Julia Wertz launches "Tenements, Towers & Trash," with Emily Flake

Julia will be in conversation with cartoonist and writer Emily Flake, followed by a signing and reception.

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A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

In Tenements, Towers & Trash, Julia Wertz takes us behind, underneath, around, and into the New York that you think you know. Not the tourist’s New York (the Statue of Liberty makes a brief appearance and the Empire State Building not at all), but the underbelly of the city that never sleeps. With drawings and comics in her signature style, Wertz regales us with streetscapes “Then and Now” and little-known tales, such as the lost history of Kim’s Video, the complicated and unresolved business of Ray’s Pizza, the vintage trash and horse bones that litter the shore of Brooklyn’s Bottle Beach, the ludicrous pinball prohibition, Staten Island’s secret abandoned boatyard, and the hair-raising legend of the infamous abortionist of Fifth Avenue, Madame Restell.
​From bars, bakeries, and bookstores to food carts, street cleaners, and apartments both cramped and grand, Tenements, Towers & Trash is a wild ride in a time machine taxi from the present day city to bygone days of yore.
Praise for Tenements, Towers & Trash

"Julia Wertz'sTenements, Towers and Trash is nothing short of extraordinary. The meticulously researched histories of the various urban landscapes are fascinating, and Wertz's drawings perfectly capture the visual poetry of the city- the ongoing struggle between past and present, and its unique blend of beauty and ugliness. A must for anyone who loves and appreciates the city, as Wertz so clearly does." —Roz Chast

"A passionate anatomy of the city, a book of dramatic streetscapes and hidden histories—mostly of infamous women, like the 19th-century celebrity abortionist Madame Restell, who catered to socialites and built her Fifth Avenue mansion a block away from a Catholic church, supposedly to taunt the faithful. . . . The city rises majestically in these pages. The crowded panels evoke the jostle of urban life. Your eye doesn't know where to settle; there's so much to absorb." —The New York Times

"A delight for New York aficionados. Every city needs a version of this artist and her book." —Kirkus Reviews

"In presenting the life of the city, Wertz captures change as the most important constant trait of New York City, with a vivid eclecticism that makes this an indispensable guidebook to places lost and found." —Publishers Weekly

"Tenements, Towers & Trash . . . is unconventional as both a history book and a love letter to the city, and also unambiguously brilliant. It's become a part of my desk at work, and I've spent countless hours pouring through it discovering new delightful things I never knew about the city, like the fact the potato chip was invented here by accident in 1853 (as revenge against complaining customers), or the story of Lizzie Halliday (the forgotten serial killer arsonist)." —Ben Yakas, "Sketchy Interviews," Gothamist

"Richly dense and informative yet never dull or pedantic, Wertz's eye for detail and obsession with minutiae pays massive dividends for the reader. Her skill at rendering cityscapes left me breathless with admiration and gut-twisting envy. It's also funny as fuck." —Emily Flake, author of Mama Tried

Julia Wertz is a cartoonist, amateur historian, and part-time urban explorer. Her last two books were Tenements, Towers, & Trash and Impossible People. She does regular short story comics for the New Yorker. She lives in Sonoma County, CA.

Emily Flake is a cartoonist, writer, comic, and illustrator living in Brooklyn NY. Her work appears regularly in the New Yorker and many other publications. She is also the founder and operator of St. Nell’s Humor Writing Residency, a program for women and non-binary writers working in any humor discipline.

Event Venue

Lofty Pigeon Books, Church Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, USA, United States