The thing with 'New York' is that it tries to capture New York city through many, many narratives in one book which I find is the central issue to the book. This is the kind of story that needs to be in a mini series because of the history and the amount of people who helped build New York to what it is today. I really dislike the fact, that the moment you get into one story - it suddenly jumps to a new story. The author does not give you enough time to get into each character and learn how New York developed. Which is really aggravating. I am mid way through the book - but the ever changing story line leaves the reader wanting more depth. The only thing that keeps you interested, I would say are the historical developments along the way. But, if I wanted just that I could read a history text book any day. For me a great book is one that not only provides you with history but also allows you to see into the lives of the characters of a past time period and get involve in their story. Unfortunately, this book is quite lacking in that department. I give it 2.5 stars for its interesting overall theme. Had there been a story line - perhaps my rating may have reached 3 or 4.