New York City
Template:Redirect4 Template:Infobox New York City New York City 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 8.1 million[1] within an area of 321 square miles (830 km²),[2] making it the most densely populated city in North America. Its metropolitan area has a population of 18.7 million and is one of the largest urban areas in the world.[3]
New York City is a center for business, finance, fashion, entertainment, media and culture, with an extraordinary collection of museums, galleries and performance spaces. It is also home to the headquarters of the United Nations and to some of the world's most famous skyscrapers.
Popularly known as the "Big Apple", the city attracts large numbers of immigrants—over one-third of its population is foreign-born—as well as people from all over the United States who come for its culture, fast-paced lifestyle, cosmopolitanism, and economic opportunity. It is among the most diverse cities in the world—138 languages are spoken in Queens alone.[4] The city is also distinguished for having the lowest crime rate among the 25 largest American cities.[5]
History
The region was inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans at the time of its 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 Republic, 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 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. The New York Draft Riots during the American Civil War were suppressed by the Union Army. 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 consolidation of what would become the five boroughs in 1898.
A series of new transportation links, most notably the opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, helped bind together the newly-consolidated 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 dueling skyscrapers. New York overtook London as the most populous city in the world in 1925, ending that city's century-old claim to the title.
The city suffered during the Great Depression, which saw the election of reformist mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and the end of Tammany Hall's eighty years of political dominance. The city's industries and port facilities, such as the Brooklyn Navy Yard, also played a major role in World War II. The middle of the 20th century also saw a dramatic and controversial overhaul of the city's infrastructure under the direction of Robert Moses.
New York City emerged from World War II as the unquestioned 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 Manhattan in 1952) emphasizing its political influence, and the rise of Abstract Expressionism displacing Paris as center of the art world. The growth of post-war suburbs saw a slow decline in the city's population. Later, changes in industry and commerce, white flight, and rising crime rates pushed New York into a social and economic crisis in the 1970s.
The 1980s were a period of modest boom and bust, followed by a major boom in the 1990s. Racial tensions calmed in latter years; a dramatic fall in crime rates, improvements in quality of life and a major reinvigoration of immigration and growth renewed the city, and New York's population surged past eight million for the first time in its history. In the late 1990s, the city benefited disproportionately from the success of the financial services industry during the dot com boom, one of the factors driving a decade of booming residential and commercial real estate values.
The city was the site 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. Among those who died were workers in the buildings, passengers and crew on two commercial airplanes, and hundreds of firemen, policemen, and rescue workers who responded to the disaster. The city's economy was substantially hurt but has since rebounded. 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 2010.[6]
Geography
New York City is located at the center of the BosWash megalopolis, 218 miles (350 km) driving distance from Boston and 220 miles (353 km) from Washington, D.C. The city's total area is 468.9 square miles (1,214.4 km²), of which 35.31% is water.[2] 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. One possible meaning for "Manhattan" is "island of hills"; in fact, the island was quite hilly before European settlement.[7]
Cityscape
3: Queens, 4: Bronx, 5: Staten Island
New York City, officially the "City of New York", is comprised of the Five Boroughs. 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. 1,564,798) 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. It is loosely divided into downtown, midtown, and uptown regions.
The Bronx (Bronx County, pop. 1,363,198) is known as the birthplace of hip hop culture, 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. 2,472,523), 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 (2005 US census estimate)) is geographically the largest borough and, according to the US census, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States with many immigrant enclaves. Prior to consolidation with New York City it was at one time composed of small towns and villages founded by the Dutch. It is home to Shea Stadium and 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.
Staten Island (Richmond County, pop. 459,737) is quiet and the most suburban in character of the five boroughs, but has gradually become more 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 but somewhat milder than those of inland cities at a similar latitude in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. Nighttime temperatures range from 10 °F to 20 °F (-12 °C to -2 °C). Snowfall varies from year to year, usually averaging about 2 ft (60 cm) in total. The winters from 2003 to 2006 have had above normal snowfall with over 3 ft (100 cm) for each season. Rain is more common than snow in the winter, because the Atlantic Ocean helps keep temperatures warmer than in the interior Northeast.
