TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARGUMENT................................................................................... 2
SUMMARY....................................................................................2
THE STORY UNDER THE BIG APPLE SKYLINE..................................3
History of New York City.......................................................................... 3
Portrait............................................................................................................. 9
Description of The Big Apple................................................................................................ 9
Social Life.......................................................................................................................... 11

A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND.......................................................13

Cultural Life..................................................................................................... 13
Entertainment and performing arts...................................................................................14
Tourism.............................................................................................................................. 15
Media................................................................................................................................. 15
Cuisine............................................................................................................................... 16
Accent................................................................................................................................ 16
Sports................................................................................................................................ 17
City Sights......................................................................................................................... 18
Entertainment.................................................................................................23
Music and Film................................................................................................................... 23
NYC Nightlife...................................................................................................................... 24

GLORIOUS HORIZONS..................................................................25
CONCLUSION..............................................................................26
BIBLIOGRAPHY & RESOURCES......................................................27

Argument
A city of superlatives and mind-blowing contrasts, the City That Never
Sleeps, NYC or the Big Apple are just some of the numerous ways New York
can be called. The most exciting city in the whole territory of the United
States, its unofficial capital of culture and business and the nations
trendsetter, will represent the subject of my certification paper.
One of the main reasons I chose this topic is the fact that I find New York City
the most amazing place I have ever visited. It enchanted me from the
moment I landed on JFK airport. The fresh faces of the people, the
extravagant culture and also the language instantly grew on me and made
me think that this American city represents a whole new world of dreams and
opportunities.
I instantly bound to this colorful and vivid city, being stunned not only by the
open-mindedness of the people, but also the refreshing air of rebelliousness
and freedom. It struck me as a city of choice and luxury, but extremely
permissive at the same time, since all you need is a sparkle of courage and
sharpness in order to build a brilliant future.

Summary
The first chapter, The Story Under the Big Apple Skyline consists of detalied
facts regarding the history of the city of New York, followed by a geographical
and social description.
The second part tackles different aspects from todays New York, regarding
not only entertainment, but also culture. Apart from the most important city
sights and places to visit, it also includes short descriptions of main events
and places where you can sit back , relax and enjoy the night.
The last chapter, Glorious Horizons presents expectations in New York Citys
future, based on its economic and social state in the present.

The Story Under the Big Apple Skyline

History of New York City
The history of New York City begins with
the Wappinger, a Lenape people, who were
Algonquian speaking Native Americans that
inhabited Manhattan prior to the arrival of
explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524.
The founding as "New Amsterdam" by the
Dutch in 1624 and the period of English rule
and its renaming as "New York City" in 1664
followed. The city was the location for
multiple
battles
of
the
American
Revolutionary War, and served as the capital
of the United States until 1790. Modern New
York city traces its development to the
consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898
and an economic and building boom
following the Great Depression and World
War II. Throughout its history, New York City
has served as a main port of entry for many
immigrants, and its cultural and economic
influences have made it one of the most important urban areas in the United
States, and the world.

Lenape and New Netherland: prehistory 1663

Prehistory in the area began with the geological formation of the peculiar
territory of what is today New York City. Manhattan island may have been
inhabited by the Wappinger band of Lenape, the primarily sedentary
indigenous Native American people of the area; they ranged the surrounding
river valley and assembled seasonal settlements on Manhattan, where they
grew maize on communal land and fished the abundant waters. They also
maintained their ancestral burial grounds there. They developed
sophisticated techniques of hunting and managing their resources. By the
time of the arrival of Europeans, the Lenape were cultivating fields of

vegetation through the slash and burn technique, which extended the
productive life of planted fields. They also harvested vast quantities of fish
and shellfish from the bay. It has been estimated that at the time of
European settlement there were approximately 15,000 Lenape total in
approximately 80 settlement sites around the region. Lenape in canoes met
Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European explorer to enter New York
Harbor, in 1524. He is not thought to have traveled further than the present
site of the bridge that bears his name. Henry Hudson later more thoroughly
explored and mapped the area.
European settlement began with the founding of a Dutch fur trading
settlement in Lower Manhattan in 1613 later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw
Amsterdam) in the southern tip of Manhattan in 1625. Soon thereafter, most
likely in 1626, construction of Fort Amsterdam began.
Willem Kieft became director general in 1638, but five years later was
embroiled in Kieft's War against the Native Americans. The Pavonia
Massacre, across the Hudson River in present day Jersey City resulted in the
death of eighty natives in February 1643. Following the massacre, eleven
Algonquian tribes joined forces and nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent
additional forces to the aid of Kieft, leading to the overwhelming defeat of
the Native Americans, and a peace treaty on August 29, 1645.
On May 27, 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was inaugurated as director general
upon his arrival, and ruled as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. The
colony was granted self-government in 1652 and New Amsterdam was
formally incorporated as a city February 2, 1653.

