New York (Blue Guides)

All right, the most recent edition of the Blue Guide added CBGB's, an East Village rock, punk club that has now gone out of business. A few other establishments in the various editions of this fantastic guide are undoubtedly also no longer with us. Having said that, even the oldest first and second editions (the latter, from 1991) are still incredibly useful, even timeless. For even they have listings of the most important sights in each of the city's five boroughs, a bevy of maps, lists of hotels and restaurants, sightseeing services, theaters, amusements, gardens, museums and so on. But unlike the average, perfunctory city guide, this one (at least the 1991 edition) has more than 760 pages, including all the maps. And those pages also encompass a broad spectrum of architectural descriptions and historical events. Not only buildings and the like are described here. So are whole parks, streets and districts, along with detailed pointers on all the exterior and interior trivia one could ever want to know while on a walking tour. I can't attest to the value of any of the other 40-plus Blue Guide titles. But if you forget every other guide book while in New York, it will be okay, so long as you bring along at least some version of this one. --Alyssa A. Lappen

Carol von Pressentin Wright's "Blue Guide to New York" is probably the most comprehensive guidebook to the Big Apple available. Absolutely indispensable, it includes 41 detailed maps for all five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, along with several black and white photographs. As a New Yorker, I cannot think of anything that has not been included here. I frequently use the book myself, especially when I have out-of-town visitors. It is also excellent, for New Yorkers and visitors alike, to use on walking tours. I have the 2002 edition. In an extremely accessible format, "The Blue Guide" presents information on all NYC districts and important sights, including: practical information, lodgings, restaurants and eateries for every budget, transportation, museums and galleries, sports, performing arts, shopping, monuments, historic detail and districts, detailed walking tours and background information. As noted, there is a veritable plethora of clear and easy-to-follow maps, along with a large pull-out MTA map of the subway system, and bus, railroad and ferry connections. From the posh shops on Madison and Fifth Avenues to the funky Lower East Side, from the streets of Greenwich Village and Soho to the brownstones of Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, this is the one and only guide you will need to navigate through this fabulous city, and to find fascinating out-of-the-way places most tourests never discover. There are myriad cultures here: Little Odessa in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, Little Italy, Chinatown, a thriving Greek community in Astoria, Queens, Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn where Arabic is heard on the street and wares from all over the Middle East are sold. Almost every country in the world is represented here and you can visit them all easily with the Blue Guide in hand. I hope you enjoy the city I love! JANA

Because I note that the existing reviews on this site refer to the previous edition, this New Yorker recommends the Blue Guide as the only NY guidebook you will need. I refer to mine again and again.One caveat: the subway lines are now happily back to normal, again running to South Ferry, and the map included in this book, which went to press shortly after the World Trade Center disaster, is out of date. Updated maps are posted in every subway station and train, are available free at every subway change booth, and can be reviewed on the Web.

Simply the best book available for those seriously interested in a detailed architectural history of New York, even though the most recent edition was published in 1991. Unbelievably rich in detail. As other reviewers point out however, this is NOT a typical "tourist" guide about where to eat, sleep or have fun in New York.

Until Kenneth Jackson's _Encyclopedia of New York City_ this was the closest thing to an encyclopedia of New York City in existence. Don't buy this book for restaurant reviews or the best hotels; the other guides are for those things. There is a (small and) half-hearted set of restaurant and hotel listings in the front of the tome, but the rest is the real meat of the book: Fantastically detailed walking tours of every part of the city. Manhattan is throughly covered, of course, but the other boroughs don't get overlooked as so many other books do. Buckets of historical data, curious facts, interesting nuggets of info fill every page. Hopefully a newer edition will come out soon, but until it does this book is the best!