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New York is the largest city in the USA and an industrial port (printing, publishing, clothing). It lies on the east coast at the mouth of
the Hudson and the East Rivers and covers an area of 780 square kilometers. The number of inhabitants varies and depends whether the whole metropolitan area is counted (about 18 million people) or only the central area (about 7,3 million in 1992). Out of these about 43 per cent are white, 25 per cent black and 24 per cent Hispanic. New York has five boroughs : Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island (Richmond). It is one of the most important financial, commercial and cultural centers in the world.
It is not exactly known when the site of New York was first settled. In the 16th century the area was occupied by
Algonquin tribes.Giovanni da Verrazano was the first European who entered New York Bay in 1524. Later one of the bridges (between Brooklyn and Staten Island) was named after him. This discovery was not followed up but in 1609 the Englishman Henry Hudson, then employed by the Dutch East Indian Company entered the bay and sailed up the river which wears his name at present.
Later in
1624 New Amsterdam was founded by the Dutch in the south of the island of Manhattan. In 1626 the
island was bought from the Indians for goods worth 24 dollars. New Amsterdam's prosperity
was based on the sale of skins and tobacco farming. Before 1630 the first African slaves
arrived to New Amsterdam.In 1664 New Amsterdam became an English colony after a victorious struggle between England and the Netherlands for supremacy at sea. Charles II, the king of England, gave this territory to his brother, the Duke of York and that is why the town was renamed New York. The city expanded and trades diversified. Flour became one of colony's main exports. After the war, in 1789, New York became the capital of the United States for two years. In 1797 Albany became the capital of the State of New York, and New York City's growth from that time onward depended purely on its economic role.
As the city grew, it became more cosmopolitan. People were free to choose their religion and their culture and language were respected. A grid street plan was developed. In 1886 the Statue of Liberty welcomed immigrants in the harbor.
At the beginning of the 20th century the first
skyscrapers began to appear. Although after the Wall Street crash in 1929
the Depression of the 1930s hit New York hard, this period also saw the completion of
major projects such as the first bridge over the Hudson (the George Washington Bridge),
the Chrysler Building (1930), the Empire State Building (1931) and the start of work on
Rockefeller Center.During World War II many intellectuals and artists including Albert Einstein, Marc Chagall or Artur Rubinstein came to New York. After the victory of 1945 New York became the seat of the newly created United Nations. The organization's headquarters were opened here in 1953.
New York still remains a financial and cultural capital of the country.
New York is also known as the "melting pot" because of its cosmopolitan society.
In 1933 40 per cent of New Yorkers had one relative born abroad. Apart from the whites,
there are 25 per cent of African Americans and 24 per cent of Hispanics. More than 80
languages are now spoken in New York. Spanish is the second most common language, after
English, reflecting the high number of residents from Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and
Central and South America.
Modern-day New York is home to more than one hundred religious
denominations. Catholicism is the main religion, while the Jewish community is the largest
outside Israel.
In New York many of the most influential newspapers and magazines are
centered, such as The New York Times, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, and
widely read magazines, e.g. the New Yorker, Time, Vogue or People.
Manhattan is also home to three major private broadcasting networks -
ABC, CBS and NBS.
In the 17th
century the prosperity of New Amsterdam was based on the sale of skins and on the tobacco
farming, later flour became the most important. In the 19th century port activity
escalated and New York's harbor became the busiest business port in the country. In 1807
on the Hudson, Robert Fulton launched the first commercially successful steamboat. Soon
the first regular shipping line was established. Shipyards spread out along the East River
and the food and textile industries flourished. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825
which connected the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean consolidated New York's supremacy
as a port.
But still New York was primarily a business center. In 1820 the
Stock Exchange replaced the open-air money
market that had operated on Wall Street since 1792. The Stock Exchange and many banks
which were established around Wall Street during 19th and 20th centuries have made this
street a synonym for the financial world. The city is the home of two of the nation's
major stock markets (besides the New York Stock Exchange from 1792 also the American Stock
Exchange) and many international institutions.
