Difference between revisions of "New York City"

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(New page: Image:lighterstill.jpg '''New York City''' (pronounced /nʲuːˈjɔɹk/) (officially '''The City of New York''') is the largest city in...)
 
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'''New York City''' is the most populous city in the [[United States]] and the center of one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world—the New York metropolitan area. The city is referred to as New York City or the City of New York to distinguish it from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York State of New York], of which it is a part. A global power city, New York exerts a significant impact upon [[commerce]], [[finance]], [[media]], [[art]], [[fashion]], research, technology, education, and [[entertainment]]. The home of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Headquarters United Nations Headquarters], New York is an important center for international [[diplomacy]] and has been described as the cultural and financial [[capital]] of the world.
  
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'''New York City''' (pronounced /nʲuːˈjɔɹk/) (officially '''The City of New York''') is the [[List of United States cities by population|largest city]] in the [[United States]], with its [[New York metropolitan area|metropolitan area]] ranking among the [[World's largest cities|largest urban areas]] in the world. For more than a century, it has been one of the world's major centers of [[commerce]] and [[finance]]. New York City is rated as an [[global city|alpha world city]] for its global influences in [[Mass media|media]], [[politics]], [[education]], [[entertainment]] and [[fashion]]. The city's cultural centers for [[The arts|arts]] are among the nation's most influential.  The city is a major center for foreign affairs, hosting the headquarters of the [[United Nations]]. Residents of the city are known as New Yorkers. The current mayor of New York City is [[Michael Bloomberg]].
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On one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, each of which is a county of New York State.[15] The five boroughs—the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bronx Bronx], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn Brooklyn], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan Manhattan], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens Queens], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island Staten Island]—were consolidated into a single city in 1898. With a census-estimated 2013 population of 8,405,837 distributed over a land area of just 305 square miles (790 km2), New York is the most densely populated major [[city]] in the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically [[diverse]] city in the world. By 2013 census estimates, the New York Metropolitan Area's population remains by a significant margin the United States' largest [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas Metropolitan Statistical Area], with approximately 19.9 million people, and is also part of the most populous Combined Statistical Area in the United States, containing an estimated 23.4 million people.
  
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New York City comprises five [[Borough (New York City)|borough]]s, each of which is [[wikt:Coterminous|coterminous]] with a county: [[The Bronx]], [[Brooklyn]], [[Manhattan]], [[Queens]] and [[Staten Island]]. With over 8.2 million residents within an area of 322 square miles (830&nbsp;km²), New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States.<ref>[[Union City, New Jersey]] is more densely populated but has a population of 63,930.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demographia.com/db-2000city50kdens.htm |title=2000 Census: US Municipalities Over 50,000: Ranked by 2000 Density |publisher=Demographia |accessdate=2007-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |title=Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Metropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 |url=http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metro_general/2006/CBSA-EST2006-01.csv |accessdate=2007-07-26}}</ref>
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New York traces its roots to its 1624 founding as a trading post by colonists of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Republic Dutch Republic] and was named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam New Amsterdam] in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 New York served as the capitol of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the country's largest city since 1790. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty Statue of Liberty] greeted millions of [[immigrants]] as they came to America by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a globally recognized [[symbol]] of the United States and its [[democracy]].
  
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Many of the city's neighborhoods and landmarks are known around the world. The [[Statue of Liberty]] greeted millions of [[Immigration to the United States|immigrants]] as they came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at [[Ellis Island]]. [[Wall Street]], in [[Lower Manhattan]], has been a dominant global financial center since [[World War II]] and is home to the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. The city has been home to several of the [[Skyscraper#History of tallest skyscrapers|tallest buildings in the world]], including the [[Empire State Building]] and the former twin towers of the [[World Trade Center]], which were destroyed in the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].
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Many districts and landmarks in New York City have become well known to its approximately 55 million annual visitors. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square Times Square], iconified as "The Crossroads of the World", is the brightly illuminated hub of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Theater_District Broadway Theater District], one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections, and a major center of the world's [[entertainment]] industry. The names of many of the city's bridges, skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. New York City's financial district, anchored by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street Wall Street] in Lower Manhattan, has been called the world's leading financial center and is home to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange New York Stock Exchange], the world's largest stock exchange by total market capitalization of its listed companies. Manhattan's real estate market is among the most expensive in the world. Manhattan's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Manhattan Chinatown] incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with several signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway New York City Subway] is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 468 stations in operation. Numerous colleges and universities are located in New York, including [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University Columbia University], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_University New York University], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_University Rockefeller University], which have been ranked among the top 35 in the world.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_york_city]
  
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New York is the birthplace of many American 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 culture|hip hop]],<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Toop|title=Rap Attack 2: African Rap to Global Hip Hop|publisher=Serpents Tail|year=1992|isbn=1852422432}}</ref> [[punk rock|punk]],<ref>{{Cite web
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[[Salsa music|salsa]], and [[Tin Pan Alley]] in music. In 2005, nearly 170 languages were spoken in the city and 36 percent of its population was born outside the United States.<ref name="languages in NYC">{{cite web |publisher=[[New York State Comptroller|New York State Office of the State Comptroller]] |title=Queens: Economic Development and the State of the Borough Economy |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt3-2007queens.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref><ref name="NYC immigration">{{cite web |title=The Newest New Yorkers: 2000 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=2005 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/nny_briefing_booklet.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> With its 24-hour [[New York City Subway|subway]] and constant bustling of traffic and people, New York is known as "The City That Never Sleeps;" it was first linked with "[[Gotham]]" by [[Washington Irving]] in 1807.<ref>Irving's mocking ''Salmagundi Papers'', 1807, noted by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, ''Gotham: A History of New York to 1898'''' (Oxford) 1999:xii.</ref>
 
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==History==
 
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[[Image:Castelloplan.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Lower Manhattan in 1660, when it was part of New Amsterdam. North is to the right.]]
 
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The region was inhabited by about 5,000 [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] at the time of its European discovery in 1524<ref>[http://www.gothamcenter.org "Gotham Center for New York City History"] Timeline 1500 - 1700</ref> by [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]], an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown, who called it "Nouvelle Angoulême" ([[New Angoulême]]).<ref name="rodgers">{{cite book |title=New York: the World's Capital City, Its Development and Contributions to Progress |author=Rankin, Rebecca B., Cleveland Rodgers |publisher=Harper |year=1948}}</ref> European settlement began with the founding of a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[fur trade|fur trading]] settlement, later called "Nieuw Amsterdam" ([[New Amsterdam]]), on the southern tip of Manhattan in 1614. [[Dutch (ethnic group)|Dutch]] colonial Director-General [[Peter Minuit]] purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape in 1626 (legend, now disproved, says that Manhattan was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Miller, Christopher L., George R. Hamell |date=September 1986 |title=A New Perspective on Indian-White Contact: Cultural Symbols and Colonial Trade |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=73 |issue=2 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8723%28198609%2973%3A2%3C311%3AANPOIC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A |accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> In 1664, the English conquered the city and renamed it "New York" after the [[James II of England|English Duke of York and Albany]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Historical Atlas of New York City: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York City's History |author=Homberger, Eric |year=2005 |pages=p. 34 |publisher=Owl Books |isbn=0805078428}}</ref>  At the end of the [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]] the Dutch gained control of [[Run (island)|Run]] (a much more valuable asset at the time) in exchange for the English controlling New Amsterdam (New York) in North America.  By 1700, the Lenape population was diminished to 200.<ref>[http://www.gothamcenter.org "Gotham Center for New York City History"] Timeline 1700-1800</ref>
 
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New York City grew in importance as a trading port while under [[British Empire|British rule]]. In 1754, [[Columbia University]] was founded under charter by [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]] as King's College in Lower Manhattan.<ref>{{cite book |title=An Historical Sketch of Columbia College, in the City of New York, 1754-1876 |author=Moore, Nathaniel Fish |year=1876 |pages=p. 8 |publisher=Columbia College}}</ref> The city emerged as the theater for a series of major battles known as the [[New York and New Jersey campaign|New York Campaign]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The [[Continental Congress]] met in New York City and in 1789 the first [[President of the United States]], [[George Washington]], was inaugurated at [[Federal Hall]] on Wall Street.<ref>{{cite web | title = The People's Vote: President George Washington's First Inaugural Speech (1789) | publisher = U.S. News and World Report | url = http://www.usnews.com/usnews/documents/docpages/document_page11.htm | accessdate = 2007-05-28 }}</ref> New York City was the capital of the United States until 1790.
 
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In the 19th century, the city was transformed by immigration and development. A visionary development proposal,  the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]], expanded the city street grid to encompass all of Manhattan, and the 1819 opening of the [[Erie Canal]] connected the Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the North American interior.<ref>{{cite book
 
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|author = Bridges, William | title = Map Of The City Of New York And Island Of Manhattan With Explanatory Remarks And References |date=1811}}; Lankevich (1998), pp. 67–68.</ref> By 1835, New York City had surpassed [[Philadelphia]] as the largest city in the United States. Local politics fell under the domination of [[Tammany Hall]], a [[political machine]] supported by Irish immigrants.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fernando Wood: A Political Biography |author=Mushkat, Jerome Mushkat |publisher=Kent State University Press |year=1990 |pages=p. 36 |isbn=087338413X}}</ref> Public-minded members of the old merchant aristocracy lobbied for the establishment of [[Central Park]], which became the first landscaped park in an American city in 1857. A significant free-black population also existed in Manhattan, as well as in Brooklyn. Slaves had been held in New York through 1827, but during the 1830s New York became the center of interracial abolitionist activism in the North.
 
