New York City: Difference between revisions
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*'''Wikis:''' [http://newyork.wikicities.com/wiki/ Wikicities], [http://www.nywiki.com/ NYCity MediaWiki] |
*'''Wikis:''' [http://newyork.wikicities.com/wiki/ Wikicities], [http://www.nywiki.com/ NYCity MediaWiki] |
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*'''Schools:''' [http://www.greatschools.net/city/New_York/NY New York Schools] |
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Revision as of 19:13, 24 October 2006
Template:Infobox New York City Template:Redirect4 New York City (officially the City of New York) is the largest city in the United States and one of the world's major global cities. Located in the state of New York, the city has a population of over 8.2 million within an area of 321 square miles (approximately 830 km²),[1] making it the most densely populated major city in North America. With a population of 18.7 million, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the largest urban areas in the world,[2]
New York City is an international center for business, finance, fashion, medicine, entertainment, media, and culture, with an extraordinary collection of museums, galleries, performance venues, media outlets, international corporations, and financial markets. The city is also home to the headquarters of the United Nations, and to many of the world's most famous skyscrapers.
Popularly known as the "Big Apple" and the "City That Never Sleeps", the city attracts people from all over the globe who come for New York City's economic opportunity, culture, and fast-paced cosmopolitan lifestyle. The city is also currently distinguished for having the lowest crime rate among major American cities.[3]
History
The region was inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans at the time of its European discovery by Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano. Although Verrazzano sailed into New York Harbor, his voyage did not continue upstream and instead he sailed back into the Atlantic. It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, that the area was mapped. He discovered Manhattan on September 11 1609, and continued up the river that bears his name, the Hudson River, until he arrived at the site where New York State's capital city, Albany, now stands. The Dutch established New Amsterdam in 1613, which was granted self-government in 1652 under Peter Stuyvesant. The British took the city in September 1664, and renamed it "New York" after the English Duke of York and Albany. The Dutch briefly regained it in August 1673, renaming the city "New Orange," but ceded it permanently in November 1674.
Under British rule the City of New York continued to develop, and while there was growing sentiment in the city for greater political independence, the area was decidedly split in its loyalties during the New York Campaign, a series of major early battles during the American Revolutionary War. The city was under British occupation until the end of the war, and was the last port British ships evacuated in 1783.
New York City was the seat of the government under the Articles of Confederation from 1785 until 1788, and then the capital of the newly-formed United States from 1788 to 1790. In the 19th century, the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 enabled New York to overtake Boston and Philadelphia in economic importance, and local politics became dominated by a Democratic Party political machine known as Tammany Hall that drew on the support of Irish immigrants. In later years, known as the Gilded Age, the city's upper classes enjoyed great prosperity amid the further growth of a poor immigrant working class. It was also an era associated with economic and municipal integration, culminating in the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898.[4]
A series of new transportation links, most notably the opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, bound together the newly-enlarged city. The height of European immigration brought social upheaval, and the anticapitalist labor union IWW was fiercely repressed. Later, in the 1920s, the city saw the influx of African-Americans as part of the Great Migration from the American South. The Harlem Renaissance blossomed during this period, part of a larger boom in the Prohibition era that saw the city's skyline transformed by construction of the skyscrapers that have come to define New York. New York overtook London as the most populous city in the world in 1925, ending that city's century-old claim to the title.
New York City suffered during the Great Depression, which saw the end of Tammany Hall's eighty years of political dominance with the 1934 election of reformist mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The city's government and infrastructure underwent a dramatic overhaul under LaGuardia and his controversial parks commissioner Robert Moses.
New York City played a major role in World War II as a port and a center of finance and industry. It emerged from the war as the leading city of the world, with Wall Street leading America's emergence as the world's dominant economic power, the United Nations headquarters (built in 1952) emphasizing its political influence, and the rise of Abstract Expressionism displacing Paris as the center of the art world.[5]
However, the growth of post-war suburbs saw a slow decline in the city's population. A decline in manufacturing, rising crime rates and white flight pushed New York into a social and economic crisis in the 1970s. These problems plagued the city until the 1990s. Racial tensions calmed in these years; a dramatic fall in crime rates, improvements in quality of life, economic growth and new immigration renewed the formerly dying city.
The city was one of the sites of the September 11, 2001 attacks, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the destruction of the city's tallest buildings, the World Trade Center. The Freedom Tower, intended to be exactly 1,776 feet tall (a number symbolic of the year the Declaration of Independence was written), is to be built on the site and is slated for completion by 2012.[6]
Geography
New York City is located in the northeastern U.S., southeastern New York state, and at the mouth of the Hudson River. The city's total area is 468.9 square miles (1,214.4 km²), of which 35.31% is water.[7] The city is situated on the three major islands of Manhattan, Staten Island, and western Long Island. The Bronx is the only borough that is part of the mainland United States.
