New York City
- This article is about the City of New York in the State of New York, USA. For other uses of the term "New York", see New York (disambiguation). For other uses of the phrase "New York, New York", see New York, New York (disambiguation).
, with
Statue of Liberty]]\n
New York — officially named
City of New York and often called
New York City to distinguish it from
New York state, in which it is located — is the most populous city in the
United States, and the second most populous in
North America after
Mexico City. New York City is known affectionately as the "
Big Apple" and recognised as one of several "
world cities". Giving some credence to the city's self-designation as "capital of the world", the
United Nations headquarters is located in New York.
New York City is among the most densely populated places in the
United States. Its population is more than eight million (
2000 U.S. Census), and its land area is 831 km
2 (320 square
miles); hence the density is ca. 10,000/km².
New York City is part of the
New York metropolitan area with a population of around 20 million. See also
[1].
History of New York City
\n:Main Article: History of New York City
New York City started out as the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam) on the southern tip of Manhattan in 1626. In 1664, English ships captured the city without struggle, and it was renamed New York, after the Duke of York. At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, in the Treaty of Breda the Dutch formally signed New York over to the English and received the colony of Suriname in return.
At the start of the American Revolutionary War, the city was the scene of important early fighting at the Battle of Brooklyn, suffered a great fire in which much of it burned, and fell into British control for the remainder of the war, not to be regained by the Americans until 1783. "Evacuation Day" was long celebrated in New York.
During the 19th century, the city population boomed by an influx of a vast number of immigrants. In 1811, the city street grid was expanded to encompass all of Manhattan with a visionary development proposal called the Commissioner's Plan. By 1835, New York City overtook Philadelphia as the largest city in the United States.
During the Civil War, the city's strong commercial ties to the South, as well as its growing immigrant population, led to a split in sympathy between the Union and Confederacy, culminating in the Draft Riots of 1863, the worst civil unrest in American history.
After the war, the rate of immigration from Europe grew steeply, and New York became the first stop for millions seeking a new and better life in the United States.
In 1898, New York City took the political form in which it exists to this day. Prior to 1898, New York City consisted of Manhattan and the Bronx, which was annexed by the city from southern Westchester County in two separate actions: the western portion in 1874, and the remaining portion in 1895. In 1898, a new municipal government, originally called Greater New York, was created by new legislation. It was divided into five boroughs. The Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx covered the original city and the rest of New York County. The Borough of Brooklyn consisted of the City of Brooklyn as well as several municipalities in eastern Kings County. The Borough of Queens was established in western Queens County, and covered several small cities and towns, including Long Island City, Astoria and Flushing. The Borough of Staten Island contained all of Richmond County. All municipal governments contained within the boroughs were abolished. A year later, the area of Queens County not contained within the Borough of Queens became Nassau County. In 1914, the state legislature created Bronx County, shrinking New York County so it contained only Manhattan. The five boroughs are now considered to be generally coterminous with their respective counties.
In the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. Interborough Rapid Transit (the first subway company) began operating in 1904. The New York skyline soared in the 1930s with the building of some of the world's tallest skyscrapers.
In the decades after World War II, however, the city slid into gradual decline with the loss of population to the suburbs and the erosion of its industrial base. Like many US cities, New York suffered severe race riots in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, the city had gained a reputation for being a crime-ridden relic of history. In 1975, the city hit bottom and had to declare bankruptcy.
The 1980s saw a rebirth of Wall Street, and the city reclaimed its role at the center of the world-wide financial industry. In the 1990s, crime rates dropped drastically and the outflow of population turned around, as the city once again became the destination not only of immigrants from around the world, but of many U.S. citizens seeking to live a cosmopolitan lifestyle that only New York City can offer. In the late 1990s, the dot com boom fueled another frenzy of financial speculation that sent the economy soaring.
Out of all of the affected cities, New York suffered the most during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, the city has rebounded and pushed forward new plans for the destroyed areas of the World Trade Center. The Freedom Tower, to be built on the site, is intended to be the world's highest skyscraper after its scheduled completion in 2008.