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Anger at military conscription during the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865) led to the [[New York Draft Riots|Draft Riots of 1863]], one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863 |author=Cook, Adrian |year=1974 |pages=pp. 193-195}}</ref> In 1898, the modern City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then an independent city), Manhattan and municipalities in the other boroughs.<ref>[http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/hist_info/100aniv.html The 100 Year Anniversary of the Consolidation of the 5 Boroughs into New York City], New York City. Accessed [[June 29]], [[2007]].</ref> The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904 helped bind the new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. However, this development did not come without a price.  In 1904, the steamship [[General Slocum]] caught fire in the East River, killing 1,021 people on board.  In 1911, the [[Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire]], the city's worst industrial disaster, took the lives of 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the [[International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union]] and major improvements in factory safety standards.<ref name="cornell1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/ |title=Cornell University Library: Triangle Factory Fire |publisher=Cornell University |accessdate=2007-03-12}}</ref>
 
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[[Image:New York City Midtown from Rockefeller Center NIH.jpg|thumb|200px|left|[[Midtown Manhattan]], New York City, from [[Rockefeller Center]], 1932.]]
 
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In the 1920s, New York City was a major destination for [[African American]]s during the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] from the American South. By 1916, New York City was home to the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The [[Harlem Renaissance]] flourished during the era of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], coincident with a larger economic boom that saw the skyline develop with the construction of competing [[skyscraper]]s. New York City became the most populous city in the world in 1948, overtaking [[London]], which had reigned for over a century. The difficult years of the [[Great Depression]] saw the election of reformer [[Fiorello H. LaGuardia|Fiorello LaGuardia]] as mayor and the fall of [[Tammany Hall]] after eighty years of political dominance.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Tiger – The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall |author=Allen, Oliver E. |publisher=Addison-Wesley Publishing Company |accessdate=2007-05-25 |chapter=Chapter 9: The Decline |date=1993}}</ref>
 
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Returning [[World War II]] veterans and [[Immigration|immigrants]] from Europe created a postwar economic boom and the development of huge housing tracts in eastern Queens. New York emerged from the war unscathed and the leading city of the world, with Wall Street leading America's ascendance as the world's dominant economic power, the United Nations headquarters (built in 1952) emphasizing New York's political influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitating New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Center of the World - New York: A Documentary  Film (Transcript) |author=Burns, Ric |publisher=PBS |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/filmmore/pt.html| accessdate=2006-07-20 |date=2003-08-22}}</ref> In the 1960s, New York suffered from economic problems, rising crime rates and racial tension, which reached a peak in the 1970s.
 
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[[Image:Manhattan from helicopter.jpg|thumb|200px|The view of New York City showing the Statue of Liberty, [[Empire State Building]], and the [[World Trade Center]], July 2001.]]
 
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In the 1980s, a resurgence in the financial industry improved the city's fiscal health. By the 1990s, racial tensions had calmed, crime rates dropped dramatically, and waves of new immigrants arrived from Asia and Latin America. Important new sectors, such as [[Silicon Alley]], emerged in the city's economy and New York's population reached an all-time high in the [[United States Census, 2000|2000 census]].
 
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The city was one of the sites of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], when nearly 3,000 people died in the destruction of the [[World Trade Center]]. The [[Freedom Tower]] will be built on the site and is scheduled for completion in 2012.<ref>{{cite web | title = Rebuilding the WTC | url= http://www.wtc.com/about/rebuilding-the-wtc | publisher = Silverstein Properties | accessdate = 2007-10-11 }}</ref>
 
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==Geography==
 
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[[Image:New York From Space.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Satellite image showing the core of the [[New York metropolitan area]]. Over 10 million people live in the entire area.]]
 
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New York City is located in the [[Northeastern United States]], in southeastern [[New York]] State, approximately halfway between [[Washington, D.C.]] and [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]].<ref>Washington, D.C. is {{convert|228|mi|km|0}} driving distance from New York City, and Boston is {{convert|217|mi|km|0}} driving distance from New York. - [http://maps.google.com/ Google Maps]</ref>  The location at the mouth of the [[Hudson River]], which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the [[Atlantic Ocean]], has helped the city grow in significance as a trading city.  Much of New York is built on the three islands of Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island, making land scarce and encouraging a high population density.
 
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The Hudson River flows through the [[Hudson Valley]] into [[New York Bay]].  Between New York City and [[Troy, New York]], the river is an [[estuary]].<ref>[http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/fc.1.estuaries.html Information about the Hudson River estuary]</ref>  The Hudson separates the city from [[New Jersey]]. The [[East River]], actually a tidal strait, flows from [[Long Island Sound]] and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The [[Harlem River]], another tidal strait between the East and Hudson Rivers, separates Manhattan from the Bronx.
 
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The city's land has been altered considerably by human intervention, with substantial [[land reclamation]] along the waterfronts since Dutch colonial times. Reclamation is most notable in [[Lower Manhattan]], with developments such as [[Battery Park City, Manhattan|Battery Park City]] in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="gillespie-p71">{{cite book |author=Gillespie, Angus K. |year=1999 |title=Twin Towers: The Life of New York City's World Trade Center |publisher=Rutgers University Press |pages=p. 71}}</ref>  Some of the natural variations in topography have been evened out, particularly in Manhattan.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lopate , Phillip |title=Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan |publisher=Anchor Press |year=2004 |isbn=0385497148}}</ref>
 
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The city's land area is 322&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi (831.4&nbsp;km²).<ref name="NYC land area">{{cite web| title=Land Use Facts |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/landusefacts/landusefactshome.shtml|publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]]| accessdate=2007-03-13}} New York City's total area is {{convert|468.9|sqmi|sqkm|1|abbr=on}}. {{convert|159.88|sqmi|sqkm|2|abbr=on}} of this is water and {{convert|321|sqmi|sqkm|0|abbr=on}} is land.</ref> The highest point in the city is [[Todt Hill]] on Staten Island, which at 409.8&nbsp;ft (124.9&nbsp;m) above sea level is the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of [[Maine]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Staten Island: Isle of the Bay, NY |author=Lundrigan, Margaret |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2004 |ID=ISBN 0738524433 |pages=p. 10}}</ref>  The summit of the ridge is largely covered in woodlands as part of the [[Staten Island Greenbelt]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Outside Magazine's Urban Adventure New York City  |author=Howard, David |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2002 |isbn= 0393322122 |pages=p. 35}}</ref>
 
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===Climate===
 
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Although located at about the same latitude as the much warmer European cities of [[Naples]] and [[Madrid]], New York has a [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]]) resulting from prevailing wind patterns that bring cool air from the interior of the North American continent.<ref name="NYC climate">{{cite web|title=The Climate of New York|publisher=New York State Climate Office|url=http://nysc.eas.cornell.edu/climate_of_ny.html|accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> New York City has cold winters but the city's coastal position keeps temperatures slightly warmer than inland regions, helping to moderate the amount of snow which averages 25 to 35&nbsp;inches (63.5 to 88.9&nbsp;cm) each year.<ref name="NYC climate"/>  New York City has a frost-free period lasting an average of 199 days between seasonal freezes.<ref name="NYC climate" />  Spring and autumn in New York City are erratic, and can range from cold and snowy to hot and humid, although they can also be cold or cool and rainy. Summer in New York City is warm and humid, with temperatures of 90&nbsp;°F (32&nbsp;°C) or higher recorded on average 18 to 25 days each summer.<ref name="NYC climate" /> Though not usually associated with [[Tropical cyclone|hurricanes]], New York City is susceptible to them, notably the [[1821 Norfolk and Long Island hurricane]] which flooded southern Manhattan, and the [[New England Hurricane of 1938]], which brushed the eastern end of the city. The city's long-term climate patterns have been affected by the [[Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation]], a 70-year-long warming and cooling cycle in the Atlantic that influences the frequency and severity of coastal storms in the region.<ref>{{cite web|author=Riley, Mary Elizabeth|title=Assessing the Impact of Interannual Climate Variability on New York City's Reservoir System|year=2006|publisher=Cornell University Graduate School for Atmospheric Science |url=http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2623/1/MER+Thesis-new.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref>
 
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===Environment===
 
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Mass transit use in New York City is the highest in United States and gasoline consumption in the city is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s.<ref name="NYC energy consumption">{{cite book|first=Ben|last=Jervey|title=The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City|isbn=0762738359|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|year=2006}}</ref> New York City's dense population and low automobile dependence help make New York among the most energy efficient in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |author=Owen, David |title=Green Manhattan |publisher=The New Yorker |date=[[October 18]] [[2004]]}}</ref> The city's greenhouse gas emission levels are relatively low when measured per capita, at 7.1 metric tons per person, below the national average, 24.5.<ref name="NYC emissions"/>  New Yorkers are collectively responsible for one percent of the nation's total [[greenhouse gas]] emissions<ref name="NYC emissions">{{cite web |title=Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions |publisher=New York City Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability |date=April 2007 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/ccp_report041007.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref> though comprising 2.7% of the nation's population. The average New Yorker consumes less than half the electricity used by a resident of San Francisco and nearly one-quarter the electricity consumed by a resident of [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/challenge/faq.shtml |title=Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases |publisher=[[PlaNYC]] / The City of New York |date=[[2006-12-06]] |accessdate=2006-12-13}}</ref>
 
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In recent years the city has focused on reducing its environmental impact. Large amounts of concentrated pollution in New York City lead to high incidence of [[asthma]] and other respiratory conditions among the city's residents.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Urban Asthma and the Neighbourhood Environment in New York City |author=Coburn, Jason, Jeffrey Osleeb, Michael Porter |journal=Health & Place |date=June 2006 |volume=12(2) |pages=pp. 167–179 |pmid=16338632}}</ref>  The city government is required to purchase only the most energy-efficient equipment for use in city offices and public housing.<ref>{{cite news |author=DePalma, Anthony |title=It Never Sleeps, but It's Learned to Douse the Lights |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[December 11]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/nyregion/11efficiency.html |accessdate=2006-07-19|}}</ref> New York has the largest clean air diesel-[[hybrid vehicle|hybrid]] and [[compressed natural gas]] bus fleet in the country, and some of the first hybrid taxis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mta.info/nyct/bus/centennial/page2.htm |title=A Century of Buses in New York City |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |accessdate=2006-11-17}} See also {{cite press release |url=http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/releases/pr2005-07-01a.asp |title=New York City's Yellow Cabs Go Green |publisher=Sierra Club |date=[[July 1]], [[2005]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The city is also a leader in the construction of energy-efficient [[green building|green office buildings]], including the [[Hearst Tower (New York City)|Hearst Tower]] among others.<ref name="greenbuilding">{{cite news |title=7 World Trade Center and Hearst Building: New York's Test Cases for Environmentally Aware Office Towers |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[April 16]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/arts/design/16gree.html |accessdate=2006-07-19 |author=Pogrebin, Robin}}</ref>
 
