New York City 5 Borough Pocket Atlas

User Review: - Poor option, but perhaps the best available?
I hunted for a high quality of map of the New York City region, and this was the best I could find. Most maps are Manhattan only, and I needed detailed coverage of the wider area to consider some commuting/apartment-hunting issues. Other maps are made from dreadfully old drawings -- when you see those sharp new images in travel guides etc, they are dramatically more readable and clearly drawn than the ancient looking draftings in most of the map books I looked at. Other maps don't offer enough perspective--all close-up detail, but no "big picture" pages to give you a sense for how they hook up. Finally, most books have a lousy format--hard to hold open, or poor binding, etc.

This book at least covers the 5-boroughs, but totally excludes the nearby NJ areas, Westchester or Nassau. It also doesn't offer enough big picture regional info-- the subway map is Manhattan-only, the regional highway map doesn't offer a close-up of how to get in/out of Manhattan, there are no "medium-scale" maps that show how the huge chunks of ultra-detailed Queens all link together. The drafting is old but pretty readable. They chose odd landmarks to put in and exclude. The book is sturdy enough, but the giant spiral binding ruins the middle section of every page! There is surely a more elegant way to lay out the map around the spiral. Good luck finding Little Italy intersections or downtown Brooklyn addresses or many other key locations. What terrible corner-cutting with that one. Where is the Thomas Brothers guide for NYC...?

---

User Review: - Must Have in the Car
This is an excellent reference manuel when traveling within the tri-state area. My husband referred to this book daily as a courier. I need one to send with my boss when he has business meetings in NY, NJ and CT and know that he will be able to find his way there and back again. He doesn't like Mapquest's little maps. He wants his directions easy to follow, clear as a bell and indexed in the back of the book. This book is really the best source book for our area.