New York City's significance as a trading city results from the natural harbor formed by Upper New York Bay, which is surrounded by Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the coast of New Jersey. It is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island in Lower New York Bay.
The Hudson River flows from the Hudson Valley into New York Bay, becoming a tidal estuary that separates the Bronx and Manhattan from New Jersey. The East River, actually a tidal strait, stretches from the Long Island Sound to New York Bay, separating the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River, another tidal strait between the East and Hudson Rivers, separates Manhattan from the Bronx.
The city's land has been altered considerably by human intervention, with substantial land reclamation along the waterfronts since Dutch colonial times. Reclamation is most notable in Lower Manhattan with modern developments like Battery Park City. Much of the natural variations in topography have been evened out, particularly in Manhattan.[8]
Boroughs
3: Queens, 4: Bronx, 5: Staten Island
Five boroughs constitute New York City. Throughout the boroughs there are hundreds of distinct neighborhoods, many with a definable history and character all their own. If the boroughs were independent cities, each would be among the 50 most populous cities in the United States.
Manhattan (New York County, pop. 1,593,200[9]) is the business center of the city, and the most superlatively urban of the boroughs. It is the most densely populated, and the home of most of the city's skyscrapers and famous landmarks. It is loosely divided into downtown, midtown, and uptown regions.
The Bronx (Bronx County, pop. 1,357,589[9]) is known as the birthplace of hip hop culture,[10] as well as the home of the New York Yankees and the largest cooperatively owned housing complex in the United States, Co-op City. Excluding its minor islands, the Bronx is the only borough of the city that is on the mainland of the United States.
Brooklyn (Kings County, pop. 2,486,235[9]), the most populous borough, was until 1898 an independent city and has a strong native identity. It ranges from a modern business district downtown to large historic residential neighborhoods in the central and south-eastern areas. It also features a long beachfront and Coney Island, famous as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the country.
Queens (Queens County, pop. 2,241,600[9]) is geographically the largest borough and, according to the US census, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States.[11] Prior to consolidation with New York City it was composed of small towns and villages founded by the Dutch. It is home to the New York Mets, two of the region's three major airports, and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs and tennis' US Open.
Staten Island (Richmond County, pop. 464,573[9]) is the most suburban in character of the five boroughs, but has gradually integrated with the rest of the city since the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, an event that caused controversy and even an attempt at secession. Until 2001, Staten Island was the home of the infamous Fresh Kills Landfill, formerly the largest landfill in the world, and now being reconstructed as one of the largest urban parks in the United States.
Climate
Although located at a more southern latitude than Italian Tuscany or the French Riviera, New York has a humid continental climate resulting from prevailing wind patterns that bring cool air from the interior of the North American continent. New York winters are typically cold and can be snowy. Snowfall varies from year to year, but usually averages about 2 feet (60 cm) in total. The Atlantic Ocean helps keep temperatures warmer in the city than in the interior Northeast, however, there has never been a winter since records began in 1869 in which enough snow to cover the ground did not fall at least once.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record high °F (°C) | 72 (22) |
78 (26) |
86 (30) |
96 (36) |
99 (37) |
101 (38) |
106 (41) |
104 (40) |
102 (39) |
94 (34) |
84 (29) |
75 (24) |
106 (41) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 60.4 (15.8) |
60.7 (15.9) |
70.3 (21.3) |
82.9 (28.3) |
88.5 (31.4) |
92.1 (33.4) |
95.7 (35.4) |
93.4 (34.1) |
89.0 (31.7) |
79.7 (26.5) |
70.7 (21.5) |
62.9 (17.2) |
97.0 (36.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 39.5 (4.2) |
42.2 (5.7) |
49.9 (9.9) |
61.8 (16.6) |
71.4 (21.9) |
79.7 (26.5) |
84.9 (29.4) |
83.3 (28.5) |
76.2 (24.6) |
64.5 (18.1) |
54.0 (12.2) |
44.3 (6.8) |
62.6 (17.0) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 33.7 (0.9) |
35.9 (2.2) |
42.8 (6.0) |
53.7 (12.1) |
63.2 (17.3) |
72.0 (22.2) |
77.5 (25.3) |
76.1 (24.5) |
69.2 (20.7) |
57.9 (14.4) |
48.0 (8.9) |
39.1 (3.9) |
55.8 (13.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 27.9 (−2.3) |
29.5 (−1.4) |
35.8 (2.1) |
45.5 (7.5) |
55.0 (12.8) |
64.4 (18.0) |
70.1 (21.2) |
68.9 (20.5) |
62.3 (16.8) |
51.4 (10.8) |
42.0 (5.6) |
33.8 (1.0) |
48.9 (9.4) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 9.8 (−12.3) |
12.7 (−10.7) |
19.7 (−6.8) |
32.8 (0.4) |
43.9 (6.6) |
52.7 (11.5) |
61.8 (16.6) |
60.3 (15.7) |
50.2 (10.1) |
38.4 (3.6) |
27.7 (−2.4) |
18.0 (−7.8) |
7.7 (−13.5) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −6 (−21) |