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New York City is supplied with drinking water by the protected [[Catskill Mountains]] [[Drainage basin|watershed]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/maplevels.html |title=Current Reservoir Levels |publisher=New York City Department of Environmental Protection |accessdate=2007-06-04}}</ref> As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration process, New York is one of only five major cities in the United States with drinking water pure enough not to require purification by [[water treatment]] plants.<ref>{{cite conference|last=Miele|first=Joel A., Sr|title=Maintaining Water Quality that Satisfies Customers: New York City Watershed Agricultural Program|booktitle=International Water Supply Symposium Tokyo 1998|publisher=New York City Department of Environmental Protection| date=[[November 20]], [[1998]]| url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/news/tokyo2.html| accessdate=2006-11-17}}; {{cite web |title=New York City 2005 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report |publisher=New York City Department of Environmental Protection |date=2005 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstat05.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-07-17}}</ref>
 
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==Cityscape==
 
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[[Image:NYC Top of the Rock Pano.jpg|center|thumb|800px||<center> The top of [[Rockefeller Center]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]] with views of [[Midtown Manhattan]], [[Lower Manhattan]], [[Brooklyn]], and [[Jersey City]] </center>]]
 
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[[Image:Lower Manhattan from Staten Island Ferry Corrected Jan 2006.jpg|center|thumb|800px||<center> Panorama of [[Lower Manhattan]] as viewed from the [[Staten Island Ferry]].]]
 
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===Architecture===
 
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The building form most closely associated with New York City is the [[skyscraper]] that saw New York buildings shift from the low-scale European tradition to the vertical rise of business districts. New York City has about 4493 skyscrapers, more than any other city in the world. Surrounded mostly by water, the city's residential density and high real estate values in commercial districts saw the city amass the largest collection of individual, free-standing office and [[tower block|residential towers]] in the world.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Emporis|title=About New York City|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=newyorkcity-ny-usa|accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref>
 
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New York has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles. These include the [[Woolworth Building]] (1913), an early [[Gothic Revival architecture|gothic revival]] skyscraper built with massively scaled gothic detailing able to be read from street level several hundred feet below. The [[1916 Zoning Resolution]] required [[Setback (architecture)|setback]] in new buildings, and restricted towers to a percentage of the lot size, to allow sunlight to reach the streets below.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Metropolitan Dimension of Early Zoning: Revisiting the 1916 New York City Ordinance |author=Fischler, Raphael |journal=Journal of the American Planning Association |volume=64(2) |year=1998}}</ref>  The [[Art Deco]] design of the [[Chrysler Building]] (1930), with its tapered top and steel spire, reflected the zoning requirements.  The building is considered by many historians and architects to be New York's finest building, with its distinctive ornamentation such as replicas at the corners of the 61st floor of the 1928 Chrysler eagle hood ornaments and V-shaped lighting inserts capped by a steel spire at the tower's crown.<ref>{{cite web |title=Favorites! 100 Experts Pick Their top 10 New York Towers |publisher=The Skyscraper Museum |date=[[January 22]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/FAVORITES/fav_exhibits.htm# |accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref>  A highly influential example of the [[international style (architecture)|international style]] in the United States is the [[Seagram Building]] (1957), distinctive for its facade using visible bronze-toned I-beams to evoke the building's structure. The [[Condé Nast Building]] (2000) is an important example of [[Sustainable design|green design]] in American skyscrapers.<ref name="greenbuilding" />
 
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The character of New York's large residential districts is often defined by the elegant [[brownstone]] [[Terraced house|rowhouse]]s, [[townhouse]]s, and shabby [[Apartment building|tenement]]s that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930.<ref>{{cite book |title=History of Housing in New York City: Dwelling Type and Change in the American Metropolis |author=Plunz, Richar A. |chapter=Chapters 3 [Rich and Poor] & 4 [Beyond the Tenement] |year=1990 |publisher=Columbia University Press |id=ISBN 0231062974}}</ref> Stone and brick became the city's building materials of choice after the construction of wood-frame houses was limited in the aftermath of the [[Great Fire of New York (1835)|Great Fire of 1835]].<ref name="lankevich-p82">Lankevich (1998), pp. 82–83; {{cite book |title=New York: Old & New: Its Story, Streets, and Landmarks |author=Wilson, Rufus Rockwell |year=1902 |publisher=J.B. Lippincott |pages=p. 354}}</ref> Unlike Paris, which for centuries was built from its own limestone bedrock, New York has always drawn its building stone from a far-flung network of quarries and its stone buildings have a variety of textures and hues.<ref>{{cite book |author=B. Diamonstein–Spielvoegel, Barbaralee|title=The Landmarks of New York |publisher=Monacelli Press |year=2005 |id=ISBN 1580931545}} See also {{cite book |author=Whyte, William H. |title=The WPA Guide to New York City |year=1939 |publisher=New Press |id=ISBN 1565843215}}</ref> A distinctive feature of many of the city's buildings is the presence of wooden roof-mounted [[water tower]]s. In the 1800s, the city required their installation on buildings higher than six stories to prevent the need for excessively high water pressures at lower elevations, which could burst municipal water pipes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wondering About Water Towers|author=Elliot, Debbie |publisher=National Public Radio |date=[[2006-12-02]] |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6567297 |accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref>  [[Garden city movement|Garden apartment]]s became popular during the 1920s in outlying areas, including [[Jackson Heights, Queens|Jackson Heights]] in Queens, which became more accessible with expansion of the subway.<ref>{{cite book  |title=722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and how They Transformed New York |author=Hood, Clifton |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2004 ||pages=pp. 175–177}}</ref>
 
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<div style="clear:both"></div>
 
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[[Image:Central Park NewYork24.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Central Park]] is the most visited city park in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=City Park Facts |publisher=The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20531&folder_id=3208|accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>]]
 
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===Parks===
 
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New York City has over 28,000 acres (113&nbsp;km²) of municipal parkland and 14 miles (22&nbsp;km) of public beaches.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/99a/pr042-99.html |title=Mayor Giuliani Announces Amount of Parkland in New York City has Passed {{convert|28000|acre|sqkm}} Mark |date=[[February 3]], [[1999]] |publisher=New York City Mayor's Office |accessdate=2007-06-06}}; {{cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_beaches.html |title=Beaches |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref>  This parkland is augmented by thousands of acres of [[Gateway National Recreation Area]], part of the US [[National Park System]], that lie within city boundaries.  The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, the only wildife refuge in the National Park System, alone is over {{convert|9000|acre|sqkm}} of marsh islands and water taking up most of [[Jamaica Bay]] and included.  Manhattan's [[Central Park]], designed by [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]], is the most visited city park in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=City Park Facts |publisher=The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20531&folder_id=3208|accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] in Brooklyn, also designed by Olmsted and Vaux, has a 90 acre (36&nbsp;[[hectare]]) meadow.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prospectpark.org/general/main.cfm?target=home |title=General Information |publisher=Prospect Park Alliance |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref>  [[Flushing Meadows–Corona Park]] in Queens, the city's third largest, was the setting for the [[1939 New York World's Fair|1939 World's Fair]] and [[1964 New York World's Fair|1964 World's Fair]].
 
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===Boroughs===
 
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New York City is comprised of five [[Borough (New York City)|boroughs]], an unusual form of government used to administer the five constituent counties that make up the city.<ref>{{cite book |title=Regionalism and realism: A Study of Government in the New York Metropolitan Area |author=Benjamin, Gerald, Richard P. Nathan |year=1990 |publisher=[[Brookings Institute]] |pages=p. 59}}</ref> Throughout the boroughs there are hundreds of distinct [[:Category:Neighborhoods in New York City|neighborhoods]], many with a definable history and character to call their own. If the boroughs were each independent cities, four of the boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx) would be among the ten most populous cities in the United States.
 
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−
* '''[[The Bronx]]''' (pop. 1,364,566)<ref name="census" /> is New York City's northernmost borough. The site of [[Yankee Stadium]], home of the [[New York Yankees]], and home to the largest [[Housing cooperative|cooperatively owned housing]] complex in the United States, [[Co-op City, Bronx|Co-op City]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Frazier, Ian |title=Utopia, the Bronx |publisher=The New Yorker |date=[[June 26]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/06/26/060626fa_fact_frazier |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> Except for a small piece of Manhattan known as [[Marble Hill, Manhattan|Marble Hill]], the Bronx is the only section of the city that is part of the United States mainland. It is home to the [[Bronx Zoo]], the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, which spans 265&nbsp;acres (107.2&nbsp;hectares) and is home to over 6,000 animals.<ref>{{cite book |title=New York City Museum Guide |author=Ward, Candace |publisher=Dover Publications |year=2000 |id=ISBN 0486410005 |pages=p. 72}}</ref>  The Bronx is the birthplace of [[Rapping|rap]] and [[hip hop culture]].<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Toop|title=Rap Attack 2: African Rap to Global Hip Hop|publisher=Serpents Tail|year=1992|isbn=1852422432}}</ref>
 
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[[Image:5 Boroughs Labels New York City Map Julius Schorzman.png|thumb|200px|right|The five boroughs: '''<span style="color:#2a3d94">Manhattan</span>''', '''<span style="color:#f4cc0b">Brooklyn</span>''', '''<span style="color:#ef7b2c">Queens</span>''', '''<span style="color:#dc382c">The Bronx</span>''', '''<span style="color:#8a3687">Staten Island</span>''']]
 
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* '''[[Brooklyn]]''' (pop. 2,511,408)<ref name="census">{{cite web |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |title=The Current Population of NYC (2005) |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/detailed_narrative_2005.pdf| format=PDF| accessdate=2007-03-13}} These figures were adopted by the U.S. Census Bureau in September 2006.</ref> is the city's most populous borough and was an independent city until 1898. Brooklyn is known for its cultural, social and ethnic diversity, an independent art scene, [[List of Brooklyn, New York neighborhoods|distinct neighborhoods]] and a unique architectural heritage. It is also the only borough outside of Manhattan with a distinct downtown area. The borough features a long beachfront and [[Coney Island]], established in the 1870s as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the country.<ref>{{cite book |title=Coney Island: The People's Playground |author=Immerso, Michael |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2002 |pages=p. 3 |id=ISBN 0813531381}}</ref>
 
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* '''[[Manhattan]]''' (pop. 1,593,200)<ref name="census" /> is the most densely populated borough and home to most of the city's [[skyscraper]]s, as well as [[Central Park]]. The borough is the financial center of the city and contains the headquarters of many major corporations, the [[United Nations]], as well as a number of important universities, and many cultural attractions, including numerous museums, the [[Broadway theatre]] district, [[Greenwich Village]], and [[Madison Square Garden]]. Manhattan is loosely divided into [[Lower Manhattan|Lower]], [[Midtown Manhattan|Midtown]], and [[Upper Manhattan|Uptown]] regions. Uptown Manhattan is divided by Central Park into the [[Upper East Side]] and the [[Upper West Side]], and above the park is [[Harlem]].
 
