New York City Mapped and Mythologized

Maps are magical. Every graphic, like every story, has a point of view, and New York is rife with mapmaking possibilities, thick with mythology, and glutted with history. You Are Here: NYC – Mapping The Soul of the City assembles some two hundred maps charting every inch and facet of the five boroughs, depicting New Yorks of past and present, and a city that never was.

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Among the maps, several by well-known graphic designers like Paula Scher, are The Highline (pictured above), A Nightclub Map of Harlem, Wonders of New York, the Ghostbusters subway map, a rejected proposal of ornate topiaries illustrates a Central Park that might have been, and many more. This sequel to the best-selling You Are Here is available at Amazon as of November 1, and includes original essays by Maria Popova, Bob Mankoff, Sarah Boxer, and Rebecca Cooper, among others. Katharine Harmon, an expert on the topic of maps in art and art in maps, is the editor and the publisher is Princeton Architectural Press.

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Henry Wellge: Greatest New York, 1911, Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, New York Public Library

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Michael Crawford: Three Sympathetic, Absorbent States Volunteer to Serve as NYC Storm Surge Buffers, 2012

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Katarina Jerinic: Brooklyn Constellations, 2007

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The Bronx Museum of the Arts: The Bronx Grand Concourse—A Cultural Map, 2013, design by Kevin Waldron, research by Terry Wasserman, additional research and produced by Tamzin Barford