Automats Taxi Dances And Vaudeville

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From the lights that never go out on Broadway to its 24-hour subway system, New York City isn't called 'the city that never sleeps' for nothing. Both native New Yorkers and tourists have played hard in Gotham for centuries, lindy hopping in 1930s Harlem, voguing in 1980s Chelsea, and refuelling at all-night diners and bars.

The slim island at the mouth of the Hudson River is riddled with places of leisure and entertainment, but Manhattan's infamously fast pace of change means that many of these beautifully constructed and incredibly ornate buildings have disappeared, and with them a rich and ribald history. Yet with David Freeland as a guide, it's possible to uncover skeletons of New York's lost monuments to its nightlife.

With a keen eye for architectural detail, Freeland opens doors, climbs onto rooftops, and gazes down alleyways to reveal several of the remaining hidden gems of Manhattan's nineteenth- and twentieth-century entertainment industry. From the Atlantic Garden German beer hall in present-day Chinatown to the city's first motion picture studio - Union Square's American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - to the Lincoln Theater in Harlem, Freeland situates each building within its historical and social context, bringing to life an old New York that took its diversions seriously.

Freeland reminds us that the buildings that serve as architectural guideposts to yesteryear's recreations cannot be re-created - once destroyed they are gone forever. With condominiums and big box stores spreading over city blocks like wildfires, more and more of the Big Apple's legendary houses of mirth are being lost.

By excavating the city's cultural history, this delightful book unearths some of the many mysteries that lurk around the corner and lets readers see the city in a whole new light. Review: Freeland combines the detective acumen of a modern Sherlock Holmes and the exploratory curiosity of Indiana Jones as he uncovers forgotten but still visible treasures of Gotham's offbeat and seamier underside.

This physical genealogy of Manhattan's historic nightlife will become an invaluable companion for anyone exploring New York's neighborhoods. Timothy J. Gilfoyle, author of City of Eros The richness of the New York stories he presents, in elegant prose, is more abundant than the actual brick and mortar that remain.

His is a guidebook to the city's history, to what it has bequeathed us, even as much may be lost. --Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal 15th July 2009 David Freeland's affectionate, detail-packed tome about Manhattan's forgotten pleasure centers--from dance halls to gambling dens--adds a lyrical song to the cacophony...Since all the stories are linked to (mostly) still-standing but nonlandmark structures, the book also serves as a sort of preservationist's call to arms, as well as a reminder to those who seek out the city's grittier past: Take in these already severely altered sights while you still can.

Time Out New York, Issue 723 : Aug 6-12, 2009 With an archaeologist's eye and a storyteller's wit he roams from Chinatown to Harlem--concentrating on scenes of the city's nightlife a century ago during the vaudeville era but also reaching back into the 19th century as he summons up forgotten neighborhoods and personalities who gave old New York its raffish vigor...[a] delightful volume..

Stefan Kanfer, Wall Street Journal, 8th August 2009 Reading this book is like going on a walking tour with a really knowledgeable guide, who knows not only what building to point out but also what stories lurk behind the front door. Clyde Haberman, The New Leader, Summer 2009 Exceptionally well-written and researched, this volume will satisfy anyone curious about New York, or the way a modern metropolis builds and rebuilds itself to reflect the times.

Publishers Weekly, 17th August 2009