New York City government
\n:Main Article: Government of New York City\
New York City is governed pursuant to the New York City Charter, as amended. The charter is enacted and amended by the New York State legislature, and occasionally through referendum. Though subservient to the State of New York, the city enjoys a high degree of legislative and executive autonomy. Like most governmental entities in the United States, the city government is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The Five Boroughs
The City of New York is composed of five boroughs each a county of New York State:
- Manhattan – New York County, population 1,546,856\n* The Bronx – Bronx County, population 1,354,068\n* Brooklyn – Kings County, population 2,488,194\n* Queens – Queens County, population 2,237,815\n* Staten Island – Richmond County, population 457,383
(Population figures from
July 1,
2002 Census estimates\nsee
http://www.census.gov/ for more information).
The boroughs are coterminous with their respective counties, but the counties do not have actual county governments. Each borough elects a Borough President, but under the current city charter, the Borough President's powers are limited—he or she has a small discretionary budget to spend on projects within the borough. (The last significant power of the borough presidents—to appoint a member of the Board of Education —was abolished, with the board, on June 30,
2002.) Currently, borough presidents serve as
ex officio members of various boards and committees.
Residents of the city often refer to the city itself as "
the Five Boroughs," reserving the phrase "the City" to refer to Manhattan. Those less familiar with the city often (incorrectly) think Manhattan is synonymous with New York City. The boroughs other than Manhattan are also referred to as "the Outer Boroughs."
Executive
\nThe executive branch of New York City is headed by the Mayor, who is elected by direct popular vote. The mayor has executive authority over five divisions of city government as well as several independent government offices. The divisions, each comprising several city agencies and headed by an appointed Deputy Mayor, are:
- Operations\n* Economic Development and Rebuilding\n* Policy\n* Administration\n* Legal Affairs
The mayor has broad emergency powers which can be exercised in cases of emergency weather conditions, natural disaster, riots, civil unrest, invasion or other emergency. Most recently, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg declared a
state of emergency during the
2003 blackout.
Legislative
\nLegislative power in New York City is vested in a unicameral City Council, which contains 51 members, each representing a district of approximately 157,000 people. Councilmembers are elected every four years, and the leader of the majority party is called the Speaker. The current Speaker of the City Council is
Gifford Miller, a
Democrat. Like most legislative bodies, the City Council is divided into committees which have oversight of various functions of the city government. Bills passed by a simple majority are sent to the mayor, who may sign it into law. If the mayor vetoes the bill, the Council has 30 days to override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote.
Judicial
\nUnlike the rest of New York State, New York City does not have typical county courts. Instead, there is a single Civil Court, with a presence in each borough and city-wide jurisdiction, and a Criminal Court for each New York City county which handles lesser criminal offenses and domestic violence cases, a responsibility shared with the Family Court. Unlike other counties in New York, judges for Family Courts in New York City are appointed for ten year terms by the mayor, instead of being elected.
Criminal cases are handled on
indictment by the Supreme Court in each New York City county. The Supreme Court also handles larger civil cases, and
grand juries sit in each county. Thus, unlike other states and the Federal Government, in New York, the Supreme Court is not the highest court. Appeals are handled by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The highest court in the state is the Court of Appeals.
Crime
\n:See also: Timeline of New York City crimes
New York has had a reputation as a crime-ridden city, partly due to the hundreds of TV and movie crime dramas set in it. However, in recent years it has been ranked in the top ten safest large cities in the United States by
City Crime Rankings (9th edition, 2003). In addition, New York has been growing safer for most of the last decade—
FBI data indicate that the murder rate in 2000 was the lowest since
1967.
There have been some notorious crime sprees, however. For example, on
July 29,
1976 the "
Son of Sam" pulled a gun from a paper bag killing one person and seriously wounding another in the first of a series of attacks that terrorized the city for the next year.