British and revolution: 16641783

In 1664, the English conquered the area and renamed it "New York" after the
Duke of York and Albany. The Dutch briefly regained it in 1673, renaming the
city "New Orange", before permanently
ceding the colony of New Netherland to
the British for what is now Suriname in
November 1674. Some area names are
still reminisant of the Dutch period, most
notably
Flushing
(Dutch
town
of
Vlissingen), Harlem (Dutch town of
Haarlem) and Brooklyn (Dutch town of
Breukelen).

By 1700, the Lenape population of New York had diminished to 200.

The new English rulers of the formerly Dutch New Amsterdam and New
Netherland renamed the settlement New York. As the colony grew and
prospered, sentiment also grew for greater autonomy. In the context of the
Glorious Revolution in England, Jacob Leisler led Leisler's Rebellion and
effectively controlled the city and surrounding areas from 1689-1691, before
being arrested and executed. The rebellion laid bare class differences and
some see it as a sort of precursor of the American Revolution.
The 1735 libel trial of John Peter Zenger in the city was a seminal influence
on freedom of the press in North America.
After a series of fires in 1741, the city became panicked about an AfricanAmerican plot to burn the city, conspiring with some whites. This was mostly
a fabrication. Nevertheless, 101 blacks and 4 whites were convicted of arson;
13 blacks were burned alive, 4 whites and 18 blacks were hanged.
In 1754, Columbia University was founded under charter by George II of
Great Britain as King's College in Lower Manhattan.
The Stamp Act and other British measures fermented dissent, particularly
among Sons of Liberty who maintained a long-running skirmish with locally
stationed British troops over Liberty Poles from 1766 to 1776. The Stamp Act
Congress met in New York City in 1765 in the first organized resistance to
British authority across the colonies. After the major defeat of the
Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island, General George Washington
withdrew to Manhattan Island, but with the subsequent defeat at the Battle
of Fort Washington the island was effectively left to the British. New York City
was greatly damaged twice by fires of suspicious origin during British military
rule. The city became the political and military center of operations in North
America for the remainder of the war, and a haven for Loyalist refugees.
Continental Army officer Nathan Hale was hanged in Manhattan for
espionage. In addition, the British began to hold the majority of captured
American prisoners of war aboard prison ships in Wallabout Bay, across the
East River in Brooklyn. More Americans lost their lives from neglect aboard
these ships than died in all the battles of the war. British occupation lasted
until November 25, 1783. George Washington triumphantly returned to the
city that day, as the last British forces left the city.

Federal and early America: 17841854

In 1785 the Congress met in New York City under the Articles of
Confederation, making it the first national capital of the United States, and
the United States Constitution created the current Congress of the United
States, first sitting at Federal Hall on Wall Street. The first United States
Supreme Court sat, the United States Bill of Rights was drafted and ratified,
and with the Northwest Ordinance the first steps to expanding the United
States took place there.
New York City became the first capital of the newly formed United States on
September 13, 1788 under the U.S. Constitutional Convention. On April 30,
1789 the first President of the United States, George Washington, was
inaugurated at Federal Hall on Wall Street. New York City remained the
capital of the U.S. until 1790, when the honor was transferred to
Philadelphia.
New York grew as an economic center, first as a result of Alexander
Hamilton's policies and practices as the first Secretary of the Treasury and,
later, with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which connected the
Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the North American interior.
Immigration resumed after being slowed by wars in Europe, and a new street
grid system expanded to encompass all of Manhattan.
The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, and by
1850, the Irish comprised one quarter of the city's population. Government
institutions, including the New York City Police Department and the public
schools, were established in the 1840s and 1850s to respond to growing
demands of residents.

Tammany and consolidation: 18551897

This period started with the 1855 inauguration of Fernando Wood as the first
mayor from Tammany Hall, an Irish immigrant-supported Democratic Party
political machine that would dominate local politics throughout this period.
During the 19th century, the city was transformed by immigration, a
visionary development proposal called the Commissioners' Plan of 1811,
which expanded the city street grid to encompass all of Manhattan,and the
opening of the Erie Canal, which connected the Atlantic port to the vast
agricultural markets of the Midwestern United States and Canada in 1825. By
1835, New York City had surpassed Philadelphia as the largest city in the

United States. Public-minded members of the old merchant aristocracy

pressed for a Central Park, which was opened to a design competition in
1857; it would become the first landscape park in an American city.
During the American Civil War (18611865),
the city's strong commercial ties to the South,
its growing immigrant population, and anger
about conscription led to divided sympathy for
both the Union and Confederacy, culminating
in the Draft Riots of 1863.] After the Civil 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, a role
acknowledged by the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.
In 1898, the modern City of New York was formed with the consolidation of
Brooklyn (until then an independent city), Manhattan and outlying areas.
Manhattan and the Bronx, though still one county, were established as two
separate boroughs and joined together with three other boroughs created
from parts of adjacent counties to form the new municipal government
originally called "Greater New York". The Borough of Brooklyn incorporated
the independent City of Brooklyn, recently joined to Manhattan by the
Brooklyn Bridge, and several municipalities in eastern Kings County, New
York; the Borough of Queens was created from western Queens County (with
the remnant established as Nassau County in 1899); and The Borough of
Staten Island contained all of Richmond County. All municipal (county, town
and city) governments contained within the boroughs were abolished. In
1914, the New York State Legislature created Bronx county, making five
counties coterminous with the five boroughs.

