Names of New York: Discovering the City's Past, Present, and Future Through Its Place-Names

by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

From the coauthor of the award-winning Nonstop Metropolis--a short, fascinating journey into the past, present, and future of New York City through its place names and the stories they contain.

Drawing on his background in cultural geography, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro excavates the wealth of stories that are embedded in New York City's place names and uses them to illuminate the power of naming to shape experience and our sense of place. He traces the ways that the native Lenape, the Dutch settlers, the British invaders, and successive waves of immigrants have left their marks on the place and continue to reshape it. He explores how many New York place names have accrued iconic significance far beyond the city's boundaries; for example, "Brooklyn" is the name of a notorious street gang in Haiti, of restaurants from New Zealand to Paris, and of thousands of children (it is among the top fifty girl's names in America). He interviews the last living speakers of Lenape, tours the harbor's many "out-islands" with a tugboat captain, and meets the linguists at the Endangered Language Alliance who study the estimated eight hundred languages now spoken in New York. And he makes clear that as immigrants and marginalized groups continue to find new ways to make the city's streets and boroughs their own, the names that adhere to the landscape function not only as portals to explore the past but as a means to reimagine what's possible now.

Genres: History, New York, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Language, American History

243 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and Harper's magazine, among many other publications. Among his books is Names of New York, Island People, and (with Rebecca Solnit) Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. He is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, where he also teaches.

Reviews

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting history of borough, neighborhood, and street names in New York City. I really liked it -- but normally would have given it 4 stars, since I save 5 stars for things that are AMAZING.

However, I noticed it's got a bunch of 1 star reviews, since he refers to Trump as "venal" and "racist"... which MAGA people took offense to.

So, I'm bumping it up a star to balance out the other reviews; in the hopes that this book gets more of an audience!

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Names of New York" by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a wonderfully written, deep-dive into the history of the place names of New York. By exploring the toponyms of New York place names, Jelly-Schapiro is able to tell the story of not only the city itself, but the people, events, and time periods that shaped it into what we know today.

This book is a great read for anyone interested in North American history or New York City's history! As a genealogist with roots in New Amsterdam, I found this book very helpful for understanding the contexts in which my ancestors lived.

[Rachel Snyder Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I went to NYC for the first time last month, I’ve been interested in learning and reading more about these iconic places and the stories behind and before them. And my love for place-making aligned so much with the title of this book, I just had to pick it up!

It was, in all honesty, a bit more dense than I thought it would be. But Jelly-Shapiro is a geography academic, so I was not deeply surprised. Despite this, all of you who love this city, American history, and place-making should add it to your reading list.

I absolutely loved the author's approach to place, indelibly linked to history and persons, but also reaching into what will be. There is a Western Apache teaching that “wisdom sits in places,” and this book definitely unpacked New York City with this in mind.

From Broadway’s translation from an Indigenous trail whose width impressed colonizers to a noun synonymous with iconic musical theater the world over to Manhattan’s own birth from a Native tongue, this book interrogates the histories we know and those we hear less about. Jelly-Shapiro speaks to the implicit challenge in understanding Indigenous meanings of place names, because just as many family names were butchered at Ellis Island, much of what we know today about Indigenous names come from journals of explorer crews of the like of Henry Hudson’s or Dutch & British colonial settlers, who inevitably recorded both spelling and pronunciation incorrectly. It is deeply sad to think of that lost history and story.

One of the most magical pieces of this book to me was viewing Washington Irving’s Sleepy Hollow as instilling a national memory of the nation’s Dutch past. The Van Tassels and Van Garretts, Reverend Steenwyck, and other family names are enshrined in our collective memory (and at least my annual viewing of the Tim Burton classic).

Another homage I appreciated, was the look into Hamilton (through and beyond Lin-Manuel Miranda’s epic) to how this particular immigrant founding father has been hallowed in his hometown of NYC from its beginning. Within this same story is that of the Marquis de Lafayette, America’s favorite fighting Frenchman, whose name is now attached to 72 cities across the nation (e.g., Fayetteville, North Carolina).

An American efficiency that began in NYC itself was the putting off of the Old-World way of street names changing with each city block. New Yorkers, Jelly-Shapiro notes, “began conceiving of their streets, whether they ran a few blocks or a few miles, as more like rivers than places.”

I highly recommend it to those who fell for the Big Apple just as I did.

