Friday, October 07, 2011

NYC: Five Boroughs and an Overview

NYC: Five Boroughs by trudeau
NYC: Five Boroughs, a photo by trudeau on Flickr.

New Amsterdam to New York

New York City consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

- Estimated population exceeds 8.3 million people, New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States.[5]
- The metropolitan area's population is also the nation's largest, estimated at 18.8 million people.


* New York was founded as a commercial trading post by the Dutch in 1624. The settlement was called New Amsterdam until 1664 when the colony came under English control.[7]
* New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790.[8] It has been the country's largest city since 1790.[9]

- The Statue of Liberty, gift of France.
- 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 (NYSE).

- Empire State Building, 1931.
- Chrysler Bldg, 1930.
- Flatiron Bldg, 1902.

- Harlem: Apollo Theater, Harlem Globetrotters, Harlem Boys' Choir, Harlem Renaissance in literature and visual art,1930's.
- Columbia University - adjacent to Harlem.

- hip hop, disco and Tin Pan Alley in music
- the home of Broadway theater.

- Upper East Side and Upper West Side: wealthy neighborhoods; many people in towers overlooking Central Park.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art - edge of Central Park.
- Lincoln Center - 10 theaters in an arts center on Upper West Side. Includes Juilliard School, Metropolitan Opera, NYC Ballet, NY Philharmonic.

Coney Island, Brooklyn at the Atlantic: amusement park and history of hot dogs and hamburgers.

Fifth Ave: expensive shopping. Runs N-S alongside Central Park.

Greenwich Village / Washington Square Park and Arch: historic neighborhood that was once known for bohemian types; today the wealthy reside there.

- Chelsea - neighborhood north of Greenwich Village.
- SoHo - neighborhood of shops, art galleries and celebrity's apartments south of Greenwich Village.
- NYU, New York University, in the Village.


- Use of mass transit, most of which runs 24 hours per day.
- Nearly 170 languages were spoken in the city and 36% of its population was born outside the United States.
- "The City that Never Sleeps"; other nicknames include Gotham[14] and the Big Apple.[15]

Delaware/Algonquin, indigenous peoples.

- European discovery in 1524[16] by Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown.
- Dutch fur trading settlement, later called "Nieuw Amsterdam" (New Amsterdam), on the southern tip of Manhattan in 1614.
- Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape people in 1626 for a value of 60 guilders - about $1000 in 2006.
- 1664, the English conquered the city and renamed it "New York" after the English Duke of York and Albany.

- Seminal John Peter Zenger trial in 1735, helping to establish the freedom of the press in North America.
- 1754, Columbia University was founded under charter by George II of Great Britain as King's College in Lower Manhattan.[23]

- Wall St was the site of a wall built to keep out the native peoples.
- Staten Is Ferry is free way to see the harbor.
- Chelsea Hotel - famous residence for celebs.
- Grand Central Station for train traffic.
- Chinatown for immigrants and shopping.

Central Park - 1857. Over 800 acres of urban park. Is 2.5 miles in length.