Early 20th century: 18981945

In June 15, 1904 over 1,000 people, mostly German Immigrants, were killed
when the steamship General Slocum caught fire and burned on North Brother
Island, in the East River; and on March 25, 1911 the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory fire in Greenwich Village took the lives of 146 garment workers,
which would eventually lead to great advancements in the city's fire
department, building codes, and workplace regulations.
A series of new transportation links, most notably the New York City Subway,
first opened in 1904, helped bind the new city together. The height of
European immigration brought social upheaval. Later, in the 1920s, the city

saw the influx of African Americans as part of

the Great Migration from the American South,
and the Harlem Renaissance, part of a larger
boom time in the Prohibition era that saw
dueling skyscrapers in the skyline.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century,
the city became a world center for industry,
commerce, and communication. Interborough Rapid Transit (the first New
York subway company) began operating in 1904, and the railroads operating
out of Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station thrived.
New York City's ever accelerating changes and rising crime and poverty rates
ended when World War I disrupted trade routes, the Immigration Restriction
Acts limited additional immigration after the war, and the Great Depression
ended the need for new labor. The combination ended the rule of the Guilded
Age barons. As the city's demographics stabilized, labor unionization brought
new protections and affluence to the working class, the city's government
and infrastructure underwent a dramatic overhaul under Fiorello La Guardia,
and his controversial parks commissioner, Robert Moses, ended the blight of
many tenement areas, expanded new
parks, remade streets, and restricted and
reorganized zoning controls.
In the 1920s, New York City was a major
destination for African Americans during
the Great Migration from the American
South. The Harlem Renaissance flourished
during the era of Prohibition, coincident
with a larger economic boom that saw the
skyline develop with the construction of
competing skyscrapers. For a while, New York City became the most
populous city in the world, starting in 1925 and overtaking London, which
had reigned for a century. The difficult years of the Great Depression saw the
election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany
Hall after eighty years of political dominance.
Despite the effects of the Great Depression, the 1930s saw the building of
some of the world's tallest skyscrapers, including numerous Art-Deco
masterpieces that are still part of the city's skyline today. Both before and

after World War II, vast areas of the city were also reshaped by the rise of the
bridges, parks and parkways coordinated by Moses, the greatest proponent
of automobile-centered modernist urbanism in America.
In 1938 the political designation "ward" was abolished.

Post-World War II: 19461977

Returning World War II veterans and immigrants from Europe created a
postwar economic boom and led to the development of huge housing tracts
in eastern Queens.
New York emerged from the war as the leading city of the world, with Wall
Street leading America's ascendancy and, in 1951, the United Nations
relocated from its first headquarters in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, to
the East Side of Manhattan.[24] During the 1960s, the views of real estate
developer and city leader Robert Moses began to fall out of favor as the antiUrban Renewal views of Jane Jacobs gained popularity. Citizen rebellion killed
a plan to construct an expressway through lower Manhattan.
Like many major U.S. cities, New York suffered race riots, gang wars and
population and industrial decline in the 1960s. Street activists and minority
groups like the Black Panthers and Young Lords took matters into their own
hands and organized rent strikes and garbage offensives, demanding city
services for poor areas. They also set up free health clinics and other
programs, as a guide for organizing and gaining "Power to the People." By
the 1970s the city had also gained a reputation as a crime-ridden relic of
history. In 1975, the city government avoided bankruptcy only through a
federal loan and debt restructuring by the Municipal Assistance Corporation,
headed by Felix Rohatyn. The city was also forced to accept increased
financial scrutiny by an agency of New York State. In 1977, the city was
struck by the twin catastrophes of the New York City blackout of 1977 and
the Son of Sam serial murderer's continued slayings. These events were
perhaps the impetus to the election of Mayor Ed Koch, who promised to
revive the city.

Modern period: 1978present

The 1980s saw a rebirth of Wall Street, and the city reclaimed its role at the
center of the worldwide financial industry. Unemployment and crime
remained high, the latter reaching peak levels in some categories around the

close of the decade and the beginning of the 1990s. The city later resumed
its social and economic recovery, bolstered by the influx of Asians, Latin
Americans, and U.S. citizens, and by new crimefighting techniques on the
part of the NYPD. In the late 1990s, the city benefited from the success of
the financial sectors, such as Silicon Alley, during the dot com boom, one of
the factors in a decade of booming real estate values. New York's population
reached an all-time high in the 2000 census; according to census estimates
since 2000, the city has continued to grow, including rapid growth in the
most urbanized borough, Manhattan. During this period, New York City was
also a site of the September 11, 2001 attacks; over 2,000 people were killed
by a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, an event considered highly
traumatic for the city but which did not stop the city's rapid regrowth.

