New York Minute: Public Clocks that Make the City Tick [Hardcover]

Before watches and mobile phones were widely accessible, people relied on public clocks to keep them running on time. New York City has long been adorned by extravagant public clockstowers, pediments, skyscrapers, building lobbies, and even sidewalks feature timepieces counting out the pulse of a great metropolis. In Ostensibly a study of clocks, Matthew White's disarming and whimsical book manages to be so much more: a vivid history of New York through an unexpected lens, a masterful study of design, and a cunning exploration of the very nature of time itself. These revelatory pages prove that New Yorks public clocks are more than just keepers of time; they are, with their ceaseless determination and perpetual swirl of activity, reflections of the city itself. With the eye of a designer, the mind of a historian, and the heart of a true New Yorker, Matthew White shows us how these timepieces have shaped our urban landscapeand the rhythm of our daily livesin ways both practical and profound. Matthew White captures the very soul of New York through the beauty of its hidden-in-plain-sight timekeepers, as they quietly and insistently mark the pulse of a city that never sleeps. Father Time has never felt so omnipresent nor so wonderfully life-affirming. Matthew White adroitly relates with what generosity the city was endowed with so many clocks, beautifully made and in great variety. He carefully documents both those which survive and others long lost. My assessment of his fine book is the highest praise possible to give: