The New York Society Library Announces the 2019 New York City Book Awards
New York — The New York Society Library is proud to announce the winners of the 2019 New York City Book Awards. Founded in 1995, these awards honor the best books about New York City published in a given year, regardless of genre. As New York City’s oldest cultural institution, the Library is uniquely suited to present the New York City Book Awards.
The winning books:
• Cynthia Brenwall, The Central Park: Original Designs for New York’s Greatest Treasure (Harry N. Abrams)
• Matthew Goodman, The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team (Ballantine Books)
• Willie Perdomo, The Crazy Bunch (Penguin Books)
• Hugh Ryan, When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History (St. Martin’s Press)
• The Hornblower Award for a First Book: Claire Jimenez, Staten Island Stories (Johns Hopkins University Press)
Members of the book awards selection committee read and reviewed approximately 150 books published in 2019 with New York City as their major topic or setting. The winners qualify as titles of literary quality or historical importance that evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City, shedding some new or unusual light on it. The Hornblower Award, established in 2011, is presented to an excellent New York City-related book by a first-time author.
The selection committee was chaired by Warren Wechsler and comprised Bianca Calabresi, Win Clevenger, Nikhil Iyengar, Christine Kendall, Karl E. Meyer, Tracy Quan, Stephen Raphael, and Geeta Tewari.
More general information about the awards, and a complete list of winners from the awards’ past 24 years, can be found here.
The 2019-2020 New York City Book Awards are generously underwritten by Ellen M. Iseman.
About the Library Founded in 1754, the New York Society Library is open to all for reading, reference, and many events. Circulation and other services are available to members. Our landmark building houses over 300,000 volumes, reading rooms, study spaces, a children’s library, and the Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery. The Library is a not-for-profit organization supported in part by tax-deductible contributions. nysoclib.org