Portrait
Description of The Big Apple
New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of
the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous
metropolitan areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a
powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art,
fashion, research, education, and entertainment. As host of the United
Nations Headquarters, it is also an important center for international affairs.
The city is often referred to as New York City or the City of New York to
distinguish it from the state of New York, of which it is a part.
Located on a large natural harbor on the Atlantic coast of the Northeastern
United States, the city consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn,
Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The city's 2008 estimated population
exceeds 8.3 million, and with a land area of 305 square miles (790 km2), New
York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States. The
New York metropolitan area's population is also the nation's largest,
estimated at 19.1 million people over 6,720 square miles (17,400 km2).
Furthermore, the Combined Statistical Area containing the greater New York
metropolitan area contained 22.2 million people as of 2009 Census
estimates, also the largest in the United States.

Many districts and landmarks in the city have become well known to
outsiders. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came
to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Times Square, iconified
as "The Crossroads of the World", is the brightly illuminated hub of the
Broadway theater district, one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections,
and a major center of the world's entertainment industry. Wall Street, in
Lower Manhattan, has been a premier global financial center since World War
II and is home to the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock
exchange
by
market
capitalization of its listed
companies.
The
original
Manhattan Chinatown attracts
throngs of tourists to its
bustling sidewalks and retail
establishments.
World-class
research universities such as
Columbia University and New
York University also reside in
New York City.
New York City consists of five
boroughs (each one is, in fact,
a big city in itself) with their
own
unique
culture
and
traditions.
Manhattan
It
is
located
between
the
Hudson and East Rivers.
It is the most famous
island, with maximum
interest for the tourists
and
unique
neighborhoods.
Brooklyn - It is located
across the East River at
south east of Manhattan.
Queens - It is a U-shaped county located to east of Manhattan, across
the East River and north, east and south of Brooklyn. It consists of two
international airports, the New York Mets professional baseball team,
the United States Open Tennis Center, the famous Flushing Meadows
Corona Park, site of two Worlds Fairs, the countrys second largest
Chinatown and much more.

 The Bronx - It is located to the North of Manhattan Island. This part of

NY is well connected to the U.S. continent.
Staten Island - It is located within New York harbor, across the narrow
Kill Van Kull from New Jersey. It is situated at the south of Manhattan.
Climate in New York is of humid subtropical type that varies from season to
season. Spring and autumn seasons vary from snowy to hot and humid and
can also be cold, cool or rainy. Summer season in New York is warm and
humid. Hurricanes and tropical storms are pretty rare, but there is a slight
possibility for them to strike.

Social Life
New York City takes pride in its population of no less than 8,3 million
inhabitants. Consequently, it is officially the most populous city in the United
States. The citys ethnic flavor has been nuanced by decades of
immigrations. As a result, nowadays, only 60% of the citizens are native
Americans. The rest belong to a wide list of nations from all over the world:
Hispanics, Asians, Italians, Irish, German, Russian, Polish etc.

The following list contains some famous people born in New York City:
NAME

DOMAIN

HUMPHREY BOGART

Actor

MICHAEL JORDAN

Former basketball player

MILLARD FILMORE

Former US president

ROSIE ODONNEL

Comedian

MARIAH CAREY

Singer

VINCE LOMBARDI

American football coach

TUPAC SHAKUR

Former rapper

HERMAN MELVILLE

Author

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Former US president

AALIYAH

Singer, actress, model

TOM CRUISE

Actor

MEL GIBSON

Actor, director

FUN FACTS ABOUT NEW YORK

New York became the 11th state on July 26th, 1788 and was originally
called New Amsterdam. Before the final name change, it was variously
known as Not New Jersey, Whaddyalookinat, and Hookerland.
New York City's most famous landmark, the Statue of Liberty, is
constructed out of copper and eventually turned green due to pollution
from coal burning factories. If you scraped off the corrosion, you'd find
that the statue was actually pink.
Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, New York, was orginally founded as a
women's college in 1861. Its motto is "Where women go to feel smart
between evenings of drunken table dancing".
Dairy farming is New York's #1 agricultural activity. The state's 18,000
dairy farms have a milk-producing capacity nearly that of Dolly Parton.
In 1807, the world's first steamboat, the Clermont, made its maiden
voyage between New York City and Albany. It was during this trip that
the phrase "are we there, yet?" was first coined.
The state tree of New York is the billboard
New York City has 722 miles of subway track. Most of it heavily stained
with wino vomit.
"Wizard of Oz" author L. Frank Baum was born in Chittenago, New York.
His famous tale was loosely based on the lives of Al and Tipper Gore,
as most great American stories are.