−15 (−26) |
3 (−16) |
12 (−11) |
32 (0) |
44 (7) |
52 (11) |
50 (10) |
39 (4) |
28 (−2) |
5 (−15) |
−13 (−25) |
−15 (−26) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.64 (92) |
3.19 (81) |
4.29 (109) |
4.09 (104) |
3.96 (101) |
4.54 (115) |
4.60 (117) |
4.56 (116) |
4.31 (109) |
4.38 (111) |
3.58 (91) |
4.38 (111) |
49.52 (1,258) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 8.8 (22) |
10.1 (26) |
5.0 (13) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.5 (1.3) |
4.9 (12) |
29.8 (76) |
| Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 5.8 (15) |
7.9 (20) |
4.4 (11) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.4 (1.0) |
3.7 (9.4) |
12.3 (31) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 10.8 | 10.0 | 11.1 | 11.4 | 11.5 | 11.2 | 10.5 | 10.0 | 8.8 | 9.5 | 9.2 | 11.4 | 125.4 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 3.7 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 11.4 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 61.5 | 60.2 | 58.5 | 55.3 | 62.7 | 65.2 | 64.2 | 66.0 | 67.8 | 65.6 | 64.6 | 64.1 | 63.0 |
| Average dew point °F (°C) | 18.0 (−7.8) |
19.0 (−7.2) |
25.9 (−3.4) |
34.0 (1.1) |
47.3 (8.5) |
57.4 (14.1) |
61.9 (16.6) |
62.1 (16.7) |
55.6 (13.1) |
44.1 (6.7) |
34.0 (1.1) |
24.6 (−4.1) |
40.3 (4.6) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 162.7 | 163.1 | 212.5 | 225.6 | 256.6 | 257.3 | 268.2 | 268.2 | 219.3 | 211.2 | 151.0 | 139.0 | 2,534.7 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 54 | 55 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 59 | 63 | 59 | 61 | 51 | 48 | 57 |
| Average ultraviolet index | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Source 1: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961–1990; dew point 1965–1984)[13][14][15] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weather Atlas[16]. | |||||||||||||
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average sea temperature °F (°C) |
41.7 (5.4) |
39.7 (4.3) |
40.2 (4.5) |
45.1 (7.3) |
52.5 (11.4) |
64.5 (18.1) |
72.1 (22.3) |
74.1 (23.4) |
70.1 (21.2) |
63.0 (17.2) |
54.3 (12.4) |
47.2 (8.4) |
55.4 (13.0) |
Environment
New York's population density has environmental benefits and dangers. It facilitates the highest mass transit use in the United States, but also concentrates pollution. Although gasoline consumption in the city is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s,[17] New York City has some of the dirtiest air in the United States. Pollution varies greatly from borough to borough, and residents of Manhattan face the highest risk in the country of developing cancer from chemicals in the air.[18]
Recently, the city has focused on reducing its environmental impact. The city government is required to purchase only the most energy-efficient equipment for use in city offices and public housing.[19] New York has the largest clean-air diesel-hybrid and compressed natural gas bus fleet in the country, and some of the first hybrid taxis.[20] The city is also a leader in energy-efficient "green" office buildings, such as Hearst Tower and 7 World Trade Center.[21]
The city is supplied with water by the vast Catskill Mountains watershed, one of the largest protected wilderness areas in the United States. As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration process, New York City drinking water does not require purification by water treatment plants, and only chlorination is necessary to ensure its purity at the tap.[22]
Cityscape
The skyline of New York is one of the most recognizable in the world. New York actually has three separately recognizable skylines: Midtown Manhattan, Lower Manhattan, and Downtown Brooklyn. New York City has architecturally important buildings in a variety of styles, including French Second Empire (The Kings County Savings Bank Building), gothic revival (the Woolworth Building), Art Deco (the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building), international style (the New School, Seagram Building and Lever House), and post-modern (the AT&T Building). The Condé Nast Building is an important example of green design in American skyscrapers.[21]
The residential parts of the city have a distinctive character from the skyscrapers of the commercial cores that is defined by the elegant brownstone rowhouses and apartment buildings which were built during the city's rapid expansion from 1870–1930. Stone and brick became the city's building materials of choice after the construction of wood-frame houses was limited in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1835. Unlike Paris, which for centuries was built from its own limestone bedrock, New York has always drawn its building stone from a far-flung network of quarries and its stone buildings have a variety of textures and hues.[23]
Culture
Writer Tom Wolfe said of New York that "Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather." Many major American cultural movements began in the city. The Harlem Renaissance established the African-American literary canon in the United States. The city was the epicenter of jazz in the 1940s, abstract expressionism in the 1950s, and the birthplace of hip hop in the 1970s. Punk rock developed in the 1970s and 1980s, and the city has also been a flourishing scene for Jewish American literature.