Springs in New York are warm and mild, with high temperatures averaging in the 50 °Fs (10 to 15 °C) in late March to the lower 80 °Fs (27 °C to 30 °C) in early June. Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures often exceeding 90 °F (32 °C). Autumns are comfortable with sunshine and average temperatures in the 50 °Fs (10 °C to 15 °C). 70 °F (21 °C) days are common through mid-October.
| 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 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)[9][10][11] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weather Atlas[12]. | |||||||||||||
| 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) |
Environmental issues
New York's unique population density poses environmental advantages and dangers. It facilitates the highest mass transit use in the United States, but also concentrates pollution. Citing New York's density, land use, transit systems, watershed management and local agricultural resources, the environmental organization SustainLane ranked New York highest in environmental sustainability of all U.S. cities with more than one million residents in its 2005 US City Rankings.[13]
Recently, the city has focused on reducing its environmental impact, and is becoming one of the most energy efficient cities in the United States. Since the 1990s the city has been a national leader in municipal environmental policy; the city government is required to purchase only the most energy efficient cars, air-conditioners, and copy machines.[14] 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.[15] Gasoline consumption in the city is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s.[16]
The city is also a leader in energy-efficient "green" office buildings, such as Hearst Tower and 7 World Trade Center, which uses rainwater for use in toilets and for irrigation, and has computer-controlled heating and lighting.[17] City planners concerned about future electricity demand have introduced experimental underwater turbines in the East River to take advantage of tidal currents.[18]
The city is supplied 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 is one of the few cities in the United States with drinking water that does not require purification by water treatment plants, and only chlorination is necessary to ensure its purity at the tap.[19]
Because of concentrated traffic, air pollution is a major problem. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 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.[20] The EPA analysis shows the risk of developing lung cancer from particulate matter in the air in Manhattan affects 0.0136% of the population, or 136 residents out of every million.
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. Each councilor represents approximately 157,000 people. The mayor and councilors are limited to two terms in office of 4 years each. The most recent election was held in 2005.
The Democratic Party holds the majority of public offices. 87% of registered voters in the city are Democrats. By contrast, New York State is less liberal. Party platforms center on affordable housing, education and economic development. Labor politics are important in the city.
The current mayor is Michael Bloomberg, a former Democrat elected as a Republican in 2001 and re-elected in 2005 with 59% of the vote. 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.
New York City Hall is the seat of city government and is where the city council convenes. The Mayor's Office is among thirteen municipal agencies located in the nearby Manhattan Municipal Building, one of the largest government buildings in the world. Virtually all statewide office-holders, including the governor, attorney general, and both US senators have offices in Manhattan. 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.[21]
The city has a strong imbalance of payments with the national and state governments. New York City receives 83 cents in services for every US$1 it sends to the federal government in taxes (or annually sends US$11.4 billion more than it receives back). The city also sends an additional US$11 billion more each year to the state of New York than it receives back.[22]
New York City has what is widely regarded as one of the most effective municipal campaign finance systems in the United States.[23] The New York City Campaign Finance Board was created in 1988 in the wake of several political corruption scandals. It gives public matching funds to qualifying candidates, who in exchange submit to strict contribution and spending limits and a full audit of their finances. Citywide candidates in the program are required to take part in debates. Corporate contributions are banned and political action committees must register with the city.
Because the state of New York consistently votes Democratic in national elections, many observers argue that New York City is insignificant in national presidential contests. 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 2000 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Economy
Full panoramic photo
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 Tokyo and London).[24] The city is the major American center of finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts. Other important sectors include the city's television and film industry, second largest in the United States after Hollywood; medical research and technology; non-profit institutions and universities; and fashion.
The city's stock exchanges are among the most important in the world. The New York Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in the world by dollar volume, while the NASDAQ is the world's largest by number of listings. Many major corporations have headquarters in New York city, including more Fortune 500 companies than any other city.[25] 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. The internationalist perspective of New York's business community is often at odds with the foreign, trade and visa policies of the federal government.[26]
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; New York City is the leading international internet gateway in the United States because of its position at the terminus of the transatlantic fiber optic trunk line.[27]
Manufacturing accounts for a large but declining share of employment. Garments, chemicals, metal products, processed foods, and furniture are some of the principal products. International shipping has always been a major part of the city’s economy due to 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.