 The New York Post - founded in 1803 by Alexander Hamilton - is

America's oldest continually-published newspaper. Its first headline
was "Jefferson Has No Exit Strategy For Barbary Coast Pirate
Quagmire".
John Babcock of New York City invented the stationary rowing machine
in 1869.
The first railroad in America ran the 11 miles between Albany and
Schenectady, NY. The slow, primitive train ride carried only a few
passengers.
New York City was the first capital of the United States. George
Washington took his oath of office there in 1789, beginning the city's
long and cherished tradition of gullibly trusting lying politicians.
Every November, New York City's Empire State Building plays host to
the Boy Scouts' annual Urban Camp-out, allowing scouts to earn the
elusive Drunk Rolling and Crack Procurement merit badges.
During the war of 1812, meatpacker Sam Wilson of Troy, New York,
stamped "U.S. Beef" on the products he sent to the troops. This was
popularly interpreted as - and began the legend of - Uncle Sam.
Actor Humphrey Bogart was born in New York City in 1899. Little known
fact - in the movie "Casablanca", he never said "Play it again, Sam."
What he actually said was "AOL sends spam", one of the most
prescient lines in cinematic history.
Jell-O was invented in Rochester, New York in 1897.
Marshmallows were also invented in Rochester. They stopped being
manufactured there in 1984 after the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
destroyed the city.
Gennaro Lombardi opened America's first pizzeria in New York City in
1895. Slices of the original pie are still being sold there today, or at
least that's what it tastes like.
Locals don't complain about it, though, since New Yorkers wouldn't
know good pizza if it jumped up and stuffed their noses full of
pepperoni.
On July 28th, 1945, a B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the
Empire State Building

 Camera inventor George Eastman was born in Waterville, NY in 1854.

His device was second only to the creation of the internet in
revolutionizing the pornography industry.
New York was the first state to require license plates on automobiles,
which featured the motto, "Get out of my way, jackass!"
New York City is world-famous for its cultural diversity. While walking
even a single block, a tourist can expect to be cursed at in over 40
different languages.

A New York State of Mind

Cultural Life
"Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather", the writer Tom
Wolfe has said of New York City.
Numerous major American cultural movements began in the city, such as the
Harlem Renaissance, which established the African-American literary canon
in the United States.
The city was a center of jazz in the 1940s, abstract expressionism in the
1950s and the birthplace of hip hop in the 1970s. The city's punk and
hardcore scenes were influential in the 1970s and 1980s, and the city has
long had a flourishing scene for Jewish American literature.
Prominent indie rock bands coming out of New York in recent years include
The Strokes, Interpol, The Bravery, Scissor Sisters, and They Might Be Giants.

The city prominently excels in its spheres of art, cuisine, dance, music,
opera, theater, independent film, fashion, museums, and literature. The city
is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the Harlem
Renaissance in literature and visual art; abstract expressionism (also known
as the New York School) in painting; and hip hop, punk, salsa, disco,
freestyle, and Tin Pan Alley in music. New York City is also widely celebrated
in popular lore, featured frequently as the setting for books, movies, and
television programs.

Entertainment and performing arts

The city is also prominent in the American film industry. Manhatta (1920), an
early avant-garde film, was filmed in the city.
Today, New York City is the second largest center for the film industry in the
United States. The city has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations
and more than 500 art galleries of all sizes.
he city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the
National Endowment for the Arts. Wealthy industrialists in the 19th century
built a network of major cultural institutions, such as the famed Carnegie Hall
and Metropolitan Museum of Art, that would become internationally
established. The advent of electric lighting led to elaborate theater
productions, and in the 1880s New York City theaters on Broadway and along
42nd Street began featuring a new stage form that became known as the
Broadway musical.
Strongly influenced by the city's
immigrants, productions such as
those of Harrigan and Hart, George
M. Cohan and others used song in
narratives
that
often
reflected
themes of hope and ambition. Today
these productions are a staple of the
New York theater scene.
The city's 39 largest theaters (with
more than 500 seats) are collectively
known as "Broadway," after the
major thoroughfare that crosses the Times Square theater district.] This area

is sometimes referred to as The Main Stem, The Great White Way or The
Realto.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is home to 12 influential arts
organizations, making it the largest performing arts complex in the United
States.

Tourism
Tourism is vital to New York City, with about 47 million foreign and American
tourists visiting each year. Major destinations include the Empire State
Building; Ellis Island; Broadway theater productions; museums such as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art; greenspaces such as Central Park and
Washington Square Park; Rockefeller Center; Times Square; the Bronx Zoo;
the New York Botanical Garden; luxury shopping along Fifth and Madison
Avenues; and events such as the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the St. Patrick's Day parade, the Tribeca
Film Festival, and free performances in Central Park at Summerstage.
Additionally, the Statue of Liberty is a leading tourist attraction and one of
the most recognizable icons of the United States.
Many of the city's ethnic enclaves, such as Jackson Heights, Flushing, and
Brighton Beach are prime shopping destinations for first and second
generation Americans up and down the East Coast.

Media
New York is a center for the television, advertising, music, newspaper and
book publishing industries and is also the largest media market in North
America (followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto).