As soon as the
Sicilian Mafia moved to New York in the 1920s, they became infamous with their hits on businesses that did not pay money to them. They had also set up smuggling rings and fixed boxing matches. The Mafia flourished due to a distrust of the police in the
Italian-American communities in New York.\nThe five largest crime families in New York were the Bonnanos, the Colombos, the Gambinos, the Genovese, and the Luchese. The assimilation of the Italian-American population is choking the Mafia in New York, although they still operate.
Geography and climate
\nNew York City comprises Manhattan Island, Staten Island, the western part of Long Island, part of the North American mainland (the Bronx), and several small islands in New York Harbor.
New York has a humid continental climate. The city is adjacent to water, so temperature changes are not as drastic as those inland. Every winter, it snows in New York due to its latitude. Because of its key position, New York had been king in the shipping passenger trade between Europe and the Americas for quite some time, until the airplane came into wider use across the Atlantic.
Staten Island is hilly, and is the least populated borough of the boroughs in New York City. Space is sparse on Manhattan, therefore tall buildings are preferred.
The city will be threatened if the current patterns of global warming continue to raise the sea level.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,214.4
km² (468.9
mi²). 785.6 km² (303.3 mi²) of it is land and 428.8 km² (165.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 35.31% water.
Demographics
\nThe median income for a household in the city is $38,293, and the median income for a family is $41,887. Males have a median income of $37,435 versus $32,949 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,402. 21.2% of the population and 18.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 30.0% are under the age of 18 and 17.8% are 65 or older.
As of 2000, there are 8,008,278 people, 3,021,588 households, and 1,852,233 families residing in the city. The
population density is 10,194.2/km² (26,402.9/mi²). There are 3,200,912 housing units at an average density of 4,074.6/km² (10,553.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 44.66% White, 26.59%
African American, 0.52%
Native American, 9.83%
Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 13.42% from other races, and 4.92% from two or more races. 26.98% of the population are
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There are 3,021,588 households out of which 29.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.2% are married couples living together, 19.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.59 and the average family size is 3.32.
In the city the population is spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.9 males.
Economy
\nNew York is a center of many industries in the United States.\nIt was the early center of the American film industry, until it moved to Los Angeles, and still has some movie and television production.\nNew York is also a financial center for the country, containing the
New York Stock Exchange,
NASDAQ,
American Stock Exchange,
New York Mercantile Exchange, and
New York Board of Trade. The New York financial industry is based in Wall Street, lower Manhattan.\nNew York is also the center of the clothing industry in the United States. Many fashions come out of New York from different designers.\nNew York also has a lot of book publishers, which often have New York as the very first city in publishing.\nNew York also has a large tourism industry. See below for more details about the tourism industry.
Major corporations based in New York
{|\n|-\n|valign="top"|\n* Amerada Hess\n* American Broadcasting Company (owned by Disney)\n*
American Express\n*
American International Group\n*
Avon\n*
Bank of New York\n* Bankers Trust\n* Bear Stearns\n*
Bloomberg\n*
Bristol Myers Squibb\n*
CBS (owned by
Viacom)\n*
Citigroup\n*
Colgate-Palmolive\n* Conde Nast\n*
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu\n*
Dow Jones & Company\n*
Ernst & Young\n*
Estée Lauder\n*
FAO Schwarz\n*
Goldman Sachs\n*
HBO (owned by
Time Warner)\n* Interpublic Group\n*
JetBlue\n*
J.P. Morgan Chase\n*
King World Productions\n|valign="top"|\n*
KPMG\n*
MAD Magazine\n* McGraw-Hill Companies\n* Mercantile Exchange\n*
Merrill Lynch\n* Metlife\n*
MTV (owned by
Viacom)\n* Mutual of New York\n*
Nasdaq\n*
National Broadcasting Company (owned by
General Electric)\n*
News Corporation\n*
New York Stock Exchange\n* Paine Webber\n*
Pfizer\n*
PricewaterhouseCoopers\n*
Reuters\n*
Revlon\n*
RJR Nabisco\n*
Simon and Schuster (owned by
Viacom)\n*
The New York Times Company\n*
Time Warner\n*
Verizon\n*
Viacom\n|}
Altria was based here under its former name Phillip Morris. Altria moved its headquarters to
Richmond, Virginia.
