This book was right up my alley. I have lived in NYC my whole life, and I know that there is so much history here, that we walk right past every day. I also think that after the tragedy of September 11th, we need to have an understanding, and appreciation of the different groups that make up the great city, plus make a place for spirituality in our lives.

This is the book all New Yorkers need to help them get over the horrible events of September 11th. Looking at our great city's more spiritual side is not only an interesting idea but it also allows New Yorker's and non New Yorkers alike to grasp a deeper meaning and an intimate knowledge of New York. This book perfectly illustrates the point that no matter what you do to this city and it's people, we'll get right back up because we have heart and soul!!! Bravo to Ms. Cook on a well-written and inspiring tome. This book also makes a perfect holiday or birthday gift. Do yourself and New York a favor and buy this book, it'll show you a side of NY that you forgot existed.

What an interesting book. As a native New Yorker, I look forward to using it on a walking tour of Manhattan. There are so many things to see in Manhattan, and it is not all in the museums, and large tourist attractions.

The book provides an opportunity to check a theatre and know something more about the location of your seats than just a stub number in an easy to use design.

Following in my father's footsteps, SEATS : NEW YORK has arrived in a new, updated second edition. SEATS is your guide to the best SEATs in the house and features: 150 Seating plans to New York metro area theatres, concert halls, and sports stadiums with SEATS pricing guide. It also includes: "insider" tips on locating the best SEATS at the best discount prices, detailed maps of the SEATS Theatre districts around NYC, user-friendly directions and transportation information to get you to your SEATS, parking locations convenient to your venue and four seasons of FREE SEATS around the town. All this information is compiled into a nice pocket-size format which is a must for every theatre-goer. As Mayor Bloomberg says: "So be sure to consult your SEATS guide and enjoy the show!"

With all the "waste of time and ink" publishers are inflicting on the reading public, it's about time that a publisher has released a book that makes sense. SEATS explains clearly how to buy theater tickets at discount prices, some at the unbelievable price of $3. I tried it and it really works. The seating plans are unbelievable! I ordered my tickets from Ticketmaster and the salesman mumbled, "oh, Seats again," when I told him exactly what I wanted. I could tell from the colors where to find the best values. Horay for Sandy Millman, Seats is a brilliant idea.

I found this book to be very helpful. My friend Mr. Bubbles and myself had been looking for a suitable pair of leather chaps to do the laundry in. This fine book helped me fulfill my dream. If it has any failings, it is with it's foul language. Why can't everyone just refer to those things as "hum-hums" like I do?

This is a rare book that is both hilarious reading and an indispensable refernce tool...just pick your location , look it up, and fire away. Great gift for out of towners too.

Being a college student in the city, this book is a great guide for me and my friends when we are looking for a good time. Its a fun and easy read too. I have the original and this 2000 copy is much more clear and enjoyable.

This "Zagats" for bars is a great way to find a new place to hang, instead of going to the same old haunt. It makes you want to try different "scenes" and get out there and enjoy New York City at its crazy, lively, best. Most of the reviews were right on the mark.

one of the great things about new york is the great variety of places to go and socialize. "shecky's" takes you to all of them, and categorizes (and characterizes them) perfectly. i don't know how my friends and i found our way around new york without shecky's help. now that we've "been there, done that and got the t-shirt," shecky's reviews are right on the money.

This book is awesome! The reviews are on the money and will save you a lot of time and aggrivation when trying to plan a night out. This should be required reading for those who can't make up their mind. It's a must have for any New Yorker or travller to the city!

I live within a hour or two of all these beautiful spots and am ashamed to have only visited a couple. We will use these gorgeous photos as a guidebook for the Spring, Summer and Fall to make certain we don't miss a one.

Why did I think I have to travel far for scenery of this caliber.?

While this is a book of wonderful travel photos that reveals the treasures in Upstaters' own backyards, it's more than that.
Doeffinger also provides an 8-page introduction to the geology that created these beauties and the history of their discovery and preservation, plus 4 pages of detailed photographic information--he works at Kodak, for whom he writes photography books. And there's a detailed map section showing all the locations and information on 10 publicly-accessible sites. These include hiking difficulty and time, directions (many of these falls are within State Parks and none say just "at the back of the parking lot"), with special highlights to look for.
I don't think it was meant to be anything beyond what it is: a handsome compilation of the somewhat homey pleasures that Upstate affords to day-trippers, family outings, and homesick ex-pats. It may be too poetic to be the scientific treatise Mordant1 was expecting, and apparantly not up to his photographic standards either, but he does offer some equally deep insights on modern music in his review of the latest Brittney Spears opus.

