By Dr. Henry Goldschmidt, ICNY Director of Education Programs
ICNY’s education programs are built on a pedagogy of civic engagement – introducing people to religious diversity by introducing them to their diverse neighbors – so we would ideally like all New Yorkers to visit each other’s houses of worship, strike up conversations with the people they meet, and learn first-hand about their neighbors’ religious lives. But short of that, it’s amazing what you can learn, and who you can meet, in the pages of a good book.
The suggestions below barely begin to explore the kaleidoscopic diversity of New York – the “promised city” (in historian Moses Rischin’s phrase) for new Americans from every corner of the globe and every faith tradition – but they include important works by scholars, journalists, photographers, and others. In their pages, you can meet West African Muslims making a new home in Harlem, young Hasidic girls growing up in Boro Park, Mexican-American Catholics inspired to work for justice by their devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Haitian-Americans and others seeking healing from the Vodou spirits in Fort Greene, and countless others. Just pick a book and meet your neighbors – it’s an amazing city, even in black and white on the page or screen.
You can also click here for a longer list with more great recommendations. And if you shop at Amazon, don’t forget to sign up for AmazonSmile, and a portion of every purchase will go to support ICNY. Books in this list that are eligible for the Amazon Smile program are noted with a 
icon.
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Black Mecca: The African Muslims of Harlem, by Zain Abdullah (Oxford U. Press, 2010)Explores the racial and religious identities of New York’s fastest-growing, but too often overlooked, Muslim community. |
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Heaven’s Kitchen: Living Religion at God’s Love We Deliver, by Courtney Bender (U. of Chicago Press, 2003).Traces the everyday religious lives of volunteers and others at a non-profit organization preparing meals for people with AIDS. |
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Mornings at the Stanton Street Shul: A Summer on the Lower East Side, by Jonathan Boyarin (Fordham U. Press, 2011).Explores the intimate life of the Stanton Street Shul, one of the last remaining Jewish congregations on New York’s historic Lower East Side. |
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Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, by Karen McCarthy Brown (U. of California Press, 2001).Intimate portrait of a Haitian-American Vodou priestess, her family, and community. Effectively debunks popular stereotypes of this Afro-Caribbean religious tradition. |
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New York Masjid: The Mosques of New York City, by Jerrilynn Dodds and Edward Grazda (PowerHouse Books, 2002).Beautiful photographs and insightful text, exploring some of the many Muslim houses of worship in the city. |
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Mitzvah Girls: Bringing Up the Next Generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, by Ayala Fader (Princeton U. Press, 2009).Discussion of the Hasidic communities of Boro Park, focusing on the social, religious, and moral lives of young girls. |
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Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church, by Samuel Freedman (Harper Perennial, 1994).Moving portrait of Saint Paul Community Baptist Church in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York, and the ministry of its then senior pastor, Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood. |
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Guadalupe in New York: Devotion and the Struggle for Citizenship Rights among Mexican Immigrants, by Alyshia Galvez (New York U. Press, 2009).Examines Mexican-American New Yorkers’ devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe as a religious practice, means to create community, and way to engage in civic life. |
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Race and Religion among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights, by Henry Goldschmidt (Rutgers U. Press, 2006).An analysis of Black-Jewish difference in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights – looking past the August 1991 conflict between the Lubavitch Hasidim and their neighbors to explore everyday perceptions of racial and religious difference. |
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Becoming American, Being Indian: An Immigrant Community in New York City, by Madhulika Khandelwal (Cornell U. Press, 2002).An analysis of the internally diverse South Asian immigrant communities of Queens, with discussions of Hinduism and other South Asian religious traditions. |
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Bull of Heaven: The Mythic Life of Eddie Buczynski and the Rise of the New York Pagan, by Michael Lloyd (Asphodel Press, 2012).By chronicling the life of a prominent New York Wiccan priest and gay rights activist, this book explores the contributions of LGBTQ men and women to the neo-pagan community. |
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The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, by Robert Orsi (Yale University Press, 1985).Detailed and moving social history of Italian-American devotion to the Madonna of Mount Carmel, and the role of her shrine in defining the mid-twentieth century community of “cara Harlem.” |
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