New York Reading List - The Great Bridge

   The Great Bridge by David McCollough is one of those wonderful pieces of non-fiction where a great historical event is rendered into such a irresistible narrative that the pages fly through your hand. The bridge to link Manhattan to Brooklyn for the first time took almost two decades and twisted through years of corruption, scandal, dedication, construction, illness, and tragedy. The Great Bridge is a detailed yet evocative report of every aspect of how the Brooklyn Bridge was built, from conception to completion.

A photo posted by Shawn (@nytourguy) on Mar 27, 2014 at 1:43pm PDT

Broadway Alternatives: The Apollo Theater

There are a few music venues that have come to ecapsulate what American music is and what it sounds like. The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville has defined country music for generations. The Fillmore in San Francisco made 60s flower power and rock n' roll an American standard. And up on 125th Street in Harlem stands the Apollo Theater. It's hard to believe that a theater that opened in 1914 as whites only burlesque in a largely Jewish neighborhood would become the soul of black music in America. But now more than a century after it opened it remains one of the best concert venues in New York City and a living history lesson of soul, R&B, funk, hip-hop, and everything in between.

A photo posted by Real New York Tours (@realnewyorktours) on Apr 30, 2015 at 6:38am PD