"An invaluable window on how New York self-consciously and very publicly transformed itself from a city that was merely 'the largest' to an undisputed world class metropolis . . . a rich historical record of newspapers, manuscripts, artifacts, photographs, and graphics . . . offers a new lens to examine identity, industry, and environment."--from the Foreword by Kenneth T. Jackson, Jacques Barzun Professor of History and the Social Sciences and Director of the Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History at Columbia University