Thoughts on 'Here Is New York'

The Book Here is New York

Our library book club organizer Wendy picked this book for our December meeting. Oh boy, what a great discussion on this book at our regular meeting and we had to extend the meeting time. It is amazing to see we are all so exciting and having such great power of passion about this city.

We lived only two hours away from the city and the people from our book club comprise of the three groups. A few were born in the city; some of us were born elsewhere but have lived or worked in the city and the last group in our club are people like me who have visited the city.

We have two retirees, one has lived in the city and the other one has not but used to live in Dobbs Ferry New York, they described what an airshaft is to us. The author mentioned airshaft early part of the book. Many of us have never heard of an airshaft. They talked about the airshafts in the city and the ones in Dobbs Ferry. Those were born in the city said they continue to visit the city three or four times a year, and they said the now city is so different from the then city, yet the spirit of excitement remains the same.

We talked about the author measuring the distance in the city in blocks and between people in inches. When we are in this city either on foot or driving, people always provide us directions in blocks such as only five blocks away instead of saying a quarter of a mile away.

This book has a sense of humor of its own. We laughed at the description where the author compares the commuters as locusts, queerest bird, and prairie -dog. It is enlightening to see a city being described, as a piece of poetry that simply makes life is more beautiful.

This book is not only just a great piece of literature, it is also about how we define our lives, our environment, and about the changes in our lives. Whether you are born or have lived or visited or are planning to visit New York City, you definitely want to read this book to understand the soul of this greatest city. If you don’t belong to any of the aforementioned groups, you can give this book to someone who has something to do with New York or someone who enjoys reading as a gift.

Thoughts on 'Here Is New York'