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* '''[[Queens]]''' (pop. 2,256,576)<ref name="census" /> is geographically the largest borough and the most ethnically diverse county in the United States<ref name="queensdiverse">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/nyregion/04fourth.html |author=O'Donnell, Michelle |title=In Queens, It's the Glorious 4th, and 6th, and 16th, and 25th...|publisher=New York Times|date=[[July 4]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>, and may overtake Brooklyn as the city's most populous borough due to its growth. Historically a collection of small towns and villages founded by the Dutch, today the borough is largely residential and middle class. It is the only large county in the United States where the median income among blacks, approximately $52,000 a year, is higher than that of whites.<ref>{{cite news |title=Black Incomes Surpass Whites in Queens |author=Roberts, Sam |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[January 10]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/nyregion/01census.html?ref=nyregion |accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> Queens is the site of [[Shea Stadium]], the home of the [[New York Mets]], and annually hosts the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Additionally, it is home to New York City's two major airports, [[LaGuardia Airport]] and [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]].
 
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* '''[[Staten Island]]''' (pop. 475,014)<ref name="census" /> is the most suburban in character of the five boroughs.  Staten Island is  connected to Brooklyn by the [[Verrazano-Narrows Bridge]] and to Manhattan via the free [[Staten Island Ferry]]. The Staten Island Ferry is one of the most popular tourist attractions in New York City as it provides unsurpassed views of the [[Statue of Liberty]], [[Ellis Island]],  and lower Manhattan. Located in central Staten Island, the {{convert|2500|acre|sqkm|sing=on}} Greenbelt has some {{convert|35|mi|km}} of walking trails and one of the last undisturbed forests in the city. Designated in 1984 to protect the island's natural lands, the Greenbelt  encompasses seven city parks. The F.D.R. Boardwalk along South Beach is two and one-half miles long, which is the fourth largest in the world.
 
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==Economy==
 
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[[Image:Panorama clip3.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Midtown Manhattan]] is the largest central business district in the world.]]
 
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−
New York City is a global hub of international business and commerce and is one of three "command centers" for the world economy (along with [[London]] and [[Tokyo]]).<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Saskia Sassen|Sassen, Saskia]]|title=The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo|year=2001|publisher=Princeton University Press|edition=2nd edition|isbn=0691070636}}</ref> The city is a major center for finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts in the United States.  The New York [[metropolitan area]] had an estimated [[gross metropolitan product]] of $952.6 billion in 2005, the largest regional economy in the United States.<ref name="NYC economy">{{cite web |url=http://www.usmayors.org/74thWinterMeeting/metroeconreport_January2006.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=The United States Conference of Mayors|title=The role of metro areas in the U.S. economy |date=[[January 13]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>  The city's economy accounts for the majority of the economic activity in the states of New York and New Jersey.<ref name="NYC economy" />  Many major corporations are headquartered in New York City, including 44 [[Fortune 500]] companies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nycedc.com/Web/NYCBusinessClimate/FactsFigures/FactsFigures.htm |title=NYC Business Climate - Facts & Figures |publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation|accessdate=2007-06-08}}</ref>  New York is also unique among American cities for its large number of foreign corporations. One out of ten private sector jobs in the city is with a foreign company.<ref>{{cite news|title=Keeping the Economy Growing |author=Wylde, Kathryn |publisher=Gotham Gazette |date=[[January 23]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20060123/202/1727 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
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New York City is home to some of the nation's&mdash;and the world's&mdash;most valuable real estate. 450 [[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park Avenue]] was sold on [[July 2]] [[2007]] for $510 million, about $1,589&nbsp;per&nbsp;square&nbsp;foot ($17,104/m²), breaking the barely month-old record for an American office building of $1,476&nbsp;per&nbsp;square&nbsp;foot ($15,887/m²) set in the June 2007 sale of 660 Madison Avenue.<ref>Quirk, James. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk4NDImZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxNjI5NzEmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMg== "Bergen offices have plenty of space"], ''[[The Record (Bergen County)]]'', [[July 5]] [[2007]]. Accessed [[July 5]] [[2007]]. "On Monday, a 26-year-old, 33-story office building at 450 Park Ave. sold for a stunning $1,589 per square foot, or about $510 million. The price is believed to be the most ever paid for a U.S. office building on a per-square-foot basis. That broke the previous record&mdash;set four weeks earlier&mdash;when 660 Madison Ave. sold for $1,476 a square foot."</ref>
 
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−
The [[New York Stock Exchange]], located on [[Wall Street]], and the [[NASDAQ]] are the world's first and second largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured by average daily trading volume and overall market capitalization.<ref>{{cite web |authors=Claessens, Stjin |title=Electronic Finance: Reshaping the Financial Landscape Around the World |publisher=The World Bank |date=September 2000 |url=http://www.worldbank.org/research/interest/confs/upcoming/papersjuly11/E-finance.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref>  Financial services account for more than 35 percent of the city's employment income.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci12-1.pdf|format=PDF |title=Challenges Facing the New York Metropolitan Area Economy |author=Orr, James and Giorgio Topa |work=Current Issues in Economics and Finance - Second District Highlights |publisher=New York Federal Reserve |date=Volume 12, Number 1, January 2006|accessdate=2007-06-05}}</ref>  Real estate is a major force in the city's economy, as the total value of all New York City property was $802.4 billion in 2006.<ref name="NYC real estate">{{cite web |title=Tentative Assessment Roll: Fiscal Year 2008 |publisher=New York City Department of Finance |date=[[January 15]], [[2007]] |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/pdf/07pdf/tent-ass-roll-07-08t.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> The [[Time Warner Center]] is the property with the highest-listed market value in the city, at $1.1 billion in 2006.<ref name="NYC real estate" />
 
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The city's television and film industry is the second largest in the country after [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/stats.shtml |title=NYC Film Statistics |publisher=Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting |accessdate=2007-06-07}}</ref> Creative industries such as new media, advertising, fashion, design and architecture account for a growing share of employment, with New York City possessing a strong competitive advantage in these industries.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Currid, Elizabeth |title=New York as a Global Creative Hub: A Competitive Analysis of Four Theories on World Cities |journal=Economic Development Quarterly |year=2006 |volume=20(4) |pages=pp. 330–350}}</ref> High-tech industries like bioscience, software development, game design, and Internet services are also growing, bolstered by the city's position at the terminus of several [[transatlantic telephone cable|transatlantic fiber optic trunk lines]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Telecommunications and Economic Development in New York City: A Plan for Action|publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation |date=March 2005 |url=http://www.nycedc.com/about_us/TelecomPlanMarch2005.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>  Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities.
 
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Manufacturing accounts for a large but declining share of employment. Garments, chemicals, metal products, processed foods, and furniture are some of the principal products.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/imb/downloads/pdf/whitepaper.pdf |format=PDF |title=Protecting and Growing New York City's Industrial Job Base |publisher=The Mayor's Office for Industrial and Manufacturing Business |date=January 2005 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The food-processing industry is the most stable major manufacturing sector in the city.<ref name="food manufacturing">{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/imb/downloads/pdf/more_than_link_food_chain.pdf |format=PDF |title=More Than a Link in the Food Chain |publisher=The Mayor's Office for Industrial and Manufacturing Business |accessdate=2007-02-14 |date=February 2007}}</ref> Food making is a $5 billion industry that employs more than 19,000 residents, many of them immigrants who speak little English. Chocolate is New York City's leading specialty-food export, with $234 million worth of exports each year.<ref name="food manufacturing" />
 
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[[Tourism in New York City|Tourism]] is important to New York City, with about 40 million foreign and American tourists visiting each year.<ref>{{cite web |title=NYC Statistics |publisher=NYC & Company |url=http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=57 |accessdate=2006-08-03}}</ref> Major destinations include the [[Empire State Building]], [[Ellis Island]], Broadway theatre productions, museums such as the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], and other tourist attractions including [[Central Park]], [[Washington Square Park, New York|Washington Square Park]], [[Rockefeller Center]], [[Times Square]], the [[Bronx Zoo]], [[New York Botanical Garden]], luxury shopping along [[Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)|Fifth]] and [[Madison Avenue (Manhattan)|Madison Avenue]]s, and events such as the [[New York's Village Halloween Parade|Halloween Parade]] in [[Greenwich Village]], the [[Tribeca Film Festival]], and free performances in Central Park at Summerstage. The Statue of Liberty is a major tourist attraction and one of the most recognizable icons of the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nymag.com/listings/attraction/statue_of_liberty/ |title=Statue of Liberty |publisher=New York Magazine |accessdate=2006-06-20}}</ref> Many of the city's ethnic enclaves, such as [[Jackson Heights, Queens|Jackson Heights]], [[Flushing, Queens|Flushing]], and [[Brighton Beach]] are major shopping destinations for first and second generation Americans up and down the East Coast.
 