Some of the city's media

conglomerates include Time
Warner, the Thomson Reuters
Corporation,
the
News
Corporation,
the
Hearst
Corporation, and Viacom. Seven
of the world's top eight global
advertising agency networks
have their headquarters in New
York. The New York Times has
won more Pulitzer Prizes for
journalism than any other news
publication.
Four "major labels" dominate recorded music
Sony Music Entertainment
Universal Music Group
Warner Music Group and EMI each of which consists of many smaller
companies and labels serving different regions and markets. Three of
the "Big Four" record labels headquarters are in the New York City.
One-third of all American independent films are produced in New York.
More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in
the city and the book-publishing industry employs about 25,000 people.
Two of the three national daily newspapers in the United States are New York
papers:

The Wall Street Journal

The New York Times

Cuisine
New York's food culture, influenced by the city's immigrants and large
number of dining patrons, is diverse.
Eastern European and Italian immigrants have made the city famous for
bagels, cheesecake, 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 modern New York
street food, although hot dogs and pretzels are still the main street fare.
The city is also home to many of the finest haute cuisine restaurants in the
United States. New York City's variety of world cuisines is also varied.
Examples could include:

Italian

French, Spanish

German, Russian, English

Greek, Moroccan,

Chinese, Indian, Japanese cuisines, and the diverse indigenous sort.

Accent
The New York City area has a distinctive regional speech pattern called the
New York dialect, alternatively known as Brooklynese or New Yorkese. It is
generally considered one of the most recognizable accents within American
English. The classic version of this dialect is centered on middle and working
class people of European American descent, and the influx of non-European
immigrants in recent decades has led to changes in this distinctive dialect.
The traditional New York area accent is non-rhotic, so that the sound [] does
not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant; hence
the pronunciation of the city name as "New Yawk." There is no [] in words
like park [pk] (with vowel raised due to the low-back chain shift), butter
[b], or here [hi]. In another feature called the low back chain shift, the
[] vowel sound of words like talk, law, cross, and coffee and the often
homophonous [r] in core and more are tensed and usually raised more than
in General American.

In the most old-fashioned and extreme versions of the New York dialect, the
vowel sounds of words like "girl" and of words like "oil" become a diphthong
[]. This is often misperceived by speakers of other accents as a reversal of
the er and oy sounds, so that girl is pronounced "goil" and oil is pronounced
"erl"; this leads to the caricature of New Yorkers saying things like "Joizey"
(Jersey), "Toidy-Toid Street" (33rd St.) and "terlet" (toilet). The character
Archie Bunker from the 1970s sitcom All in the Family was a good example of
a speaker who had this feature. This speech pattern is no longer prevalent.

Sports
New York City has teams in the four major
North American professional sports leagues.
There have been fourteen World Series
championship series between New York City
teams, in matchups called Subway Series. New
York is one of only five metro areas (Chicago,
Washington-Baltimore, Los Angeles and the
San Francisco Bay Area being the others) to
have two baseball teams. The city's two
current
Major
League Baseball teams are the New York
Yankees and the New York Mets, who compete
in six games every regular season. The Yankees
have enjoyed 27 championships, while the Mets
have won the World Series on two occasions.
The city also was once home to the New York
Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) and the
Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles
Dodgers). Both teams moved to California in
1958. There are also two minor league baseball teams in the city, the Staten
Island Yankees and Brooklyn Cyclones.

City Sights
Tourism is vital to the city of New York, with about 47 million foreign and
American tourists visiting each year this enchanting and interesting place. It
comprises a multitude of attractions, ranging from art, music, dance,

sightseeing to pubs, clubs and restaurants with exquisite food. It is famous

for its world class concerts, theaters and works of art. The major attraction of
the city is the Statue of Liberty, which has become its icon. Other major
visiting points here in New York are Empire State Building and Ellis Island.
The legend says that when British immigrants tried to escape from Europe
and were headed to the United States, the first thing they saw from the other
side of the Atlantic Ocean was the reassuring image of this statue.

TIMES SQUARE. Midtown West

Times Square has undoubtedly evolved into
something much different than it used to be years
ago. It stretches from the 42nd to 47th Street and it
represents the junction of Broadway and Seventh
Avenue. This amazing neon spectacle is not only
the major
area
of
business and commerce, but also an
overcrowded place, making up the
western part of the commercial site of
Midtown Manhattan. It is often called
The Crossroads of the World or The
Great White Way and due to its
spectacular and animated digital
advertisements it has become a major
symbol of the city. Formerly named
Longacre Square, Times Square was
renamed in April 1904 after the New
York Times moved its headquarters to
the newly built Times Building, which
is now called One Times Square and is
the site of the annual ball drop on
New Years Eve.

One of the most important attractions is the Madame Tussaud Wax Museum
of Times Square, which features some surprisingly realistic wax figures, from
Shakira and Kate Winslet to Marilyn Monroe and Benjamin.

