New York City

The City of New York
New York City during the day
Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City That Never Sleeps
Coordinates: 40°43′N 74°00′W / 40.717, -74
Country	United States
State	New York
Boroughs	The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island
Government
- Mayor	Michael Bloomberg
Area
- City	468.9 sq mi (1,214.4 km²)
- Land	303.3 sq mi (785.6 km²)
- Water	165.6 sq mi (428.8 km²)
- Urban	3,352.6 sq mi (8,683.2 km²)
- Metro	6,720 sq mi (17,405 km²)
Elevation	33 ft (10 m)
Population (2006)
- City	8,214,426
- Density	27,083/sq mi (10,456/km²)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Website: http://www.nyc.gov/

New York City is the largest city in the United States. It is in the state of New York, which is in the northeast of the country.

History

The oldest part of the city, the island of Manhattan, still has its original Lenape Native American name. Although Native people such as the Lenape and Canarsees had lived there for many thousands of years, New York City was first explored by Europeans in the 1500's. Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano found the entrance to New York Harbor in the year 1524 and English explorer Henry Hudson found the Hudson River in 1609.

Peter Stuyvesant, last Dutch Governor of Nieuw Amsterdam

New York City was settled by Europeans from The Netherlands in 1624. The Dutch called the whole area of New York "Nieuw Nederland" and they named a fort and town on the south end of Manhattan Island Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam),^[1] after the capital city of the Netherlands, which was to become present-day New York. When the English took over the colony in 1664 they changed the name to New York, to honor the Duke of York, who later became King Charles II of England. The Dutch surrendered Nieuw Amsterdam without fighting. They were afraid of the English Navy so they traded the town to England for the colony of Surinam in South America, which they thought was worth more money.

By the time the English came to New York, there were many other Dutch towns in what would become New York City, including Breukelen (Brooklyn), Vlissingen (Flushing), and Nieuw Haarlem (Harlem). There were already some English towns in the area also, such as Gravesend in Brooklyn and Newtown in Queens. Dutch and English people had been living together in New York for a long time.

New York quickly grew to become a large and important port city. Many important battles of the American Revolution were fought in northern Manhattan and in Brooklyn. New York was the capital of the United States from 1789 until 1800.

In 1898, the cities of New York and Brooklyn merged with the Bronx, Staten Island, and the towns in Queens County to form Greater New York. This is the total area of the City of New York today.

Geography

Grant's Tomb, Manhattan

New York City is an archipelago (group of islands) near the Atlantic Ocean. It is made up of two islands (Manhattan Island and Staten Island), part of an island (Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island), and a small piece of the mainland (The Bronx), also many smaller islands.

Water divides a lot of the city. The Hudson River forms the border between Manhattan and the Bronx and the State of New Jersey. The East River forms the border between Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens. Newtown Creek is part of the border between Brooklyn and Queens. Some parts of the city are very separate from the others because of water, such as Far Rockaway in Queens and City Island in The Bronx. A small piece of land in Manhattan is international territory and it belongs to the United Nations to use for its buildings.

Five boroughs (major parts of the city that govern themselves) are in New York City:

• Manhattan (New York County)
• Brooklyn (Kings County)
• The Bronx (Bronx County)
• Queens (Queens County)
• Staten Island (Richmond County)

New York City currently has a population of about 8 million people. Over 18 million people live in the city and nearby areas. Most of the New York city population since the 1990s belongs to a US minority.

Government

Statue of Liberty

The United Nations Building in Manhattan

The current mayor of New York is Michael Bloomberg, an Independent. The city also has a City Council that makes some local laws. Most laws in New York City are set by the State government in Albany.

Transportation

Subway transportation is provided by the new york city subway system, one of the biggest in the world.

Famous sites

• Statue of Liberty
• George Washington Bridge
• United Nations
• Central Park
• Grant's Tomb

References

1. ↑ Rubin, Susan Goldman (2004). L'Chaim!: To Jewish Life in America!. Harry N. Adams in association with The Jewish Museum. ISBN 0810950359. 

Other websites

• Official New York City Government site
• New York Photos & Map
• WorldFlicks in New York: photos and interesting places on Google Maps