New York Handy Guide (1955)

NEW YORK HANDY GUIDE, Lewis J. Nesterman, softcover, illustrations, 1955. BOOK CONDITION: fair. The text block is in near fine condition with no dog-ears, tears, or marks. The first free endpaper is intact, but has a big tear and there are ripples throughout the first half of the book. There is a tear on the final page as well. There is no bookplate nor signature of the prior owner. This is not a library book nor a remainder. The illustrated wraps are in fair condition (creases, shelf rubbing, edge wear). 7 ½ x 5 ¼, 96 pages, 10 ounces XX New York City as described 66 years ago. For instance, here is how Greenwich Village is described: One of the most colorful districts in New York and a region rich in tradition is Greenwich Village. It can best be defined as that section south of Fourteenth Street from Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River. It isn't the buildings and streets that make Greenwich Village— it's the people who live in them and walk in them. A Bohemian atmosphere pervades the district and is reflected in the shop windows, in restaurant menus and in the happy-go-lucky attitude of the villagers themselves. Almost every other door leads to a bar or restaurant; and it has long been an established fact that prices for most things, including meals and drinks, are less in the Village. You'll find every variety of appetizing national dish from chop suey to French pancakes in orange brandy. Artists, writers, sculptors, composers, poets, actors and actresses make their homes in the Village. And there are a number of elegant homes of the aristocratic brownstone front era. Washington Square is still a stylish and well-preserved residential zone. A number of clubs of national renown are located in the Village and there are spots here and there easily identified as historic landmarks—for instance the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, and the old First Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue at 12th Street. The Outdoor Art Exhibits are a colorful affair held twice a year in the Village. The Spring showing from May 15th to June 12th and the Fall showing from September 15th to October 12th. [And this description of Chinatown] One of the most picturesque sections in New York is Chinatown, easily reached via the B.M.T. subway Canal Street station. Chinatown's population and its wares are the interesting features; the architecture is distinctly grimy and unpreposing. The narrow streets are lined with old structures, most of them "walk-ups" and above the street level they accommodate thousands of Chinese families who are crowded into apartments and small flats. Mott, Doyer, Pell and Bayard Streets are the principal thoroughfares. No guide is needed to penetrate them or to investigate the curious shops or restaurants that vie for the sightseers' money. Contrary to tradition, the district itself is as peaceable and harmless as any spot in New York. The Chop Suey houses are the most popular attractions and New Yorkers patronize them freely. The prices are reasonable and some of the better known places have been so modernized in fittings as to rival smart uptown eating houses. Visitors invariably call at the old mission where gospel meetings are held every night for the benefit of Bowery "flop house" residents and other unfortunates from the derelict stream of life in the Big City. It was here, according to police records, that one of the biggest opium smoking layouts in New York was once uncovered.…