Texaco was based here until it merged with
Chevron into
San Ramon, California based
ChevronTexaco.
Communications and media
\nNewspapers and magazines
\n* AM New York (free daily)\n* BIGNews (monthly)\n* New York Sun (daily)\n* New York Daily News (daily)\n* New York Times (daily)\n* New York Post (daily)\n* New York Press (weekly)\n* Newsday (daily)\n* Staten Island Advance (daily)\n* Street News (every six weeks)\n* Time Out NY (weekly)\n* Village Voice (free weekly)
Neighborhoods of New York
\nMany big-city neighborhoods have a definable history and character of their own. (In New York, some avenues and even buildings have their own entry.)
See also: List of New York City parks,
Geography of New York Harbor
People of New York
A resident of New York City is a New Yorker. Residents of Brooklyn sometimes call themselves Brooklynites and residents of Staten Island, Staten Islanders. Residents generally refer to New York City (or just Manhattan) as "New York" or "the city". Ambiguity is resolved by writing "NYS" for the state and "NYC" for the city.
To some observers, New York has seemed more of an international city than an "American" city, due to the large influx of immigrants. Only Los Angeles receives more immigrants. Hundreds of languages are spoken in New York City. In many major cities in the world, immigrants tend to cluster into enclaves where they can talk and shop and work with people from their country of origin. In the United States, this is most pronounced in New York City. Immigrants of
Irish,
Italian,
Chinese,
Korean,
Puerto Rican,
African and
Jewish origin all have enclaves within the city. New York has a higher Jewish population than
Jerusalem, Israel does.
Before September 11, 2001, New Yorkers were often stereotyped as rude and brusque. Since the World Trade Center destruction, increased empathy with New Yorkers has lessened this perception.
The common stereotype of the "New Yorker" is held by many. The city has a large population and is fast-paced, so New Yorkers are often seen as having an attitude of superiority and New Yorkers were not meant to have any time to spare for anyone else (not even other New Yorkers). In the stereotype, they will not hold the door for anyone, and will scoff the tourist who does. There is tourist mocking (including tourist jokes), due to the high levels of entertainment they receive from such abuse and tourists' unfamiliarity with the habits of city life. New Yorkers are jaded and things that others would consider drawbacks to life in The City (
crime,
prostitution,
pollution, noise...) are instead marks of pride, and the very lures that keep them from ever leaving. One former New York couple, who had left for
Los Angeles in
1926, returned on a visit some decades later, and summarized it thus: "We forgot how to be mean."
Whereas in the much of the rest of the United States,
football has surpassed
baseball as the most popular professional sport, in New York baseball arguably still stirs the most passion and interest. A
World Series championship by either the
New York Yankees or the
New York Mets is considered to be worthy of the highest celebration, including a
ticker-tape parade for the victorious team. While for the rest of the
East Coast the rivalry depicted as being the most intense is the one between the Yankees and the
Boston Red Sox, for New Yorkers the rivalry that stirs deep passions is between the Yankees and the Mets. Outsiders are frequently unaware that few baseball fans in New York are fans of both teams at once.
After
September 11th, the attitudes of New Yorkers have both changed and stayed the same. Pride in the city and their way of life have increased for many, though others show signs of paranoia. "Mets Suck!" was still graffitied on a scaffold near "
Ground Zero." Cabbies still drive recklessly, though some civilian drivers are more polite than previously.
New York has an intense rivalry with the city of
Boston, Massachusetts. This is perhaps the most infamous city rivalry in the United States, especially in the minds of Bostonians.
See also: List of people from New York
Tourism and recreation
Tourism is a very large business, with hundreds of famous buildings, sites, and monuments in New York City. Many people visit the
Radio City Music Hall, the
Statue of Liberty, the
Empire State Building, the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Ellis Island, and several other famous New York City landmarks. The
World Trade Center was a famous tourist destination before
September 11,
2001, and since that day, Ground Zero has become a very important place for visitors to see. The most famous
FAO Schwarz is located in Manhattan. It is so popular that long lines to enter are seen as one approaches the building.