New York City has an estimated gross metropolitan product of nearly US$500 billion within the city limits, larger than the GDP of Switzerland and nearly equaling that of Russia. If it were a nation the city would have the 17th largest economy in the world, and at US$59,000 per person, New York would have the second highest per capita GDP after Luxembourg.[28]
Demographics
| New York City Compared | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Census | NY City | NY State | United States |
| 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) | US$38,293 | US$43,393 | US$41,994 |
| Per capita income | US$22,402 | US$23,389 | US$21,587 |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 27% | 27% | 24% |
| Foreign born | 36% | 20% | 11% |
| White | 35% | 62% | 69% |
| Black | 25% | 16% | 12% |
| Hispanic | 27% | 15% | 13% |
| Asian | 10% | 6% | 4% |
As of the 2000 census, there are 8,168,338 people (up from 7.3 million in 1990), 3,021,588 households, and 1,852,233 families residing in the city.Template:GR This amounts to about 40% of New York State's population and a similar percentage of the metropolitan regional population. Over the last decade the city has been growing rapidly. Demographers estimate New York's population will reach 9.4 million by 2025.[29] Median family income in 2003 was US$44,131. The unemployment rate in March of 2005 was 5.2%, identical to the nationwide rate. The median age is 34, a year younger than the figure nationally. Nearly 30% of New York City households have children under 18.
The two most notable demographic features of the city are its density and diversity. By American standards, 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 city, San Francisco. Manhattan's population density is 66,940.1/mi² (25,845.7/km²).
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 in four Americans can trace their roots to Brooklyn. In 2000 more than 35% of the city's population was foreign-born. Among American cities this proportion was higher only in Los Angeles and Miami. While the immigrant communities in those cities are dominated by a few nationalities, such as Mexicans or Cubans, in New York no single country or region of origin dominates. The four largest countries of origin are the Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, and Russia.
The city and its metropolitan area is home to the largest Jewish community outside 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.[30]
New York City is home to other significant minority populations, including 600,000 Muslims, 250,000 Hindus, and 100,000 Sikhs. Population experts estimate the number of gay people living in the city to be between 360,000 and 500,000.[31]
Crime
Since 1991, New York City has seen a continuous fifteen-year trend of decreasing crime; it is now the safest major city in the United States.[32] Overall, New York City had a rate of 2,800 crimes per 100,000 people in 2004, 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.
Culture
The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs has a larger annual budget than the National Endowment for the Arts. Writer Tom Wolfe said of the city that "Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather." The city's size, multicultural history and variety of arts institutions makes it the cultural capital of the United States.
Many major American cultural movements originated 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 and beyond. Jazz greats likes Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald found refuge from the segregation in the mixed communities of Queens, while a younger generation — Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and others — were developing bebop in the clubs of Harlem. The New York School of painters, which developed abstract expressionism in the post-World War II period, became the first truly original school of painting in America. American modern dance developed in New York during that same time. In the 1970s, punk rock developed in the downtown music scene, including New York Dolls and Ramones, while hip hop was emerging in the Bronx and New York stars like Kurtis Blow, Run-D.M.C., and LL Cool J defined East Coast hip hop by the 1990s.
Arts and theatre
While the big-budget film industry has consolidated in Hollywood, New York is the capital of American theatre and independent cinema.
The 39 largest theatres, with more than 500 seats, are collectively known as "Broadway" after its major thoroughfare. These, along with London's West End, are the apex of commercial theater in the English language. Many Broadway shows are world famous, such as the musicals Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Smaller theatres, termed off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway depending on their size, have the flexibility to produce more innovative shows for smaller audiences.
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. Other famous New York concert venues include Carnegie Hall, with three performance halls that regularly host major orchestras and soloists, jazz performances, and other non-classical acts, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, known for its cutting edge programming in music, film, theater, and dance. Downtown clubs such as CBGB and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe are among the city's varied destinations for rock, blues, jazz, mixed media and experimental theater.
New York is home to several world class art museums. Foremost amongst them is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has one of the largest and most diverse collections of any art museum in the world. Other museums include the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (of avant-garde art), the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Frick Collection (of Old Master paintings) and the Neue Galerie (of German and Austrian art). In addition, there are 2,000 arts and cultural non-profits and 500 art galleries of all sizes.[33]
Tourism and recreation
Some 39 million foreign and American tourists visit New York City each year. Tourist destinations include the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall (home of the The Rockettes), Broadway theatre, the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, the Bronx Zoo and luxury shopping along [Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)|Fifth]] and Madison Avenues. The diamond district around 47th Street is one of the three primary centers of the global diamond industry. SoHo is known for high-end clothing boutiques and Chelsea for its art gallleries. 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.
