Description

Book Synopsis
"A casually wondrous experience; it made me feel like the city was unfolding beneath my feet.??Jia Tolentino, author ofTrick Mirror

In place-names lie stories.That?s the truth that animates this fascinating journey through the names of New York City?s streets and parks, boroughs and bridges, playgrounds and neighborhoods.

Exploring the power of naming to shape experience and our sense of place, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro traces the ways in which native Lenape, Dutch settlers, British invaders, and successive waves of immigrants have left their marks on the city?s map. He excavates the roots of many names, from Brooklyn to Harlem, that have gained iconic meaning worldwide. He interviews the last living speakers of Lenape, visits the harbor?s forgotten islands, lingers on street corners named for ballplayers and saints, and meets linguists who study the estimated eight hundred languages now spoken in New York.

As recent arrivals continue to find new ways to make New York?s neighborhoods their own, the names that stick to the city?s streets function not only as portals to explore the past but also as a means to reimagine what is possible now.

Names of New York: Discovering the City's Past,

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    A Hardback by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

    £19.20

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    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Wed 16 Sep 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Random House USA Inc
      Published 13 April 2021
      ISBN-13 9781524748920
      978-1524748920
      ISBN-10 1524748927
      Also in:
      Travel guides: museums, historic sites

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      "A casually wondrous experience; it made me feel like the city was unfolding beneath my feet.??Jia Tolentino, author ofTrick Mirror

      In place-names lie stories.That?s the truth that animates this fascinating journey through the names of New York City?s streets and parks, boroughs and bridges, playgrounds and neighborhoods.

      Exploring the power of naming to shape experience and our sense of place, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro traces the ways in which native Lenape, Dutch settlers, British invaders, and successive waves of immigrants have left their marks on the city?s map. He excavates the roots of many names, from Brooklyn to Harlem, that have gained iconic meaning worldwide. He interviews the last living speakers of Lenape, visits the harbor?s forgotten islands, lingers on street corners named for ballplayers and saints, and meets linguists who study the estimated eight hundred languages now spoken in New York.

      As recent arrivals continue to find new ways to make New York?s neighborhoods their own, the names that stick to the city?s streets function not only as portals to explore the past but also as a means to reimagine what is possible now.

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