New York City

New York City (officially The City of New York) is the largest city in the of  and the  in the. The center of the, it ranks among the in the world. For more than a century, it has been one of the world's major centers of and. New York City is rated as an for its global influences in, , ,  and. The city's cultural centers for are among the nation's most influential. The city is a major center for foreign affairs, hosting the headquarters of the. Residents of the city are known as New Yorkers. The current mayor of New York City is.

New York City comprises five s, each of which is coterminous with a county:, , , and. With over 8.2 million residents within an area of 322 square miles (830 km²), New York City is the second most densely populated city in the United States, behind, located across the.

The city has many neighborhoods and landmarks known around the world. The greeted millions of  as they came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at. , in, has been a dominant global financial center since and is home to the. The city has been home to several of the, including the and the former twin towers of the , which were destroyed in the.

The city is the birthplace of many American cultural movements, including the in literature and visual art,  (also known as the ) in painting, and, , , and  in music. In 2005, nearly 170 languages were spoken in the city and 36 percent of its population was born outside the United States. With its 24-hour and constant bustling of traffic and people, New York is known as "The City That Never Sleeps."

History


The region was inhabited by about 5,000  at the time of its European discovery in 1524 by, an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown, who called it "Nouvelle Angoulême". European settlement began with the founding of a  settlement, later called "Nieuw Amsterdam", on the southern tip of Manhattan in 1614. colonial Director-General purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape in 1626 (legend, now disproved, says that Manhattan was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads). In 1664, the English conquered the city and renamed it "New York" after the. At the end of the the Dutch gained control of  (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.

New York City grew in importance as a trading port while under. In 1754, was founded under charter by  as King's College in Lower Manhattan. The city emerged as the theater for a series of major battles known as the during the. The met in New York City and in 1789 the first, , was inaugurated at  on Wall Street. New York City was the capital of the United States until 1790.



In the 19th century, the city was transformed by immigration and development. A visionary development proposal, the, expanded the city street grid to encompass all of Manhattan, and the 1819 opening of the  connected the Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the North American interior. By 1835, New York City had surpassed as the largest city in the United States. Local politics fell under the domination of, a supported by Irish immigrants. Public-minded members of the old merchant aristocracy lobbied for the establishment of, 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.

Anger at military conscription during the (1861–1865) led to the, one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history. 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. 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 caught fire in the East River, killing 1,021 people on board. In 1911, the, the city's worst industrial disaster, took the lives of 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the and major improvements in factory safety standards.



In the 1920s, New York City was a major destination for s during the from the American South. By 1916, New York City was home to the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The flourished during the era of, coincident with a larger economic boom that saw the skyline develop with the construction of competing s. New York City became the most populous city in the world in 1948, overtaking , which had reigned for over a century. The difficult years of the saw the election of reformer  as mayor and the fall of  after eighty years of political dominance.

Returning veterans and  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. In the 1960s, New York suffered from economic problems, rising crime rates and racial tension, which reached a peak in the 1970s.



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, emerged in the city's economy and New York's population reached an all-time high in the.

The city was one of the sites of the, when nearly 3,000 people died in the destruction of the. The will be built on the site and is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Geography


New York City is located in the, in southeastern State, approximately halfway between  and. The location at the mouth of the, which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the , 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.

The Hudson River flows through the into. Between New York City and, the river is an. The Hudson separates the city from. The, actually a tidal strait, flows from and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The, another tidal strait between the East and Hudson Rivers, separates Manhattan from the Bronx.

The city's land has been altered considerably by human intervention, with substantial along the waterfronts since Dutch colonial times. Reclamation is most notable in, with developments such as in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the natural variations in topography have been evened out, particularly in Manhattan.

The city's land area is 322 sq mi (831.4 km²). The highest point in the city is on Staten Island, which at 409.8 ft (124.9 m) above sea level is the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of. The summit of the ridge is largely covered in woodlands as part of the.