Wealthy industrialists in the 19th century built a network of major cultural institutions, such as Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that became internationally established. Artists are drawn to the city by opportunity, as well; there are 2,000 arts and cultural non-profits and 500 art galleries of all sizes, and the city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the National Endowment for the Arts.[24]
The advent of electric lighting led to elaborate theatre productions, and in the 1880s New York City theaters on Broadway and along 42nd Street began showcasing a new stage form that came to be known as the Broadway musical. Strongly influenced by the city's immigrants, these productions used song in narratives that often reflected themes of hope and ambition. Today these productions are a mainstay of the New York theatre scene. The city's 39 largest theatres (with more than 500 seats) are collectively known as "Broadway," after the major thoroughfare through the Times Square theatre district.
The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet, is the largest performing arts center in the United States.
Tourism
40 million foreign and American tourists visit New York City each year.[25] Major destinations include the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Broadway productions, scores of museums from the El Museo del Barrio to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden, luxury shopping along Fifth and Madison Avenues, and events such as the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village and the Tribeca Film Festival. Many of the city's ethnic enclaves, such as Jackson Heights, Flushing, and Brighton Beach are major shopping destinations for first and second generation Americans up and down the East Coast.
New York City has 28,000 acres (113 km²) of parkland and 14 miles (22 km) of public beaches. Manhattan's Central Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, is the most visited city park in the United States.[26] Prospect Park in Brooklyn, also designed by Olmsted and Vaux, has a 90 acre (360,000 m²) meadow. Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, the city's third largest, was the setting for the 1939 World's Fair and 1964 World's Fair.
New York's food culture, influenced by the city's immigrants and large number of dining patrons, is diverse. Jewish and Italian immigrants made the city famous for bagels and New York style pizza. Some 4,000 mobile food vendors licensed by the city, many immigrant-owned, have made Middle Eastern foods such as falafels and kebabs standbys of contemporary New York street food. The city is also home to many of the finest haute cuisine restaurants in the United States.[27]
Sports
New York is home to teams in each of the major American professional sports leagues. Baseball is the city's most closely followed sport. There have been fourteen World Series championship series between New York City teams; such matchups are called Subway Series. The city's two current Major League Baseball teams are the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, which enjoy a fierce rivalry. The New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers were each originally based in New York City before relocating to California prior to the addition of the Mets. Today they compete as the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively. New York City is also home to two minor league baseball teams, the New York-Penn League's Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees, which are affiliated with the Mets and Yankees, respectively.
In American football the city's teams are the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets, who share a stadium outside the city limits in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The New York Rangers represent the city in ice hockey, although two other teams are in close proximity of the city, namely the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. The National Hockey League is headquartered in Manhattan.
New York has a rich basketball history. New York has two NBA teams: the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets. The first national college-level basketball championship, the National Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.
As a global city, New York supports many events outside the big four American sports. Examples are the U.S. Tennis Open, the New York City Marathon, and many amateur leagues in sports such as soccer, cricket and stickball. The New York Cosmos (1971-1985) was a former franchise in the North American Soccer League, renowned for signing the great Brazilian player Pelé. Red Bull New York, formerly known as the MetroStars, is a professional soccer club based in New Jersey that participates in Major League Soccer.
