Heaven on the Hudson

Regular price €81.99
A01=Stephanie Azzarone
A13=Robert F. Rodriguez
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
architecture
Author_Stephanie Azzarone
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=AMX
Category=HBJK
Category=JBSD
Category=JFSG
Category=NHK
Category=WQH
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
history
Language_English
mansions
monuments
Moses
New York City
Olmsted
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
Riverside Drive
Riverside Park
softlaunch
Upper West Side

Product details

  • ISBN 9781531501006
  • Dimensions: 178 x 254mm
  • Publication Date: 27 Sep 2022
  • Publisher: Fordham University Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days

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Winner, Victorian Society in America Book Award
A colorful tale of a singular New York City neighborhood and the personalities who make it special
To outsiders or East Siders, Riverside Park and Riverside Drive may not have the star status of Fifth Avenue or Central Park West. But at the city’s westernmost edge, there is a quiet and beauty like nowhere else in all of New York. There are miles of mansions and monuments, acres of flora, and a breadth of wildlife ranging from Peregrine falcons to goats. It’s where the Gershwins and Babe Ruth once lived, William Randolph Hearst ensconced his paramour, and Amy Schumer owns a penthouse. Told in the uniquely personal voice of a longtime resident, Heaven on the Hudson is the only New York City book that features the history, architecture, and personalities of this often overlooked neighborhood, from the eighteenth century through the present day.
Combining an extensively researched history of the area and its people with an engaging one-on-one guide to its sights, author Stephanie Azzarone sheds new light on the initial development of Riverside Park and Riverside Drive, the challenges encountered—from massive boulders to “maniacs”—and the reasons why Riverside Drive never became the “new Fifth Avenue” that promoters anticipated. From grand “country seats” to squatter settlements to multi-million-dollar residences, the book follows the neighborhood’s roller-coaster highs and lows over time. Readers will discover a trove of architectural and recreational highlights and hidden gems, including the Drive’s only freestanding privately owned villa, a tomb that’s not a tomb, and a sweet memorial to an eighteenth-century child. Azzarone also tells the stories behind Riverside’s notable and forgotten residents, including celebrities, murderers, a nineteenth-century female MD who launched the country’s first anti-noise campaign, and an Irish merchant who caused a scandal by living with an Indian princess.
While much has been written about Central Park, little has focused exclusively on Riverside Drive and Riverside Park until now. Heaven on the Hudson is dedicated to sharing this West Side neighborhood’s most special secrets, the ones that, without fail, bring both pleasure and peace in a city of more than 8 million.

Stephanie Azzarone is a native New Yorker who has lived on Riverside Drive most of her adult life. A former journalist (freelancer for the New York Times and New York magazine among others) she also ran an award-winning Manhattan public relations agency. Currently she is studying for her tour guide certification to share her knowledge of Upper West Side life along the Hudson River with natives and tourists alike.