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==Demographics==
 
−
 
 
−
!Total population
 
−
|8,213,839<ref name="census" />||18,976,457||281,421,906
 
−
|-
 
−
!Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000
 
−
| +9.4%||+5.5%||+13.1%
 
−
|-
 
−
!Population density
 
−
|26,403/sq&nbsp;mi||402/sq&nbsp;mi||80/sq&nbsp;mi
 
−
|-
 
−
!Median household income (1999)
 
−
|$38,293||$43,393||$41,994
 
−
|-
 
−
!Bachelor's degree or higher
 
−
|27%||27%||29%
 
−
|-
 
−
!Foreign born
 
−
|36%||20%||11%
 
−
|-
 
−
!White
 
−
|45%||68%||75%
 
−
|-
 
−
!White (non-Hispanic)
 
−
|37%||62%||67%
 
−
|-
 
−
!Black
 
−
|28%||16%||12%
 
−
|-
 
−
!Hispanic (any race)
 
−
|27%||15%||11%
 
−
|-
 
−
!Asian
 
−
|10%||6%||4%
 
−
|}
 
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New York is the most populous city in the United States, with an estimated 2005 population of 8,213,839 (up from 7.3 million in 1990).<ref name="census" /> This amounts to about 40% of New York State's population and a similar percentage of the metropolitan regional population. Over the last decade the city's population has been increasing and demographers estimate New York's population will reach between 9.2 and 9.5 million by 2030.<ref>{{cite web |title=New York City Population Projections by Age/Sex and Borough, 2000-2030 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=December 2006 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/projections_report.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}} See also {{cite news|last=Roberts, Sam |title=By 2025, Planners See a Million New Stories in the Crowded City |publisher=New York Times |date=[[February 19]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/nyregion/19population.html?ex=1298005200&en=c586d38abbd16541&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
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New York's two key demographic features are its [[population density]] and [[cultural diversity]]. The city's population density of 26,403 people per square mile (10,194/km²) makes it the most densely populated American municipality with a population above 100,000.<ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_lang=en&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1R_US13S&-format=US-13|US-13S&-CONTEXT=gct United States -- Places and (in selected states) County Subdivisions with 50,000 or More Population; and for Puerto Rico], [[United States Census Bureau]] [[United States Census, 2000]]. Accessed [[June 12]], [[2007]].</ref> Manhattan's population density is 66,940 people per square mile (25,846/km²), highest of any county in the United States.<ref>[http://gislounge.com/features/aa041101c.shtml "Population Density"], Geographic Information Systems - GIS of Interest. Accessed [[May 17]], [[2007]]. "What I discovered is that out of the 3140 counties listed in the Census population data only 178 counties were calculated to have a population density over one person per acre. Not surprisingly, New York County (which contains Manhattan) had the highest population density with a calculated 104.218 persons per acre."</ref><ref name="census2000">{{cite web|title=Census 2000 Data for the State of New York|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|url=http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/ny.html|accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
−
*USCensusPop
 
−
| 1790=  33131
 
−
| 1800=  60515
 
−
| 1810=  96373
 
−
| 1820=  123706
 
−
| 1830=  202589
 
−
| 1840=  312710
 
−
| 1850=  696490
 
−
| 1860=  813669
 
−
| 1870=  942292
 
−
| 1880= 1206299
 
−
| 1890= 1515301
 
−
| 1900= 3437202
 
−
| 1910= 4766883
 
−
| 1920= 5620048
 
−
| 1930= 6930446
 
−
| 1940= 7454995
 
−
| 1950= 7891957
 
−
| 1960= 7781984
 
−
| 1970= 7894862
 
−
| 1980= 7071639
 
−
| 1990= 7322564
 
−
| 2000= 8008288
 
−
| 2006= 8214426
 
−
| 2007= 8295029
 
−
 
 
−
New York City is exceptionally diverse. Throughout its history the city has been a major point of entry for [[Immigration|immigrants]]; the term ''[[melting pot]]'' was first coined to describe densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the [[Lower East Side, Manhattan|Lower East Side]]. Today, 36% of the city's population is foreign-born.<ref name="NYC immigration" /> Among American cities, this proportion is exceeded only by [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] and [[Miami, Florida|Miami]].<ref name="census2000" /> While the immigrant communities in those cities are dominated by a few nationalities, in New York no single country or region of origin dominates. The ten largest countries of origin for modern immigration are the [[Dominican Republic]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Jamaica]],  [[Guyana]], [[Pakistan]], [[Ecuador]], [[Haiti]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Colombia]], and [[Russia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Appendix Table 5-4: Ten Largest Sources of the Foreign-Born by County New York Metropolitan Region, 2000 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=2005 |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/nny_table_5_4.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> About 170 languages are spoken in the city.<ref name="languages in NYC" />
 
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The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest [[American Jews|Jewish community]] outside [[Israel]]; [[Tel Aviv]] proper (non-metro/within municipal limits) has a smaller population than the Jewish population of New York City proper, making New York the largest Jewish community in the world. About 12% of New Yorkers are Jewish or of Jewish descent and roots.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewish Community Study of New York |publisher=United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York |date=2002 |url=http://www.ujafedny.org/atf/cf/%7BAD848866-09C4-482C-9277-51A5D9CD6246%7D/JCommStudyIntro.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> It is also home to nearly a quarter of the nation's [[Indian American]]s,<ref>{{cite web |title=Census Profile:New York City's Indian American Population |publisher=Asian American Federation of New York |date=2004 |url=http://www.aafny.org/cic/briefs/indianamer.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> and the largest [[African American]] community of any city in the United States.
 
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The five largest ethnic groups as of the 2005 census estimates are: [[Puerto Ricans in the United States|Puerto Ricans]], [[Italian American|Italians]], [[Caribbean|West Indians]], [[Dominican American|Dominicans]] and [[Chinese American|Chinese]].<ref name="acs_socio_05">{{cite web|title=NYC2005 &mdash; Results from the 2005 American Community Survey : Socioeconomic Characteristics by Race/Hispanic Origin and Ancestry Group|publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]]|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/acs_socio_05_nyc.pdf|format=PDF|date=2005|accessdate=2007-08-14}}; [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/popacs.shtml Population Division American Community Survey], [[New York City Department of City Planning]]</ref> The Puerto Rican population of New York City is the [[Puerto Rican migration to New York|largest outside of Puerto Rico]].<ref>Archive of the Mayor's Press Office, [http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/98a/pr256-98.html ''Mayor Giuliani Proclaims Puerto Rican Week in New York City''], Tuesday, June 9, 1998.</ref> Italians emigrated to the city in large numbers in the early twentieth century. The [[Irish American|Irish]], the sixth largest ethnic group, also have a [[Irish Americans in New York City|notable presence]]; one in 50 New Yorkers of European origin carry a distinctive genetic signature on their Y chromosomes inherited from [[Niall of the Nine Hostages]], an Irish high king of the fifth century A.D.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Moore LT, McEvoy B, Cape E, Simms K, Bradley DG| title=A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland|journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=78|issue=2|pages=334–338|date=February 2006|url=http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/issues/v78n2/43032/43032.web.pdf|format=PDF|pmid=16358217 | accessdate = 2007-06-07}} See also {{cite news|title=If Irish Claim Nobility, Science May Approve|publisher=The New York Times|date=[[2006-01-18]]|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/science/18irish.html?ex=1149652800&en=2336ca46c937614b&ei=5070|first=Nicholas|last=Wade|accessdate=2006-07-16}}</ref>
 
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New York City has a high degree of income disparity. In 2005 the median household income in the wealthiest census tract was $188,697, while in the poorest it was $9,320.<ref>{{cite news|author=Roberts, Sam |title=In Manhattan, Poor Make 2 Cents for Each Dollar to the Rich |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[April 9]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/SamRoberts4Sep05.htm |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref>    The disparity is driven by wage growth in high income brackets, while wages have stagnated for middle and lower income brackets. In 2006 the average weekly wage in Manhattan was $1,453, the highest and fastest growing among the largest counties in the United States.<ref name=ManhattanLabor>{{cite web |title=Average Weekly Wage in Manhattan at $1,453 in Second Quarter 2006 |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor|date=[[February 20]], [[2007]] |url=http://www.bls.gov/ro2/fax/qcew9310.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-02-21}}</ref> The borough is also experiencing a baby boom that is unique among American cities. Since 2000, the number of children under age 5 living in Manhattan grew by more than 32%.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Surge in Manhattan Toddlers, Rich White Families Lead Way |author=Roberts, Sam |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[2007-03-27]] |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/nyregion/23kid.html|accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref>
 
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Home ownership in New York City is about 33%, much lower than the national average of 69%.<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeownership/ Homeownership]</ref>  Rental vacancy is usually between 3% and 4.5%, well below the 5% threshold defined to be a housing emergency and used to justify the continuation of [[Rent control in New York|rent control and rent stabilization]]. About 33% of rental units are rent-stabilized. Finding housing, particularly affordable housing, in New York City can be more than challenging. <ref>[http://www.helium.com/tm/329063/normally-quite-optimistic-person How to find a cheap apartment in New York City]; [http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/pr/vacancy.shtml Housing Vacancy Survey]</ref>
 
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===Future Population Growth===
 
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The fastest growing boroughs in the city are Staten Island and Manhattan. Analysis shows that New York City's population will increase steadily. Between 2010 and 2020 New York City's population will be about 9 million. Between 2020 and 2030 growth will most likely slow and by 2030 the population will be about 9.5 million. Population growth is the predicted to speed up again between 2030 and 2050. The population of New York City in 2050 will be about 10.5 to 11 million people. New York City will most likely remain the largest city in the United States and will probably take over Mexico City as the largest in North America.-->
 
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==Government==
 
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Since its consolidation in 1898, New York City has been a [[metropolitan municipality]] with a "strong" [[Mayor-council government|mayor-council form of government]]. The government of New York is more centralized than that of most other U.S. cities. In New York City, the central government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply and welfare services.  The [[Mayor of New York City|mayor]] and [[councillor]]s are elected to four-year terms. The [[New York City Council]] is a [[unicameralism|unicameral]] body consisting of 51 Council members whose districts are defined by geographic population boundaries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyccouncil.info/tools/about_council.cfm |title=About the Council |publisher=New York City Council  The mayor and councilors are limited to two four-year terms. 
 
