The New Yorkers has a fantastic concept that I wish other writers would steal for other cities. New York, of course, has been more influential than most. Growing up on Long Island, every movie having taken place in NY seemed like the natural order of things. Why wouldn't this be the place where things happen? And then, now that I'm older and getting more involved with History I love when things intersect. New York is a naturally connective place.



The premise here is that we are going to be told the stories of 31 New Yorkers who had some influence on the city. Most are unknown to me by name. Some are famous but not for what the book introduces them for. The book promises you this in the forward and it absolutely pays off. We aren't treated to full biographies of each person. That's not what this is about. Each chapter focuses on one particular person and an important situation that they are involved in. Each chapter also nudges the city along in age. My familiarity grows over time. Of the place itself, not of the people. It's a reminder that New York, in some form, has always been there waiting for the right people to shape it into what it will become.



Now, I will admit that not every chapter interests me. My time for reading is really early in the morning or late at night. I'm either exhausted or about to be. Something really needs to catch my attention to keep me going. The earlier chapters were more impressionable to me. I think it's because originally the people are shaping the structure of New York. Think physicality. As we get closer to modern times, it goes further into politics and unions, and mobsters. The place is there so let's live in it. It all goes hand in hand. I do understand that. Power informs discourse. I heard Franzen say that once.



What the author manages to do here is write New York in a way that reminds me of Alan Moore's Jerusalem. New York as actualized mythology. And these people that we are presented with are ingrained in its DNA. Only time will tell if I will remember any of them in the long run. After all, most of them are here for that very fact. For fans of New York, for people that love that city, this one is for you.