Description: A look at the dreams that inspired the changes in the landscape of New York, and the problems that eluded solution. A mosaic of grand improvements and environmental disorder, this work covers landmarks such as Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Review Quotes: "Lucidly written, deeply researched and thought through, Empire City zooms to the front rank of books about nineteenth century New York. Scobey examines the way real estate boosters, visionary reformers, business elites and Tammany politicos reshaped Gotham's cityscape, for good and ill. His analytical approach both illuminates a particular era, and provides a powerful general model for examining other times, other places."