The Underground Guide to New York City Subways | 
 enlarge | Author: Dave Frattini
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $10.00
You Save: $5.95 (37%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 99104
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312253842
Dewey Decimal Number: 388.42097471
EAN: 9780312253844
ASIN: 0312253842
Publication Date: April 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: softcover,clean pages no marks , ,free usps confirmation number
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
The only guide you will ever need to travel around New York City by subway. From the theater district of trendy Manhattan to the quaint residential neighborhoods of Queens, every single station in the four boroughs has been researched to help you maneuver the system like a pro. Highly Informative and Resourceful, The Book's Highlight's Include: Noteworthy stations featuring the best in underground art The best nearby restaurants for affordable, informal and ethnic dining Insightful historic information on the IND, BMT, and IRT transit lines A token rating scale that gives an honest assessment of each station's Decor Cleanliness Safety Surrounding neighborhoods Nearby points of interest such as museums, theaters, parks and shopping New York City residents and visitors alike will find this comprehensive handbook indispensable for riding the mass transit rails.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Wrong, repetitive, and worse December 19, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book's goal is admirable to anyone who loves the city subway - visit every station and desvribe it for all to know. However, Dave Frattini, makes a pretty bad job of it. While his effort is admirable, his information as duly noted by others is often plain wrong.
His style could use some work too - how many times can one write "let's face it" in one publication??
Furthermore he includes completley unnecessary racial comments into the descriptions: why "scary black guy"??(p.180) Why shouldn't residents of Ralph Avenue watch a TV sitcom with white characters?(p.37) Van Siclen Avenue area is not a shanty town - why should it be surprising to see satelite dishes? (pp.179-180) I can't find such remarks informative or funny.
Real people live and work in all these neighborhoods - they have many more positive sides than can be seen from a brief peek from inside the station - but it seems the author did not really do this much for some of his listings...
The book presents New York, New Yorkers and the subway as the same old stereotypes from bad movies of a few decades back.
Some one should us all a favor and write a new and better book!
I got your subway, RIGHT HERE! April 20, 2001
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Blessed with a hefty wit (and an appetite to match), Frattini has a good time bouncing his way through the New York City Underground, and his enthusiasm for the subway system he obviously loves rubs off on even the most jaded subway patron (Having spent 18 years myself riding the less than stellar "F" line, I can tell you NO ONE brings the 179 Street Station alive like Frattini does). From Duffers hocking scholky Rolexes in rundown stations to the not necessarily Hi-Class glories of New York cuisine (lovers of Greaseburgers, Indian Buffets, and Jamaican Beef Patties have a friend in Frattini), you really get a distinct feel for the less glamorous, yet no less interesting, underbelly of New York. The addition of local eateries is a Nice Touch, and I hope this "Cesar" of the Subway continues to skewer and yet love, his home town.
Off the track November 2, 2000
25 out of 29 found this review helpful
I can't swear for the rest of the boroughs, but I can tell you that the author doesn't appear to have all his Brooklyn facts straight. A couple of examples: He talks of a stop on the "N" line at 86th Street and 8th Avenue (p.259). Not only is there not a stop there....there is no "there" there. Those two streets do not cross. Eight Avenue ends in the 70's. Also, the author talks of the view of the Ave X subway yards and overhaul center that can be "clearly seen from the "N" and the "R" Lines as they begin the Stillwell Avenue descent into Coney Island" (p.5). Problem is, the "R" train goes nowhere near Coney Island. In fact, it is underground for its entire run in Brooklyn. There were others, but I won't bore you with the details. In a book that purports to be a "guide," attention to detail is important. In a lot of cases here, we are not talking about minor details. The prose style, if you can call it that, is way too cute. All in all, if you want a guide to the subway, get the free map from the MTA. If you want to know about the neighborhoods, take a bus tour and see for yourself. Given the unreliability of the book regarding areas of the world with which I'm familiar, I'd be very hesitant to count on it for anything at all.
 Exceptional book for any Native New Yorker or visitor June 6, 2000
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
Dave Frattini writes with wit and detail about the Subways of New York. As a native of New York, Frattini gives a very candid view of the subway stations and their decor, the subway lines and their neighborhoods and an understanding of the culture of New York City. His humor is great and pokes fun at himself as well as some of the outrageous things that occur in the City. He also gives to the point details of the best and worst of the places that you can or cannot visit. You will laugh out loud at some of the wry observations he makes about his hometown and the City. I would recommend this book to anybody who would like understand the heart of New York City and all of its many neighborhoods and boroughs. Buy it and enjoy!
IRREVERENCE AT ITS BEST May 28, 2000
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
I thought I was a wiseass, but once I read this New York kid's views and opinions on the city he lives in, I realized I am not even close. His witticisms can get a bid on the "edgey" side, but in the grand scheme of the work, the author's writing comes through with flying colors. A+. I am looking forward to his future works.
|
|
|
