New York, NY—The New York Society Library is proud to announce the winners of the 2012 New York City Book Awards.

James T. Murray and Karla L. Murray, New York Nights (Gingko Press)

Joe McKendry, One Times Square: A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World (David R. Godine)

The Hornblower Award for a First Book: Alex Gilvarry, From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant: A Novel (The Viking Press)

The winning authors and publishers will be honored at a ceremony and reception on May 8, 2013 at 6:00 PM at the Library, 53 East 79th Street (at Madison). Presenters will include the winning authors as well as presenters Meg Wolitzer, Peter Salwen, and Roger Pasquier. The ceremony is free of charge and open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required; see the event site for details.

About the Awards
The New York City Book Awards, established in 1996, honor books of literary quality or historical importance that, in the opinion of the selection committee, evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City. It is not necessary that the city be the major subject of the book, but it must play an essential, invigorating role beyond that of the setting. The annual Hornblower Award, made possible by the George Marshall Hornblower Trust, is given to an excellent New York City-related book by a first-time author. More information and complete list of past winners is available here.

The jury for 2012-2013 is chaired by Roger Pasquier and includes James Atlas, Lucienne Bloch, Barbara Cohen, Jules Cohn, Andrew Scott Dolkart, Bobbie Leigh, Mark Magowan, Peter Salwen, Cynthia Saltzman, and Meg Wolitzer. The 2012-2013 New York City Book Awards are generously underwritten by Ellen M. Iseman.

About the Winners
James and Karla Murray are the authors of Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York, which the New York Times called “a documentary mother lode.” They have been photographing the streets of New York City since the 1990s. In New York Nights, another layer of the city’s rich history is revealed. Interviews with shop owners bring to light their pride in both the history and craft of their businesses as well as their love for the city of New York and its endless possibilities. All of these illuminated façades radiate a vivid sense of excitement. The Murrays’ bestselling and critically acclaimed book Store Front as well as their graffiti publications Broken Windows, Burning New York, and Miami Graffiti have set the standard for urban documentation. Their Store Front photography has appeared in global publications including Saveur, Rolling Stone (Germany), Print Magazine, Stern, Die Zeit, and Der Spiegel. They have exhibited their photographs at the New-York Historical Society and the Brooklyn Historical Society, and their work is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the New York Public Library, and the Brooklyn Historical Society. They are represented by Clic Gallery in New York City, East Hampton NY, Cannes and St. Barthelemy, FWI. They are also represented by Fotogalerie Im Blauen Haus in Munich, Germany.

Joe McKendry’s One Times Square is also the winner of a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award for 2012. “This is both a handsome and highly readable book, one that will be pored over cover to cover by young New Yorkers, real and aspiring,” the Times says, and Publishers Weekly adds, “...a fascinating biography of One Times Square....Architecture and history buffs—and, really, anyone with a sense of curiosity—will relish McKendry’s visual approach.” Joe McKendry is a painter and illustrator whose work has appeared in more than fifty publications worldwide, including the New York Times, National Geographic, and Vanity Fair. He teaches painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Alex Gilvarry’s From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant was called “Delicious...a left-handed love letter to America” by Daniel Asa Rose in the New York Times Book Review and “Lively...Hilarious...[A] whirligig of a book [that] draws some striking parallels between the way we mythologize stars and the way we look at terrorists” by John Freeman in the Boston Globe. A native of Staten Island, Alex Gilvarry is the founding editor of the website Tottenville Review. He has been named a Norman Mailer Fellow, and his writing has appeared in the Paris Review.

About the Library
Founded in 1754, the New York Society Library is the city’s oldest library and a thriving community of readers, writers, and families. The Library is open to all for reading, reference, exhibitions, and many events, with circulation and other services by subscription. The beautiful landmarked building dates from 1917 and includes reading rooms, spaces for study, stacks, and the Assunta, Ignazio, Ada and Romano Peluso Exhibition Gallery. The Library has approximately 300,000 volumes and hosts a variety of special events, seminars, and workshops. Information on the Library and its history and activities can be found at www.nysoclib.org. As New York City’s oldest cultural institution, The New York Society Library is uniquely qualified to give the New York City Book Awards.