The Manhattan Nobody Knows: An Urban Walking Guide - Paperback

by William B. Helmreich (Author)

A one-of-a-kind walking guide to Manhattan, from the man who walked every block in New York City

Bill Helmreich walked every block of New York City--six-thousand miles in all--to write the award-winning The New York Nobody Knows. Later, he re-walked most of Manhattan--721 miles--to write this new, one-of-a-kind walking guide to the heart of one of the world's greatest cities. Drawing on hundreds of conversations he had with residents during his block-by-block journey, The Manhattan Nobody Knows captures the unique magic and excitement of the island and highlights hundreds of facts, places, and points of interest that you won't find in any other guide.

The guide covers every one of Manhattan's thirty-one distinct neighborhoods, from Marble Hill to the Financial District, providing a colorful portrait of each area's most interesting, unusual, and unfamiliar people, places, and things. Along the way you'll be introduced to an elderly Inwood man who lives in a cave; a Greenwich Village townhouse where Weathermen terrorists set up a bomb factory; a Harlem apartment building whose residents included W.E.B. DuBois and Thurgood Marshall; a tiny community garden attached to the Lincoln Tunnel; a Washington Heights pizza joint that sells some of the biggest slices in town; the story behind the "Birdman" of Washington Square Park; and much, much more. An unforgettably vivid chronicle of today's Manhattan, the book can also be enjoyed without ever leaving home--but it's almost guaranteed to inspire you to get out and explore this fascinating metropolis.

• Covers every one of Manhattan's neighborhoods, providing a colorful portrait of their most interesting, unusual, and unfamiliar people, places, and things
• Each neighborhood section features a brief overview and history; a detailed, user-friendly map keyed to the text; and a lively guided walking tour
• Draws on the author's 721-mile walk through every Manhattan neighborhood
• Includes insights from conversations with hundreds of residents

Back Jacket

"Bill Helmreich is a walker and a talker. His charming book is simultaneously a local's guide to the things locals miss, a tableau of the city today, and a record of impromptu conversations with scores of New Yorkers who make this place unlike anywhere else in the world."--Eric W. Sanderson, author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City

"Bill Helmreich is a top-notch tour guide. He exudes avuncular charm throughout this book, making the cultural and historical facts sparkle and the details sing. Readers will be able to tell a good story when they visit these neighborhoods."--Jonathan R. Wynn, author of The Tour Guide: Walking and Talking New York

"Bill Helmreich takes Manhattan--step-by-step, glance-by-glance, and chat-by-chat--to show what makes the city hum. This book is addictive."--Harvey Molotch, New York University

"The thinking tourist's guide book."--Graham Russell Hodges, author of Taxi! A Cultural History of the New York City Cabdriver

Author Biography

William B. Helmreich (1945-2020) was the author of many books, including The Brooklyn Nobody Knows, The Queens Nobody Knows, and The New York Nobody Knows: Walking 6,000 Miles in the City, which won the Guides Association of New York Award for Outstanding Achievement in Book Writing. He was Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the City College of New York's Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and at CUNY Graduate Center.