New York

NY is the largest city in the USA and also the largest seaport, an important financial, business and
cultural centre. There are four airports and it has the largest subway system in the world.

The original inhabitants were Indians. They sold (in 1626) it to the Dutch for 24
dollars. The Dutch called their new home New Amsterdam, but later (in 1664) it became an English
colony and was renamed New York. In the 18 th century during the War of Independence, NY was the
Capital of the USA for several years.

Location:
It is located at the mouth of the Hudson River named after Henry Hudson (the English sailor that
explored the area). The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay. Much of
NY is built on the three islands Manhattan, Staten Island and Long Island. The highest point of the
city is the Todt Hill on the Staten Island.

Climate:
NY has humid subtropical climate with four seasons. Summers are hot and humid. Winters are cold,
but the city coastal position keeps the temperatures slightly milder than inland regions.

Personalities connected with New York:

 Giovanni da Verrazano – an Italian explorer and the first European on that territory
 Henry Hudson - the English sailor that explored that area
 Abraham Lincoln – the 16th president of the USA at the time of abolition of slavery

Nicknames for the City:

Sometimes it is called „The Big Apple“as there used to be apple orchard in place of today´s NY. 18
million inhabitants live there. Because of the hustle and bustle of the city, it is often called the city
that never sleeps.

Important symbols of the City:

The most known symbol of the city and the first sight for many immigrants is the Statue of Liberty. It
is a copper statue given to the USA by France in 1887. She has a tablet with 4 th July 1776 in her left
hand and a torch in her right hand. The statue stands on Liberty Island near the port.
The unofficial symbol of The Queens is the Unisphere (globitron) located in the Flushing Meadows
Park. Unisphere is centered in a large pool and is surrounded by a series of water-jet fountains. The
effect is meant to make Unisphere appear as if it is floating in space. Three large orbit rings of
stainless steel encircle Unisphere at various angles. These orbit rings are believed to represent the
tracks of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and
Telstar, the first active communications satellite.
Boroughs of the NY City:
New York consists of five boroughs: Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, The Queens and Richmond.

Manhattan is situated on a rocky island. It is cut off from the mainland by the Hudson
River, the East River and the Harlem River.and the name is from an
Indian name man-a-hat-ta meaning heavenly land. Manhattan was built on
a modern plan of streets and avenues. Streets go from east to west and
have numbers. They have no names. Most avenues go from north to south
– just the Broadway is different. (Broadway, Metropolitan Opera,
Carnegie Hall, Times Square, Wall Street, Harlem)

The Bronx is in the north on the mainland. It has a reputation of a poor area.

Brooklyn is the largest of the five and is situated on Long Island. Originally it was
a swamp and the Dutch filled it with their garbage and created Brooklyn.

The Queens There is the Flushing Meadows Park that hosted two World Fairs
(Unisphere). There is also the Noguchi Museum.

Richmond is on the Staten Island in the south.

The well-known parts of the NY City:

 Broadway - It is the original Indian path and is a famous theatre centre now.
 Harlem is a black quarter with many poor and unemployed people.
 Wall Street is located in the south of Manhattan. There used to be a wall against Indians and
now there is a Wall Street - the financial centre of the world and the most important stock-
exchange New York Stock Exchange.
 Fifth Avenue – is New York’s most famous shopping street. It divides East Side from the
West Side. In the Fifth Avenue there is also the largest cathedral in the USA, St. Patrick’s
Cathedral. It was built in the 19th century and soon became the centre of the Easter Parade –
people are walking up and down Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday.

Important buildings:
New York is an exciting city of skyscrapers and many extremes. When people think of the classic
image of NY and its famous skyline, they think of Manhattan and its skyscrapers and high-rise
buildings. People started to build skyscrapers because there was not land enough and it was very
expensive. The most important part of the skyscraper is a steel frame, not the walls as usual. Now they
are built with the help of computers and try to protect people living there from wind and earthquake.
However it was not enough to save the highest building in NY, The World Trace Centre, from
terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001.

 WTC – The Twin Towers

 Empire State Building - Today the highest building is the Empire State Building (built in
1931, 381 meters high).
 Chrysler Building – Another well-known building is the Chrysler Building. The 1916
Zoning Resolution required setback in new buildings and restricted towers to a percentage of
the lot to allow sunlight to reach the street below.
 Rockefeller Center - a large business and entertainment complex of 21 buildings.
 St. Patric Cathedral - It was built in the 19th century and soon became the centre of the
Easter Parade – people are walking up and down Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday
Theatres:
 NY State Theatre
 Outdoor Delacorte Theatre is and outdoor theatre and is located in the Central Park. It hosts
the "Shakespeare in the Park" summer festivals. The park also serves as an oasis for migrating
birds.

Museums:
 The Noguchi Museum is one of the best small museums in NYC. It is home to the art of Isamu
Noguchi, a prominent modern art sculptor, renowned for stone work.
 The Gugenheim Museum – was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (who intended to built it as „a
temple of Spirit“). It is a museum of non-objective painting,


Concert Halls:
 Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center Lincoln Centre. Lincoln Center is a cultural point named
after the 16th president of the USA, Albraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln gave slaves freedom.
Economic and political differences at his the time grew between the North and the South. In the south
the economy was based on agriculture and slavery. The north was industrial and slavery was illegal.
These differences lead to the bloody Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. The North won and
ended the slavery in the south.
 Carnegie Hall

Parks:
 Central park is in Manhattan. It took 16 years to change rocky and swampy- land to the
beautiful Central Park, where people can walk, run, boat, listen to concerts, skate and ski in
winter. It contains several natural-looking lakes and ponds, extensive walking tracks, two ice-
skating rinks, the Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, a wildlife
sanctuary, a large area of natural woods. Here they are free from the noise of the busy city.
The outdoor Delacorte Theatre hosts the "Shakespeare in the Park" summer festivals. The park
also serves as an oasis for migrating birds.
 Prospect Park is in Brooklyn. There is the Long Meadow, a 90-acre (36 ha) meadow thought
to be the largest meadow in any U.S. park and the Picnic House, which houses offices and a
hall that can accommodate parties with up to 175 guests.
 Flushing Meadows Park is in The Queens. was created as the site of the 1939/1940 New
York World's Fair and also hosted the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair.

Zoos:
 Central Park Zoo
 The Bronx Zoo

Bridges:
 Verazano Bridge: Brooklyn and the Staten Island are connected by the beautiful Verrazano
Bridge (named after Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian explorer and the first European on that
territory).
Manhattan