The Dakota

I've just finished reading Life at the Dakota, by Stephen Birmingham. The book is the history of the famous Dakota apartment building in New York, from its inception in the late 1800s through the late 1970s. Probably not everyone's idea of a great read, but if you're curious about this famous building and New York around the turn of the last century I can highly recommend it.

The only negative is that the book does leave the story wanting. At the end, John Lennon has not yet been shot and the building is facing a series of major economic challenges. Clearly it has survived those challenges, but you are left wondering how things progressed during the last 30 years. Online research didn't provide me with much insight other than the book was reprinted about 10 years ago and includes an afterward that talks about the murder of Lennon.

I remember cutting class in high school the day after he was shot to go to Manhattan and stand outside the building. It was thronged with people, mostly quiet, some singing and the flowers were piled so high at the entrance you could barely see the iron gates. It was a moving tribute to John Lennon and his music.