Covering an exhaustive range of information about Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, the first edition of The Encyclopedia of New York City was a success by every measure, earning worldwide acclaim and several awards for reference excellence, and selling out its first printing before it was officially published.

But much has changed since the volume first appeared in 1995: the World Trade Center no longer dominates the skyline, a billionaire businessman became an unlikely three-term mayor, and urban regeneration--Chelsea Piers, the High Line, DUMBO,...