The encyclopedia covers the arts, architecture, demographics, education, environment, government and politics, media, popular culture, science, and transportation.

It contains over 4,300 entries, including 680 illustrations, photographs, maps, charts and tables that combine statistics and public records.

Entries are written by experts in their respective fields and provide bibliographic references to more in-depth sources.

The updated Encyclopedia of New York City, Second Edition was released on December 1, 2010, by Yale University Press.

The first edition sold more than 75,000 copies and was in the top-five best-sellers in the century-long history of Yale University Press.