Naked City

As cities have gentrified, educated urbanites have come to prize what they regard as "authentic" urban life: aging buildings, art galleries, small boutiques, upscale food markets, neighborhood old-timers, funky ethnic restaurants, and old, family-owned shops. These signify a place's authenticity, in contrast to the bland standardization of the suburbs and exurbs. But as Sharon Zukin shows in Naked City, the rapid and pervasive demand for authenticity--evident in escalating real estate prices, expensive stores, and closely monitored urban streetscapes--has helped drive out the very people who first lent a neighborhood its authentic aura: immigrants, the working class, and artists. Zukin traces this economic and social evolution in six archetypal New York areas--Williamsburg, Harlem, the East Village, Union Square, Red Hook, and the city's community gardens--and travels to both the city's first IKEA store and the World Trade Center site. She shows that for followers of Jane Jacobs, this transformation is a perversion of what was supposed to happen. Indeed, Naked City is a sobering update of Jacobs' legendary 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Like Jacobs, Zukin looks at what gives neighborhoods a sense of place, but argues that over time, the emphasis on neighborhood distinctiveness has become a tool of economic elites to drive up real estate values and effectively force out the neighborhood "characters" that Jacobs so evocatively idealized.

When Naked City was published in 1945, it was an instant success and inspired a Hollywood film. Naked City is Weegee's unflinching look at his beloved New York City through photos by turns ironic, hilarious, seamy and brutal. Photographing the city at all hours and in all its guises, Weegee created a thrilling, lonely and candid portrait, and a style that was to inspire younger photographers, not least Diane Arbus. Steidl's facsimile of Naked City carefully recreates the original book, bringing to life an object that is in form and spirit as close as possible to the first edition, and of which Weegee would be proud.

In this thrilling collection of original stories some of today's hottest paranormal authors delight, thrill, and captivate readers with otherworldly tales of magic and mischief. In Jim Butcher's "Curses" Harry Dresden investigates how to lift a curse laid by the Fair Folk on the Chicago Cubs. In Patricia Briggs' "Fairy Gifts," a vampire is called home by magic to save the Fae who freed him from a dark curse. In Melissa Marr's "Guns for the Dead," the newly dead Frankie Lee seeks a job in the afterlife on the wrong side of the law. In Holly Black's "Noble Rot," a dying rock star discovers that the young woman who brings him food every day has some strange appetites of her own. Featuring original stories from 20 authors, Naked City, edited by the award-winning Ellen Datlow, is a dark, captivating, fabulous and fantastical collection that's sure to have readers coming back for more.

The ultimate collection of Weegee's shocking tabloid photographs, from the ultimate tabloid city.

What began in the 1930's as a quiet nudist camp in rural Indiana became an international phenomenon by the late 1970's. From 1968 thru 1986 Naked City was not only the worlds largest nudist camp according to the Guinness World Book of Records, it was also home of the world famous Miss Nude America pageant. Naked City was run by Dick Drost, a self-made millionaire who built his sex-media empire from the confines of his wheelchair. He was a savvy self-promoter & hustler whose skills rivaled those of P.T. Barnum, Larry Flynt, and the infamous Reverend Jim Jones. Yet despite his incredible fame & wealth he was almost assassinated, kicked out of the state of Indiana for a decade, and died penniless & alone.Much mythology has built up around Drost and Naked City over the years. He was featured in countless newspaper & magazine articles, and even a documentary film but up until now no one has told the whole story about this unique part of 1970's Americana. I have researched every article available, and interviewed numerous witnesses to write a detailed account of this lost piece of history. I also have a personal perspective to tell the story from, as my family attended Naked City during its heyday.

Bulging muscles, immense jaw, and a battle cry of "Spoon!"--it's none other than The Tick, a strange and seemingly invulnerable force for good in the world. A thoroughly enjoyable parody of superhero comics, this book offers a complete re-telling of all The Tick's adventures in The City. Color illustrations throughout.

As cities have gentrified, educated urbanites have come to prize what they regard as "authentic" urban life: aging buildings, art galleries, small boutiques, upscale food markets, neighborhood old-timers, funky ethnic restaurants, and old, family-owned shops. These signify a place's authenticity, in contrast to the bland standardization of the suburbs and exurbs. But as Sharon Zukin shows in Naked City, the rapid and pervasive demand for authenticity--evident in escalating real estate prices, expensive stores, and closely monitored urban streetscapes--has helped drive out the very people who first lent a neighborhood its authentic aura: immigrants, the working class, and artists. Zukin traces this economic and social evolution in six archetypal New York areas--Williamsburg, Harlem, the East Village, Union Square, Red Hook, and the city's community gardens--and travels to both the city's first IKEA store and the World Trade Center site. She shows that for followers of Jane Jacobs, this transformation is a perversion of what was supposed to happen. Indeed, Naked City is a sobering update of Jacobs' legendary 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Like Jacobs, Zukin looks at what gives neighborhoods a sense of place, but argues that over time, the emphasis on neighborhood distinctiveness has become a tool of economic elites to drive up real estate values and effectively force out the neighborhood "characters" that Jacobs so evocatively idealized.

“While Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White, and Alfred Steiglitz photographed New York's sleek skyscrapers, Arthur Fellig (called Weegee) documented the seamy underside of depression-era New York. In this extraordinary book, Richard Meyer and Anthony Lee tell a gripping tale, filled with historical detail about Weegee's transformation from freelance newspaper photographer to fine artist with the publication of his enormously successful book Naked City, in 1945.”—Cécile Whiting, author of Pop L.A.: Art and the City in the 1960s “Lee and Meyer return Weegee to his 'working world' by exploring the multiple contexts of his production-the Photo League, the tabloids, the exhibition galleries, and the book market. The volume adds an important dimension to our understanding of how Weegee straddled the worlds of popular culture, photojournalism, and left politics."—Miles Orvell, author of American Photography and John Vachon's America: Photographs and Letters from the Depression to World War II (UC Press) “Groundbreaking. Anthony Lee and Richard Meyer delve deeply into a rich archive of media and exhibition history, criticism, and biography to arrive at original interpretations of the most enigmatic photographer in modern visual and print culture.”—Jordana Mendelson, author of Documenting Spain: Artists, Exhibition Culture, and the Modern Nation, 1929-1939