Climate


Although located at about the same latitude as the much warmer European cities of and, New York has a   resulting from prevailing wind patterns that bring cool air from the interior of the North American continent. 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 inches (63.5 to 88.9 cm) each year. New York City has a frost-free period lasting an average of 199 days between seasonal freezes. 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 °F (32 °C) or higher recorded on average 18 to 25 days each summer. Though not usually associated with, New York City is susceptible to them, notably the which flooded southern Manhattan, and , which affected New York and killed more than 700 people, most of them in New England. The city's long-term climate patterns have been affected by the, a 70-year-long warming and cooling cycle in the Atlantic that influences the frequency and severity of hurricanes and coastal storms in the region. Scientists believe, however, that will change this pattern.

Environment
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. New York City's dense population and low automobile dependence help make New York among the most energy efficient in the United States. 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, at 24.5. New Yorkers are collectively responsible for one percent of the nation's total emissions, though comprise 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.

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 and other respiratory conditions among the city's residents. The city government is required to purchase only the most energy-efficient equipment for use in city offices and public housing. New York has the largest clean air diesel- and bus fleet in the country, and some of the first hybrid taxis. The city is also a leader in the construction of energy-efficient, including the among others.

New York City is supplied with drinking water by the protected. 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 plants. One of the newest environmental friendly buildings in the city is the.

Architecture
The building form most closely associated with New York City is the 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 in the world.

New York has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles. These include the (1913), an early  skyscraper built with massively scaled gothic detailing able to be read from street level several hundred feet below. The required  in new buildings, and restricted towers to a percentage of the lot size, to allow sunlight to reach the streets below. The design of the  (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. A highly influential example of the in the United States is the  (1957), distinctive for its facade using visible bronze-toned I-beams to evoke the building's structure. The (2000) is an important example of  in American skyscrapers.



The character of New York's large residential districts is often defined by the elegant s, s, and shabby s that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930. 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. 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. A distinctive feature of many of the city's buildings is the presence of wooden roof-mounted 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. s became popular during the 1920s in outlying areas, including in Queens, which became more accessible with expansion of the subway.

Parks
New York City has over 28,000 acres (113 km²) of parkland and 14 miles (22 km) of public beaches. Manhattan's, designed by and , is the most visited city park in the United States. in Brooklyn, also designed by Olmsted and Vaux, has a 90 acre (36 ) meadow. in Queens, the city's third largest, was the setting for the and.

Boroughs


New York City is comprised of five, an unusual form of government used to administer the five constituent counties that make up the city. Throughout the boroughs there are hundreds of distinct 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.


 *  (pop. 1,364,566) is New York City's northernmost borough. The site of, home of the , and home to the largest complex in the United States, . Except for a small piece of Manhattan known as , the Bronx is the only section of the city that is part of the United States mainland. It is home to the , the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, which spans 265 acres (107.2 hectares) and is home to over 6,000 animals.  The Bronx is the birthplace of  and.
 *  (pop. 2,511,408) 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, 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, established in the 1870s as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the country.
 *  (pop. 1,593,200) is the most densely populated borough and home to most of the city's s, as well as . The borough is the financial center of the city and contains the headquarters of many major corporations, the, as well as a number of important universities, and many cultural attractions, including numerous museums, the district, , and . Manhattan is loosely divided into , , and  regions. Uptown Manhattan is divided by Central Park into the  and the , and above the park is.
 *  (pop. 2,256,576) is geographically the largest borough and the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, 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. Queens is the site of , the home of the , and annually hosts the U.S. Open tennis tournament. In addition to, it is home to New York City's two major airports, and.
 *  (pop. 475,014) is the most suburban in character of the five boroughs. It is connected to Brooklyn by the  and to Manhattan via the free . Until 2001, the borough was home to the, formerly the largest landfill in the world, which is now being reconstructed as a large urban park. Staten Island has almost half of New York City's protected land, one third of the borough is parkland or under protected wetland status, comprising  over 13,000 acres, and growing.

Economy


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 and ). The city is a major center for finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts in the United States. The New York had an estimated  of $952.6 billion in 2005, the largest regional economy in the United States. The city's economy accounts for the majority of the economic activity in the states of New York and New Jersey. Many major corporations are headquartered in New York City, including 44 companies. 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.

