City on a Grid: How New York Became New York

I am engrossed in this book. I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about NYC, but this is a whole different angle, if you will. Gerald Koeppel really alters your view of the city and provides fascinating stories about how the city has grown from "villages" to the grid. His voice is really entertaining, too--it's like being with a great tour guide, bringing it all to life for you.

The overall story was very interesting. Following some of the city council/board meetings was a little confusing. A second reading would be required to get the story completely clear.

I'm an infrequent reader of non-fiction, but having completed this book on New Year's eve I can't think of any book I've enjoyed as much in 2015. While the central story is engrossing with many more historical surprises than I expected, the author's frequent digressions are equally interesting and entertaining. The few but carefully-chosen illustrations beautifully augment the text, and several of the photographs are astonishing - who would have believed that streets were literally bulldozed through hills leaving early homes sitting precariously on newly-formed precipices. Only in New York!

Very interesting book but I did not find it to be an easy read. It tends to jump around the history quite a bit. The author’s research to write this book is quite astounding. It must have been very difficult to source all the information and compile it into this book. A good read for history lovers and I did learn quite a bit while reading it

This book reads like a rich history, travelog and thriller all in one. Deep and colorful, fascinating and full of surprises. While Koeppel has obviously done a tremendous amount of scholarly research, his prose is smooth and accessible and the result is a delightful page turner that will forever change the way you look at New York, America, and perhaps even yourself.

Excellent read! This book was amazing from start to finish. The Author did a great job with very intense details. You can close your eyes and imagine the land, the people, the surveying, as he explains with such great detail the whole process of this great grid we call Manhattan.

Excellent historical perspective on the foundation & creation of the NYC grid.

I am currently reading this book. The info in the book is amazing. It shows how NYC came to being the great city that it is. I read of a lot of facts about the City that I did not know about or ever read about before. A must have for anyone interested in NYC history

It's a pretty good read, but I would have liked some overlays of the maps shown, so as to indicate where the areas were that he was referring to. For example, the Common Lands could have been overlaid on some of the maps to show exactly where they were. Being a non-NY'er, I'm not completely familiar with the areas spoken of. Aside from that, good historical references & background for the eventual gridding of the city. Also, some of the very small maps could have been enlarged for clarity, for us non-natives.

all fine

Easy to read, but feels like there should be more to it. There are many reproductions of plans, but no readable maps. For non-Manhattan people it’s almost impossible to follow. And there is no expression of how today’s city has learned to cope with the grid.