2 books celebrating New York City culture and community win the Gotham Prize

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — This year’s winners of the Gotham Book Prize celebrate New York City as experienced on foot, bus and train.

Ian Frazier, author of “Paradise Bronx: The Life and Times of New York’s Greatest Borough,” and Nicole Gelinas, who wrote “Movement: New York’s Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car,” will split the $50,000 in prize money given for books that “encourage and honor writing about New York City,” award officials announced Monday.

Philanthropists-political strategists Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson cofounded the Gotham prize in 2020 as a “way to uplift the creative community” during the pandemic.

In “Paradise Bronx,” Frazier draws upon his years of walking about the New York City borough and weaves together everything from Revolutionary War history to baseball and hip-hop. Gelinas’ “Movement” continues the tradition of such classics as Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker” in documenting how New Yorkers have fought for the preservation and improvement of mass transit.

“This year, we are proud to award the Gotham Book Prize to two outstanding works of non-fiction that combine rigorous research with a unique point of view to illuminate the rich and complex history that makes New York City great,” Tusk and Wolfson said in a statement.

Previous notable Gotham Book Prize recipients

2021: James McBride, “Deacon King Kong.”

2022: Andrea Ellott, “Invisible Child.”

2023: John Wood Sweet, “The Sewing Girl’s Tale,” and Sidik Fofana, “Stories from the Tenant Downstairs.”

2024: Colson Whitehead, “Crook Manifesto.”