Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City

by Julia Wertz

Here is New York, as you've never seen it before. A perfectly charming, sidesplittingly funny, intellectually entertaining illustrated history of the blocks, the buildings, and the guts of New York City, based on Julia Wertz's popular illustrated columns in The New Yorker and Harper's.

In Tenements, Towers & Trash, Julia Wertz takes us behind the New York that you think you know. Not the tourist's New York-the Statue of Liberty makes a brief appearance and the Empire State Building not at all-but the guts, the underbelly, of this city that never sleeps. With drawings and comics in her signature style, Wertz regales us with streetscapes "Then and Now" and little-known tales, such as the lost history of Kim's Video, the complicated and unresolved business of Ray's Pizza, the vintage trash and horse bones that litter the shore of Brooklyn's Bottle Beach, the ludicrous pinball prohibition, Staten Island's secret abandoned boatyard, and the hair-raising legend of the infamous abortionist of Fifth Avenue, Madame Restell. From bars, bakeries, and bookstores to food carts, street cleaners, and apartments both cramped and grand, Tenements, Towers & Trash is a wild ride in a time machine taxi from the present day city to bygone days of yore.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, History, Comics, New York, Bande Dessinée, Architecture

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2017

About the author

Julia Wertz is a professional cartoonist, amateur historian, and part-time urban explorer. She made the comic books The Fart Party vol 1 and vol 2 (collected in Museum of Mistakes) and the graphic novels Drinking at the Movies, The Infinite Wait, Tenements, Towers, & Trash, (for which she won the 2018 Brendan Gill Prize), and Impossible People. She does regular short story comics for the New Yorker. Her work has appeared regularly in the New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, the Believer, the Best American Comics, and other publications. Her photography of abandoned places has appeared in a handful of newspapers. She is a repeated MacDowell fellow but was rejected from Yaddo. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she spent a decade in New York City before settling in Sonoma County, CA, with her partner Oliver (yup, the Oliver from Fart Party) and their son Felix. She’s currently working on the graphic novel Bury Me Already (It’s Nice Down Here) to be released in 2025.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia Wertz, the maker of endlessly self-deprecating and always wryly amusing diary comics turns to this an illustrated love letter to the New York she called him for several years. I love her diary comics, but this is a serious departure into a view of New York seen through its buildings, storefronts, signage. Not a tourist’s guide, but a New Yorker’s passionate goodbye to her city, as she moves back to California. Wow, it is impressive to look at! This is not a fun story, though there are comics in it sometimes. Mainly it is a book of buildings with little commentary. The diary comics are all her, of course; this huge ambitious book is about her City.

You want to read other books that are love letters to cities or reveling in architecture? Here’s a list, and I have reviews of all of them and more in this category:

Cheap Novelties: The Pleasure of Urban Decay, Ben Katchor (a good pairing with Wertz’s book)
Building Stories, Chris Ware (though he has many about or based in Chicago).
Here, Richard McGuire

A new one I have yet to read: Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York, Roz Chast

Also: 750 Years of Paris, Vincent Mahe
The End of Summer, Tillie Walden
Cleveland, Harvey Pekar
The Bind, William Goldsmith
See the City: The Journey of Manhattan Unfurled, Matteo Pericoli

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You haven’t lived until you died in New York.” - Alexander Woollcott

A fun, quirky book, a love letter from this charming 28-year-old graphic novelist to New York City. You can't help falling in love with Julia Wertz and the way she looks at the world especially her new city. She moved to NYC from San Francisco several years ago and is obviously quite taken with the place. It seems she wants us to see just how much she is besotted. This is a young fresh-eyed history of NYC.

Julia Wertz, who is also an amateur historian and avid urban explorer began writing comics about NYC history for The New Yorker. She draws much of her humor from the underbelly of New York City's neighborhoods ; the funky bars, Jewish bakeries, cluttered bookstores, theaters and deserted buildings in Staten Island.


