I have always loved the energy and vitality of
New York City, and although I have never lived there, I have
fond memories of my short visits there. A new audio book written
and read by Pete Hamill, who has lived and worked in Manhattan
for most of the past seventy years, has increased my understanding
and deepened my appreciation exponentially about this legendary
town. Downtown: My Manhattan is a six-hour exploration
into the heart of a place that occupies at least four dimensions.
The concrete, brick, steel, trees and grass of a modern city
and the presence of a cultural identity that has been evolving
since the earliest days of the Greek, Roman, and Song Dynasty
empires.
As the author says toward the end of the book,
to understand New York, you have to see it as it is NOW. Sometimes
you can't really "see" what you are looking at unless
you know something about its past, and the author does a masterful
job of weaving detailed historical facts with his own deeply
personal recollections of this place. There are four elements
or themes that appear again and again throughout the book.
The first is the velocity of change, growth, and actual physical
movement that has helped shape the Manhattan of today. I was
particularly fascinated by his discussion of the growth of
the newspaper business and his profiles of Horace Greely,
James Gordon Bennet, Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst
and Adolf Oakes.
A great deal of the book traces the developmentof what the author refers to as the NY human alloy. This
alloy was forged from the earliest Dutch, English, Irish,
Jewish, Italian and Asian immigrants, and I doubt I will ever
visit Little Italy or the Hell's Kitchen area of the city
without remembering how the author described those places
in this book. The author makes a compelling case that Manhattan's
growth and vitality is the result of the age-old cycle of
retreat and advance, of degradation and re-birth. Some of
the most evocative parts of the book lie in the telling of
events that happened in parks like Union Square which, for
many locals, was "ground zero" for remembrances
after 9/11.
Since 1960, the author has worked as a journalist,
editor, etc. for publications based in Manhattan. His training
and expertise have enabled him to provide his readers with
a unique insider's perspective on the evolution of the city.
Nostalgia could be defined -- as the author does -- as an
ache for times and people who are no longer around. It is
also the glue that enables people of different backgrounds
and cultures to bond their experiences of life into a community
memory. There is a lot of nostalgia in this book, but almost
none of the "life was better back then" variety.
Elements of this nostalgia that will stay with me include
his characterization of the former Lion's Head Tavern in Sheridan
Square which became an intellectual hangout from the harshness
of the 1960s, the development of the jazz and blues clubs,
the rich architectural heritage of the city, and the construction
and political intrigue of the subway network.
I have listened to all six hours of this
abridged version twice, and I'm willing to predict that Pete
Hamill's take on New York City will enthrall you, make you
laugh, and, if you are like me, perhaps even weep in a couple
of places. Listening to it is certainly time well spent, and
provides more awareness of the rich breadth of "the city
that never sleeps" than a thousand visits without it.