Splendid. The best of its kind. An exquisite ode to the subtle beauty of this region. This is a photographic essay of extraordinary depth, which whispers the gentle magic of upstate NY. Read it for the sheer love of nature and life, even if you are unfamiliar with this corner of the world.

This savvy insider's guide would make even the most clueless NYC tourist feel like the mayor of midtown. Since buying The $5 Lunch, I am never at a loss for a great cheap- eats lunch solution and all my friends and co-workers think I'm some kind of "in the know" genius. Now, I get to pinch my pennies and look like a big shot to-boot. I highly recommend this book for anyone who's ever felt out of the loop. Oh, and why 4 stars you ask- 'cause I'm just too cheap to give it five!

Man. I worked in this area for THREE YEARS, and if I had known about this before I would have saved SCRILLIONS in lunch money. Indispensable. Priceless. This book practically pays for itself. You can't afford not to buy it. These days, you have to save every dime you can and The $5 Lunch is your penny pinching guide to affordable, enjoyable lunches on the go. I can't wait for The $5 Lunch for other hip neighborhoods, like Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and Bed-Sty.

As a first time visitor, i think this book provides me sufficient infomation about the public transportation system. One very good thing is that the book divides the city into four sections. Then it suggests one day itenary for each section so you can finish visiting each section in one day. It also suggests some walking tour if visitors have more time to spend in the city.

The only thing i don't like is that it doesn't list enough hotel for visitors to chose from. It would be nicer if it has a more extensive index for hotels and restaurants.

As noted in another review, this is not the most comprehensive of guidebooks, but that can be an advantage when carrying it in your backpack while touring the city! It has very good maps of Manhattan and pretty much just covers what most tourists will want to see. I found it to be very useful.

Jaded by the social stigmatism of the "forgotten borough" I arrived to Staten Island as a reluctant new resident. This book was presented to me as a welcome gift. I have enjoyed every bit of it. It not only opened my eyes - a Manhattan transplant - but the eyes of native Staten Islanders with whom I have shared many stories. We use this book as a "secret adventure guide book" and take the children in our life on hikes as well as the out-of-towners who think the only thing Staten Island has is the world's largest landfill. This handy book is written with wit, whimsy and factual information. The directives are clear. Just get there before the developers knock down the tress and build more attached houses.

This book reviews a series of nature trails in New York's "forgotten borough" -Staten Island. It details sights that even lifelong natives may have missed and scenes that no one would imagine could be in the nation's largest city. If you intend to take these trails, buy and go soon- already one of the sights detailed (St. Elisabeth's in Mount Lorretto) is gone.

I've lived on Staten Island for 12 years, but not until I'd been given Mr. Kershner's book had I any idea of the extent to which the island remains pristine and marvelous. I regularly photocopy his wonderful hand drawn maps to take my kids (and the neighbors'!) and wildlife adventures that less informed people travel hundreds of miles to experience.

This book is a fabulous mix of nuts and bolts trail-finding, anecdotal history, and flora and fauna appreciation guide. I've had the book for 4 years and haven't made it to every "secret spot" yet, but whenever the kids start staring at the TV too much, I grab this book, the kids, and head out for another urban adventure. It never disappoints. Ironically, I hope it doesn't get too popular, because I love being alone in all those Staten Island woodlands! It's the first thing I show to people who think we've got nothing but a dump, a mall, and an expressway.

This book is only for the very casual rider who lives in Long Island and carries his bike by car. As a Manhattan resident (sans car, of course) who was looking forward to help in exploring Long Island via train and bike, I was disappointed.

The 40 bike rides described are pretty SHORT -- less than half are over 15 miles and even the longer rides have options that reduce the ride to 8-12 mile range. There are even a handful of rides less than 5 miles long.