The city has 28,000 acres (113 km²) of parkland and 14 miles (22 km) of public beaches. Prospect Park in Brooklyn, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, has a 90 acre (360,000 m²) meadow thought to be the largest meadow in any U.S. park. Flushing Meadows Park in Queens is the city's third largest park and hosted the World's Fair in 1939 and 1964. Manhattan's Central Park, also designed by Olmsted and Vaux, is the most visited city park in the United States.[34]
The city’s food culture, influenced by its immigrants and large number of dining patrons, is diverse. Jewish and Italian immigrants made New York famous for bagels and New York style pizza. Ubiquitous city delis serve authentic Eastern European and Jewish cuisine. There are some 4,000 mobile food vendors licensed by the city; many are immigrant-owned and have made falafels and kebabs standbys of contemporary New York street food.[35] New York is also home to many of the finest haute cuisine restaurants in the United States.
Sports
The city has two Major League Baseball teams, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. The rivalry between the two teams is fierce. There have been fourteen World Series championship series between New York City teams; such matchups are called Subway Series.
The first national college-level basketball championship, the National Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938 and remains there to this day. The New York Knicks are the city's National Basketball Association team. The New Jersey Nets have announced plans to move to Brooklyn, but have not yet begun construction of their new arena, which is the subject of an acrimonious debate.
The city is also home to two National Football League teams, the New York Giants and New York Jets. Their shared stadium lies outside the city limits, however, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The New York Rangers represent the city in the National Hockey League. They are in close competition with metropolitan area rivals New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders. The New York metro region is the only area in the United States with more than one team in each of the four major sports, with nine such franchises.
The U.S. Tennis Open is held annually in Queens at the USTA National Tennis Center. Golf's U.S. Open and PGA Championship are frequently held at courses in the greater metropolitan area. The New York City Marathon every November is one of the world's pre-eminent long-distance running events.
Media
New York is often called "the media capital of the world". It is home to 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.[36]
The city is home to four of the ten largest newspapers in the nation. These include two of the USA's three national dailies: The New York Times (circulation 1.1 million), and the The Wall Street Journal (circulation 2.1 million).[38] Aside from the Times, the other leading local English-language papers are New York Daily News (circulation 730,000), and the New York Post (circulation 650,000), which was founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton.[39] El Diario La Prensa (circulation 265,000) is New York's largest Spanish-language daily and the oldest in the nation. The city also has a large ethnic press with newspapers in over twenty languages.
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.[40] Radio broadcasting in the city is equally varied. Shock jock Howard Stern and conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh are based in the city. 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.
New York is also a major force in non-commercial television and radio. 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.[41]
Architecture
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. Many prominent architects, such as Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, and Renzo Piano, are currently working on major projects in the city. The Freedom Tower, to be built on the site of the former World Trade Center, is set to be the tallest building in the United States when it is completed in 2010.
New York City has architecturally significant 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), modernist (the Seagram Building and Lever House), and post-modern (the AT&T Building). The Conde Nast Building is an important example of green design in American skyscrapers.
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.
Transportation
New York City is home to the most complex and extensive transportation network in the United States, with its more than 12,000 iconic yellow cabs, landmark bridges, 112,000 daily bicyclists, vast subway and railroad system, the nation's busiest public ferry and bus station, immense airports, pioneering underwater vehicular tunnels, the largest shipping port on the East Coast 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.[42] 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%).[43] 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 most able to endure an oil crisis with an extended gasoline price shock in the range of US$3 to US$8 per gallon.[44]
Mass transit
New York's public transit system, which moves 2.4 billion people each year, is the largest in North America. The New York City Subway is the largest subway system in the world when measured by track mileage (656 miles (1,056 km) of mainline track) and the world's fifth largest when measured by annual ridership (1.4 billion passenger trips in 2004).[45] New York City's public bus fleet, the largest in North America, supplements the subway. A vast commuter rail network, also the largest in North America with well over 250 stations and 20 rail lines serving more than 150 million commuters annually, connects the suburbs in the tri-state region to the city.[46] The commuter rail system converges at the two busiest rail stations in the United States, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, both in Manhattan.[47]
Airports
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.[48] JFK accounts for the largest share of outbound international travel of all U.S. airports and together with Newark accounted for nearly a quarter of all U.S. travelers who went overseas in 2004.[49] JFK is the largest international air freight gateway in the nation by value of shipments.[50] Both JFK and Newark have passenger rail connections to Manhattan.
