Brooklyn College Library LibGuides Home: New York City: Home

The Green Book: Official Directory of the City of New York

For nearly a century, the Green Book has kept New Yorkers informed about the agencies, offices, boards, and commissions that keep our dynamic City running. This year, to complement the traditional printed edition, we are proud to publish the first truly "green" Green Book-a searchable, up-to-date City Directory in digital form

Brooklyn Historical Society

Brooklyn Historical Society connects the past to the present and makes the vibrant history of Brooklyn tangible, relevant, and meaningful for today's diverse communities, and for generations to come. Founded in 1863, Brooklyn Historical Society is a nationally recognized urban history center dedicated to preserving and encouraging the study of Brooklyn's extraordinary 400-year history. Located in Brooklyn Heights and housed in a magnificent landmark building designed by George Post and opened in 1881, today's BHS is a cultural hub for civic dialogue, thoughtful engagement and community outreach.

Classic Books on New York City

Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows; Mike Wallace
Call Number: F128.3 .B95 2000
To European explorers, it was Eden, a paradise of waist-high grasses, towering stands of walnut, maple, chestnut, and oak, and forests that teemed with bears, wolves, raccoons, beavers, otters, and foxes. Today, it is the site of Broadway and Wall Street, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, and the home of millions of people, who have come from every corner of the nation and the globe. In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898.
The Historical Atlas of New York City by Alice Hudson (Illustrator); Eric Homberger
Call Number: F128.3 .H65 1994
A visual celebration of nearly 400 years of New York City's history. Neighborhood by neighborhood, the Atlas takes the reader back through history, detailing such crucial events as the initial settlement of 270 people in thirty log houses; John Jacob Astor's meteoric rise from humble fur trader to the richest and most powerful man in the city; Frederick Law Olmsted's design for Central Park; and the fascinating ethnic mix of modern Queens.
The Street Book by Henry Moscow
Call Number: F128.67.A1 M6 Reference
The Street Book contains brief biographical sketches for more than one hundred of Manhattan's well- and lesser-known streets. With photographs, period drawings, and reproductions of old newspapers, The Street Book is a visual treat as well. The detailed topographical maps of Manhattan providean easy reference for locating streets, and even make it possible to use The Street Book as a walking guide.
The Encyclopedia of New York City by Kenneth T. Jackson (Editor); Nancy Flood (Editor); Lisa Keller (Editor)
Call Number: F128.3 .E75 2010 Reference
Covering an exhaustive range of information about Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. The revised edition includes 800 new entries that help complete the story of New York: from Air Train to E-ZPass, from September 11 to public order. The new material includes broader coverage of subject areas previously underserved as well as new maps and illustrations. Virtually all existing entries--spanning architecture, politics, business, sports, the arts, and more--have been updated to reflect the impact of the past two decades. The more than 5,000 alphabetical entries and 700 illustrations of the second edition of The Encyclopedia of New York City convey the richness and diversity of its subject in great breadth and detail, and will continue to serve as an indispensable tool for everyone who has even a passing interest in the American metropolis.