Born in the Bay Area, Julia got into comics during her last year of college when she was diagnosed with Lupus. Being sick at home, she started reading pages of comics and it seemed to make sense to her. Inspired, she tried creating her own and found her calling. Wertz launched her website in 2005 and is the author/illustrator of the autobiographical graphic novels “The Fart Party vol 1 and vol 2”, “Drinking at the Movies,” “The Infinite Wait and Other Stories” and “Museum of Mistakes: The Fart Party Omnibus.” Four wonderful stars.

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a rather unlikely reader of Tenements, Towers & Trash, in the sense that I liked but did not love Julia Wertz's Drinking at the Movies and I'm generally not that interested in New York City (sorry, New Yorkers!). But my interest was piqued enough to take this out of the library, and I'm really glad I did—the art was BEAUTIFUL, and a lot of the history was so interesting. For some reason I particularly loved the section that focused on different types of apartments. The depictions of various blocks, decades ago contrasted with the present day, were also very striking. Of course I also loved the drawings of, and stories about, various independent bookstores. Not everything was so fascinating—I didn't particularly care to hear about Dead Horse Bay or all of the areas that have become disgusting trash heaps, and I also thought Wertz came across as a bit hipper-than-thou (which was my major issue with Drinking at the Movies as well). Overall, though, I really learned a lot and the pages just flew by. Recommended!

[Hannah Garden · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my deathbed I will say, “I’m so glad Julia Wertz drew a thousand tiny windows.”

This book is perfect.

[Maricruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este cómic te satisfará si 1) eres más urbano que los chicles pegados en las aceras y a ti lo que te gusta cuando viajas es patearte ciudades y mirar fachadas; 2) te gustan los libros llenos de detalles que mirar despacio, las colecciones, los catálogos de cosas; y 3) te pirras por las historias poco conocidas sobre asuntos muy locos, por ejemplo: ¿qué relación existe entre los pin-balls y la mafia?, ¿a quién se le ocurrió la idea de las patatas chips y por qué?, ¿qué carajo es el “Triángulo del rencor de Hess”? A mí, que marcaría sin dudarlo las tres casillas, me ha hecho tilín de muchas formas diferentes.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just the most awesome thing. The most "me" book to ever exist, I think. Such a great showpiece to have on display and flip through, but 100% worth taking the time to read and savor. The cityscapes are gorgeous, and the random facts and behind-the-scenes info about NYC is just too good to pass up. I want to get up, go out, and walk forever around the city to take it all in. I kept flagging things to check out (the Spite Triangle, all the Ray's Pizzas, Ideal Hosiery, weirdly, the 15-mile walk -- CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, the excellent list of books and resources at the end, and SO many more). Julia Wertz's books were some of the first "real" NYC stories I read. Stories about the beauty and mess and the grossness and the misery and the ebullience. The Julia stories interspersed here are so true to her original work and energy, which is a really awesome and welcome interlude in the cityscapes and factoid sections. I remember reading about when Julia was kicked out of her apartment, and I felt a strange sort of sadness, like this mythological place had been destroyed. This book is a great tribute to Julia's time in NYC, and a great tribute to the greatest city. A worthy purchase for locals, dreamers, and adventure-seekers.

[Oriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My god this book is so splendid. I love Julia Wertz, and I love Julia Wertz's New York, and it was just so marvelous meandering quirkily through it with her. What a treasure.

Here's what we ate at book club! Bodega eggcreams, plantain chips, homemade cinnamon rolls, spinach-artichoke dip, and on and on.

[David A Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.juliawertz.com/
simply amazing... and good fun too.

[Till Raether · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[Peter Derk · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know that piece of shit, Here, that everyone is always talking about? THIS is the book, people. It presents a similar idea in a way that's more entertaining, the art is better, and it's so much warmer.