The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty (French: Statue de la Libert),
officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World (French: la
Libert clairant le monde), dedicated on October 28, 1886,
is a monument commemorating the centennial of the signing
of the United States Declaration of Independence, given to
the United States by the people of France to represent the
friendship between the two countries established during the
American Revolution. It represents a woman wearing a stola,
a radiant crown and sandals, trampling a broken chain,
carrying a torch in her raised right hand and a tabula ansata, where the date
of the Declaration of Independence JULY IV MDCCLXXVI is inscribed, in her
left arm. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors,
immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship. Frdric Auguste
Bartholdi sculpted the statue and obtained a U.S. patent for its structure.
Maurice Koechlinchief engineer of Gustave Eiffel's engineering company
and designer of the Eiffel Towerengineered the internal structure. The
pedestal was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt. Eugne Viollet-leDuc was responsible for the choice of copper in the statue's construction,
and for the adoption of the repouss technique, where a malleable metal is
hammered on the reverse side.
The statue is made of a sheathing of pure copper, hung on a framework of
steel (originally puddled iron) with the exception of the flame of the torch,
which is coated in gold leaf (originally made of copper and later altered to
hold glass panes). It stands atop a rectangular stonework pedestal with a
foundation in the shape of an irregular eleven-pointed star. The statue is
151 ft (46 m) tall, but with the pedestal and foundation, it is 305 ft (93 m)
tall.
Worldwide, the Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons of the
United States.[11] For many years it was one of the first glimpses of the United
States for millions of immigrants and visitors after ocean voyages from
around the world.

The statue is the central part of Statue of Liberty National Monument,

administered by the National Park Service. The National Monument also
includes Ellis Island.

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco
skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue
and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for
the state of New York, The Empire State. It stood as the world's
tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in
1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower
was completed in 1972. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center
in 2001, the Empire State Building once again became the tallest building in
New York City and New York State.
The Empire State Building has been named by the American Society of Civil
Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The building
and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission, and confirmed by the New York City
Board of Estimate. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in
1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the List of America's Favorite
Architecture according to the AIA. The building is owned and managed by
W&H Properties.
The Empire State Building is the third tallest skyscraper in the Americas
(after the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and Trump International Hotel
and Tower both in Chicago), and the 15th tallest in the world. It is also the
fourth tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. The Empire State
building is currently undergoing a $120 million renovation in an effort to
transform the building into a more energy efficient and eco-friendly
structure.

Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United
States.

 Brooklyn Bridge connects the New York City

boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
At the time of its completion, Brooklyn Bridge
was the largest suspension bridge in the
world.
The construction work on Brooklyn Bridge started on January 3, 1870
and took as many as 13 years to complete.
Brooklyn Bridge was opened for use on May 24, 1883. On that day,
1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed the bridge.
At the time of its construction, Brooklyn Bridge was the only land
passage between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The cost of construction of Brooklyn Bridge came to somewhere around
$15.5 million.
It is said that during the construction of Brooklyn Bridge, as many as
27 people died, including the one who designed it.
Since the 1980s, Brooklyn Bridge is being floodlit at night, mainly to
emphasize its architectural features.
Presently, Brooklyn Bridge has six lanes for motor vehicles and a
separate walkway, along the centerline, for pedestrians and bicycles.

Fifth Avenue

Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the

center of the borough of Manhattan in New
York City, USA. The section of Fifth Avenue
between 34th Street and 59th Street is one of
the premier shopping streets in the world. Fifth
Avenue serves as a symbol of wealthy New
York and is consistently ranked as one of the
most expensive streets in the world. The "most
expensive street in the world" moniker changes
depending on currency fluctuations and local
economic conditions from year to year. For
several years starting in the mid-1990s, the
shopping district between 49th and 57th
Streets was ranked as having the world's most
expensive retail spaces on a cost per square
foot basis. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked
Fifth Avenue as being the most expensive
street in the world.
Fifth Avenue originates at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village and
runs northwards through the heart of Midtown, along the eastern side of
Central Park, where it forms the boundary of the Upper East Side and
through Harlem, where it terminates at the Harlem River at 142nd Street.
Traffic crosses the river on the Madison Avenue Bridge. Fifth Avenue serves
as the dividing line for house numbering in Manhattan. It separates, for
example, East Fifty-ninth Street from West Fifty-ninth Street. From this zero
point for street addresses, numbers increase in both directions as one moves
away from Fifth Avenue, with 1 West Fifty-ninth Street on the corner at Fifth
Avenue, and 300 West Fifty-ninth Street located three blocks to the west of it.

Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical
performances presented in one of the 40 large professional theatres with 500
seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York (plus one theatre in
Lincoln Center) in Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End

theatre, Broadway theatre is usually

considered to represent the highest level
of commercial theatre in the Englishspeaking world.
The Broadway Theatre district is a
popular tourist attraction in New York
City, New York. According to The
Broadway League, Broadway shows sold
approximately $943.3 million worth of
tickets in the 2008-2009 season,
compared to $937 million in the 20072008 season.

Wall Street
Wall Street is a street in Lower
Manhattan, New York City, New York,
USA. It runs east from Broadway to
South Street on the East River, through
the historical center of the Financial District. It is the first permanent home of
the New York Stock Exchange; over time Wall Street became the name of the
surrounding geographic neighborhood. Wall Street is also shorthand (or a
metonym) for the "influential financial interests" of the American financial
industry, which is centered in the New York City area.
Several major U.S. stock and other exchanges remain headquartered on Wall
Street and in the Financial District, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX,
NYMEX, and NYBOT.

