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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Big Adventure Book Club: Secret New York: Exploring the City's Hidden Neighborhoods.

 While planning our Hidden Gems of NYC Big Adventure, we would be incredibly remiss if we didn’t mention this book: Secret New York: Exploring the City's Hidden Neighborhoods.

Written by crazy talented friend of the Big Adventure Michelle Haimoff, Secret New York deftly guides any reader on a tour of neighborhoods, history and some of the better lesser-known locations throughout the city. Part guide book best suited for a walking tour, part history lesson with a splash of nostalgia for old NYC and all chock full of interesting information that is as useful as it is well written. Although the book tends to be a bit Manhattan-centric, it also has that intangible asset of insight from a NYC native.
Secret New York is a fixture on our bookshelf, and along with some other guides, a constant reference. In bookstores.  At Amazon. And Incredibly useful for anyone who has a undying curiosity for NYC.
 Want some additional reading in easy Blog form? Check out Michelle's Q&A about all things NYC from the New York Times' city room from a couple years back:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/answers-about-new-yorks-hidden-places/
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/answers-about-new-yorks-hidden-places-part-2/
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/answers-about-new-yorks-hidden-places-part-3/ 

And, just because we care, here is a sample of that goodness:
Question:
I seem to recall that one time I was at Riverbank Park in Manhattan, probably around 143rd Street. Looking East toward what I think would be Riverside Drive, I recall a magnificent building facing the Hudson … it almost looked as if it used to be a grand hotel or something. Any idea?
— Posted by Posted by Yippee1999
Answer:
You may be referring to “The Castle” on Riverside Drive between 140th and 141st Streets. Designed by John W. Kearney and completed in 1913, the building housed an all-girls Catholic School called St. Walburga’s Academy of the Holy Child Jesus until 1998 when the Fortune Society bought it for $1.2 million. It now serves as a halfway house for the city’s formerly incarcerated.
 

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