The Works: Anatomy of a City Paperback – November 27, 2007

Imagine:*an illustration of the special machinery used just to clean the ceiling of the Holland Tunnel.*a sidebar on the "Poo-Poo Choo-Choo" that for years transported waste 2,000 miles (!) from NYC to a dump in Texas.*a graphic showing payphone distribution density in all 5 boroughs.*a drawing of the simple but effective interlocking bolts and cross-tie latching that keep the corrugated metal containers on barges connected to each other so upper containers don't slide off lower ones and fall into the water.*a key to reading construction markings that crews spray paint on the streets.Such drawings, historical tidbits, and facts are more abundant in this book than leaves in Central Park.This book is exceptional. As the former Vice-chair of Manhattan Community Board 5 (greater midtown Manhattan), chair of its parks committee, and member of its land use and zoning committee, I can attest to the great value of Kate Ascher's remarkable accomplishment, "The Works." New York City's infrastructure--from garbage collection to traffic control; subway signaling to cable TV distribution among franchise-controlled territories--is one of the world's most multifaceted, and at times a curious mix of the high-tech and the antiquated.Reviews suggesting that the text is for teenagers may be accidentally misleading. "The Works" by no means is for teenagers either *primarily* or *at the exclusion of* adults. Yes, the book--especially its more heavily-illustrated sections--will no doubt fire the imagination of many teens who have engineering, design, line drawing, architectural, historical analysis, or problem-solving aptitudes. (Have a teenager who loved Legos as a kid but has outgrown them? This book will probably make a good gift.) Just because the book is broad in scope and doesn't examine each urban work it covers with the detail of a textbook for electrical engineering students at M.I.T. doesn't make it merely for adolescents.If you enjoy TV shows on The Science Channel or Discovery, shows like "Building the Ultimate," if you are a history trivia buff, if you just like looking at diagrams or line drawings of machinery and equipment, of you're fascinated by cities, or if it is simply the cast that you love New York City, this is a great book, and I highly recommend it.

Kate Ascher has made super entertaining and informative book about NYC. She answers the questions you walk around the city and briefly wonder but forget to google later. This book should be a requirement for anyone who lives in a big city, whether it's NYC or not, since a lot of it is applicable to all cities. We should all know what's happening below, around and even above us as we move through the city on a daily basis. It's also fun just to gather facts from the book and use them as convo starters or just to look smart at parties. (Giving Ascher credit of course)

Awesome book for infrastructure nerds or anyone who wants to know more about how things work around them. Large-format book that reads like equal parts coffee table book, textbook, and illustrated reference book. Great to read in small chunks, or in a longer session. So much interesting information about New York City all in one place. My only recommendation is that Ms. Ascher and Penguin create a 2nd Edition that incorporates recent events, since the book was published in 2005. (For example the section on electricity would be improved by a discussion of the events during Hurricane Sandy). That being said, essentially everything that is in the book is still timely and relevant. Great read.

An interesting book that gives some information on how New York is being built, what happens under the ground and how complicated it is to operate the maintenance of all the systems that permit the city to function.The information is clear, the language is easy to follow. There is enough technical information, but the reader is not burried in the details.

Real students of cities know that the unseen is as important as the seen in a city. This book pulls back the layers of the complex systems that make a city work. The author uses New York City as the guide so that the reader can see and understand how the systems interact. The explanations and illustrations of each system are relevant to any city.

Induldge your inner nerd and buy this book. The sections are well laid out with excellent and clear graphics and the sections are small enough that you (or your visitors) can either take one bite at a time or just browse through the thing till you find something that interests you (and you will). Describes detail in a way that's accessable to everyone and without getting tedious. My wait at the dentist's office would fly by with something like this to while away the time.

I already owned this book, and bought this as a gift. If you are interested in, or work in the infrastructure field, there is no better primer than this text. It shows you how nearly all municipal infrastructure systems work in a diagramatic fashion. I've read it cover to cover.

This book serves as a great introduction to the mechanics of city planning, focusing mainly on infrastructure of cities such as roads, electricity, water. It does not focus too much on the service and social aspects of the cities like parks, museums, police, hospitals, schools, migration/commuting, etc. The illustrations are very colorful and vibrant. However, it is not as detailed as I would like it to be. There are many modes of transportation of passengers not covered in this book, including buses, ferries, commuter rail, and taxi. It's too bias towards subways. I still enjoyed looking at the pictures and diagrams. Although the text is slightly outdated and could use some updates, such as the construction of the Second Avenue Subway.Overall it's a good book to get a good introduction on the functioning levels of cities.