I would like to thank a number of people who have helped me in the long and rocky journey that was the writing of this book. This project has gone through a number of evolutionary stages, starting as academic research and then morphing into a more trade-oriented book that will hopefully be accessible to everyone. I was very fortunate to have Roz Foster as my literary agent: since the day we started working together, she has shown boundless dedication and enthusiasm for this project. She is a real professional in the publishing industry and I can’t thank her enough for her patience, intellect, and insight. I am incredibly grateful to Lise Vogel for her love and emotional support during my crazy New York years. Her loyalty has given me strength also in the many times when difficulties and insecurities threatened to overwhelm me. She is an inspiring woman, a brilliant thinker, and the best of friends:
I couldn’t imagine my time in New York without her. I would also like to thank Michael Zimmer, my first introduction to New York City, a visionary man and a quintessential New Yorker, who died in 2008 but whose memory lives in my heart.I would like to thank David McBride, my editor at Oxford University Press, for his feedback and insights, and editorial assistant Kathleen Weaver for her competence and efficiency. I also warmly thank project manager Emma Clements for her tireless dedication, and marketing and publicity managers Erin Meehan and Jonathan Kroberger for their guidance. I am very grateful to Peter Marcuse, who guided me during my first years in New York City at Columbia University. I am also strongly indebted to my friend Tom Angotti, whose research on rezoning and community planning in New York City has been a fundamental resource for this book, and who has provided me with his friendly assistance and encouragement for years. I can’t thank him enough for taking the time to read drafts of this book and offering his feedback. I also would like to thank a thousand times Loretta Lees for her constant encouragement and support. My gratitude goes also to those other scholars whose lectures and seminars in New York City and Berlin have nurtured my love and passion for urban research: particularly Neil Brenner, Margit Mayer, Rosemary Wakeman, David Harvey, Tom Slater and the late Neil Smith, whose warmth and enthusiasm will be sorely missed. Special thanks go also to Harald Bodenschatz for his guidance and friendship, and to Elisabeth Asche for offering sage advice during my time at the Center for Metropolitan Studies in Berlin. I thank Robert Beauregard and Enrico Gualini for their insights.
I also would like to thank the students at the doctoral colloquia of Professor Marcuse at Columbia University, and particularly Kostantin Kontokosta, Ingrid Olivo, Cuz Potter, and Justin Steil, for their constructive criticism and suggestions. I am especially indebted to my colleagues at the Center for Metropolitan Studies in Berlin: I thank Anne Vogelpohl, Sabine Horlitz, Noa Ha, Sasha Disko, Kristina Graaf, Manuel Lutz, Cordelia Polinna, and Stefan Höhne for their feedback and for our beautiful conversations.
I owe a strong debt of gratitude to all those who took the time to share their knowledge of the neighborhood stories I have chronicled in the book and allowed me to be a part of their community. I warmly thank Erica Razook, Craig Schley, Nellie Hester Bailey, and Michael Henry Adams for helping me get to know a piece of the real Harlem and the daily life, dreams, and struggles of its residents. I thank Tricia Vita for her painstaking dedication and knowledge of Coney Island, and the many people I met at the People’s Playground. I thank all the members of Save Coney Island, and particularly Juan Rivero, Amanda Deutch, and Diane Carlin, for their amazing energy and inspiration. Without their support, this work wouldn’t have been possible. I also would like to thank all those New Yorkers who let me interview them and shared their life stories. I would like to thank Alex Garvin for his help, and Yvette Clairjeane from the counsel’s office of the Department of City Planning for her patient assistance. I thank Jerry Krase, Stanley Fox, Keith and Adriana de Cesare, Bettina Damiani, Patricia Mchugh and Philip Tonda Heide.
I am indebted to my dear friends Giovanni Ometto, who helped me carry out some of my street interviews, and the lovely Valentina Belli, who has designed the concept for the iconic cover of this book. I thank my wonderful family for their support and for always having been by my side in difficult times. My achievements were made possible by their dedication and constant encouragement through the years. Lastly, I would like to thank a thousand times New York City, its streets, and its people, for always making me feel at home.