Coney Island, in the south of Brooklyn, has New York's roller coasters and amusement parks.
The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York on
November 27,
1924. Since then this has been a annual event drawing tens of thousands of spectators and in later years millions of
television viewers.
Many people characterize the tourist-filled Manhattan as "New York". New York is actually more diverse than that, since Staten Island and Queens have shorter buildings than Manhattan does.
A common saying about con artists is to say that they are selling "pieces of the Brooklyn Bridge."
See also
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation,
List of New York City parks.
Sports teams and stadiums
Unlike most major cities, the New York City metropolitan area has two teams in most major league sports.
- New York Giants, National Football League, Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey\n* New York Islanders, National Hockey League, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York\n* New York Jets, National Football League, Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey\n* New York Knicks, National Basketball Association, Madison Square Garden\n* New York Mets, Major League Baseball, Shea Stadium (1964-)\n* New York Rangers, National Hockey League, Madison Square Garden\n* New York Yankees, Major League Baseball, Yankee Stadium (1923-)\n* New York Dragons, Arena Football League, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York\n* MetroStars, Major League Soccer, Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey
The New Jersey Nets (NBA) and the
New Jersey Devils (NHL) are based in the
Continental Airlines Arena at the
Meadowlands Sports Complex.
Ebbets Field (torn down in
1960) was the home of the
Brooklyn Dodgers (now the
Los Angeles Dodgers) from
1913 until
1957.
The
Polo Grounds in northern
Harlem (torn down in
1964) was the home of the
New York Giants of
Major League Baseball (now the
San Francisco Giants) from
1911 to
1957. It was the first home of the New York Mets, in
1962 and
1963. It stood just across the river from the Bronx's
Yankee Stadium.
In
2004, the New Jersey Nets was sold to Bruce Ratner, who announced plans to move it to Brooklyn and build a new state of the art arena. The New York Jets also hope to move to the West Side of Manhattan and build a retractable roof football stadium in
2008 once their lease at Giants Stadium expires. Both of these construction proposals have stirred considerable opposition.
New York City is home to two
minor league baseball teams. Both play in the short-season Class A
New York-Penn League, and each is an affiliate of one of the city's major-league teams. The
Brooklyn Cyclones are a Mets affiliate, and the
Staten Island Yankees are (obviously) affiliated with the Yankees.
New York City is a finalist to host the
2012 Summer Olympics, with plans to build many new sporting venues if chosen. The proposed Jets stadium on the West Side would also be used for the Olympic track and field events, but the uncertainty as to whether that stadium will be built is a weakness in the New York City bid.
Museums and cultural institutions
\n
]]\n*American Museum of Natural History\n*
Brooklyn Museum\n*
Carnegie Hall\n*
Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art\n*
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts\n*
Metropolitan Museum of Art – commonly called
"The Met"\n**
The Cloisters –
medieval art collection\n*Museum of the City of New York
[1] – founded in 1923 to present the history of New York City and its people.\n*
Museum of Modern Art – MoMA, currently displaying work at a temporary location called MoMA QNS in
Astoria,
Queens while the location on 53rd Street in Manhattan is under construction\n*Nicholas Roerich Museum – Artistic center of work by
Nicholas Roerich, a Russian painter\n*
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum\n*
Whitney Museum of American Art\n*
Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences
Transportation
\nUnlike most of America's car-oriented urban areas, public transportation is the common mode of travel for the majority of New York City residents. High parking fees, alternate side of the street parking rules and traffic jams discourage driving, and the
New York Subway—fast, efficient, but not always clean—provides the best alternative. People living in the suburbs in eastern Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York either drive or use the city's far-reaching commuter railroad system to travel to the city.
High tollway fees on bridges and underground tunnels help raise revenue and discourage too many commuters from using the crossings. New Yorkers who live in the city tend to take taxis, buses, subways (the underground in
British English), and elevated trains. Ferries are also taken between Manhattan and New Jersey, as well as other parts of New York City.