There's a history of NYC in here, so there are pages of storefronts and streets as they appeared in the 20's and as they appear now, which is the Here-like part. Then there are some sketches of the interiors of some different dwellings in NYC. Then there are some more personal things, like Wertz's favorite bookstores and a favorite walking route.

Why is this better than Here?

For starters, the title. Here? That's like IT. It's so hard to talk about something with a one-word title like Here.

Here has no personality. It's like an unobtrusive observer. I get the idea, but it's just so cold and articficial feeling. It's a little like...I know this shit is made up, so why am I watching it? Who is the person behind the idea of putting all the same shit in this one spot? TTT (see, the name can be shortened!) has personality. And the author knows when to step in and provide some personality and when to step back and let the shit speak for itself.

The art in TTT is never flat. You've got these detailed, Chris-Ware-esque architectural drawings, and you've got these...I guess Chris Ware also draws cartoon-y characters, but whatever. The art is beautiful and intricate in places and cartoon-y and expressive in others. Here is just one style, all very flat.

There's big stuff, like Fresh Kills on Staten Island, and there's small stuff, like the use of pneumatic tubes in Manhattan. The mixture is great and gives the book a variety of textures, big and small.

Sometimes I hate books about NYC. Some people have a little bit too much of a boner for the place where they live. It's like they wrote a book with a sub-agenda of proving that NYC is the greatest place in the world, which is like, "WOW, big thesis there! Maybe next you'll do something SUPER brave and write about how L.A. is weird!" TTT is pretty fair. I think there's a love for NYC, and I think there's also a recognition that some of the things that happen in NYC are stupid. And that the city is so fucking expensive. So, so fucking expensive.

I think my big pet peeve from New York people is complaints about tourism. I mean...if you'd lived there since 1965, I guess? But how long has it been since NYC has been a HUGE tourist destination? Do you really think something like Broadway can exist if it's just like a fun, local thing? If there weren't a shitload of people coming from out of town? I'd be fucking annoyed too, believe me, I get annoyed when the population in my city increases somewhat when the college is back in session. But it's not like, "Fucking college students make this place suck." It's just like, "I wish there were less people around when I really need to get somewhere."

Anyway, rant over.

You can read this one and enjoy it without having to get an I heart NY tattoo on your bicep.

[Caitlin M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia Wertz has concocted a book that's irresistible if you’re into New York City and its lore, old and new. Written from the point of view of someone who moved to the city as a young adult, fell in love with it, and spent a lot of time exploring its odd corners and its ghosts, Tenements, Towers & Trash is personal, discursive, and opinionated, all of which are qualities in its favor.

Told through prose and detailed black-and-white drawings. the book is stuffed with then-and-now streetscapes; collections of of-a-kind establishments past and present (apothecaries, bakeries, theaters, food carts, bars, and indie bookstores, to name but a few) that figure in New Yorkers' daily lives; and with deeper explorations of people, places, and things both well known and not that make up the fabric of the city, from a nineteenth-century abortionist, graveyards for boats and once-banned pinball machines, trash collecting, and the subway, to the Village Voice and recent institution Kim's Video .

Even as Wertz celebrates the old architecture that still stands and the historic businesses that endure, her then-and-now illustrations show the city New York is becoming, beyond the inevitable churn of time: The familiar shift from independent neighborhood businesses to chain drugstores and Verizon outlets; the buildings torn down and replaced by luxury apartments for the well-heeled, gentrification pushing longtime, economically and ethnically diverse residents out of their neighborhoods. This can be depressing (if not exactly new information to those who’ve followed the news in recent years), but these portraits sit alongside others that show farther-flung neighborhoods populated by an array of small businesses serving the needs of still-diverse communities.