Education
New York City is home to the largest public school system in the United States and a vast array of libraries, colleges, universities and research centers. It is renowned for having some of the premier programs in medicine, the life sciences, design and music in the United States.
Colleges and universities
The City University of New York (CUNY) is, with over 400,000 students and campuses in each of the five boroughs, the third-largest university system in the United States. It has been called "the poor man's Harvard" because of its low tuition counting the largest number of Nobel Laureates amongst its alumni of any public university in the world.
Columbia University is an Ivy League university in upper Manhattan. It was established in 1754 as King's College and is the fifth oldest chartered institution of higher education in the United States. During these early years, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, and Robert Livingston studied at Columbia.
New York University (NYU) is a major research university headquartered in Greenwich Village. Founded in 1831 by a group of prominent New Yorkers, NYU is the largest private, not-for-profit university in the United States with about 40,000 students.
The Cooper Union is a privately funded, tuition-free school specializing in art, architecture and engineering. Fordham University, which has campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx, was the first Catholic university in the Northeast. Yeshiva University is a competitive university in Washington Heights with a strong rabbinical school. The New School is a progressive university. In the 1930s, many scholars exiled by the totalitarian regimes of Europe found refuge there.
New York City is a center for postgraduate education in medicine and the life sciences. Its fifteen major teaching and research hospitals receive the second highest funding, amongst all cities, from the National Institutes of Health.[51] In addition to the medical schools affiliated with the large universities, it has focused research institutions such as Rockefeller University and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
In addition to many more universities and colleges, New York City is home to several of the nation's top schools of art and design, including the Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Parsons School of Design. Three of the nation's most prestigious conservatories are located on the Upper West Side: the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Mannes College of Music.
Primary and secondary education
The New York City public school system is the largest in the United States. More than one million students are taught in 1,200 separate schools. Many schools struggle with the problems typical of urban American school districts, while some magnet schools are exceptional, notably Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn Tech and the Bronx High School of Science (which has more Nobel laureates amongst its alumni than any other high school in the world). The CUNY-administered Hunter College High School sends the highest percentage of its graduates to Ivy League schools of any public school in the United States. The city has a number of other unique schools, including Harvey Milk High School, the only public high school in the United States for gay, lesbian, and transgendered students.
There are about 1,000 privately-run secular and religious schools in New York City. These include some of the most prestigious private schools in the United States, such as The Dalton School and Trinity. The Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn run a network of about 250 Catholic schools. There are also about 200 Jewish schools in the city.
Public libraries
New York City has three public library systems. The largest, the New York Public Library, caters to residents of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. It comprises both scholarly research collections and a network of community libraries. The largest of its four research centers is the Library for the Humanities, which 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. The Queens and Brooklyn are served by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Borough Public Library.
Further reading
- The Encyclopedia of New York City, (ed. by) Kenneth T. Jackson, 1995
- Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, 1998
- New York, Anthony Burgess, 1976
- Here is New York, E. B. White, 1949
- The Colossus of New York: A City in 13 Parts, Colson Whitehead, 2003
- Empire City: New York Through the Centuries, Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar (Eds.), 2005.
Notes
- ^ The U.S. Census Bureau estimated New York City's population at 8,143,197 in July 2005.[1]
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004 (CBSA-EST2004-01) [2]
- ^ "Queens: An Economic Review." Report by State Comptroller H. Carl McCall, November 2000.[3]
- ^ "NYC Is Safest City as Crime Rises in U.S., FBI Say." Bloomberg News 12 June 2006.[4]
- ^ "Blocks; Capturing the Spirit of 1776, but With a Different Number", New York Times January 1, 2004. [5]
- ^ Lopate, Phillip (2004). Waterfront: a walk around Manhattan. Anchor.
- ^ 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.
- ^ SustainLane US City Rankings March 2006.