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The mayor is [[Michael Bloomberg]], a former Democrat and current independent elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] in 2001 and re-elected in 2005 with 59% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement and Return Report for Certification: General Election 2005 |publisher=New York City Board of Elections |date=[[November 8]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/pdf/results/2005/general/Manhattan/New%20York%20Mayor%20NY%20Recap.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> He is known for taking control of the city's education system from the state, rezoning and economic development, sound fiscal management, and aggressive public health policy. In his second term he has made school reform, poverty reduction, and strict gun control central priorities of his administration.<ref>{{cite web | title = About Mike Bloomberg | url=http://www.mikebloomberg.com/en/about_mike_bloomberg | publisher = The Official Site of Mike Bloomberg| accessdate = 2007-05-31 }}</ref>  Together with [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] mayor [[Thomas Menino]], in 2006 he founded the [[Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition]], an organization with the goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal [[gun politics|guns]] off the streets."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml| title=Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members}} Retrieved on [[June 20]], [[2007]]</ref> The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] holds the majority of public offices. 66% of registered voters in the city are Democrats.<ref>{{cite web |title=County Enrollment Totals |publisher=New York State Board of Elections |date=[[April 1]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.elections.state.ny.us/NYSBOE/enrollment/county/county_apr06.htm |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> New York City has not been won by a Republican in a statewide or presidential election since 1924. [[Party platform]]s center on affordable housing, education and economic development, and labor politics are of importance in the city.
 
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New York is the most important source of political fundraising in the United States, as four of the top five [[ZIP code|zip codes]] in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the [[Upper East Side]], generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both [[George W. Bush]] and [[John Kerry]].<ref>{{cite web|title=2006 Election Overview: Top Zip Codes |publisher=Opensecrets.org |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topzips.asp?cycle=2004 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>  The city has a strong imbalance of payments with the national and state governments. It receives 83 cents in services for every $1 it sends to the federal government in [[Taxation in the United States|taxes]] (or annually sends $11.4 billion more than it receives back). The city also sends an additional $11 billion more each year to the state of New York than it receives back.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Fair Share of State Budget: Does Albany Play Fair with NYC?|publisher=New York City Finance Division |date=[[March 11]], [[2005]] |url=http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/attachments/65379.htm?CFID=232457&CFTOKEN=33008944 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
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Located near City Hall are the courthouse for the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] and [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]], and the [[Jacob K. Javits Federal Building]].  Manhattan also hosts the [[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division|NY Appellate Division, First Department]].  Brooklyn hosts the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York]], and [[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division|NY Appellate Division, Second Department]].  As with any county, each Borough has a branch of the [[New York Supreme Court]] and other New York State courts.  As the host of the [[United Nations]], New York City is home to the world's largest international [[Consul (representative)|consular corps]], comprising 122 consulates, consulates general and honorary consulate offices.<ref>{{cite web |title=Foreign Consular Offices in the United States |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=[[August 4]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/71117.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-01-21}}</ref>
 
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==Crime==
 
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Out of 216 U.S. cities with populations of more than 100,000 in 2002, the city ranked 197th in overall crime (with about the same crime rate as [[Provo, Utah]]), and also had the lowest crime rate of among the 25 largest U.S. cities.<ref>{{cite news|''Law Enforcement News''|title=Don't tell New York, but crime is going up |url=http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/len/2002/12.31/page5.html}}</ref> Violent crime in New York city has decreased 75% in the last twelve years and the murder rate in 2005 was at its lowest level since 1963.<ref>{{cite paper |title=The Remarkable Drop In Crime In New York City |author=Langan, Patrick A. |date=[[October 21]], [[2004]] |url=http://samoa.istat.it/Eventi/sicurezza/relazioni/Langan_rel.pdf |publisher=Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (Italy) |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-05-22}}</ref> Crime rates spiked in the 1980s and early 1990s as the [[crack epidemic]] hit the city. During the 1990s the [[New York City Police Department]] (NYPD) adopted [[CompStat]], [[Fixing Broken Windows|broken windows]] policing and other strategies in a major effort to reduce crime. The city's dramatic drop in crime has been attributed by criminologists to these policing tactics, the end of the crack epidemic and demographic changes.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Crime Drop in America |chapter=The Rise and Decline of Hard Drugs, Drug Markets, and Violence in Inner-City New York |author=Johnson, Bruce D., Andrew Golub, Eloise Dunlap |editor=Blumstein, Alfred, Joel Wallman |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |id=ISBN 0521862795}}; {{cite book |title=New York Murder Mystery: The True Story Behind the Crime Crash of the 1990s |author=Karmen, Andrew |year=2000 |publisher=NYU Press |id=0814747175}}</ref>
 
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[[Organized crime]] has long been associated with New York City, beginning with the [[40 Thieves|Forty Thieves]] and the [[Roach Guards]] in the [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] in the 1820s. The 20th century saw a rise in the [[Mafia]] dominated by the [[Five Families]]. [[Gang]]s including the [[Black Spades]] also grew in the late 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=NYPD: A City and Its Police |author=Lardner, James, and Thomas Reppetto |publisher=Owl Books |year=2000 |pages=pp. 18–21}}</ref> Numerous major riots have occurred in New York City since the mid 19th century, including the [[New York Draft Riots|Draft Riots]] in 1863, multiple riots at [[Tompkins Square Park]], and in [[Harlem]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Street Justice: A History of Political Violence in New York City |author=Johnson, Marilynn S. |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2003}}</ref> The serial killings by the "[[David Berkowitz|Son of Sam]]," which began on [[July 29]], [[1976]], terrorized the city for the next year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/berkowitz/12.html |title=Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, famous serial killer |publisher=Crime Library / Court TV |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref>
 
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==Education==
 
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The city's public school system, managed by the [[New York City Department of Education]], is the largest in the United States. About 1.1 million students are taught in more than 1,200 separate primary and secondary schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dcp/download/census/sf3edp302.xls |title=School Enrollment by Level of School and Type of School for Population 3 Years and Over |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=2000 |format=MS Excel |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref>  There are approximately 900 additional privately run secular and religious schools in the city, including some of the most prestigious private schools in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/ |title=Private School Universe Survey |publisher=National Center for Education Statistics |accessdate=2007-06-05}}</ref> 
 
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Though it is not often thought of as a [[college town]], there are about 594,000 university students in New York City, the highest number of any city in the United States.<ref>{{cite paper |publisher=Brookings Institution |title=New York in Focus: A Profile from Census 2000 |date=November 2003 |url=http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/livingcities/newyork2.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-11-17}}</ref> In 2005, three out of five Manhattan residents were college graduates and one out of four had advanced degrees, forming one of the highest concentrations of highly educated people in any American city.<ref>{{cite news |title=New York Area Is a Magnet For Graduates |author=McGeehan, Patrick |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[August 16]], [[2006]] |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E16FF3F5A0C758DDDA10894DE404482 |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> Public postsecondary education is provided by the [[City University of New York]], the nation's third-largest public university system, and the [[Fashion Institute of Technology]], part of the [[State University of New York]]. New York City is also home to such notable private universities as [[Barnard College]], [[Columbia University]], [[Cooper Union]], [[Fordham University]], [[New York University]], [[Pace University]], [[The New School]], [[St. John's University (New York City)|St. John's University]], and [[Yeshiva University]]. The city has dozens of other smaller private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions, such as [[Juilliard School|The Juilliard School]] and [[School of Visual Arts|The School of Visual Arts]].
 
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Much of the scientific research in the city is done in medicine and the life sciences. New York City has the most post-graduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, 40,000 licensed physicians, and 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions.<ref name="NYC science institutions">{{cite press release |title=Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Economic Development Corporation President Andrew M. Alper Unveil Plans to Develop Commercial Bioscience Center in Manhattan|publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fhome2.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2004b%2Fpr310-04.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 |date=[[November 18]], [[2004]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>  The city receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the [[National Institutes of Health]] among all U.S. cities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://grants.nih.gov/grants/award/trends/top100fy03.htm |title=NIH Domestic Institutions Awards Ranked by City, Fiscal Year 2003 |publisher=National Institutes of Health |date=2003 |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref>  Major biomedical research institutions include [[Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center]], [[Rockefeller University]], [[SUNY Downstate Medical Center]], [[Albert Einstein College of Medicine]], [[Mount Sinai School of Medicine]] and [[Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University|Weill Cornell Medical College]].
 
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The [[New York Public Library]], which has the largest collection of any public library system in the country, serves Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island.<ref name="libraryspot">{{cite web |url= http://www.libraryspot.com/lists/listlargestlibs.htm |title=Nation's Largest Libraries |publisher=LibrarySpot |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref>  Queens is served by the [[Queens Borough Public Library]], which is the nation's second largest public library system, and [[Brooklyn Public Library]] serves Brooklyn.<ref name="libraryspot"/>  The New York Public Library has several research libraries, including the [[Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture|Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture]].
 
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New York City also features some of the most elite and exclusive private schools in the country, many of which are located on the [[Upper East Side]] or in [[Riverdale, Bronx]].  These schools include [[The Dalton School]], [[Brearley School]],  [[Nightingale-Bamford School]], [[Trinity School (New York City)|The Trinity School]], and [[The Collegiate School]]. Renowned public secondary schools include [[Stuyvesant High School]], [[Bronx High School of Science|The Bronx High School of Science]], [[Brooklyn Technical High School]], [[Townsend Harris High School]], and [[Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts|LaGuardia High School]].
 
