Union Square, New York City

Part of the Introduction of the book signed by editor E. Idell Zeisloft, source of the photo above, is below:

«The object of the consolidation of Manhattan Island − old New York − with Brooklyn − itself a city of more than a million inhabitants; the district of the Bronx − which is separated from the island only by the narrow and placid Harlem River; the County of Queens — adjoining Brooklyn on Long Island, but separated from Manhattan Island by the East River, with cloner connection soon to be made by the new East River Bridge; Staten Island − which is surrounded on all sides by the bay and the Kill von Kull, and at such a distance as to be cut off for always from connection with the other parts of the city except by boat — seems not to have been territorial acquisition, but a desire to bring together the scattered units, which were really parts of the city, into a harmonious working whole, for the ultimate good of all concerned. That what some at first deemed a dangerous experiment has proved to be a desirable arrangement, few doubt.

From the description above it will have been seen that this consolidation makes of New York, topographically considered, a city unique in the history of cities. But in the course of years these component parts will be more closely united by the building of bridges and the digging of tunnels, and by the use of whatever inventions there may he in the way of rapid transit, which will result in relieving the congested districts of Manhattan Island, thus doing away with the most objectionable feature.

The story of New York is more fascinating and wonderful than the most imaginative tale ever written. The transformation of an island inhabited by savages to the great city of today, representing the highest civilization in the world, has been almost Aladdinlike. So rapidly have the great strides of progress been made, so like magic have the multitudinous details sprung up, that a single historian has been unable to record any but the most important facts, much of what is most interesting being hidden away in miscellaneous and unread volumes, and in the memories of the rapidly dying out old generation. While the preservation of these interesting little facts is most desirable, it is not the purpose of this book to give a detailed description of the early history of New York, but rather to present a correct picture of the greater city as it is at the close of the nineteenth century, leading up to it with a résumé of the memorable events of the preceding three centuries, or from the time the Island of Mana-hat-ta came to the knowledge of the civilized races, illustrated with a huge number of interesting pictures of old New York which tell their own story...»