Welcome to New York City, NY
New York City is located at the mouth of the Hudson River in southeastern New York State, approximately half way between Washington D.C. and Boston. Due to its river access and naturally sheltered harbor, New York City has a rich history of international trade and immigration. European settlement began in 1614 with the establishment of a Dutch fur trading post referred to as New Amsterdam. The settlement was located on land that is now the southern tip of Manhattan. In 1664, the English took control of the city and renamed it New York, in recognition of the English Duke of York and Albany. In the next hundred years the city grew in prominence as a trading port, and was the site of several major battles in the American Revolution. Upon the culmination of the war, George Washington was inaugurated as first President of the United States at Federal Hill on Wall Street in 1789.
As an established settlement in the young United States, New York City was a premier destination for many overseas immigrants. The influx in population created the need for expansion and development, and by 1835 New York was the largest city in the United States. The city’s increasingly claustrophobic residents saw the need for open space within the city, and Manhattan’s beloved Central Park was designed in 1857 to serve as a much needed grassy urban retreat. The everlasting symbol of freedom—the Statue of Liberty—was given to the United States as a gift from France in 1886, and was placed on New York’s Liberty Island. Modern New York began to take shape at the turn of the 20th century, when the city’s limits expanded to include Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. The city’s cohesiveness was improved with the addition of the New York City Subway in 1904. The economic boom of the 1920’s brought skyscrapers to the city, which competed for height within New York’s transforming skyline. By 1950, New York City surpassed London as the most populous city in the world, and with the completion of the United Nations headquarters that year, it was elevated to the status of an alpha world city with international influence in economics, politics and culture.
Today New York City maintains its role as a one of the most influential cities in the world. It is a global financial center, home to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. New York City is one of the busiest cities for international commerce, and has a booming economy that thrives on finance, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, and tourism. Residents of NYC have achieved milestones in everything from architecture to fashion, and the city is depicted in the media more frequently than any other. In fact, New York City claims the second largest television and film industry in the nation, and the attention it receives brings more and more visitors to the city every year. In 2006, over 44 million visitors from all over the world came to take part in NYC’s exciting atmosphere and incomparable attractions, and contributed approximately $25 billion to the city’s economy.
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