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==Transportation==
 
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[[Image:Grand Central test.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The [[Grand Central Terminal]] is one of the busiest rail stations in the [[United States]].]]
 
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Public transit is overwhelmingly the dominant form of travel for New Yorkers.<ref name=2001summary>{{cite web |title=NHTS 2001 Highlights Report, BTS03-05 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics |date=2001 |url=http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/pdf/entire.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-05-21}}</ref> About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York and its suburbs.<ref name="MTAinfo">{{cite web|title=The MTA Network: Public Transportation for the New York Region| publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |url=http://www.mta.info/mta/network.htm |accessdate=2006-05-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Commuting in America III: Commuting Facts |author=Pisarski, Alan |publisher=Transportation Research Board |date=[[October 16]], [[2006]] |url=http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/CIAIIIfacts.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> This is in contrast to the rest of the country, where about 90% of commuters drive automobiles to their workplace.<ref name=2001summary /> New York is the only city in the United States where more than half of all [[List of U.S. cities with most households without a car|households do not own a car]] (in Manhattan, more than 75% of residents do not own a car; nationally, the percentage is 8%).<ref name=2001summary />
 
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The [[New York City Subway]] is the largest [[rapid transit]] system in the world when measured by the number of stations in operation, with 468. It is the fourth-largest when measured by annual ridership (1.4 billion passenger trips in 2005).<ref name=MTAinfo /> New York's subway is also remarkable because nearly all of the system remains open 24 hours per day (though in some cases with significant differences in routings from the daytime network), in contrast to the overnight shutdown common to systems in most cities, including [[London]], [[Paris]], [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[Tokyo]]. The transportation system in New York City is extensive and complex. It includes the longest [[Verrazano-Narrows Bridge|suspension bridge]] in North America,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/verrazano-narrows/ |title=Verrazano-Narrows Bridge |publisher=Nycroads.com |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular [[Holland Tunnel|tunnel]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/writeups/93001619.nl.pdf |title=Holland Tunnel |publisher=National Park Service |date=[[November 4]], [[1993]] |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> more than 12,000 yellow cabs<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/state_of_taxi.pdf |title=The State of the NYC Taxi |publisher=New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission |date=[[2006-03-09]] |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-08-02}}</ref> and an [[Roosevelt Island Tramway|aerial tramway]] that transports commuters between [[Roosevelt Island]] and Manhattan.
 
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New York City's public [[MTA Bus Company|bus fleet]] and commuter rail network are the largest in North America.<ref name="MTAinfo" /> The rail network, which connects the suburbs in the [[Tri-State Region|tri-state region]] to the city, has more than 250 stations and 20 rail lines.<ref name="MTAinfo" /><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |title=About the MTA Long Island Rail Road |url=http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr/pubs/aboutlirr.htm |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Facts at a Glance |publisher=NJ Transit |date=2005 |url=http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/an_factsataGlance_FY.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> The commuter rail system converges at the two busiest rail stations in the United States, [[Grand Central Terminal]] and [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Pennsylvania Station]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/pages/getpage.aspx?id=B6E37786-897D-4174-83C5-2A7404A9E026 |title=Grand Central Demographics |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |accessdate=2007-03-26}}; {{cite web|title=Amtrak Facts |url=http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/transportation/a_amtrak.html |publisher=National Atlas |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
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New York City is the top international air passenger gateway to the United States.<ref name=IntlTravel>{{cite web |url=http://www.bts.gov/publications/us_international_travel_and_transportation_trends/2002/index.html |title=U.S. International Travel and Transportation Trends, BTS02-03 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics |date=2002 |accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref> The area is served by three major airports, [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy International]], [[Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark Liberty International]] and [[LaGuardia Airport|LaGuardia]], with plans for a fourth airport, [[Stewart International Airport]] near Newburgh, NY, to be taken over and enlarged by the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] (which administers the other three airports), as a "reliever" airport to help cope with increasing passenger volume. 100 million travelers used the three airports in 2005 and the city's airspace is the busiest in the nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/airports/pdfs/traffic/Air_Traffic_2005.pdf |title=2005 Annual Airport Traffic Report |publisher=The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |date=[[November 2]], [[2006]] |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref> Outbound international travel from JFK and Newark accounted for about a quarter of all U.S. travelers who went overseas in 2004.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.panynj.gov/AboutthePortAuthority/PressCenter/PressReleases/PressRelease/index.php?id=724 |title=Port Authority Leads Nation in Record-Setting Year for Travel Abroad |publisher=The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
 
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New York's high rate of [[List of U.S. cities with high transit ridership|public transit use]], 120,000 daily cyclists<ref>{{cite news |title=Biking It|author=Schaller, Bruce |publisher=Gotham Gazette |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/transportation/20060718/16/1910/|accessdate=2006-07-20}}</ref> and many [[List of U.S. cities with most pedestrian commuters|pedestrian commuters]] makes it the most energy-efficient major city in the United States.<ref name="NYC energy consumption" />  Walk and bicycle modes of travel account for 21% of all modes for trips in the city; nationally the rate for metro regions is about 8%.<ref>{{cite web |title=2001 National Household Travel Survey: Summary of Travel Trends |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |date=December 2004 |url=http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/pub/STT.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref>
 
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To complement New York's vast mass transit network, the city also has an extensive web of [[freeway|expressways]] and [[parkway]]s, that link New York City to northern [[New Jersey]], [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], [[Long Island]], and southwest [[Connecticut]] through various bridges and tunnels.  Because these highways serve millions of suburban residents who [[Commuting|commute]] into New York, it is quite common for motorists to be stranded for hours in [[Traffic congestion|traffic jam]]s that are a daily occurrence, particularly during [[rush hour]]. The [[George Washington Bridge]] is considered one of the world's busiest bridges in terms of vehicle traffic.<ref>[http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061024/BIZ/610240312/-1/NEWS03 George Washington Bridge turns 75 years old: Huge flag, cake part of celebration], ''[[Times Herald-Record]]'', [[October 24]], [[2006]]. "The party, however, will be small in comparison to the one that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey organized for 5,000 people to open the bridge to traffic in 1931. And it won't even be on '''what is now the world's busiest bridge''' for fear of snarling traffic."</ref>
 
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Despite New York's reliance on public transit, roads are a defining feature of the city. Manhattan's street grid plan greatly influenced the city's physical development. Several of the city's streets and avenues, like Broadway, Wall Street and Madison Avenue are also used as shorthand in the American vernacular for national industries located there; those being the theater, finance, and advertising organizations, respectively.
 
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==Culture==
 
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"Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather," the writer [[Tom Wolfe]] has said of New York City.<ref>{{cite press release | title =Speeches: Tom Christopher Exhibit Opening | publisher = Consulate General of the United States: Frankfurt, Germany | date =[[May 9]], [[2007]] | url =http://frankfurt.usconsulate.gov/frankfurt/speech05092007.html | accessdate =2007-05-25  }}</ref> 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 the epicenter of [[jazz]] in the 1940s, [[abstract expressionism]] in the 1950s, and the birthplace of [[Hip hop culture|hip hop]] in the 1970s. The city's [[Punk subculture|punk]] and [[Hardcore punk|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 (band)|Interpol]], [[The Bravery]], [[Scissor Sisters]], and [[They Might Be Giants]]. The city is also important in the American film industry. ''[[Manhatta]]'' (1920), the nation's first [[avant-garde]] film, was filmed in the city.<ref>{{cite video | people = Bruce Posner | title = Picturing a Metropolis: New York City Unveiled | medium = DVD | publisher = Unseen Cinema |date=2005}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NYC arts">{{cite web |title=Creative New York |publisher=Center for an Urban Future |date=December 2005 |url=http://www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/CREATIVE_NEW_YORK.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-06-19}}</ref> The city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the [[National Endowment for the Arts]].<ref name="NYC 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 theatre productions, and in the 1880s New York City theaters on [[Broadway (New York City)|Broadway]] and along 42nd Street began showcasing a new stage form that came to be known as the [[musical theatre|Broadway musical]].
 
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The [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]], which includes [[Jazz at Lincoln Center]], the [[Metropolitan Opera]], the [[New York City Opera]], the [[New York Philharmonic]], the [[New York City Ballet]], the [[Vivian Beaumont Theatre]], the [[Juilliard School]] and [[Alice Tully Hall]], is the largest performing arts center in the United States. [[Central Park SummerStage]] presents performances of free plays and music in Central Park and 1,200 free concerts, dance, and theater events across all five boroughs in the summer months.<ref>{{cite web | title = Summerstage: Our Mission | url=http://www.summerstage.org/index.aspx?lobid=854 | publisher = Summerstage.org | accessdate = 2007-05-31 }}</ref>
 
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New York's food culture, influenced by the city's immigrants and large number of dining patrons, is diverse. Jewish and Italian immigrants have made the city famous for [[bagel]]s, [[Cheesecake#American|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 [[falafel]]s and [[kebab]]s standbys of contemporary New York street food, although hot dogs and pretzels are still the main street fare.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kebabs on the Night Shift|first=Jennifer|last=Bleyer|publisher=The New York Times|date=[[May 14]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/nyregion/thecity/14vend.html|accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The city is also home to many of the finest [[haute cuisine]] restaurants in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|title=Michelin Takes on the City, Giving Some a Bad Taste|first=Glenn|last=Collins|publisher=The New York Times|date=[[November 3]], [[2005]] |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30911F83D5A0C708CDDA80994DD404482|accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
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===Media===
 