Like Julia Wertz, I’m a Northern California native who moved to New York City in my mid 20s and lived there for a decade, though I left around the time she arrived. So Tenements, Towers & Trash brought with it a certain amount of nostalgia for me. It entertained me equally with history I was familiar with and that which was new to me; it evoked memory with illustrations of places I’d walked by hundreds of times and businesses I’ve patronized, and it took me to many neighborhoods and corners of the city where I’d never ventured, and without even showing me people frequently gave me a sense of who once lived and now lives there. Wertz’s project isn’t meant to give a comprehensive look at the city; as she explains, she wrote a book about things that interested her as she explored her adopted home. The breadth of what she does cover is wide, and often enough fascinating. The book’s large size (think coffee-table dimensions), quality paper, and sewn binding make it a pleasure to read, giving space for the reader to explore the detail and density of the illustrations and letting the occasional text-heavy pages breathe.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of us tend to read the usual travel guides when we visit a new (or old) place, but there is something really wonderful about micro histories that focus on things that tourists, or even locals for that matter, don't read about or see. This large and heavy book is a lovely illustrated micro history of New York City.

There are pages of and pages of drawings of buildings and street corners then and now. There are quirky bits of history and comics woven in throughout. Sure, there are some touristy spots thrown in, but this is not your usual tourist guide to a city. You get a sense of the history, of the changes in architecture over the years, and the transience of it all. A love letter to the city that was the author's home for about ten years. A wonderful book for new and long time fans of NYC.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history is mostly good, and its well written, and the subject matter is interesting, but the comparison pieces - where the author does side by side illustrations of a particular street from two different eras - are a subject matter that works much better in a photographic format. Drawings, however technically skilled, don't have the captured weight of history behind them and seem to blend together.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story around the edges of this book is melancholy in tone.
In the foreword, Wertz reveals that after being illegally evicted from her apartment, she was forced to leave NYC and move in with family on the west coast. She finished this book in the years immediately after leaving the city. That sadness and nostalgia colors the book.

It's an impressive enterprise. Large size, many pages... The content alternates between Then & Now-style depictions of specific blocks or businesses in NYC, and short nonfiction pieces about various people, events, and inventions.
I like obscure history, and I really like Wertz' autobiographical work, so I was into it.

Read with:
Ramshackle by Allison McCreesh for a serious sense of place
Photobooth: A Biography for the aesthetic and niche historical stuff
Tokyo on Foot for the illustrated city idea
Syncopated: An Anthology of Nonfiction Picto-Essays for short-form NF goodness

[Dina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una a joya a todos los niveles y si a su genialidad le sumamos la sección dedicada a las librerías de Nueva York ya apaga y vámonos. Súper recomendado!!

[Keith Schnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world needs more books, and especially more illustrated / graphic books, like Tenements, Towers & Trash, because there really isn't anything that I can think of that's quite like this. Probably the closest thing would be Harvey Pekar's Cleveland, like this essentially a love letter from the author to a city that became a muse. But Pekar was handicapped by the fact that his readers needed a lot more of the basic history of his more provincial city in order to understand why it is the way it is, leaving less space for him to weave his own life into the narrative or to tell awesome Cleveland stories. Fortunately for Julia Wertz, New York needs no introduction, so she can focus on what she does best: stunningly detailed streetscape illustrations combined with obscure, hilarious stories and anecdotes full of local history and trivia, told through the lens of her own experience as an artist in the City.

Some of the best material here -- the long stories about the Pinball Prohibition and the World's Fair -- were previously published in The New Yorker, but as is always the case that's never an excuse not to read them again; there are also new stories along the same lines. The fascinating streetscapes were mostly, as far as I can tell, never before published, and I spent hours poring over them in detail, looking at the storefronts of different eras and trying to imagine living in that world, which was clearly the whole point of the book and is the real reason to pick it up.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing.

If you ou have never visited New York. If you live in New York. If you have heard of New York, this is the book for you.

It sounds odd, but I poured over every drawing, in this book, every short story she wrote, and illustrated.

The subhead of the book sort of says it all An unconventional illustrated history of New York City

This is very different from her other books, such as Fart Party, Drinking at the Movies and the Infanite wait.

