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New York is
well known for its amazingly diverse population, hundreds of huge
office buildings, extensive public transportation and more than
400 distinct neighborhoods including Chinatown, Little Italy,
and Spanish Harlem that reflect the rich ethnic heritages of the
resident's original homelands.
New York city and its metropolitan districts
The New York
City is located on the eastern coast of the United States about
1000 miles north of Florida and 200 miles south of Boston. The
city is divided into five districts called boroughs. Originally,
New York City included only the borough of Manhattan. In the year
1898, the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island
became a part of New York. The Bronx is the only borough on the
mainland of the United States. Manhattan and Staten Island are
surrounded by water, while Queens and Brooklyn are part of Long
Island.
Manhattan
The Manhattan
Island is the glittering heart of New York with hundreds of sky
scrapers among which include the Empire State Building, Chrysler
Building and Citicorp Center. The Island has the distinction of
being the oldest, densest, and most built-up part of New York.
The Island,
though the smallest of the five boroughs, is the hub of the Metropolis'
cultural life with several stage and motion picture theatres located
around Broadway in Midtown. The borough is the home of prominent
music and dance organizations, such as the New York City Opera
Company, the Metropolitan Opera Association, the Philharmonic-Symphony
Society of New York, American Ballet Theatre, and the New York
City Ballet.
Queens
The Queens
borough is the largest of the five boroughs covering 109 sq. mi.
(283.3. sq. km) at the western end of the long island. It is separated
from Brooklyn by the Newtown creek, and from the rest of the city
by the East River and the Long Island Sound. The borough is probably
the most ethnically diverse community in the world with each neighborhood
having a strong sense of identity. Major ethnic concentrations
include the Greeks in Astoria; the Irish in Woodside; the Italians
in Maspeth and Ridgewood; African-Americans in Hollis, Cambria
Heights, St. Albans, and South Jamaica; and Jews in Forest Hills.
Large numbers of Chinese and Koreans live in Queens, with particularly
heavy concentrations in Flushing, Jackson Heights, Corona, and
Elmhurst.
Queens is
also home to the National Tennis Center, Aqueduct Racetrack, Shea
Stadium and both LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn, the second largest and most populous of the five boroughs,
is across the East River on the southwestern tip of Long Island.
It is accessible via bridge or tunnel. This borough is nearly
four times as large as Manhattan Island and has a population of
about four million.
Unlike Manhattan,
there are few tall buildings and is filled with brownstone townhouses
and small apartment buildings. Brooklyn is home to major cultural
institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Academy
of Music, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Staten Island
Staten Island,
the third largest and least populous of the five boroughs, is
located at the juncture of Upper New York Bay and Lower New York
Bay. The borough is physically closer to new Jersey and is well
connected with four bridges.
The Staten
Island's attractions include the Jacques Marchais Center of Tibetan
Art and the Staten Island Zoo.
Staten Island
is easily reachable via the Staten Island ferry from Battery Park
on the southern tip of Manhattan. The ferry ride offers spectacular
views of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty and is
free for all pedestrians. Staten Island has a small town atmosphere
with many single-family homes
The
Bronx
The Bronx,
fourth largest and the northernmost of the five boroughs and the
only one on the American mainland, is surrounded by water on three
sides: the Harlem and East rivers on the south, Hudson river on
the west and Long Island Sound on the east.
The Bronx's
main attractions include the Bronx Zoo, Yankee Stadium, and the
New York Botanical Garden.
Major
Attractions in New York
Major tourist attractions include Castle Clinton, Fort Stanwix,
and Statue of Liberty National Monuments, Niagara Falls, U.S.
Military Academy at West Point.
National historic sites include homes of Franklin D. Roosevelt
at Hyde Park, and Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay and New York
City, the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls,
Grant's Tomb and Federal Hall, Fort Ticonderoga; the Baseball
Hall of Fame in Cooperstown; and the United Nations.
Fact File
Capital: Albany
Population: 18,976,457 (According to the year 2000 census)
Land area: 47,224 sq mi. (122,310 sq km)
Governor: George E. Pataki, R Flag
Flag
Economy
The New York City is the business and financial capital of the
world. The city's financial center, Wall Street, is the world's
leading center of finance and the home of the nation's most important
securities market, the New York Stock Exchange. The city is also
headquarters to several leading national and international companies.
New York,
with its favorable location, excellent port facilities, and a
large population, is the leading wholesale and retail trade center
in the United States.
Commercial and financial services, commerce and tourism provide
the main economic support to the state. The printing and publishing
industry is the city's largest manufacturing employer with apparel
industry ranking second.
The state
ranks seventh in the nation in manufacturing, with 893,000 employees
in 1999. New York farms produce cattle and calves, corn and poultry,
and vegetables and fruits. The state is also a leading wine producer.
The Ten Largest Cities
New York, 8,008,278; Buffalo, 292,648; Rochester, 219,773; Yonkers,
196,086; Syracuse, 147,306; Albany, 95,658; New Rochelle, 72,182;
Mount Vernon, 68,381; Schenectady, 61,821; Utica, 60,651
Getting to New York
Three international airports serve the New York City. Amtrak's
Auto Train carries passengers and their vehicles to the state.
Travel by car and long-distance bus is easy along miles of well-maintained
highways.
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