The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present

This exhaustive register lists New York happenings from the 1524 exploration of the Hudson River mouth by Giovanni da Verrazano to the 2002 closing of Ratner's Delicatessen on the Lower East Side. Trager, of previous chronology fame (he is also the author of The People's Chronology, The Food Chronology and The Women's Chronology), gathers here every political, cultural and financial event that""went into making New York New York."" The concise but often surprisingly detailed entries appear chronologically and each is decorated with one of 32 subject area hieroglyphs--like the cross-boned sword and quill that designates""political events"" or the sadly appropriate ticking clock for""everyday life."" Other subject areas include commerce, transportation, science, religion, crime,""food availability"" and""theatre, film."" For each year, the trivial shares the same page as the phenomenal. In 1908, for example, Riverside Avenue is renamed Riverside Drive and ferry traffic reaches its peak with 201 million passenger trips; in 2001, the World Trade Center towers collapse and Toys 'R' Us opens a new store""with a 60-foot-high Ferris wheel, 700 employees, and 110,000 square feet of space."" Designed for casual browsing and specific searches (it includes an alphabetical index), this thorough reference is, in both detail and length, an ode to the city's greatness.