New York City is home to some of the nation's&mdash;and world's&mdash;most valuable real estate. 450 was sold on   for $510 million, about $1,589 per square foot ($17,104/m²), breaking the barely month-old record for an American office building of $1,476 per square foot ($15,887/m²) set in the June 2007 sale of 660 Madison Avenue. The is the largest landowner in New York City.

The, located on , and the are the world's first and second largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured by average daily trading volume and overall market capitalization. Financial services account for more than 35 percent of the city's employment income. 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. The is the property with the highest-listed market value in the city, at $1.1 billion in 2006.

The city's television and film industry is the second largest in the country after. 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. 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. Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities.

Manufacturing accounts for a large but declining share of employment. Garments, chemicals, metal products, processed foods, and furniture are some of the principal products. The food-processing industry is the most stable major manufacturing sector in the city. 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.

is important to New York City, with about 40 million foreign and American tourists visiting each year. Major destinations include the, , Broadway theatre productions, museums such as the , and other tourist attractions including , , , , the , , luxury shopping along and s, and events such as the  in , the , 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. Many of the city's ethnic enclaves, such as, , and are major shopping destinations for first and second generation Americans up and down the East Coast.

Demographics
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). 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.

New York's two key demographic features are its and. The city's population density of 26,403 people per square mile (10,194/km²), makes it the densest of any American municipality with a population above 100,000. Manhattan's population density is 66,940 people per square mile (25,846/km²), highest of any county in the United States.

New York City is exceptionally diverse. Throughout its history the city has been a major point of entry for ; the term  was first coined to describe densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the. Today, 36% of the city's population is foreign-born. Among American cities, this proportion is exceeded only by and. 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, , , , , , , , , and. About 170 languages are spoken in the city.

The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest outside ;  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. It is also home to nearly a quarter of the nation's s, and the largest community of any city in the country.

The five largest ethnic groups as of the 2005 census estimates are:, , , and. The Puerto Rican population of New York City is the. Italians emigrated to the city in large numbers in the early twentieth century. The, the sixth largest ethnic group, also have a ; one in 50 New Yorkers of European origin carry a distinctive genetic signature on their Y chromosomes inherited from , an Irish high king of the fifth century A.D.

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. 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. 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%.

Home ownership in New York City is about 33%, much lower than the national average of 69%. 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. About 33% of rental units are rent-stabilized. Finding housing, particularly affordable housing, in New York City can be more than challenging.

Future Population Growth
New York City is the fastest growing city in the United States. The fastest growing boroughs in the city are Staten Island and Manhatten. 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.

Government


Since its consolidation in 1898, New York City has been a with a "strong". 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 and s are elected to four-year terms. The is a  body consisting of 51 Council members whose districts are defined by geographic population boundaries. The mayor and councilors are limited to two four-year terms.

The mayor is, a former Democrat and current independent elected as a in 2001 and re-elected in 2005 with 59% of the vote. 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. Together with mayor, in 2006 he founded the , an organization with the goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal  off the streets." The holds the majority of public offices. 66% of registered voters in the city are Democrats. New York City has not been won by a Republican in a statewide or presidential election since 1924. s center on affordable housing, education and economic development, and labor politics are of importance in the city.



New York is the most important source of political fundraising in the United States, as four of the top five in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the, generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both and. 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 (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.

Located near City Hall are the courthouse for the and, and the. Manhattan also hosts the. Brooklyn hosts the, and. As with any county, each Borough has a branch of the and other New York State courts. As the host of the, New York City is home to the world's largest international , comprising 122 consulates, consulates general and honorary consulate offices.

Crime
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 ), and also had the lowest crime rate of among the 25 largest U.S. cities. 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. Crime rates spiked in the 1980s and early 1990s as the hit the city. During the 1990s the (NYPD) adopted,  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.

has long been associated with New York City, beginning with the and the  in the  in the 1820s. The 20th century saw a rise in the dominated by the. s including the also grew in the late 20th century. Numerous major riots have occurred in New York City since the mid 19th century, including the in 1863, multiple riots at, and in. The serial killings by the "," which began on, , terrorized the city for the next year.