[Lore H · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75. This book is undeniably an incredible feat of research. You will learn loads about place names in so-called Manhattan (and the surrounding boroughs too). The slow pacing was not my favorite choice- I read one half of this book in December and struggled to pick it back up until a travel day today. I’m glad I stuck with it though! Maybe I wish the chapters had been organized differently? Still thinking on it, but they felt a bit disjointed to me. Appreciated the tidbits of history behind place names and place memory, particularly behind the bridges and neighborhoods and streets I passed as a kid. There wasn’t as much of a radical intersectional analysis as I’d have liked woven throughout the book, but I felt like he was trying to get there. The reflections on COVID & BLM in 2020 in the last chapter were a good start, but I wished he’d had taken more of a critical analysis throughout the book so it didn’t feel like as much of an afterthought towards the end. Particularly liked the chapter on immigrant communities reclaiming streets and blocks as their own ie) Little Yemen, Calle Colombia. The pacing and content in the contemporary chapter at the end was really enjoyable- perhaps the earlier chapters could have mirrored that flow a bit. Will recommend to my dad and other city naming nerds!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4.5. Really well organized guide to place names in NYC. I listened to the audiobook version and finally heard some of these places pronounced, which was a bonus.

[Sara Newman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did! Felt a lot like a Wikipedia page—too much information, not enough analysis.

[Rosalind · Rating 5 out of 5]

The palimpsest of history

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtitle “discovering the cities past, present, and future through its place–names” is a. good description. I loved the historical part but got bogged down in the last half.

[Helen Geng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read March 2022

NYPL book

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really not what I was expecting. Guess I thought I might actually learn something…?
I thought it might be a neat collection of facts, presented somewhat objectively.
Instead, it wound up being quite the political treatise presented by an obviously privileged, self-righteous, and tone-deaf “New Yorker” high up on their perch. Save yourself some time, and skip this one.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A competent account of the origins of place names in New York and its surrounding area.

If you’re very into New York City history like I am, you’ll already be familiar with most of what’s in this book. Much of it is oft-discussed in books that cover the evolution of the city , so there’s no much to gain from this one aside from the occasional anecdote for readers who already possess a solid background on the topic.

As one such reader, I had hoped for more (be that in the form of more in-depth examination of place names or more obscure and little-known pieces of research. Thus it was a perfectly acceptable read (well written, responsibly researched), but not what i was hoping for and not especially educational for me.

If you are new to the history of New York, this book would be an excellent place to start. The organization of the information is a little disjointed and could have been better, but it reads well, the research is more than sound, and it’s packed with information.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

i wanted to like this book, but it was flawed on several levels. The first was the organization. Although there were distinct chapter headings, the stories and names were interspersed throughout the book and until one got to the alphabetical glossary at the end, which was good, it was difficult to sort out what the author was going to cover. Secondly, the author interspersed personal stories and anecdotes that were very distracting from the subject. Finally, the author on numerous occasions decided the book was the vehicle for him to disparage and insult the former president. If this was supposed to be a light and informative story of New York's place names, he missed the boat by using this as a chance to vent his hatred for the President and his supporters. Not good and totally unprofessional. Do not recommend.

[Seb Swann · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s only in and through place-the places we love and leave and pass through and want to go to-that we figure out who we are. If language is consciousness and humans are a “place-loving species,” then place-names-toponyms-may mold a larger piece of our minds than we think.”

If you like words, history, and toponyms; Jelly-Shapiro shares the history of New York’s place-names, providing color and meaning that has enriched the way I look at New York and will influence the way I think about cities and names.

[Carianne Carleo-Evangelist · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent. Everything from the English and Dutch names for the land on which I live to a discussion of street co naming, the legacy of confederate statues and the Say Their Names chants of 2020. Landscape truly is history made visible, yet some of the examples are new since the traces of them have been scrubbed from maps. While I knew some of the stories, such as the Astors, I wasn’t aware of the de Lanceys and why they lost their land.

[H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mr. Jelly-Schapiro evidently is a smart fellow (and, he certainly knows it) who has accumulated a lot of information about New York City names. I found some of the information edifying. Now he needs to find a writer who can write. So badly written. Digressions, lack of context, wandering text, a paucity of organization, bad English, run ons, etc., etc. Get this guy a Strunk and White, along with a primer on English. Pantheon is a first rate imprint.....where's the editor?

[alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s an impressive undertaking and has much to say about all corners of NYC, even far-off ones to be explored someday, but I found the airy prose about immigrants in Queens and Black communities in Harlem to be more of a monologue than actually informative.

