It’s the people I miss most from New York. If you ever find yourself with a couple of hours to kill, this is a fascinating read:

http://jmisc.net/octo/octo-toc.htm

It’s a book written by an 80-year-old man who lived in the 1800’s, reflecting on how he watched New York City go from a post-colonial hive to a bustling industrial city.

It’s no literary feat, but if you enjoy New York history it’s a must-read. What is amazing is how many passages relate directly to today. In one he writes how a man who grew up in New York could leave for ten years and come back to barely recognize his neighborhood. Seems like that has always been New York’s modus operandi.

Of particular note is an image in the first chapter of the old stone bridge that was Broadway running over the Canal for which Canal Street is named. Simply amazing.