It has been four centuries since the first Roosevelt arrived in New Amsterdam as a humble farmer.

The Roosevelts became one of America’s most distinguished families—one with ties to many sites in New York City. A brownstone on East 20th Street where Theodore Roosevelt was born and developed his love of nature. A twin brownstone next door where his uncle Robert instilled in the future president an interest in conservation, while having multiple affairs and even starting a second secret family with a mistress. And the double townhouse on East 65th Street built by Sara Delano Roosevelt so the growing family of her son, Franklin, would have a suitable place to live while she meddled in their lives. Historian Bill Bleyer details the unique places in the city where family members lived and worked and unveils the private interactions behind this famous American family.

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Bill Bleyer was a prize-winning staff reporter for Newsday, the Long Island daily newspaper, for thirty-three years before he retired in 2014 to write books and freelance for the newspaper and magazines. He is the coauthor, with Harrison Hunt, of Long Island and the Civil War (The History Press, 2015). He is the author of Sagamore Hill: Theodore Roosevelt’s Summer White House (The History Press, 2016), Fire Island Lighthouse: Long Island’s Welcoming Beacon (The History Press, 2017), Long Island and the Sea: A Maritime History (The History Press, 2019), George Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide (The History Press, 2021) and The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound (The History Press, 2023).