East Side’s Yorkville, the reason why that neighborhood became celebrated for its German restaurants, stores, and breweries. On July 23, 1886, not long after the Brooklyn Bridge opened, a 23-year-old named Steve Brodie announced that he survived a 150-foot drop from that span into the East River. (A liquor dealer offered to back a saloon that Brodie wanted to open but only if he took the risk). Although there were no witnesses, news of the alleged jump made headlines, with The New York Times supporting Brodie’s claim, and the phrase “pull a Brodie,” meaning to try a dangerous stunt, entering popular parlance. Then too are the unsolved murders, ghost stories, urban legends (are there indeed alligators living in the sewers?), and hidden histories that are all part of this lively and captivating chronicle of the world’s greatest city. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

This book is a travel guide of sorts to New York's local legends and best kept secrets, filled with crazy characters, cursed roads, abandoned sites, and bizarre roadside attractions that the author feels reflect the shared modern folklore of our time.

Presents a series of historical anecdotes about little-known, miscellaneous events and personal experiences of the American Civil War.

Admire an amazing apocalyptic pillar in a church, relax in secret gardens, view the New York version of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, visit a secret subway tunnel, watch the stars through a university telescope, track down a statue of Lenin, have your skirts billow up at the very same grating as Marilyn Monroe, gaze at a roomful of dirt, find a Venetian palazzo above a former stable, spot the forbidden island that was once declared a sovereign nation by a guy in a rowboat, track down a townhouse concealing a subway tunnel, walk under the canopy of the primeval forest, read a memorial plaque to an event that happened in another dimension, fall into a trance before a piece of subway art that flickers and moves, have your bicycle blessed in church. New York offers endless opportunity to step off the program and peer into the city's fascinating past and present. "Secret New York An Unusual Guide" is an indispensible resource for those who thought they already knew everything about America's metropolis, or want to begin exploring it hidden places.

THE GUIDE TO ODD NEW YORK proves that weirdness still lives in the world's greatest city. Perfect for locals and adventurous visitors who are tired of conventional tourist attractions, ODD NEW YORK lures readers off the beaten path to a quirkier side of New York. THE GUIDE TO ODD NEW YORK includes the irreverent, the unconventional, and the unexpected with more than 60 eye-popping photos and a surprising entry on every page: * A psychedelic dreamworld in Tribeca * A mummified nun in upper Manhattan * A kitschy mermaid parade in Coney Island * The oldest transvestite training school in the country * Abandoned nuclear missile silos in Queens * An East Village museum celebrating organized crime * America's last circus sideshow school * The city's wickedest witchcraft store * A schlock sex and horror film company in Long Island City * Plus 100 more offbeat entries. THE GUIDE TO ODD NEW YORK also points the way to unusual nightlife destinations and bizarre events happening throughout the five boroughs. THE GUIDE TO ODD NEW YORK: Unusual Places, Weird Attractions and the City's Most Curious Sights reminds us that New York is still the capital of kookiness, as it exposes the fun and fascinating underbelly of New York.

People around the globe know the story of New York City—or like to think they do. But even lifelong locals will be surprised to discover the little-known facts in Secret New York City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Some of these secrets hide in plain sight at the busiest places in the world, like an underground art installation in the middle of Times Square, curious medallions at the Empire State Building, and an eerie witch in Central Park. Others are more obscure, such as a surprisingly delightful rat artwork, a puzzling Scrabble sign, or a nostalgia-packed island escape. In these pages, you’ll also find an abandoned fort, hidden gold, a flock of parrots, a powerful Titanic tribute, and a lucky stump. Consider this book a scavenger hunt to the nation’s biggest city, a guidebook that goes off the beaten path far beyond the reaches of the subway map. With a heart for adventure and an insatiable curiosity, journalist Rossilynne Skena Culgan serves as your guide to explore the lesser-known side of New York City: a treasure trove of mysteries, obscurities, and hidden history waiting to be unearthed.

This book represents the shear insanity of real stories and real places that are so bizarre no one wants to believe they exist. I can understand that, but (as the saying goes) some things are true whether we choose to believe them or not. This book represents the greatest hits of all my weirdest stories, places and experiences. I hope you enjoy them all. You can view all my books at http://jsi4.tripod.com/js/storejs.html