09/14/2015
Historian Koeppel (Bond of Union) continues his examinations of New York–centric infrastructure with a look at the story behind the development of New York City’s extraordinary 1811 street grid plan, which “defined the urbanism of a rising city and nation.” Devastated by the 9/11 attacks, Koeppel launched his expert investigation into what made the city special, using a photo from the early 1880s of early Manhattan that showed the grid—“a rectilinear plane of many parallel streets crossed at right angles”—in the midst of the newly developing Upper East Side neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill. Koeppel is fascinated by the history of old New York; Manhattan’s grid, conceived by city planner Casimir Goerck and French designer Joseph François Mangin, came to make it both a “congested place” and an “orderly place of energy and industry.” Mangin’s plan met stout resistance from city commissioners and faced several challenges, but without any political alternative, it survived, sparking an influx of population and commerce. Koeppel’s bold commentary on the constant evolution of Gotham may stir controversy in some quarters, but he unabashedly celebrates the metropolis that has never learned what it means to grow old or stale. Maps and b&w photos. (Nov.)
2015-07-27
A popular historian examines the origin and development of Manhattan's famous grid. Given exclusive power and broad discretion, charged with uniting "regularity and order with public convenience," the three-man state commission appointed in 1807 took four years to come up with the rectilinear grid—150 parallel streets, 12 parallel avenues, 2,000 almost identical blocks—that continues to order the daily life of Manhattan. Their design, likely cribbed from earlier maps and surveys, short on "beautifying embellishments," and long on simplicity and efficiency, accomplished (along with the roughly contemporaneous construction of the Erie Canal) precisely the goal of town fathers: to turn New York into the nation's leading city. Though he focuses on the commission and their design and the controversies and criticisms arising over the next 10 years as chief surveyor John Randel Jr. executed their vision, Koeppel (Bond of Union: Building the Erie Canal and the American Empire, 2009, etc.) also tells a pre-grid, streets-and-roads story of Colonial-era Manhattan, bringing readers up through to the political rivalry of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, whose battles helped set the stage for the commission's work. As he follows the relentless grid's progress, from the edges of the settled old city all the way uptown, delightful detours pop up: about the anomaly that is Broadway, about the creation of Central Park ("the grid's unimagined saving grace"), and about 20th-century proposals to fill in the East River or to add three levels to the too-few avenues to relieve congestion. Scattered throughout the narrative, well-chosen, lively comments from writers, poets, politicians, architects, and scholars either roast or toast the commission's creation. Koeppel delivers all this with great verve and humor, leaving readers to decide whether the grid is the brilliantly democratic, effective plan its architects thought or the dull and ugly manifestation of unimaginative minds ruled by commerce. For Manhattanites, surely, and for anyone who's visited and been either charmed or overwhelmed by the grid.
Kirkus Reviews, 8/15/15
"For Manhattanites, surely, and for anyone who's visited and been either charmed or overwhelmed by the grid.”—-
Library Journal, 9/18/15
“Readers curious about the growth of infrastructure in large city centers will definitely be interested in Koeppel's take.”—-
Manhattan User's Guide, 11/11/15
“Makes the clear-cut case that—whether you like the grid or not—it has more daily impact on millions of people than almost any other urban plan you can name.”—-
New York Journal of Books, 12/1/15
“A fascinating and curious story that takes us back through time to the early beginnings of the city…It is also a drama that delves into the lives and travails of the original surveyors…who mapped the island and saw it not for the city that it was, but the metropolis that it would become…A well-researched ambitious tale of intrigue intertwined with political significance…Koeppel tantalizes with little known facts…A fun, fascinating, and accessible read for those curious enough to delve into the origins of an amazing city.”—-
David Duchovny, actor, author, native New Yorker
"I've spent most of my life walking the straight lines of the world's greatest city and have never thought to ask: Is this a different shape from other cities, and if so, why, and who did it? Koeppel's book answers these questions, in an easygoing, good-humored manner, with interesting facts unearthed on nearly every page. This is one of those books you always wished would be written, and here it is. Indispensable for anyone interested in the history of New York and cities generally, and bound to fuel cocktail conversations up, down, and across the city for years to come."—-
Justin Martin, author of books about a pair of New York eminences, Walt Whitman and Frederick Law Olmsted
"If Manhattan has a subconscious, it's the angular numbered street plan that, for two centuries, has informed the island's destiny. Koeppel does a masterful job of telling the little-known story behind this humble yet hallowed grid. Along the way, he introduces a vivid cast of characters and spins some lively anecdotes. A thoroughly enjoyable read, and one that will cause you to view Manhattan with fresh eyes."—-
Washington Book Review, 1/5/16
“Koeppel explains the history of New York like nobody has done before…A fascinating and unique read…A must read for every New Yorker and anyone who loves New York.”
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New York Times Book Review, 1/10/16
“The best account to date of the process by which an odd amalgamation of democracy and capitalism got written into New York's physical DNA.”—-
New York Times, 12/13/15
“Prodigiously researched…Koeppel [is] an engaging storyteller.”—-
Publishers Weekly, 9/14/15
“A look at the story behind the development of New York City's extraordinary 1811 street grid plan, which 'defined the urbanism of a rising city and nation.'…[An] expert investigation into what made the city special…Koeppel's bold commentary on the constant evolution of Gotham may stir controversy in some quarters, but he unabashedly celebrates the metropolis that has never learned what it means to grow old or stale.”—-
The New Yorker, 10/5/15
"Tells the too little-known tale of how and why Manhattan came to be the waffle-board city we know."—-
Wall Street Journal, 12/13/15
“Koeppel's ventures into early-19th-century political malfeasance are intriguing…[His] narrative is breezy and highly readable.”—-
Kate Ascher, author of The Works: Anatomy of a City
"Rarely does one come across a book that makes you rethink the city you thought you knew.... Koeppel's masterful story-telling does that and more."—-
"An accessible narrative on the development of New York's grid plan, tailored primarily for a popular, rather than strictly academic, audience...but it will also be of interest to scholars working in the fields of urban historical geography, urban planning history, and the history of cartography."
—Historical Geography, -
"A fascinating look at urban planning...A masterful piece that explains the creation and evolution of New York City's grid."—Collected Miscellany
"Koeppel's book is engaging, entertaining, highly informative, and will be useful to both long-time residents and first-time visitors. It is also copiously and precisely documented, greatly aiding further research into the innumerable details of the city."—Reviews in American History, -
