Reading Groups

Joseph Mitchell’s Up in the Old Hotel with Brad Vogel

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5 Sessions Wednesdays, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT April 15 to May 13, 2026

The Center for Fiction

The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
4/15, 4/22, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13
In Person at The Center for Fiction

From the bottom of the harbor to the naked steel atop new skyscrapers, join urban historian Brad Vogel for a multi-course feast of New York City vignettes in this collection of character studies and feature pieces by Joseph Mitchell.

Mitchell, a legendary writer for the New Yorker, haunted Gotham’s overlooked and less savory corners across the mid-20th century, dredging up stories from a boozier Bowery, a cemetery in Staten Island, East Village ale houses, and, most famously, the old Fulton Fish Market. With an off-site session or two, we’ll dig into what makes New York New York and how some of Mitchell’s most intriguing haunts have fared as the city arrives in the Mamdani era.

Reading List:

Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Please read the section of Up in the Old Hotel entitled “The Bottom of the Harbor” before our first meeting.

What to expect from this reading group: This will be a lively, open, engaging discussion—instructor-driven and instructor-informed, but very much open to participant engagement.

Pricing inclusive of sales tax if applicable.

Led by

Brad Vogel

Brad Vogel

Brad Vogel leads cultural programming, including literary history tours for NYU, workshops for the Brooklyn Museum, and groups for The Center for Fiction. An attorney, non-profit executive, waterfront advocate, poet, and urban historian, Vogel’s many interests and roles have sent him pinwheeling through New York. He brings a sharp eye for the stories lurking in the city’s backwaters and in her endlessly peculiar people.

Photo Credit: Nicole Vergalla

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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