Mass transit
\nNew York City boasts the most extensive network of public transportation in the United States. Responsibility for providing public transportation falls to a variety of government agencies and private corporations.
\n*New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) provides extensive commuter rail service from many parts of Northern and Central
New Jersey to Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan. Here is a breakup of the
New Jersey Transit network.
- The Northeast Corridor Line provides electric rail service inbetween Pennsylvania Station and Trenton. At Trenton, riders can connect to SEPTA and Amtrak.
- The North Jersey Coast Line provides electric rail service inbetween Pennsylvania Station and Long Branch. Diesel service is provided inbetween Long Branch and Bay Head or Hoboken and Bay Head.
- The Raritan Valley Line provides diesel rail service inbetween Raritan and Newark Penn Station.
- The Pascack Valley Line provides diesel rail service inbetween Spring Valley, NY and Hoboken.
- The Bergen, Main and Port Jervis Lines provides diesel rail service inbetween Port Jervis, NY and Hoboken. NJ Transit has a partnership with Metro North Railroad in which they provide the vacilities necessary for stations within the state of New York.
- The Montclair-Boonton Line provides electric rail service inbetween Hacketsttown and Hoboken or Pennsylvania Station. Trains declared MidTOWN DIRECT are the ones that will terminate at Pennsylvania Station.
- The Morris and Essex Lines provide electric rail service inbetween Hackettstown and Hoboken or Pennsylvania Station and also inbetween Gladstone and Hoboken or Pennsylvania Station. Trains declared MidTOWN DIRECT are the ones that will terminate at Pennsylvania Station.
- The Secaucus Transfer Station allows passengers on the Port Jervis, Pascack Valley, Bergen and Main Lines to make a swift connection on selective Pennsylvania Station bound trains for an easier commute into New York City.
- At Pennsylvania Station in New York, connections are available to Amtrak, the Long Island Railroad, and the New York City Subway system.
- At New Jersey Transit's Hoboken Terminal, transfers can be made to PATH trains between Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, and Midtown Manhattan; to Manhattan-bound ferry service; and to NJ TRANSIT's Hudson-Bergen Light Rail System. At Newark Penn Station, connections to Amtrak, PATH and NJ TRANSIT's Newark City Subway are available. PATH can be used to connect with NJ TRANSIT's Hudson-Bergen Light Rail System.
- A person traveling on selective New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor Line or North Jersey Coast Line, and Amtrak trains can access Newark Liberty International Airport by getting off at the Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Station. From here, the AirTrain Monorail links the station with the airport's terminals and parking garages. It is a 20 minute ride from Pennsylvania Station and the first airport in the New York Metropolitan Area to have such a station/link on a mainline railway.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The MTA is a New York State public benefit corporation tasked with providing mass transit in the New York City metropolitan area through its various subsidiary agencies.
- MTA Metro-North Railroad provides commuter service from The Bronx, Westchester County and southern Connecticut into Grand Central Terminal. Three main lines terminate in Poughkeepsie, Wassaic, and New Haven. The lattermost line has connecting branches to New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury in Connecticut. In partnership with New Jersey Transit, it also provides commuter services into Hoboken, New Jersey from Port Jervis and Spring Valley.
- MTA Long Island Railroad provides extensive commuter service to most of Long Island, with destinations in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk via two trunk lines and six subsidiary branches.
- Staten Island Rapid Transit provides north-south commuter service the entire length of Staten Island.
- MTA New York City Transit provides extensive fixed-fare subway and bus service throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The subway system is one of the largest in the world, with over 720 miles of track and more than 400 stations.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey provides PATH trains connecting Manhattan to New Jersey, as well as AirTrain service to two major airports. The Port Authority also owns and operates the three major airports in the New York City area (see below.) Regional bus service to New Jersey, upstate New York, Canada and the midwest travels from the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square and the smaller George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal.
