|
|
|
An audacious and
all-encompassing book about New York's underground, The Subway and the City has
everything a fan of the city and its trains could want.
The Subway and the City
traces The Big Apple's development as tunnels spread from Manhattan's
original IRT line, running from City Hall to Washington Heights, into
Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
An unabashed
subway buff, author Stan Fischler, brings his love for the BMT, IND and IRT
to life with breezy prose, a lively dash of humor and a fervor never before
associated with railroad writing.
Illustrated
with more than 375 vintage never-before-seen photos, this historical-social
documentary details precisely how New York's growth directly followed the
subway's expansion. In addition, Fischler provides his own personal
vignettes detailing what it was like riding each line, as he has done for
more than six decades.
More than that, The
Subway and the City captures the voices of genuine subway
people with their unique oral histories. Such luminaries as prize-winning television
producer Matt Kells and acclaimed subway map-maker John Tauranac, among
others, tell in their own words, what the subway means to them and how it
shaped their lives.
|
|
|
The contemporary subway and its characters are further
enhanced by an arresting collection of original photos by prize-winning
photographer David Perlmutter. These illustrations are augmented by vintage
pictures from the collections of renowned train lensmen Robert Presbrey,
Eric Oszustowicz and William Brennan.
Aided in research and development by John Henderson, Fischler covers every
conceivable avenue of the subway's influence on New Yorkers, even including
the realm of sport and theater. Each of baseball's Subway Series is
covered-along with photos-from the very first between the Giants and
Yankees in 1921 to the most recent in 2000 between the Yanks and Mets.
|
|
Fischler traces the movement of New York's theater district from 14th
Street to Herald Square and, finally, to Times Square, as the entertainment
palaces and ball parks followed construction of elevated lines-and then the
subway-along the route. He notes that George M. Cohan's hit song,
"Give My Regards to Broadway," was inspired by the first
Interborough Line snaking its way up to 42nd Street.
An original Miss Subways, Ellen Hart, tells her dream-come-true modeling
tale, while the film industry's interest in the underground is covered in a
sprightly section called The Subway and Hollywood. Movies dating back to
King Kong, Subway Express and The Wrong Man are analyzed along with more
modern classics involving the IRT-The Incident, The Taking of Pelham One
Two Three and The Money Train.
Every single subway car type, from the stylish BMT
Standard to the groaning IRT Low-V, is accompanied by pictures-as well as
famed experimental rarities, The Zephyr, Bluebird and Green Hornet.
Long-forgotten subway spurs-the IND's World's Fair Special and Court Street
Shuttle-are brought to life by a man who has ridden every mile of New York
track.
Bonus sections on The Transit Museum, tokens and the vast Coney Island
repair shop make The Subway and the City must reading for every New Yorker
and anyone with an interest in Gotham City and its remarkable history.
Plus, Fischler tells
the world's only New York subway joke.
Never before has so comprehensive a book
been written that captures the magnificent totality of the New York City
subway experience.
Author Stan Fischler takes the reader
through New York City's growth and development, intertwining the subway's
spread with population and business growth from Manhattan to the other four
boroughs.
More than 300 original photos supplement
this rich and breezy history. It features the author's detailed personal
and emotional reaction to riding the underground from Coney Island to Times
Square; from Yankee Stadium to Madison Square Garden; from Canarsie to
Washington Heights, among other subway journeys.
For the first time ever, rich oral histories of
fascinating subway people grace the pages, along with the prize-winning
contemporary work of photographer David Perlmutter.
THE SUBWAY AND THE CITY
is the best literary-photographic ride anyone can ever take when it comes
to enjoying and understanding the greatest underground railroad in the
world.
|
|
568 Pages
with more than 400 photographs
including over 375 vintage phographs
never before seen in print!
It's Available in hard-cover for
$39.95 and soft-cover for $29.95
|
|