- ^ "It Never Sleeps, but It's Learned to Douse the Lights." The New York Times December 11 2005
- ^ See the Metropolitan Transportation Authority[6] and "Sweet victory: NYC makes way for hybrids", The Nation July 9, 2005. [7]
- ^ Jervey, Ben. "The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City." See Metro New York article:[8]
- ^ "7 World Trade Center and Hearst Building: New York's Test Cases for Environmentally Aware Office Towers", New York Times, April 16, 2006. [9]
- ^ "In Search of New Power Source, City Looks Underwater", New York Times, July 10, 2004. [10]
- ^ "Maintaining Water Quality that Satisfies Customers: New York City Watershed Agricultural Program." New York City Department Of Environmental Protection 20 Nov 1998.[11]
- ^ "EPA: New York Has Dirtiest Air In Nation." WNBC 22 May 2006.[12]
- ^ Society of Foreign Consuls.[13]
- ^ "A Fair Share of State Budget: Does Albany Play Fair with NYC?" New York City Finance Division 11 Mar 2005.[14]
- ^ "Campaign Finance Board Is Seeking a New Director." 31 May 2006 The New York Times.[15]
- ^ Sassen, Saskia. The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo.
- ^ Patrick McGeehan, "Top executives return offices to Manhattan", New York Times 3 July 2006. [16] accessed 12 July 2006.
- ^ "Keeping the Economy Growing." Gotham Gazette 23 Jan 2006.[17]
- ^ 430 gigabits/second of international Internet capacity terminates in New York City By comparison, the number two U.S. hub, Washington/Baltimore, has 158 gigabits/second of internet terminates "Telecommunications and Economic Development in New York City: A Plan for Action." New York City Economic Development Corporation Mar 2005.[18]
- ^ Gross Metro Product was estimated at US$489 billion in 2003, up from US$470 billion in 2002. This figure counts activity only within the city limits. Including the northern New Jersey and Long Island, NY suburbs puts the 2004 GMP at US$901.3 billion, greater than the GDPs of India, South Korea, and Australia.[19] and [20]
- ^ Roberts, Sam. "By 2025, Planners See a Million New Stories in the Crowded City." New York Times 19 Feb. 2006. [21]
- ^ "If Irish Claim Nobility, Science May Approve." The New York Times 18 Jan. 2006.[22]
- ^ The 2000 US 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. See "Counting Gay New York." July 2001 Gotham Gazette[23]
- ^ Crime in New York City dropped 14% from 2001 to 2004, compared to a national decline of 1.5%. New York City is responsible for 20% of the entire nation’s decline in crime since 2001. Of the 240 cities with a population of 100,000 or more that report data to the FBI, New York City now ranks 222 between Fontana, California and Port St. Lucie, Florida. New York ranks the safest of the 25 largest cities in the United States with the fewest overall crimes on the total crime index.[24]
- ^ "Creative New York". Center for an Urban Future Dec. 2005. [25]
- ^ The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence. June 2006.[26]
- ^ "Kebabs on the Night Shift." The New York Times 14 May 2006.[27]
- ^ The State of New York. See The Governors Island Preservation & Education Corporation Request for Expressions of Interest 2005.[28]
- ^ "Since Riders Had No Subways, Commuter Papers Struggled, Too." The New York Times 26 Dec 2005.[29]
- ^ The remaining national daily, USA Today, is based in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
- ^ "Editor & Publisher International Year Book 2004." Found at infoplease.com.[30]
- ^ The Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting.
- ^ WNYC
- ^ Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation [31] and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority [32]
- ^ Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation.[33]
- ^ "U.S. Cities’ Preparedness for an Oil Crisis." March 2006 SustainLane.[34]
- ^ Metropolitan Transportation Authority.[35]
- ^ Metropolitan Transportation Authority.[36]
- ^ More than half a million people pass through Grand Central, the main terminus for New York City's commuter rail system, each day.[37] Penn Station, the main station for New York's intercity trains, is Amtrak's busiest station.[38]
- ^ "Port Authority Airports set all-time Record for Passenger Traffic in 2005. NYC & Company.[39]
- ^ Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation. "Top 20 U.S. Gateways for Nonstop International Air Travel: 1990, 1995, and 2000" [40] and "Spotlight on Two of America's International Air Gateways: John F. Kennedy International and Los Angeles International" [41]
- ^ Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation.[42]
- ^ "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 [43]
External links
- NYC.gov - official website of the city
- Blogs: Gothamist, NewYorkNarrative
- History: Origins of New York, Placematters
- Maps: A9, Google
- Photos: Citynoise, NYC Addict, Panoramas
- Travel: Template:Wikitravel, Exploring New York City
- Virtual tours: Virtual NYC tour, NY Songlines
- Wikis: Wikicities, NYCity MediaWiki
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