100 New Yorkers profiles musicians, painters, photographers, a journalist who donned disguises to get the inside scoop, comedians, crooners, politicians, a clairvoyant—even a pirate—and the places associated with them in the city. It describes affairs and love stories, profound and enduring friendships, feats of the imagination, lurid scandals, and fabulous parties, along with moments of unexpected humor—such as the description of young Edgar Allan Poe, who routinely draped a white sheet over his head to walk solemnly through his stepfather's dinner parties. Throughout, 100 New Yorkers features the incomparable panorama of the city—the drama surrounding the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1880s, the music coming out of smoky Harlem lounges in the 1940s, and the bustle of Coney Island in its heyday. Beautifully designed by Milton Glaser—himself an iconic New Yorker—this book features one hundred intriguing black-and-white photographs.

100 New Yorkers includes: Diane Arbus, Tallulah Bankhead, Henry James, Jacob Lawrence, John Lennon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dorothy Parker, Edgar Allan Poe, Jackson Pollock, Diego Rivera, Babe Ruth, Sojourner Truth, Diana Vreeland, Weegee, Walt Whitman, and eighty-five more.