But, as one musician said to me, when brining out an album which was completely different from anything she had ever done "that is why I do it. If i wanted to do the same thing again, I wouldn't release a new album."

It is 282 pages of amazing drawings, of New York, then and now, and it makes me wish she would take the time to do this same loving treatment to other cities that I love, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenements, Towers and Trash is an illustrated art book of New York. You get some history and a few comics, but the real beauty of this book is the in-depth drawings of New York, both past and present. It's a fascinating way to look at the city through the details and forgotten bits rather than just the main tourist spots. I learned a lot about the city and where I will probably want to visit when I finally go, and I enjoyed the little historical stories (and accompanying humour!) along the way.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite parts were the before-afters of the city. I could look at a whole book of just that.

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

TENEMENTS, TOWERS & TRASH: AN UNCONVENTIONAL ILLUSTRARTED HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY by Julia Wertz opens with an E.B. White quote:

“There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something....Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion.”

I disagree. It’s not passion, but mythology that those coming to New York City bring, which all but obliterates the reality of the place.

Julia Wertz isn’t a native New Yorker, but she comes to town with a wide-eyed appreciation of the dirt behind the iconic arclights that blind one to the real city. It’s history, not the narcotic of New York City’s iconic pull that draws her.

And she draws out the past still present, even when its been razed to make way for chain stores. With a mix of comics and archeticual drawings, she explores the ephemera of New York City, the history it sweeps aways, the garage it buries.

It’s a beautiful and funny book, full of great stories and detailed images of streets past and present. Wertz was priced out of her beloved metropolis and wants to return, but her book shows how New York City changes, and recently those changes are not good.

There’s still remenants of the past and even hope for the future, but New York City has entered a new era, one in which it no longer leads, but follows. It looks more like a suburb, or maybe all the suburbs stacked on top of one another, unable to wake up from a dream of its own making.

I love New York. I love Wertz’s book. If only New York loved people like Wertz and gave them a space, even a fucking outer-borough studio, in which to make their art, then, maybe, the creative capital of the city wouldn’t be in default, like New York City nearly was back when in the 1970s, when it was cheap and artists could stake a claim.

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I brought this book home from the library, I hadn't bothered to actually crack the cover. And when I did open it, I saw page after page of blocks of text with hardly a word balloon or dialogue exchange in sight and almost returned it unread. It takes a special creator to pull off a text heavy graphic novel - or "illustrated history," in this case - and I wasn't sure Julia Wertz was that special.

What a delight to find out that she is.

The passion she has for New York City's architecture and trivial bits of history bursts off the page. I have never been so happy looking at pictures of buildings - and such ordinary buildings at that. Wertz makes average city blocks fascinating by comparing the modern version to an incarnation from 50 or 100 years before. Two-page spreads sprinkled throughout the book become an engaging spot-the-differences puzzles. In between she tells of her own personal experiences in the city, and the experiences of criminals, inventors and regular schmoes in a relaxed, funny, and expletive-laced narrative.

What a wonderful book to read so soon after reading Roz Chast's Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York. I definitely recommend reading them together for a wonderful immersion in the horrible awesomeness which is New York City.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So. good.

Whenever people ask me why I love this dirty, rat-infested city, I always find it difficult to put into precise words. This book has so beautifully captured the unique essence and personality of NYC that I struggle to explain. Many pages contain no words or phrases but I can still understand what the author is trying to convey. I love it.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH a great, unconventional take on New York City. Every neighborhood needs its own version of a book like this one!

It’s an epic blend of prose, artwork, and comics, packed with photos and cool information but never heavy or academic. The building drawings are phenomenal—lively, detailed, and clearly made with real affection for the overlooked corners of NYC.

I truly can’t imagine the time, care, effort, and sheer talent it must have taken to create something like this. Its scale is phenomenal, yet still feels personal.

