William Helmreich, éminent professeur de sociologie, a consacré sa carrière à l'exploration de la tapisserie complexe de la société humaine. Ses recherches ont exploré la dynamique des relations raciales et ethniques, l'influence profonde de la religion et les effets transformateurs de l'immigration. Avec un accent particulier sur la sociologie urbaine, il a offert des analyses perspicaces du caractère unique de New York, examinant le comportement des consommateurs et les nuances de la prise de risques.
The first comprehensive study of the Holocaust survivors who came to America, Against All Odds reveals that these men and women triumphed over adversity and built rich and rewarding lives. More than superb history, the book is an extraordinary and inspiring glimpse of the human spirit's power to overcome tragedy and despair.
Bill Helmreich is a top-notch tour guide. He exudes avuncular charm throughout this book, making the cultural and historical facts sparkle and the details sing. Readers will be able to tell a good story when they visit these neighborhoods.--Jonathan R. Wynn, author of The Tour Guide: Walking and Talking New York
Bill Helmreich walked every block of New York City--some six-thousand miles--to write the award-winning The New York Nobody Knows. Later, he re-walked most of Queens--1,012 miles in all--to create this one-of-a-kind walking guide to the city's largest borough, from hauntingly beautiful parks to hidden parts of Flushing's Chinese community. Drawing on hundreds of conversations he had with residents during his block-by-block journey through this fascinating, diverse, and underexplored borough, Helmreich highlights hundreds of facts and points of interest that you won't find in any other guide. In Bellerose, you'll explore a museum filled with soul-searing artwork created by people with mental illness. In Douglaston, you'll gaze up in awe at the city's tallest tree. In Corona, you'll discover the former synagogue where Madonna lived when she first came to New York. In St. Albans, you'll see the former homes of jazz greats, including Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. In Woodhaven, you'll walk a block where recent immigrants from Mexico, Guyana, and China all proudly fly the American flag. And much, much more.
Walking 6,000 Miles in the City
The New York Nobody Knows is a representation of everyday lives of New Yorkers.
"For his award-winning book The New York Nobody Knows, which Princeton published in 2013, Bill Helmreich walked every block in New York City, around 6,000 miles. Then, he re-walked the city to research one-of-a-kind walking guides for general readers for each borough, uncovering the unusual and the unknown in New York City's neighborhoods. Bill Helmreich has taken readers through the ever-changing neighborhoods of Brooklyn, bustling Manhattan, vibrant Queens, and now in this installment, the Bronx, a borough his describes as filled with hope, history, beauty, and a strong sense of community. Helmreich provides a fascinating, detailed overview of the borough, highlighting major attractions like Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Museum of the Arts as well as architectural places of interest, like the Art Deco building at 888 Grand Concourse and the Concourse Plaza Hotel, once a luxury hotel in the Bronx that is now a senior citizens' residence. The Bronx Nobody Knows, like the previous guidebooks, is organized by neighborhood, and Helmreich delivers a personal and entertaining account of his travels as he interacts with locals and captures the heart of the borough"--
Mill Basin -- Sunset Park -- Borough Park -- Bay Ridge -- Dyker Heights -- Bensonhurst -- Bath Beach -- Gravesend -- Sheepshead Bay -- Gerritsen Beach -- Manhattan Beach -- Brighton Beach -- Coney Island -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
As a child growing up in Manhattan, William Helmreich played a game with his father called "Last Stop." They would pick a subway line, ride it to its final destination, and explore the neighborhood. Decades later, his love for exploring the city is as strong as ever. Putting his feet to the test, he decided that the only way to truly understand New York was to walk virtually every block of all five boroughs-an astonishing 6,000 miles. His journey took him to every corner of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Helmreich spoke with hundreds of New Yorkers from every part of the globe and all walks of life. He finds that to be a New Yorker is to struggle to understand the place and to make a life that is as highly local as it is dynamically cosmopolitan. Truly unforgettable, The New York Nobody Knows will forever change how you view the world's greatest city