Media
New York is often called "the media capital of the world". It is home to several of the largest media conglomerates in the world, including Time Warner, News Corporation, the Hearst Corporation, and Viacom. Three of the "Big Four" record labels have their headquarters in the city. One-third of all independent films in the world are produced in New York. More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in the city. The book-publishing industry alone employs about 13,000 people.[29]
The city is home to two of the three national daily newspapers in the United States: The New York Times (circulation 1.1 million), and the The Wall Street Journal (circulation 2.1 million). Aside from the Times, the other leading papers are New York Daily News (circulation 730,000), the New York Post (circulation 650,000), which was founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton, and Newsday (circulation 1 million, and New York Newsday, which serves the other 4 boroughs) , which is a Long Island based paper that serves Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens, but is distributed throughout the 5 boroughs and the New York metropolitan area. The city also has a large ethnic press with newspapers in over twenty languages; El Diario La Prensa (circulation 265,000) is New York's largest Spanish-language daily and the oldest in the nation.[30]
New York City is the nation's largest metropolitan media market, comprising about 7% of American television-viewing households. The city is the national headquarters of the four major American broadcast television networks, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. It is also the home of many large cable television channels, including MTV, Fox News, HBO and Comedy Central. In 2005 there were more than 100 television shows taped in New York City.[31] Radio broadcasting in the city is equally varied. Presently the city is home to shock jocks Howard Stern and Opie and Anthony, conservative talk hosts Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, the progressive non-commercial radio station WBAI and the Sirius Satellite Radio network. WQHT ("Hot 97"), claims to be the nation's premier hip-hop station, while the morning radio program El Vacilón de la Mañana on WSKQ is the highest-rated Spanish-language radio show in the United States.
Public access television got its start in New York, and WNET, the city's major public television station, is a primary national provider of PBS programming. WNYC is the most listened-to public radio station in the United States.[32]
New York City is also the home of NY1, a 24-hour news channel owned by Time Warner and broadcast on Time Warner Cable and Cablevision.
Economy
New York City is a major center for international business and commerce and is one of three "command centers" for the global economy (along with London and Tokyo).[33] The city is widely regarded as a financial capital of the world and is a major center for finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts in the United States. Other important sectors include the city's television and film industry, second largest in the country after Hollywood; medical research and technology; non-profit institutions and universities; and fashion.
The New York metropolitan area had an estimated gross metropolitan product of $901.3 billion in 2004, the largest in the United States. The city's economy accounts for the majority of the economic activity in the states of New Jersey and New York.[34]
The city's stock exchanges are among the most important in the world. The New York Stock Exchange is the world's largest stock exchange by dollar volume, while the NASDAQ is the world's largest by number of listings. Many major corporations have headquarters in New York, including more Fortune 500 companies than any other city.[35] New York is unique among American cities for its large number of foreign corporations. One out of every ten private sector jobs in the city is with a foreign company.[36]
Creative industries, like new media, advertising, design and architecture account for a growing share of employment. High-tech industries like software development, game design, and Internet services are also growing; because of its position at the terminus of the transatlantic fiber optic trunk line New York City is the leading Internet gateway in the United States.[37]
Manufacturing accounts for a large but declining share of employment. Garments, chemicals, metal products, processed foods, and furniture are some of the principal products.[38] International shipping has always been a major part of the city's economy because of New York's natural harbor, but with the advent of containerization most cargo shipping has moved from the Brooklyn waterfront across the harbor to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey. Some cargo shipping remains; for example, Brooklyn still handles the majority of cocoa bean imports to the United States.[39]
Demographics
| City of New York Population by year [2] | |
|---|---|
| 1790 | 33,131 |
| 1900 | 3,437,202 |
| 1950 | 7,891,957 |
| 1970 | 7,894,862 |
| 1980 | 7,071,639 |
| 1990 | 7,322,564 |
| 2004 | 8,168,338 |
According to 2004 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, there are 8,143,197 people (up from 7.3 million in 1990), 2,984,544 households, and 1,802,009 families residing in the city.[9] This amounts to about 40% of New York State's population and a similar percentage of the metropolitan regional population. New York is by far the largest city in the United States, with a population more than double that of second-place Los Angeles.
New York practically stands alone among major northeastern United States cities in that it actually has to worry about population growth. According to Census Bureau numbers for 2005, revised upwards because of protests by the city government, the population is estimated at 8,213,839.[40] Over the last decade the city has been growing rapidly. Demographers estimate New York's population will reach 9.4 million by 2025.[41]
The two key demographic features of the city are its density and diversity. The city has an extremely high population density of 26,402.9/mi² (10,194.2/km²), about 10,000 more people per square mile than the next densest American city, San Francisco. Manhattan's population density is 66,940.1/mi² (25,845.7/km²).[42]
New York City is exceptionally diverse. Throughout its history the city has been a major point of entry for immigrants; the term "melting pot" was first coined to describe densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the Lower East Side, and according to some estimates as many as one out of every four Americans trace their ancestry roots back to New York City. In 2000, 36% of the city's population was foreign-born. Among American cities this proportion was higher only in Los Angeles and Miami.[42] While the immigrant communities in those cities are dominated by a few nationalities, such as Mexicans, Central Americans, and East Asians in Los Angeles or Cubans and other Latin Americans in Miami, in New York no single country or region of origin dominates.
