The stars are the ratings by Amazon.com readers (1-5 stars). When Amazon stars are not available, I have often provided personal commentary.

Fifth Avenue: A Very Social History
Simon / Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Exceptionally entertaining reading. Well researched, with a lighthearted flourish.

Five Points: The 19th Century New York Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum
Anbinder / Plume
One of the best texts currently available on the history of Five Points, without the anti-Irish orientation of other, perhaps more famous publications.

Gramercy Park: An Illustrated History of a New York Neighborhood
Garmey / Balsam
A noted text with good illustrations and drawings.

Gramercy Park: An American Bloomsbury
Klein / Houghton Mifflin
A quality literary history of Gramercy Park.

Harlem: Lost and Found
Adams / Monacelli
Splendidly illustrated with information not often found elsewhere.

Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900-1968
Schoener (Ed.) / New Press
Hundreds of photographs from the controversial 1969 documentary exhibit that appeared at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920-1930
Watson / Pantheon
An exceptionally well presented collection of history and concepts. Extremely intelligently laid out, with “family trees,” quotations, and excellent illustration – all enhancing a well conceived text. Exceptional.

Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America
David C. Driskell (Editor), et al
Excellent images. Beautiful book.

Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto: Negro New York, 1890-1930
Sofsky /Harper & Row
A classic and valuable text.

Morningside Heights: History of its Architecture and Development
Dolkart / Columbia University Press
Excellent research and splendid analysis of this architecturally rich neighborhood. Impressive!

Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem
Washington / Arcadia
Take a pictorial tour of the richly diverse history and lore of this famously picturesque, but often overlooked Manhattan neighborhood.

NEW YORK'S LEFT BANK: Art and Artists Off Washington Square North 1900-1950
Virginia Budny / Privately Published, 2006
This exhibition catalogue, from an exhibition at New York University, is the best overall material I have seen on this subject. In a two-block stretch of Greenwich Village, in the first half of the 20th century, a community of nearly 200 painters and sculptors flourished – many becoming world-famous, such as Paul Manship, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Isamu Noguchi, and Edward Hopper. Rare photographs and quality writing by Virginia Budny, the exhibition curator.

Republic of Dreams: Greenwich Village: The American Bohemia, 1910-1960
Wetzeon
The history of Greenwich Village through the stories of the significant individuals who defined “New Bohemia.”

The Improper Bohemians
Churchill / Dutton
One of the classic Greenwich Village texts. Very readable and replete with social history.

This Was Harlem: 1900-1950
Anderson / Noonday
Superb book. A previous printing was called "Harlem: The Great Black Way"

Turn West on 23rd Street
Baral / Fleet
This book is out of print and difficult to find, but I know of no better book about the Chelsea Theatre District. A show lover’s delight, the chatty book is illustrated with posters and memorabilia from the author’s collection. A remarkable treasure. Track this one down!

Upper West Side Story
Salwen / Abbeyville
This is probably the best history of the Upper West Side available.

Voices from the Harlem Renaissance
Huggins (ed.) / Oxford
Focuses on the intellectual energy of the Harlem Renaissance and the intoxicating hope of the era that black Americans could create important art and compel the nation to recognize their equality.

When Harlem Was Jewish
Gurock / Columbia University Press
An impressive and unique recounting of Harlem's Jewish history. Worthy of being reprinted. May be difficult to find.

When Harlem Was in Vogue
Lewis / Penguin
Focuses on the intellectual energy of the Harlem Renaissance and the intoxicating hope of the era that black Americans could create important art and compel the nation to recognize their equality.