Strangely, the book seems like it gives up on actually describing the origin of street names beyond the commute of the author, which is a pity because this was the part I enjoyed the most. Why St Mark Place? Mott? Chrystie and Forsyth? Etc

[Jenn Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this. Like a combination of the Bowery Boys podcast the The Address Book. Information re: the myriad place names of New York, from the islands themselves down to modern commemorative streets. Would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Edelweiss/NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read for all of us loving NYhistory I’m a nerd and a history buff and loved reading this book. Wish I had all this in my arsenal when I taught Social Studies in a NYC school.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author gets too much wrong. Insults what he doesn't understand.

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 but I will round up. I really love learning out place names. It's so interesting to see how things have changed over time and learn their meaning.

[Angela Guido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know the Bronx is the only borough to be named after a person? Also it's insane how many places got their name by accident and how many people deserved to have things named after them that didn't VS those who DO have names after them that don't. This was a really interesting read with lots of fun facts and information. It was easy and fast and taught me so much. The Kosciuszko Bridge, right in my neighborhood, was named after a really cool dude who left his assets to the cause of freeing and educating America's slaves. Pulaski wasn't bad either. GPoint pride. Those were my favorites to read about. I just love this city and all of its history. Its everchanging-ness. You could learn something new forever here and I hope to keep learning. I'd recommend it, especially to any fellow NYC or history nerds, and would absolutely read it again.

[Harlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine it'd be really easy, when writing a book about the place names of New York, to just write 100s of fun little anecdotes without much of a theme or point of view. For 80% of this book, Jelly-Schapiro avoids this trap, instead writing eloquently about how place names come from political power and societal pressures, using place names to talk about who got to write history, over the hundreds of years since the Lenape and Dutch were the primary inhabitants. Really great stuff, and the other 20% is sorta fun too. Highly recommended, but you might consider skipping over some bits toward the end.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will be of interest in anyone who has an interest in the history of New York City. The author covers a large number of areas around the city and how they came about to have the names that they do. His writing style is engaging and humorous at times. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

[Ariela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved most of this book, though I do think it's worth mentioning that Jelly-Shapiro has a really unique lyrical writing style that is definitely not for everyone. I found it occasionally hard going because of this, but overall loved the first half of this. I think the book could've benefited from some illustrations/maps. Also it's hard to say whether this is my bias because it's where my interest lies, but I felt like the earlier chapters about the centuries-old names were much more thorough and interesting than the later ones, which often wound up being kind of list-like.

[Akiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has the classic problem of a survey work which is that it covers a lot of ground and so it can't go too deep, but lots of fun little bits of New York history and he connects just enough to actual stories and his own experiences visiting historians or parts of the city to keep it from getting too dry. You probably already know if you're the sort of person who is interested in the origins of names and New York City, and if you are, this is a nice little read.

[Jeff G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative book. Living in New York City, you often pass by these streets and parks and wonder where the names came from. Well, this book answers those questions and more! The only complaint I have is sometimes politics are brought up in something that they aren’t necessary in. However, it’s still a great read that provides a ton of information and covers the many eras that have made New York so great!

[Gerry Dincher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quickly noticed that this book isn't a serious or even slightly serious book of scholarly writing. The author says there's a town in Pennsylvania called Hiawatha and that Lackawanna is an anthracite coal mining town near Lake Erie. Pennsylvania has one town, Bloomsburg. Lackawanna is a county in the northeastern anthracite region and is where you're going to find Scranton. I tried reading more, but just couldn't. I like the jabs at trump, but it's just not a good book.

[Kel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how to say this but I feel like I can't remember anything I read about the names I learned in the book - it just feels a little too busy. Also the author does not seem to understand what the word "gringo" means - but sure seems keen on using it.

I guess I just wanted this book to be more than it was.

[Scott Middleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't explain why it's called "Force Tube Avenue." :)

Other complaints includes occasional typos, clumsy sentences, and relentless parentheticals:

"And it's a hope--at the least, a hope by its coiner that it will stick: that its destiny will be more akin to, say, the fate of Adam Clayton Powell's namesake avenue in Harlem than that of the official moniker, since 2008, of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, which no New Yorker doesn't still call the Triborough." Good lord.

[Alicia Helbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - definitely entertaining, but I felt like it covered too many places... giving some places more depth and explanation than others (as well as discussing other places named for the same people/things in other cities)