Secret New York - An Unusual Guide: Local Guides By Local People Paperback – July 17, 2012

The title is apt - this is truly an unusual guide. It contains a wealth of information about unusual or relatively unknown sites in the great metropolis that is New York City. Undeniably, here are some places which this reviewer did already know; but more importantly, here are vast numbers of places which were totally unknown to him. It is a wee bit Manhattan-centric; but then, so are most guidebooks. The book should be required reading for those who want to see New York properly, and really understand what the City is all about (along with many other books!). The book is arranged so that each odd-numbered page has the text about the site, while the preceding even-numbered page has a color picture. Many of the places are hard-to-notice details in an otherwise well-known building, museum or statue. Invariably there will be places which hold little interest for some - the "Kymaerica Plaque" in the East Village, which "commemorates" an "event" which "occurred" in "another dimension," is hardly a must-see site for people with an interest in history, architecture, art, religions, sociology, anthropology, or other conventional obsessions! In fact, this "plaque" itself as much "in another dimension" as the event that it "commemorates" - even the very building, in whose stairwell it allegedly is located, is nonexistent, as there is no 83 Avenue A (81 and 85 are next-door neighbors). But a reader who overlooks this nonsensical mumbo-jumbo will find a huge number of fascinating entries, many of which, at least with this reviewer, provoked constant trips to the computer to check things on the Internet. Even so, in a city like New York, there are definitely lots more places to cover! The one gripe for this reviewer is on page 411. As a proud Jew, this reviewer feels offended by the condescending remarks about the Jewish religion's rules for Shabbos (the Sabbath); this is especially since the book contains no condescending remarks about Christianity, Hinduism or even Islam, all of which have places of worship referenced. The eruv, a symbolic fence that allows religiously observant Jews to carry objects outside their private home on Shabbos, is totally unobtrusive and unnoticeable even to those who search for it. The text implies that non-Jews are annoyed by this, when, in fact, apart from anti-Semites, the only ones who are annoyed are some anti-religious Jews, who often incite the anti-Semites against the Jews. This entry should be deleted in the next edition, because the eruv is totally lacking in interest and can virtually not even be seen. Mind you, this is not an accusation of anti-Semitism; the book references three other Jewish sites - the Kehila Kedosha Jenina Synagogue in the Lower East Side (page 75), the old Shearith Israel Cemetery in Lower Manhattan (page 85) and 770 Eastern Parkway (the world headquarters of Chabad/Lubavitch Hassidim) in Brooklyn's Crown Heights (page 407) - with no complaints from this reviewer. Despite this glitch, this book is absolutely essential for those who desire to see New York better than just the standard tourist sites.

Purchased as a Christmas gift for my husband, a native New Yorker, this little book is a real find. Although my husband is very knowledgeable about the architecture, history, and art of his hometown, he was amazed by all the new information T.M. Rives shares. There are descriptions of pocket parks, statues, unusual buildings, as well as historical tidbits and nice photographs packed into this easy to carry format. While Manhattan gets most of the coverage, it's worth noting that the other boroughs are also covered. This is a great addition to any New York collection whether you read it for entertainment or use it as a guide for exploring.

We are excited with our upcoming second trip to New York! This is such a great guide to little-known sights and will be fun to use to find unique and interesting places to go!

I had the Secret London guide so just had to get this one now I live in NY. Even without having visited the various places or objects yet as it only arrived a few days ago I've so far enjoyed just reading about the unusual places and items and their stories. We all know what to expect from a Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Frommers but for those who live in a city this will reveal places and things you would ordinarily know nothing about. Great

I bought this for my niece who is traveling to NYC with us for the first time this year. She has been looking in this book and marking off a ton of things she had never heard of and making a wish list of everything she wants to see. I love all the texts and phone calls and hearing her excitement. A great book for first-timers and for those of us who have visited the city.

A dear friend and a dear nephew are both in love with New York City. They had never heard of this book before I gave it to them as Christmas gifts, and they both immediately dived into it, paging through and saying things like "I never knew about this!" and "Wait 'til I get back to the city! I'm going to go see this!" Do you have NYC addicts in your circle of friends? Buy them this book...it's smallish, portable, concise and fun. You'll be their favorite friend (or aunt!) from that point on.

This was a great graduation gift for young relative embarking on NYC career after leaving his Midwestern university. Even if he is more likely to use phone-based information, this will be great for his out of town visitors to use while he is at work.

Bought this as a present for people who visit NY regularly. Because they've been there enough times, they generally don't need advice on where to go or what to do. However, after looking at the book they were excited to go do some of the less known about tourist things. Great book for someone that is looking for things to do beyond time square, the Statue of Liberty, etc.

Even for native New Yorkers! or especially for native New Yorkers...so far I haven't read one thing I knew before, and I am a 53-year-old native New Yorker! It's fun, the tone is very informative but not boring, each entry is only a page long. Great summer reading by the pool. Enjoy!

Arrived very quickly bought as a gift, my friend was very pleased!

Was really good for my holiday. Some suggestions are underwhelming such as Marilyn's subway grate, but lots of gems like Zidgfelds Head and the Carlise hotel bar. Shame classic album covers such as Physical Graffiti and Innocent Man weren't in there, but these are thing you wouldn't normally seek out.

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Having bought this I also bought the corresponding London book. If you've been to New York before and want to see something different, this book provides an interesting selection of thing you would not normally encounter. It also makes a good read even if you're not visiting New York.