Education
The city's public school system, managed by the, is the largest in the United States. About 1.1 million students are taught in more than 1,200 separate primary and secondary schools. 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.

Though it is not often thought of as a, there are about 594,000 university students in New York City, the highest number of any city in the United States. 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. Public postsecondary education is provided by the, the nation's third-largest public university system, and the , part of the. New York City is also home to such notable private universities as, , , , , , , , and. The city has dozens of other smaller private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions, such as and.

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. The city receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the among all U.S. cities. Major biomedical research institutions include, , , , and.

The, which has the largest collection of any public library system in the country, serves Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island. Queens is served by the, which is the nation's second largest public library system, and serves Brooklyn. The New York Public Library has several research libraries, including the.

New York City also features some of the most elite and exclusive private schools in the country, many of which are located on the or in. These schools include, , , , and. Renowned public secondary schools include, , , , and.

Transportation


Public transit is overwhelmingly the dominant form of travel for New Yorkers. 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. This is in contrast to the rest of the country, where about 90% of commuters drive automobiles to their workplace. New York is the only city in the United States where more than half of all (in Manhattan, more than 75% of residents do not own a car; nationally, the percentage is 8%).



The is the largest  system in the world when measured  with 660 miles (1,062 km ) of mainline track, and by number of stations in operation, with 468. It is also the fourth-largest when measured by annual ridership (1.4 billion passenger trips in 2005). 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, , , and. The transportation system in New York City is extensive and complex. It includes the longest in North America, the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular, more than 12,000 yellow cabs and an  that transports commuters between  and Manhattan.

New York City's public and commuter rail network are the largest in North America. The rail network, which connects the suburbs in the to the city, has more than 250 stations and 20 rail lines. The commuter rail system converges at the two busiest rail stations in the United States, and.

New York City is the top international air passenger gateway to the United States. The area is served by three major airports,, and , with plans for a fourth airport,  near Newburgh, NY, to be taken over and enlarged by the  (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. Outbound international travel from JFK and Newark accounted for about a quarter of all U.S. travelers who went overseas in 2004.

New York's high rate of, 120,000 daily cyclists and many makes it the most energy-efficient major city in the United States. It is well positioned to endure an oil crisis with an extended gasoline price shock in the range of US$3 to US$8 per gallon. 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%.

To complement New York's vast mass transit network, the city also has an extensive web of and s, that link New York City to its suburbs in northern, , , and southwest. Because these highways serve millions of suburban residents who into New York, it is quite common for motorists to be stranded for hours in s that are a daily occurrence, particularly during.

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.

Culture


"Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather," the writer has said of New York City. Numerous major American cultural movements began in the city, such as the, which established the African-American literary canon in the United States. The city was the epicenter of in the 1940s,  in the 1950s, and the birthplace of  in the 1970s. The city's and  scenes were influential in the 1970s and 1980s, and the city has long had a flourishing scene for. Prominent bands coming out of New York in recent years include, , , , and. The city is also important in the American film industry.  (1920), the nation's first film, was filmed in the city. 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. The city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the. Wealthy industrialists in the 19th century built a network of major cultural institutions, such as the famed and, that would become internationally established. The advent of electric lighting led to elaborate theatre productions, and in the 1880s New York City theaters on and along 42nd Street began showcasing a new stage form that came to be known as the.

Strongly influenced by the city's immigrants, productions such as those of, and others used song in narratives that often reflected themes of hope and ambition. Today these productions are a mainstay of the New York theatre scene. The city's 39 largest theatres (with more than 500 seats) are collectively known as "," after the that crosses the  theatre district.

The, which includes , the , the , the , the , the , the and , is the largest performing arts center in the United States. 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.

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 s,, and. Some 4,000 mobile food vendors licensed by the city, many immigrant-owned, have made Middle Eastern foods such as s and s standbys of contemporary New York street food, although hot dogs and pretzels are still the main street fare. The city is also home to many of the finest restaurants in the United States.