| New York City Compared | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Census | NY City | NY State | U.S. |
| Total population | 8,008,278 | 18,976,457 | 281,421,906 |
| Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000 | +9.4% | +5.5% | +13.1% |
| Population density | 26,403/mi² | 402/mi² | 80/mi² |
| Median household income (1999) | $38,293 | $43,393 | $41,994 |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 27% | 27% | 24% |
| Foreign born | 36% | 20% | 11% |
| White | 45% | 62% | 69% |
| Black | 27% | 16% | 12% |
| Hispanic (any race) | 27% | 15% | 13% |
| Asian | 10% | 6% | 4% |
The five largest countries of origin are the Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Russia and Italy
The city and its metropolitan area is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel. It is also home to nearly a quarter of the nation's Indian-Americans, and the largest African American community of any city in the country. The Irish also have a notable presence; according to a 2006 genetic survey by Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, about one in 50 New Yorkers of European origin carry a distinctive genetic signature on their Y chromosomes inherited from Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish high king of the fifth century A.D.[43] New York City has long had a large gay community, estimated to be between 360,000 and 500,000 people.[44]
Since 1991, New York City has seen a continuous fifteen-year trend of decreasing crime; it is now the safest city in the United States with a population greater than 1,000,000 and the fourth safest among cities with populations over 500,000.[45] In 2004 New York City had a rate of 2,800 crimes per 100,000, compared with 8,959.7 in Dallas; 7,903.7 in Detroit; and 7,402.3 in Phoenix. While many credit the continuous drop in crime to innovations implemented by the NYPD in the 1990s, such as CompStat, economist Steven Levitt and others have pointed instead to broader social and economic trends.
Government
Since its consolidation in 1898, New York City has been a metropolitan municipality with a "strong" mayor-council form of government. The mayor and councillors are elected to four-year terms. The New York City Council is a unicameral body consisting of 51 Council members whose districts are defined by geographic population boundaries. The mayor and councilmembers are limited to two four-year terms. The "Board of Estimates" used to be considered the "upper house" of the city legislature until it was abolished in the early 90's. City Council offices are located at 250 Broadway, adjacent to City Hall.
The Democratic Party holds the majority of public offices. 66% of registered voters in the city are Democrats.[46] The party platform centers on affordable housing, education and economic development. Labor politics are important in the city. The city, however, is the most important source of political fundraising in the United States.
Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and John Kerry.[47]
According to the city government it has a strong imbalance of payments with the state government. New York City receives 63 cents in services for every $1 it sends to the state government in taxes and other revenue (or annually sends $7 billion more than it receives back[48]).
The mayor is Michael Bloomberg, a former Democrat elected as a Republican in 2001 and re-elected in 2005 with 59% of the vote.[49] He is known for taking control of the city's education system from the state, rezoning and economic development, sound fiscal management, and aggressive public health policy. In his second term he has made school reform and strict gun control central priorities of his administration.
As the host of the United Nations, New York City is also home to the world's largest international consular corps, comprising 105 consulates, consulates general and honorary consulates.[50]
Education
Education in New York City is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. The city's public school system, the New York City Department of Education, is the largest in the United States, and New York is home to some of the most important libraries, universities, and research centers in the world. The city is particularly known as a center for research in medicine and the life sciences.
New York has the most post-graduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, 40,000 licensed physicians, and 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions. The city receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health among all U.S. cities.[51] It also struggles with disparity in its public school system, with some of the best and worst performing public schools in the United States. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg the city has embarked on major school reform efforts.
The City University of New York is the third-largest public university system in the United States. Columbia University is an Ivy League university established in 1754, the oldest institution in the state, and New York University is the largest private, non-profit university in the United States.
The New York Public Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States. Its Library for the Humanities research center has 39 million items in its collection, among them the first five folios of Shakespeare's plays, ancient Torah scrolls, and Alexander Hamilton's handwritten draft of the United States Constitution.