I bought my copy on Amazon—once I saw the book store pages I knew i needed a physical copy. This book made me want to grab a fistful of micron pens and start drawing parts of beautiful downtown Delco. Overall, a total treasure trove that sat on my TBR for far too long as it’s a delight for anyone who appreciates cities, sociology, walking, and/or urban illustration.

EDITED TO ADD: I just realized there will be less and less bookstores for Julia to draw if I keep buying books on Amazon. 🫨 Lesson learned.

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this huge hardcover graphic novel in the window of a local comic shop and after the owner pulled it down for me I had to have it.

Did you love Richard Scarry books as a child? Walking? Urban exploration? Old and new architecture? Then and now photography? Then you will also want this illustrated book.

Julia Wertz has illustrated the buildings and street corners of New York, the subway stations, the pizza parlors, tenements, and along the way tells you stories about her urban exploration and the history of New York.

[Shannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great find by my partner in crime! Loved paging through this one, especially as I’m gearing up for a trip to NYC in a couple of weeks.

[Serene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wertz's taste for the delightfully mundane and obscured artifacts of NYC grabbed my attention and filled up a new list of things I want to check out on my next trip. She gracefully weaves odes of beautiful buildings and blocks, stories about terrible people, and personal narrative about her decade in Brooklyn. Also, as a long-time fan of hers, it's cool to see how her style has matured in many ways, but she still hasn't lost her misanthropic and sarcastic sense of humor.

[Katie Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute collection of some quirky, lesser known stories and illustrations of New York. I love the author's passion for long walks, exploring abandoned buildings and sites, and documenting "then and now" versions of city streets and storefronts. I especially enjoyed the story about the "spite triangle," the banning (and smashing!) of pinball machines that lasted until 1978, and the history of places like Bottle Beach and the ship graveyard.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ouvrage documentaire absolument extraordinaire et très bien documenté, drôle et cynique.

Un voyage par les pages. À lire absolument, que vous aimez NY ou pas.

(Point négatif: traduction un peu trop franchouillarde à mon goût)

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, rambling book with intricate and meticulous drawings of insides and outsides of buildings, little histories of things like trash, the subway system, Kim's Video, "then and now" pictures of blocks in all five boroughs, and collections of places like bakeries, bars, and bookstores. Word in Greenpoint is also my favorite indie bookstore in all of NYC! I was recently at the new park being built on trash in Staten Island (though not open to public, NYC Audubon Society is awesome and they have a local Staten Islander who leads birding trips out there; we saw 47 types of birds, including a few rare ones, and many other critters, like a huge stag and a scared snake). I loved Kim's Video, the mecca of hard-to-find, foreign and art house DVDs and VHSs before the age of internet shopping and Amazon. And, like Wertz, I'd love to visit the Brother Islands (though probably not a healthy choice).

I'd have liked to see Wertz's take on Governor's Island, it's new rubble humps and abandoned cinema, Y (pool and all), and officers houses, the hammocks and fancy food trucks, and trapeze stuff, Billion Oysters Project, the goats, the piles of compost, and of course, a huge colony of red-winged black birds. And how about the public bath houses; especially because the last one to close in Brooklyn (1960, I think?) was in Wertz's neighborhood, on Huron Street in Greenpoint.

While Wertz just shows most of the stuff, when she does write, she comes across with strong opinions, that are at once funny and, well, judgmental. She is very good at passing judgement, actually. Though she seems to point out that New Yorkers hate change, she herself is overly critical of newer buildings and architecture, preferring the old, decrepit, and weird remnants of the past. Like most New Yorkers I have talked to about the trash (Dead Horse Bay and Staten Island), she seems not at all curious of just where the trash is now going (The US pays many "developing" countries to take its trash and bury it in their landfills, like countries in Africa...)

I learned some new things and had a lot of fun reading Tenements. It will be a valuable addition to my library!

Recommended for anyone who likes weird beaches, dirty pigeons, Ray's Pizza, secret entrances, serial killers, tokens, keys, and hot dogs.