The illustrated history of a seminal New York neighborhood--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 neighborhood 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 characterize this extraordinary place. DUMBO, however, was not always flourishing--nor always called by this curious appellation. What we now know and see of the neighborhood 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 place-making, 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 neighborhood 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.

About The Author

Paul Goldberger, whom The Huffington Post has called "the leading figure in architecture criticism," is now a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. From 1997 through 2011 he served as the architecture critic for The New Yorker, where he wrote the magazine's celebrated "Sky Line" column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City. He was formerly Dean of the Parsons school of design, a division of The New School. He began his career at The New York Times, where in 1984 his architecture criticism was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, the highest award in journalism.