All ride descriptions do include driving directions to the starting point, in addition to map and route guide. However it's difficult to use this book without a car. The starting points are scattered all over the island with little information on how to connect them via bike route or train.

This book includes a great selection of bike tours, and is a must-buy for cyclists who live on Long Island or plan to tour it on two wheels. My teenage son and I have ridden almost all the tours in this book and have never been disappointed...in fact, I've lived on Long Island for 25 years and discovered many scenic areas I never knew existed. The maps and directions are much clearer than similar books I've used, and most tours include both short and long versions of the route to match your available time and stamina. A nice bonus is the wonderful one-day ferry-and-bike tour of Block Island (actually part of Rhode Island).

This book of do-it-yourself road bike tours is a great example of how the genre should be done. The maps are clear, the cue sheets are concise, and the descriptions are informative but brief. Distances of the rides vary from 8 - 20 miles or so, and are largely well-chosen. And the book is small enough to take with you.

When I lived on Long Island I did several of these rides and was not disappointed.

Adrian Higgins writes a weekly column for the Washington Post, and I have come to appreciate his warm and entertaining essays over the past few years. Higgins follows in Henry Mitchell's footsteps (one of the greatest gardening writers ever!!) and therefore has very large gardening shoes to fill. I don't think Higgins has the gardening acumen of his predecessor, nor does he have the wit, and he does seem to spend a great deal of time hobnobing with rich and famous gardeners whereas Henry was more down to earth--most of his columns were about his weekly efforts in his own patch. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading Higgins pieces.

Higgins shares current knowledge about new plants (plants that once could not be grown successfully in the Washington area that now can be grown here thanks to genetic engineering), as well as creative ideas about older plants--some never used in local gardens. For example, regarding the latter, this past he wrote a piece on the Hyssop, which some of us have in herb beds, and he recommends for the perennial bed because it can stand up to the heat and humidity of DC (greatly exaggerated by old thinking -- DC actually has a relatively nice climate, just loss of oxygen thanks to car/SUV engines). Unfortunately, his gardening ideas mostly extend to those with five acres to spare.

The essays in Higgins book are good but I would hesitate to describe it as the "ultimate" guide. The Mid-Atlantic area is comprised of a diverse range of growing conditions and it is difficult to generalize gardening tactics let alone ultimate techniques. Higgins is aware of the growing conditions, but the novice may find it difficult to keep the "facts" straight.

The altitude in the mid-Atlantic ranges from the mountains to the sea level, and from above and below the Mason-Dixon line. DC itself is located in the upper range of many plants that do well in zone 8 to the south (Crepe Myrtle) and in the lower range of plants that do well in zone 6 to the north (Peonies). However, if you go east you move into Zone 8 again and if you go west you enter Zone 6.

The soil composition of the area ranges from limestone (water in DC is very alkaline thanks to the Shenandoah Valley) to clay (Piedmont) to coastal sand. I've worked gardens in all these areas and found the combination of soil, water PH and weather patterns/temperture does not allow one to grow anything anywhere. In fact, if you live east of the fall line (approximately Route 1) and between Fredericksburg and mid-Jersey you'd be better off to read Allen Lacy's books.

Still, I don't want to discourage readers from using Higgin's book. Many of his ideas will work--the key is to buy the types of plants that like your growing conditions. Blueberries for example come in different varieties--some do well in cooler mountain areas and others along the sandy shore. You won't know if Higgins methods work until you try them. That's the key to gardening anyway--try-al and error.

If you live in the DC area, this is the gardening book to own--it is a practical, no nonsense guide. This book lists which specific varieties of plants thrive or do poorly in the DC Metro area. Most of my other gardening books gather dust while I take this one to the garden center.

The book does not have color illustrations, so if you do not know what a plant looks like, you will need look it up in another book or investigate it at the store.

I bought this book 2 years ago and I have been using it constantly ever since. It contains a wealth of information about all aspects of gardening in the Washington, D.C. area -- everything from lawns to flowers to bulbs to shrubs. It is written very clearly and is a comprehensive discussion, including planting tips, diseases, best plants for different locations, etc. Further, it is entertaining! I am ordering another copy because I gave mine to a friend who is a professional gardener -- he said it was the best book he has ever seen specific to this area.