Transportation
New York City is home to the most complex and extensive transportation network in the United States, with more than 12,000 iconic yellow cabs,[52] 120,000 daily bicyclists,[53] subway, bus and railroad systems, immense airports, landmark bridges and tunnels, ferry service and even an aerial commuter tramway. While nearly 90% of Americans drive to their jobs, only about 30% of New Yorkers do; about one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York and its suburbs.[54][55] Data from the 2000 U.S. Census reveals that New York City is the only major city in the United States where more than half of all households do not own a car (the figure is even higher in Manhattan, over 75%; nationally, the rate is 8%).[42][55] New York's high rate of public transit use and its pedestrian-friendly character makes it one of the most energy-efficient cities in the country. A study by the environmental organization SustainLane found New York to be the city in the United States best able to endure an oil crisis with an extended gasoline price shock in the range of US$3 to US$8 per gallon.[56]
The New York City Subway is the largest subway system in the world when measured by track mileage (656 miles or 1,056 km of mainline track) and the world's fifth largest when measured by annual ridership (1.4 billion passenger trips in 2004). New York City's public bus fleet and vast commuter rail network are the largest in North America. The rail network, which connects the suburbs in the tri-state region to the city, has more than 250 stations and 20 rail lines.[57] The commuter rail system converges at the two busiest rail stations in the United States, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, both in Manhattan.[58] Long-haul buses depart from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the nation's busiest bus station.[59]
Three major airports serve New York City and its surrounding suburbs: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA), both in Queens, and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in nearby Newark, New Jersey. About 100 million travelers used these New York-area airports in 2005 as the metropolitan region surpassed Chicago to become the busiest air gateway in the nation.[60] Rail service is now available to Kennedy Airport via AirTrain JFK. The service connects with the Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica and the city subway system at Howard Beach.
Sister cities
New York's sister cities are:[61]
Further reading
- National Geographic Traveler's Guide to New York City
- Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace (1998), Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Oxford University Press.
- Anthony Burgess (1976). New York, Little, Brown & Co.
- Federal Writers Project (1939). The WPA Guide to New York City, The New Press (1995 reissue).
- Kenneth T. Jackson (ed.) (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City, Yale University Press.
- Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar (eds.) (2005), Empire City: New York Through the Centuries, Columbia University Press.
- E. B. White (1949). Here is New York, Little Bookroom (2000 reissue).
- Colson Whitehead (2003). The Colossus of New York: A City in 13 Parts, Doubleday.
- E. Porter Belden (1849). New York, Past, Present, and Future: Comprising a History of the City of New York, a Description of its Present Condition, and an Estimate of its Future Increase, New York, G.P. Putnam. from Google Books
Notes
- ^ New York City Land Use - New York City's total area is 468.9 mi². 159.88 mi² of this is water and 321 mi² is land.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau, "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004" (Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005) Retrieved on 2006-08-31.
- ^ "NYC Is Safest City as Crime Rises in U.S., FBI Say." Bloomberg News 12 June 2006.[1]
- ^ Burrows and Wallace (1998).
- ^ Burns, Ric (2003-08-22). "Transcript". The Center of the World - New York: A Documentary Film. PBS. Retrieved 2006-07-20.
{{cite book}}: External link in|chapterurl=|chapterurl=ignored (|chapter-url=suggested) (help) - ^ Dunlap, David W. (2004-01-01). "Blocks; Capturing the Spirit of 1776, but With a Different Number". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
areawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Lopate, Phillip (2004). Waterfront: a walk around Manhattan. Anchor Press.
- ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference
censuswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Toop, David (1992). Rap Attack 2: African Rap to Global Hip Hop. Serpents Tail.
- ^ O'Donnell, Michelle (2006-07-04). "In Queens, It's the Glorious 4th, and 6th, and 16th, and 25th..." New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Belvedere Castle at NYC Parks
- ^ "NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ "Summary of Monthly Normals 1991–2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ "New York Central Park, NY Climate Normals 1961−1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- ^ a b "New York, New York, USA - Monthly weather forecast and Climate data". Weather Atlas. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
- ^ Jervey, Ben (2006). The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City. Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 0762738359.
- ^ "1999 National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment". Environmental Protection Agency. 2006-02. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Depalma, Anthony (2005-12-11). "It Never Sleeps, but It's Learned to Douse the Lights". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Different Buses for Different Jobs, retrieved on 2006-07-19 and "New York City's Yellow Cabs Go Green". Sierra Club press release. 2005-07-01. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ a b Pogrebin, Robin (2006-04-16). "7 World Trade Center and Hearst Building: New York's Test Cases for Environmentally Aware Office Towers". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "2005 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report". City of New York Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ B. Diamonstein–Spielvoegel (2005). The Landmarks of New York. Monacelli Press. See also the WPA Guide to New York City.
