DUMBO: The Making of a New York Neighbourhood

The illustrated history of a seminal New York neighbourhood - a story of birth, decline, and renewal, of high design, of grit and glamour - a tale of real estate wrangling, of art, of commerce.

DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a flourishing neighbourhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Romantic cobblestone streets, stunning views of Manhattan, the East River, and New York Harbor, and storied architecture framed by the iconic silhouette of the Brooklyn Bridge characterise this extraordinary place. DUMBO, however, was not always flourishing - nor always called by this curious appellation. What we now know and see of the neighbourhood is largely the product of adventurous artists and, in the end, the determination of a man with a vision. The story of DUMBO is at once the story of New York and, as well, a story of urban rebirth and our nation’s return to the city, a tale involving real estate, of buying and selling with acumen and nerve, of beautiful placemaking, and of people who have settled in a long neglected, but extraordinary locale - a place of much history, and, now, of brilliant resurgence.

This volume considers this seminal New York neighbourhood with both historic imagery culled from the great city collections as well as new photography taken specifically for the book. It features compelling streetscapes and dramatic views of transformed one-time industrial spaces, intimate apartment interiors, park spaces, and archival imagery from the area’s richly layered past, all as seen through the eyes of Paul Goldberger, one of our nation’s great writers on architecture, space, and New York.