Interesting historical tidbits about the development of New York (including some plans that were never built), wrapped up in a "retroactive manifesto" of Manhattanism, which, as these things go, is fairly readable, but makes much of small observations, like: the street grid calls attention to the finitude of the island, a skyscraper is a piece of territory repeated many times ("the Theorem"), a skyscraper breaks the traditional connection between exterior appearance and interior use ("the Lobotomy").

The high point for me is the description (with picture) of a meeting of NYC architects where each is wearing a building he designed as a costume. The guy wearing the Chrysler building is a terrifying urban warrior. Great material about Coney Island and its gradual transformation (under the pressure of growing attendance) from a place of escape to the natural (from the unnatural city) to a place of escape to the fantastic (from the humdrum city).