Forest Hills, one of Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America Series" books, will be out soon

Image source: Nick Hirshon

A new book on Forest Hills is going to be released mid-February, aptly called Forest Hills, the latest in Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series. Forest Hills was America’s first “garden city” and if you’ve ever strolled through Forest Hills Gardens in particular, you’ll see how green and garden-like it can be (in the warmer months, of course). The book will show you this through its more than 200 vintage images of the neighborhood.

Author Sinclair Lewis considered Forest Hills a “fairy-book suburb,” after seeing early renderings of the community around 1909, “with architecture inspired by medieval villages.” Other elements of note: the West Side Tennis Club, home to the US Open for many years, and still the most prestigious tennis tournament in America; Theodore Roosevelt came to visit; and Helen Keller lived here.

More  highlights of Forest Hills:

• Drawing upon original research, the book includes the most thorough narrative yet of Theodore Roosevelt’s famous speech at the Long Island Rail Road station in Forest Hills on July 4, 1917
• Each chapter opens with a defining moment in Forest Hills history: the West Side Tennis Club’s decision to move to Forest Hills in 1914; the debut of the Forest Hills Theatre in 1922; the opening of the subway station at Continental Avenue in 1936 and the public housing controversy that erupted in 1966
• Showcases notable residents such as Geraldine Ferraro and The Ramones
• A rare photograph shows the Forest Hills home were Helen Keller lived from 1917 to 1938

It sounds like it will be a fascinating read!

The book was written by Nicholas Hirshon, a Forest Hills native, and journalist professor at St. John’s University (he’s also an alum – GMAP); Hirshon has also reported for The NY Daily News and has been featured in the New York Times, Hockey News, Montreal Gazette and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The foreword is written by Ray Romano – yes, that Ray Romano. After all, the actor grew up in Forest Hills.

The book will be available on Monday, February 18 and will retail for $21.99. Additional info and lots of photos can be found on the book’s Facebook page, too.