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New York is a global 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, California|Los Angeles]], [[Chicago]], and [[Toronto]]).<ref>{{cite press release | title = Tampa Bay 12th largest media market now | publisher = Tampa Bay Partnership | date = [[August 26]], [[2006]] | url = http://tampabay.org/press.asp?rls_id=991& | accessdate = 2007-05-31 }}</ref> Some of the city's media conglomerates include [[Time Warner]], the [[News Corporation]], the [[Hearst Corporation]], and [[Viacom]]. Seven of the world's top eight global [[advertising agency]] networks are headquartered in New York.<ref>[http://adage.com/datacenter/datapopup.php?article_id=116384 Top 10 Consolidated Agency Networs: Ranked by 2006 Worldwide Network Revenue], ''[[Advertising Age]]'' Agency Report 2007 Index ([[April 25]], [[2007]]). Retrieved on [[June 8]], [[2007]].</ref> Three of the "[[Music industry|Big Four]]" record labels are also based in the city, as well as in Los Angeles. One-third of all American [[independent film]]s are produced in New York.<ref name="NYC Media">{{cite web |title=Request for Expressions of Interest |publisher=The Governors Island Preservation & Education Corporation |date=2005 |url=http://www.govisland.com/PDFs/RFEI/RFEI.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in the city<ref name="NYC Media" /> and the book-publishing industry employs about 25,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Media and Entertainment |publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation |url=http://www.nycedc.com/Web/NYCBusinessClimate/IndustryOverviews/MediaEntertainment/MediaEntertainment.htm |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
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Two of the three national daily newspapers in the United States are New York papers: ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[The New York Times]]''. Major tabloid newspapers in the city include ''[[Daily News (New York)|The New York Daily News]]'' and ''[[New York Post|The New York Post]]'', founded in 1801 by [[Alexander Hamilton]]. The city also has a major ethnic press, with 270 newspapers and magazines published in more than 40 languages.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ethnic Press Booms In New York City |publisher=Editor & Publisher |date=[[July 10]], [[2002]] |url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1538594 |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> ''[[El Diario La Prensa]]'' is New York's largest Spanish-language daily and the oldest in the nation.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=e4526a43cc213775795cc84762fce768 | title = el diario/La Prensa: The Nation's Oldest Spanish-Language Daily| date = [[July 27]] [[2005]] | publisher = New America Media | accessdate = 2007-06-09}}</ref> ''[[The New York Amsterdam News]]'', published in Harlem, is a prominent African-American newspaper. ''[[The Village Voice]]'' is the largest [[alternative newspaper]].
 
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[[Image:Times Square New York City FLIKR 3.jpg|thumb|200px|left| [[ABC Studios]] in [[Times Square]].]]
 
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The television industry developed in New York and is a significant employer in the city's economy. The four major American broadcast networks, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], [[CBS]], [[Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX]] and [[NBC]], are all headquartered in New York. Many cable channels are based in the city as well, including [[MTV]], [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]], [[HBO]] and [[Comedy Central]]. In 2005, there were more than 100 television shows taped in New York City.<ref>{{cite press release |title=2005 is banner year for production in New York |publisher=The City of New York Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting |date=[[December 28]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/010106_2005_banner_year.shtml |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>
 
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New York is also a major center for non-commercial media. The oldest [[public-access television]] channel in the United States is the [[Manhattan Neighborhood Network]], founded in 1971.<ref>[http://www.mnn.org/en/community-celebrates-public-access-tvs-35th-annive Community Celebrates Public Access TV's 35th Anniversary], [[Manhattan Neighborhood Network]] press release dated [[August 6]], [[2006]]. Accessed [[April 28]], [[2007]]. "Public access TV was created in the 1970s to allow ordinary members of the public to make and air their own TV shows—and thereby exercise their free speech. It was first launched in the U.S. in Manhattan July 1st 1971, on the Teleprompter and Sterling Cable systems, now Time Warner Cable."</ref> [[WNET]] is the city's major public television station and a primary provider of national [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] programming. [[WNYC]], a public radio station owned by the city until 1997, has the largest public radio audience in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Radio Research Consortium |title=Top 30 Public Radio Subscribers: Spring 2006 Arbitron |date=[[August 28]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.rrconline.org/reports/pdf/Sp06%20eRanks.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-11-17}}</ref>  The City of New York operates a public broadcast service, [[nyctv]], that produces several original Emmy Award-winning shows covering music and culture in city neighborhoods, as well as city government.
 
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===Accent===
 
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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 often considered to be one of the most recognizable accents within [[American English]].<ref>Newman, Michael (2005) "New York Talk" in ''American Voices'' Walt Wolfram and Ben Ward (eds). p.82-87 Blackwell ISBN 1-4051-2109-2</ref> 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.<ref name=NYT19930214/>
 
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One of the more notable features of this dialect is its ''r''-lessness. The traditional New York&ndash;area accent is [[rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic]], so that the sound {{IPA|[ɹ]}} does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant; hence the pronunciation of the city as "New Yawk."<ref name=NYT19930214/> There is no {{IPA|[ɹ]}} in words like ''park'' {{IPA|[pɔːk]}} (with vowel raised due to the low-back chain shift), ''butter'' {{IPA|[bʌɾə]}}, or ''here'' {{IPA|[hiə]}}. In another feature called the low back chain shift, the {{IPA|[ɔ]}} vowel sound of words like ''talk'', ''law'', ''cross'', and ''coffee'' and the often homophonous {{IPA|[ɔr]}} in ''core'' and ''more'' are tensed and usually raised more than in [[General American]].
 
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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" both become a diphthong {{IPA|[ɜɪ]}}. 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).<ref name=NYT19930214/> The character [[Archie Bunker]] from the 1970s show ''[[All in the Family]]'' was a good example of a speaker who had this feature. This particular speech pattern is no longer very prevalent.<ref name=NYT19930214>Sontag, Deborah. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0D61438F937A25751C0A965958260 "Oy Gevalt! New Yawkese An Endangered Dialect?"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[February 14]], [[1993]]. Accessed [[July 8]], [[2007]].</ref>
 
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==Sister cities==
 
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New York City has ten [[Town twinning|sister cities]],<ref>{{cite web|title=NYC's Sister Cities|publisher=Sister City Program of the City of New York |date=2006 |url= http://www.nyc.gov/html/unccp/scp/html/sc/main.shtml|accessdate=2006-11-14}}</ref> nine of which are through the city's membership in [[Sister Cities International]] (SCI).<ref>{{cite web|title=Sister Cities International: Online Directory: New York, USA|date=2007|publisher=Sister Cities International|url=http://www.sister-cities.org/icrc/directory/usa/NY}}</ref> The year each relationship was formed is shown in parentheses below.
 
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*{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]] (1960)
 
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*{{flagicon|China}} [[Beijing]], [[People's Republic of China|China]] (1980)
 
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*{{flagicon|Spain}} [[Madrid]], [[Spain]] (1982)
 
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*{{flagicon|Egypt}} [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]] (1982)
 
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*{{flagicon|Dominican Republic}} [[Santo Domingo]], [[Dominican Republic]] (1983)
 
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| valign="top" |
 
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*{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Rome]], [[Italy]] (1992)
 
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*{{flagicon|Hungary}} [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]] (1992) (not through SCI)
 
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*{{flagicon|Israel}} [[Jerusalem]], [[Israel]] (1993)
 
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*{{flagicon|UK}} [[London]], [[United Kingdom]] (2001)
 
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*{{flagicon|South Africa}} [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]] (2003)
 
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==Further reading==
 
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* [[Edwin G. Burrows]] and [[Mike Wallace (historian)|Mike Wallace]] (1998), ''[[Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898]]'',  Oxford University Press.
 
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* [[Anthony Burgess]] (1976). ''[[New York (Anthony Burgess)|New York]]'', Little, Brown & Co.
 
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* [[Federal Writers' Project]] (1939). ''The WPA Guide to New York City'', The New Press (1995 reissue).
 
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* [[Kenneth T. Jackson]] (ed.) (1995). ''[[The Encyclopedia of New York City]]'', Yale University Press.
 
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* Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar (eds.) (2005), ''Empire City: New York Through the Centuries'', Columbia University Press.
 
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* [[E. B. White]] (1949). ''Here is New York'', Little Bookroom (2000 reissue).
 
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* [[Colson Whitehead]] (2003). ''The Colossus of New York: A City in 13 Parts'', Doubleday.
 
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* E. Porter Belden (1849). [http://books.google.com/books?id=Jv-nXd8W8b0C&printsec=titlepage ''New York, Past, Present, and Future: Comprising a History of the City of New York, a Description of its Present Condition, and an Estimate of its Future Increase''], New York, G.P. Putnam. from [[Google Book Search|Google Books]].
 
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==External links==
 
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*[http://www.nyc.gov/ NYC.gov] - official website of the city
 
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*[http://www.nycvisit.com/ NYCvisit.com] - Official tourism website of New York City
 
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*[http://nymag.com New York Magazine]
 
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*{{wikitravel}}
 
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*{{dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/New_York/Localities/N/New_York_City|New York City}}
 
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{{Geolinks-cityscale|40.71|-74.00|region:US-NY_type:city(8,143,000)_scale:300000}}
 
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**[http://www.nyc.gov/citymap NYCityMap] - Interactive Map of New York City - includes subway stations and entrances
 
  
 
[[Category: General Reference]]
 
[[Category: General Reference]]

Latest revision as of 01:27, 13 December 2020

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New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the center of one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world—the New York metropolitan area. The city is 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. A global power city, New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world.

On one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, each of which is a county of New York State.[15] The five boroughs—the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—were consolidated into a single city in 1898. With a census-estimated 2013 population of 8,405,837 distributed over a land area of just 305 square miles (790 km2), New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. By 2013 census estimates, the New York Metropolitan Area's population remains by a significant margin the United States' largest Metropolitan Statistical Area, with approximately 19.9 million people, and is also part of the most populous Combined Statistical Area in the United States, containing an estimated 23.4 million people.

New York traces its roots to its 1624 founding as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 New York served as the capitol of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the country's largest city since 1790. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to America by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a globally recognized symbol of the United States and its democracy.

Many districts and landmarks in New York City have become well known to its approximately 55 million annual visitors. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world. 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. The names of many of the city's bridges, skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. New York City's financial district, anchored by Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, has been called the world's leading financial center and is home to the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by total market capitalization of its listed companies. Manhattan's real estate market is among the most expensive in the world. Manhattan's Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with several signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 468 stations in operation. Numerous colleges and universities are located in New York, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, which have been ranked among the top 35 in the world.[1]

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