New York City is one of the most exciting metropolis in the world. The city consists of five boroughs of which the most important is Manhattan. Most of the tourist attractions of New York City are all located within Manhattan. Manhattan is an elongated island with the Hudson River to the west and the East River to the east of it. The famous New York City skyline is found in Manhattan, as well as famous places such as Central Park, the New York Stock Exchange, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wall Street, Battery Park, Rockefeller Center, Plaza Hotel, the Waldorf=Astoria, you name it, they are all in Manhattan, New York City.
New York City is the largest city in the United States. The metropolitan area is also one of the largest urban centres in the world. As mentioned, New York City comprises of five boroughs. In addition to Manhattan, the other boroughs are Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. New York City is the second most densely populated city in the United States after Union City in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River. However, Manhattan is the most densely populated area in the United States.
New York City History
The area where New York City is located has been inhabited right from the start of the American history. When Italian explorer giovanni da Verrazzano arrived there in 1524, it was inhabited by Native Americans of the Lenape tribe. The Dutch were the first to establish a settlement here. They bought the island of Manhattan from the Lenape people in 1614, and founded a colony called Nieuw Amsterdam (or New Amsterdam in English). The British took New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1626, and for the first time renamed it New York. Thereafter, the colony switched between Dutch and British hands a number of times before being taken over by the Americans. George Washington, the first President of the United States, was inaugurated at Federal Hall on Wall Street in 1789, and New York City was, for a short while, the capital of the United States.
The Commissioners Plan of 1811 totally re-drew the map of New York City, creating a grid of streets and avenues that we know today. Only a few streets that existed before the plan was retained, most famous of them was Broadway.
New York City saw a huge economic prosperity between 1916 and 1929, resulting in a construction boom of skyscrapers. Some of the tallest buildings in New York City was constructed during this time, including the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street. The Great Depression brought an end to the building frenzy. Nonetheless, by 1948, New York City had surpassed London as the most populous city on earth.
The 1960s saw another economic downturn for New York City, resulting in rising crime rates and racial tension. Many places such as Central Park and Times Square become notorious areas during that time. The financial health of New York City began to improve in the 1980s. By the 1990s, racial tension was declining as was the crime rate. During this period, a new wave of immigrants flooded into New York City from places such as Indo China and Latin America.
New York City Tourist Attractions
40 Wall Street: One of the tallest skyscrapers built in 1930
New York City bore the deepest scars from the September 11 attack, when the iconic World Trade Center towers were destroyed at a lost of thousands of innocent lives. Replacing the World Trade Center is the new Freedom Tower, scheduled to be completed by 2012.
New York City is one of the most important tourist destinations in the United States. It is not a cheap place to visit. Visitors is almost assured of a great travel experience.
F-16 Fighting Falcons performing aerial demonstration in front of the Empire State Building, New York City
Photo Credit: US Air Force
New York City skyline at sunset
Photo Credit: Daniel Schwen, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License