- ^ "Creative New York" (PDF). Center for an Urban Future. 2005-12. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "NYC Statistics". NYC & Company. Retrieved 2006-08-03.
- ^ "City Park Facts". The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence. June 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ Bleyer, Jennifer (2006-05-14). "Kebabs on the Night Shift". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19. Collins, Glenn (2005-11-03). "Michelin Takes On the City, Giving Some a Bad Taste". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ Ivry, Sara (2005-12-26). "Since Riders Had No Subways, Commuter Papers Struggled, Too". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "Media and entertainment". New York City Economic Development Corporation. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "eCirc". Audit Bureau of Circulations. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "2005 is banner year for production in New York". The Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting. 2005-12-28. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ WNYC. "WNYC, New York Public Radio: An Overview". Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ Sassen, Saskia (2001). The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo (2nd edition ed.). Princeton University Press.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ "The role of metro areas in the U.S. economy" (PDF). Global Insight. 2006-01-13. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ McGeehan, Patrick (2006-07-03). "Top executives return offices to Manhattan". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
- ^ "Keeping the Economy Growing". Gotham Gazette. 2006-01-23. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "Telecommunications and Economic Development in New York City: A Plan for Action" (PDF). New York City Economic Development Corporation. 2005-03. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Protecting and growing New York City's industrial job base" (PDF). The Mayor's Office for Industrial and Manufacturing Business. 2005-01. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Century, Douglas (1999-03-12). "My Brooklyn; Still a Contender on the Waterfront". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "New York Population Revised to Record 8.2 Million," Goldman, Henry; Bloomberg News; October 3, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (2006-02-19). "By 2025, Planners See a Million New Stories in the Crowded City". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ a b c "Census 2000 Data for the State of New York", U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.
- ^ Wade, Nicholas (2006-01-18). "If Irish Claim Nobility, Science May Approve". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-07-16.
- ^ The 2000 U.S. Census recorded 25,906 gay households in New York City, or about 52,000 people, three times larger than was reported in 1990 but significantly less than other estimates. Demographers suggest Census methodology undercounts the actual number. Beveridge, Andrew (2001-07). "Counting Gay New York". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ 2005 Ten Safest Big Cities
- ^ "County enrollment totals". New York State Board of Elections. 2006-04-01. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "2006 election overview: top zip codes". opensecrets.org. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ New York City Finance Division (2005-03-11). "A Fair Share of State Budget: Does Albany Play Fair with NYC?". Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "Statement and return report for certification: General Election 2005" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. 2005-11-08. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ Society of Foreign Consuls, About us. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.
- ^ "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Economic Development Corporation President Andrew M. Alper Unveil Plans to Develop Commercial Bioscience Center in Manhattan". New York City press release. 2004-11-18. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "The State of the NYC Taxi" (PDF). New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
- ^ Schaller, Bruce (2006-06). "Biking It". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved 2006-07-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "The MTA Network: Public Transportation for the New York Region". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2006-07-20.
- ^ a b Highlights of the 2001 National Household Travel Survey. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 2001. Retrieved 2006-07-20.
- ^ "U.S. Cities' Preparedness for an Oil Crisis". SustainLane. 2006-03. Retrieved 2006-07-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "The MTA Network: Public Transportation for the New York Region". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2006-07-19. "About the MTA Long Island Rail Road". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2006-07-19. In addition to the MTA lines, NJ Transit also operates four lines terminating in New York City.
- ^ More than half a million people pass through Grand Central, the main terminus for the Metro North rail system, each day. Grand Central Terminal Page. Retrieved on 2006-07-19. Penn Station, the main station for New York's intercity trains and the regional Long Island Railroad, is Amtrak's busiest station. nationalatlas.gov Amtrak facts. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.
- ^ "Port Authority Bus Terminal". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "Port Authority Airports set all-time Record for Passenger Traffic in 2005". NYC & Company. 2006-01-06. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "The Sister City Program of the City of New York, Inc" (HTML). NYC.gov. City of New York. Retrieved October 23, 2006.
External links
- NYC.gov - official website of the city
- History: Forgotten NY, Origins of New York, Placematters
- A few Old Postcards of NYC
- Maps: A9, Google, NYC.com, hot-maps, New York Filming Locations
- Photos/Photoblogs: Citynoise, NYC Addict, Panoramas NewYorkDailyPhoto
- Travel: Template:Wikitravel, Exploring New York City
- Virtual tours: Virtual NYC tour, NY Songlines
- Wikis: Wikicities, NYCity MediaWiki
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40°43′N 74°00′W / 40.717°N 74.000°W
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