thebooks360

Dreaming of a Park Bench and a Book

Dreaming of a Park Bench and a Book
Book Review

Dreaming of a Park Bench and a Book

As summer approaches, we are longing for normalcy, a return to the sweaty June, July and August habits of our past lives in the city — things we maybe took for granted. The sound of an ice cream truck or the rumble of an air-conditioner perched precariously on a window ledge. Children screaming joyfully at a public pool. The block parties and sneaking wine into a concert in the park.

At the Book Review, one of the things we’ll miss most is the sight of readers in public. The summer is when New Yorkers turn the stoops and benches of the city into their living rooms, and it’s when you get to see what everyone is reading — romance novels, or the latest thriller, or even that book you thought only you had ever heard of.

Out of this wistfulness, our photo editor went scouring the archives for visions of bygone summers, offering images to tide us over and give us something to look forward to.

\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"\"photo\"

Neal Boenzi/The New York Times

Taking a playground break in Riverside Park to enjoy a book in 1962.

Listening in on a lunchtime poetry reading in Bryant Park in 1969.

Sharing a book with kids in East Harlem in 1972.

Napping and reading in Riverside Park in 1979.

Reading on the Hudson in 1983 and catching a panoramic view of Midtown Manhattan.

Doing his own thing in Washington Square Park in 1979.

Finding a niche at the Central Park Zoo in 1983.

Enjoying an idyll in Central Park’s East Meadow on an August day in 2007.

Perching above the East River State Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2015.

Sharing a blanket in Williamsburg’s McCarren Park in 2017.

Photographs by:

Times Wide World Photos; Neal Boenzi/The New York Times; Meyer Liebowitz/The New York Times; Tyrone Dukes; Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times; Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times; William E. Sauro/The New York Times; Dith Pran/The New York Times; Ruth Fremson/The New York Times; Damon Winter/The New York Times; Daniel Arnold for The New York Times

Gal Beckerman is an editor at the Book Review. Erica Ackerberg is the photo editor of the Book Review.