Of Blizzards, Broadway, and Baseball: Editing a New Almanac for New York City
365 days are a lot of days. But they go so quickly! The best way to keep track of them might just be An Almanac of New York City for the Year 2022 published by the wonderful folks at Abbeville Press.
Part guidebook, part planner, all love letter to NYC, the Almanac provides just a glimpse of the richness of this remarkable city in a bite-size, keep-it-close-at-hand format.
The project came together over the spring of 2021 and I had the very specific delight of reaching out to all of my favorite cultural institutions from the Met Opera to the folks behind Brooklyn’s Atlantic Antic so I could include them in the Almanac as “events of note.” While at the same time brainstorming all of the many moments in New York City history I’ve learned over more than a decade managing exhibitions and publications for the Museum of the City of New York. Current events take precedence, but there are plenty of fun anniversaries sprinkled in along the way—from the birth of hip hop (August 11, 1973) to a bicycle parade protesting Central Park’s closure to cyclists (May 28, 1883). It has at least two blizzards, several Broadway shows, and more than a few great moments in NYC baseball.
I also had the pleasure of revisiting the many writers, thinkers, comedians, and poets who have had something to say about New York City. As I narrowed down my list to the 52 or so of the very best quotes about New York—one per week—I was struck by how much of what people say about New York doesn’t change—even as the city itself changes around them. “You could walk from the top of Manhattan to the bottom,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda, “and by the time you walk back up, certain blocks will be different.”
I hope you’ll take a copy home yourself and keep it handy as 2022 unfolds. It’s a perfect stocking stuffer for the real (or the almost) New Yorker! As the New Yorker’s Nick Paumgarten wrote last spring, “who can’t imagine that happier days may soon be here again?”
Get your copy at Abbeville Press or Amazon.
Read my interview with TimeOut New York.