Entertainment
Music and Film

New York is the first American city to fill a central gap in music history,
having a very important and diverse musical background. It has been a
thriving home for jazz, rock and blues for a very long time. Moreover, it
represents the place where hip hop and crunk were born.
People from all over the world come to experience jazz in New York at any of
the citys many celebrated clubs. From garage bands at holes-in-the-wall
with no cover charge to the worlds greatest musicians in the glitzy stage of
Jazz at Lincoln Center, you can find something for every taste every night of
the week in New York.

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Here are some significant singers from

New York:

In the early days of American film industry, The Big Apple was the epicentre
of filmmaking. Nowadays, even though it is not as well-developed as
Hollywood from this point of view, its billions of dollars in revenue make
filming an important part of the citys economy, placing New York the second
largest center of film industry in the United States. A series of blockbusters
were filmed here, such as The Godfather 1 & 2, Scarface, When Harry Met
Sally, Breakfast At Tiffanys and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
New York also prides with its famous New York Film Academy (NYFA), which is
honoured to have prepared and guided the steps of celebrities such as:
Steven Spielberg, Al Pacino, Jodie Foster, Pierce Brosnan, Robert Downie Jr.,
Jamie Foxx, Roger Donaldson and others. It is considered the most interactive
film school in the world by many of todays top filmmakers.

NYC Nightlife

As the song says, New York is the city that never sleeps. Even
though it mainly has expensive bars and clubs, it still remains
the dream of an insomniac. No other city rivals The Big Apple
in terms of performing arts. From the incredible range of
theaters, operas, dance and symphony, to live rock and jazz
music, the biggest problem will be choosing among the many
temptations.
Whether its live jazz, rock, comedy or cabaret, sweating on a
dance floor or sipping a martini while lounging on a plush couch,
New York has a multitude of choices to make your stay
worthwhile. Looking for a place to sit and have a cocktail should never be a
problem, since there are 3 or 4 bars on every block. There is also a variety of
bars, ranging from elegant and formal to jazz, junkie and rock and roll.
Jazz clubs: Birdland, Blue Note, Dizzys Club Coca-Cola, Lenox
Lounge, Smoke, St. Nicks Pub, The Village Vanguard, Oak
Room Supper Club
Rock and roll offerings: Arlene Grocery, Bowery Ballroom,
Irving Plaza, Mercury Lounge
Blues bars: B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, The Knitting Factory, S.O.B.,
Tonic
Expensive and elegant: 40/40 Club (owned by hip-hop singer Jay-Z),
Bemelmans Bar, Cielo, MO bar
Comedy bars: Carolines on Broadway, Comedy Cellar, Dangerfields,
Gotham Comedy Club
Dance clubs: Avalon, Cain

Glorious Horizons
How will the new New York look like in a couple of years
from now on? It is very possible that the city will easily
expand to a population of 9 or 10 million, due to its rapid
development in all aspects, especially the high rate of
immigration. Politicians, bureaucrats, architects and
engineers will soon start to calculate how to fit another
million people into the landscape. The populations growth
comes along with all sorts of necessities, such as offices,
factories, hotels or schools, let alone groceries stores and
restaurants. There should also be more buses, subways and
trains, in order to facilitate the traffic and transportation of the whole
population.
All of these improvements will easily be made because The Big Apples
economy is flourishing and it is not hard to guess that a population boom is
very likely to appear in the near future.
With approximately 10 million inhabitants and 1,300 square kilometres, the
New York City of tomorrow will probably become the new capital of the
United States. Nowadays its influence outweighs that of Los Angeles, San
Francisco or Washington D.C., the capital itself, and I see that as an indirect
way of leading the countrys economy. I dare say New York is the informal
capital of the US, while Washington D.C. is the formal one.

Conclusion

To sum up, apart from being one of the most visited and populous cities in
the United States, New York City has exponentially grown both economically
and socially in the past years. Moreover, it is a vital place in the history of
music and film industry, having a strong influence over the European culture.
In my opinion, New York seems to pull in the best and the brightest from the
American culture. The diversity, resilience, depth and spirit that characterise
the city have been intensely chronicled in the news, movies and books that it
is almost a clich. Even though constant changes may be an obvious feature
of the Big Apple because of the numerous trends that come and go, the city
respects the old-fashioned standards; there are places and things that have
remained the same, and those are the essential ingredients that give New
York its consistency. Even though it is permanently changing, busy to set new
rules in all aspects of everyday life, its core remains the same.
The city of New York has become a real symbol, almost a trademark of the
United States, being very popular among people from all over the world.

Bibliography & Resources

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City
2. New York City Guide by Brian Silverman
3. http://www.joke-archives.com/youmaybe/youlifeinnycif.html
4. New York City Travel Guide by Content Writer Services
5. http://www.southwestblend.com/New_York/New-York-famouspeople.htm
6. The Best Things to Do in New York City: 1001 Ideas by Caitlin Leffel
and Jacob Lehman

Annexes