The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present

Impressive achievementWhat a great gift for someone who thinks he knows everything there is to know about New York -- or wishes he did. The sheer amount of information here is impressive, and would be daunting except that the layout is so easy to follow. Years appear at the top of each page for quick reference and handy symbols alert the reader to category of information in each entry within the year: e.g., music, transportation, everyday life, theater. (Page numbers are at the bottom.) The index is detailed and easy to use once you realize that a given church will be listed under "churches" or your favorite hotel under "hotels." The major delight in the chronological arrangement is that the reader can put each entry into its historical perspective. I was very interested to learn, for example that Trinity Church on 5th Avenue and Intercession at 155th were completed the same year, by the same architect.As might be expected, the bulk of the information covers the 20th Century. Trager dispenses with the early years in about twenty pages and reaches the 20th Century in a couple hundred. Even so, he does not slight detail in those earlier years.Most readers who are already familiar with Manhattan will probably have a couple of topics they will use to check for accuracy. Mine is Minniesland/Audubon Park. Trager scores points. He gives John J. Audubon several entries and mentions the Minniesland purchase as well as Audubon's death and Madame Audubon selling the original prints to the New York Historical Society. Trager appears to have made an error in acreage, however, (possibly a typo) writing that Audubon bought 24 acres in 1841 and sold 23 of them to Richard Carman in 1843 (who then sold them to Trinity Church for use as a cemetery, which still exists). That would have left Audubon with only one acre, which is a quick look at an historic map will show is not correct. The 24 acres should probably be 42 acres to leave enough for the land that became Minniesland and later Audubon Park.As another reviewer has already mentioned, with this much information, that sort of error is to be expected, and can be corrected in future editions, which this delightful book fully deserves.Despite the blips, this is a great addition to anyone's New York history shelf.

James Trager has been writing fascinating, unique, histories for a lot of years. I first encountered him through "The Food Book" (which has apparently transformed into "The Food Chronology") which offered an awesome compedium of food lore both simple and arcane. (I still get a kick out of reminding my friends that a lobster is really nothing more than a glorified cockroach!) I have used his "People's Chronology" as a bible on any number of writing projects from trivia contests to advertising copy. And now he has compiled "The New York Chronology", once again exhibiting a mind-boggling grasp of hard facts and fascinating trivia. Since the book runs over 900 double-columned pages, I haven't read all of it. And that's as it should be. Sure, you could read it as a straight narrative, but the real pleasure comes from opening it a random, reading one or two entries, and being enthralled enough to realize you've gone several pages beyond your orignal intent. However, in a compendium this big, and this full, some errors are bound to appear. While there have been two or three "facts" that I have been a bit skeptical about, (were Romney Brent and Nigel Bruce REALLY both born in Mexico?) there is at least one I know to be in error. The "movie" entry for 1943 lists the Loretta Young/Brian Aherne flick "A Night to Remember" as being about the sinking of the Titanic. While there was a British film of that name about that tragedy, the '43 film was a comedy/mystery taking place in Greenwich Village. As you can see, however, the "flaws" I've uncovered thus far are almost exclusively in entries about minor subjects. They should not keep anyone from buying, reading, and treasuring this marvelous labor of love!IMPORTANT UPDATE: 3 days later: Having delved more deeply into the chronology, I DO have to alert the reader to some more errors (alas!) Just at random, "The Boys From Syracuse" -the musical- was NOT based on the lives of the Shubert brothers (although the title was used for a book about them), it's based on "The Comedy of Errors". The ACTOR Mako was the star of "Pacific Overtures". He is not, and never has been, an ACTRESS (Thank God! Have you SEEN him? He's brilliant, but not very comely.) And, I seriously doubt that Otto Haebach wrote the lyrics to the title song in "Oklahoma". Mr. Trager knows a hell of a lot, but about show-biz, not so much. Nevertheless, I'll stand by my rating if only for the exhaustive work in the tome.