Media


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, , and ). Some of the city's media conglomerates include, the , the , and. Seven of the world's top eight global networks are headquartered in New York. Three of the "" record labels are also based in the city, as well as in Los Angeles. One-third of all American s are produced in New York. More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in the city and the book-publishing industry employs about 25,000 people.

Two of the three national daily newspapers in the United States are New York papers: ' and '. Major tabloid newspapers in the city include ' and ', founded in 1801 by. The city also has a major ethnic press, with 270 newspapers and magazines published in more than 40 languages.  is New York's largest Spanish-language daily and the oldest in the nation. , published in Harlem, is a prominent African-American newspaper.  is the largest.

The television industry developed in New York and is a significant employer in the city's economy. The four major American broadcast networks,, , and , are all headquartered in New York. Many cable channels are based in the city as well, including, , and. In 2005, there were more than 100 television shows taped in New York City.

New York is also a major center for non-commercial media. The oldest channel in the United States is the, founded in 1971. is the city's major public television station and a primary provider of national programming. , a public radio station owned by the city until 1997, has the largest public radio audience in the United States. The City of New York operates a public broadcast service,, that produces several original Emmy Award-winning shows covering music and culture in city neighborhoods, as well as city government.

Accent
The New York City area has a distinctive regional speech pattern called the, alternatively known as Brooklynese or New Yorkese. It is often considered to be one of the most recognizable accents within. The classic version of this dialect is centered on middle and working class people of descent, and the influx of non-European immigrants in recent decades has led to changes in this distinctive dialect.

One of the more notable features of this dialect is its r-lessness. The traditional New York–area accent is, so that the sound does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant; hence the pronunciation of the city as "New Yawk." There is no in words like park  (with vowel raised due to the low-back chain shift), butter, or here. In another feature called the low back chain shift, the vowel sound of words like talk, law, cross, and coffee and the often homophonous  in core and more are tensed and usually raised more than in.

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. 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). The character from the 1970s show  was a good example of a speaker who had this feature. This particular speech pattern is no longer very prevalent.

Sports
New York City has teams in the four major North American professional sports leagues, each of which also has its headquarters in the city.

is the city's most closely followed sport. There have been fourteen championship series between New York City teams, in matchups called. New York is one of only five metro areas (Chicago, Washington-Baltimore, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area being the others) to have two baseball teams. The city's two current teams are the  and the, who enjoy a rivalry arguably as fierce as that between the Yankees and the. The Yankees have enjoyed 26 world titles, while the Mets have taken the Series twice. The city also was once home to the (now the ) and the  (now the ). Both teams moved to California in 1958. There are also two teams in the city, the  and.

The city is represented in the by the  and  (officially the New York Football Giants), although both teams play their home games in  in nearby.

The represent the city in the.

In, New York is represented by the side,. The "Red Bulls" also play their home games at the in New Jersey.

The city's team is the  and the city's  team is the. The first national college-level basketball championship, the, was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city. in is a celebrated court where many professional athletes play in the summer league.

As a global city, New York supports many events outside these sports. Queens is host of the U.S. Tennis Open, one of the four tournaments. The is the world's largest, and the 2004-2006 runnings hold the top three places in the marathons with the largest number of finishers, including 37,866 finishers in 2006. The is an annual track and field meet whose featured event is the. Boxing is also a very prominent part of the city's sporting scene, with events like the Amateur Boxing Golden Gloves being held at Madison Square Garden each year. Many sports are associated with New York's immigrant communities. , a street version of baseball, was popularized by youths in working class Italian, German, and Irish neighborhoods in the 1930s. Stickball is still commonly played, as a street in The Bronx has been renamed Stickball Blvd. as tribute to New York's most known street sport. In recent years several amateur leagues have emerged with the arrival of immigrants from South Asia and the Caribbean. Street hockey, football, and baseball are also commonly seen being played on the streets of New York. New York City is often called "The World's Biggest Urban Playground," as street sports are commonly played by people of all ages.

Sister cities
New York City has ten, nine of which are through the city's membership in (SCI). The year each relationship was formed is shown in parentheses below.