Airports
\nThe three local airports are
JFK International Airport in
Jamaica,
Newark Liberty International in
Newark, New Jersey, and
La Guardia Airport in
Flushing. Most New Yorkers fly domestic flights out of La Guardia, while many flying domestically into Newark and JFK are not from the New York area. Although Newark was the first airport in the area, and the closest to Manhattan, it is in
New Jersey.
Ferries
Many private ferries are run by NY Waterway, which provides several lines across the
Hudson River, New York Water Taxi, with lines connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan, and other operators. There is also the free
Staten Island Ferry between Manhattan and Staten Island, operated by the New York City Department of Transportation.
Taxis
Taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission. There are two kinds of taxis: "medallion taxis," which are the familiar yellow taxis, and "car services," which may only be radio- or computer-dispatched to pick up customers who have called for a taxi. Yellow cabs patrol most of Manhattan and may be hailed with a raised hand and taken--depending on the driver--anywhere within the five boroughs and parts of New Jersey. As of May 2004, fares begin at $2.50 ($3.00 after 8 pm, and $3.50 during peak, weekday hours). Prices go up based on time elapsed and distance traveled.
Events
Famous New Yorkers
\n*Kareem Abdul-Jabbar\n*
Woody Allen\n*
Michael Bloomberg\n*
Humphrey Bogart\n*
George Carlin\n*
Puff Daddy\n*
Sammy Davis, Jr\n*
Frederick Douglass\n*
Madeleine L'Engle\n*
Richard Feynman\n*
Millard Fillmore\n*
Lou Gehrig\n*
George Gershwin\n*
Rudolph Giuliani\n*
Alexander Hamilton\n*
Washington Irving\n*
Henry James\n*
Fiorello LaGuardia\n*
Spike Lee\n*
Vince Lombardi\n*
L P\n*
Herman Melville\n*
Rosie O'Donnell\n*
Christopher Reeve\n*
John D. Rockefeller\n*
Theodore Roosevelt\n*
Jonas Salk\n*
George Steinbrenner\n*
Barbara Streisand\n*
Donald Trump
Plays and musicals set in New York
\n*Little Shop of Horrors\n* Rent (
1996)\n*
West Side Story (
1957)
Television shows set in New York
See: List of television shows set in New York City
Movies set in New York
See: List of movies set in New York City
Colleges and universities in New York
\n* Brooklyn Polytechnical Institute\n* City University of New York\n* College of Mt. St. Vincent\n*
College of Staten Island\n*
Columbia University (
Ivy League member)\n*
Cooper Union\n*
Fordham University\n*
Juilliard School\n* Manhattan College\n* Marymount Manhattan College\n*
New School University (formerly the New School for Social Research)\n* New York Law School\n*
New York University\n*
Pratt Institute\n*
Saint John's University\n* Touro College\n* Wagner College
Further reading
\n* Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Oxford University Press, 1998, hardcover, 1416 pages, ISBN 0195116348, trade paperback, 2000, 1424 pages, ISBN 0195140494
Related articles
\n* Mayors of NYC\n*
New York City Police Department\n*
New York City Fire Department\n*
New York Minute\n*
New York, New York, a song with famous versions by
Liza Minnelli and
Frank Sinatra
External links
\n*NYC.gov - New York City official website.\n*
MTA.info - NYC Area Metropolitan Transit Authority website.\n*
NYCsubway.org - unofficial, yet highly accurate information on the New York City subway system.\n*
Straphangers.org - website for an organization that works to better the New York City transit system.\n*
Detailed Map of NYC\n*
Satellite image of New York City taken by
NASA's
Earth Observing System\n*
Satellite image of Manhattan at NASA's Earth Observatory\n*
Satellite image of New York City and East Coast City Lights at NASA's Earth Observatory\n*
NYC2012.com - support site for NYC's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics.\n*
Lost New York City - photo essay of 19th century buildings destroyed in the 1970s.
Sources
\n*http://flagspot.net, http://fotw.vexillum.com/flags/us-nyc.html – Source of flag and seal images. Picture of flag is made by Joe McMillan. Picture of seal is made by Dov Gutterman
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