Letters of Note: New York by Shaun Usher

In Letters of Note: New York, Shaun Usher curates a collection of extraordinary letters about the Big Apple, including a dazzling description of the view from atop the Empire State Building, written by a lady without the benefit of sight; a successful plea from a former First Lady to save the sparkling jewel that is Grand Central Terminal; and a civil rights giant’s letter of complaint to a New York bus company which failed to get him back to Harlem. You’ll also read an exhausted letter from a dizzied, hungover Welsh poet who had just arrived on the scene, an exhilarated letter home from an aspiring playwright whose love affair with Broadway was soon to reach awesome heights and a hugely important missive which eventually brought acres of greenery and much-needed fresh air to Manhattan. And then there is the moving letter from the widow of a police officer who, one fateful day in 2001, ran towards the very danger thousands were attempting to flee, and much, much more.