Ferries
had been the main mean of transport to and from Manhattan until the bridges were built at
the end of the last century. The first ferry started running in 1712. There are also four
underwater tunnels here, too. The first regular shipping line between New York and Liverpool was
established in 1818 and since that time New York's harbor has become the second busiest in
the world after Rotterdam.
New York has three main airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport
(south-east of Manhattan),
Newark International Airport (south-west
of Manhattan) and La Guardia Airport
(east
of Manhattan).
The train connection to the center of New York is provided by trains
running from two Manhattan railway stations:
Grand Central Terminal (42nd St. and Park Ave. South), whose
original building from 1871 was demolished, the present building being opened in 1913, and
the Pennsylvania Station (7th
Ave and West 34th Street), built in 1910.
It is
also possible to use a bus connection
when one travels to New York. All "long distance" buses terminate at the Port
Authority Bus Terminal (West 41st Street and 8th Ave). There are
also local buses and 12 000 licensed yellow taxis in New York which are called
cabs.
The New York subway system began to
operate in 1904 and at present it is the largest urban transportation system in the world
- it has 710 miles of tracks, 469 stations and 5950 trains.
New York was a city of immigrants. First they
settled in south-east Manhattan (today's the Lower East Side) and gradually the settlement
spread up to the north. The immigrants formed self-sufficient communities such as Chinatown, Little Italy, the Jewish
Neighborhood, the German Neighborhood in East Village, the Latin Quarter (the French Community) in South
Village. Harlem, north Manhattan, is known as an African
American neighborhood.
New Amsterdam's first streets were laid out by the settlers along
routes and paths and all of them had names (Broadway, Wall Street, the Bowery).
During the 18th century the city grew to such a big size that it was
necessary to plan its further development. At the beginning of 19th century town planners
suggested still existing
grid system which consists of rectangular streets and avenues. There are more than 200
streets running from the east to the west,
60 feet wide, with numbering starting in the south and 12
avenues running from the north to the south, 100 feet
wide, with numbering starting in the east. These blocks were subdivided into plots of
approximately the same size. The only exception in this plan of streets and avenues is
Broadway that runs almost diagonally from the south to the north. Not many public squares
and open spaces were planned because in the opinion of the town planners the vast expanses
of water surrounding the city made them unnecessary.
In the mid-19th century the town plan began to be criticized and that
is why Central Park was designed by Frederic van Olmsted.
The
first bridge joining Manhattan and Long Island (Brooklyn and Queens are situated here) was
constructed in 1883 and it is called the
Brooklyn
Bridge. For twenty years this bridge remained
the only link (part from ferries) between Manhattan and Long Island. Then in the first decade of the 20th century
three other bridges over the East River were built. The
George Washington Bridge from 1931 remains the city's only
bridge over the Hudson River. The
Verazzano
Narrows Bridge (1964), 1298 m long) is built over the strait dividing Brooklyn from
Staten Island at the mouth of the Upper Bay.
The typical phenomenons of all major American cities are
skyscrapers. They started to be built
because of the lack of space and the high price of land in the city centers. The first
skyscrapers in New York were built at the turn of the 20th century - Flatiron Building
1903, Citibank 1907, Woolworth Building 1913, the Chrysler Building 1930, the Empire State
Building 1931. A skyscraper is a small city itself, it offers residential quarters, office
spaces, parking lots, restaurants, shopping, cultural and sports facilities.
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The French historian Edouard Laboulaye and sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue, and Gustave Eiffel, who engineered the Eiffel Tower, designed the interior iron support structure.
The only condition of the gift was that America provides the statue's base. Hungarian immigrant and publisher Joseph Pulitzer headed a fundraising campaign.
The Statue of Liberty National Monument, designed in 1924, is one of the country's most visited monuments. A trip can mean a several-hour wait in line and a strenuous (namáhavý) climb. The monument has other attractions, including a museum and exhibit in the pedestal. The promenade, colonnade, and top levels of the pedestal offer spectacular views of New York Harbor, including Ellis Island.
Sculptor Bartholdi
first created Liberty as a 2.25-meter clay model. Then he enlarged it in plaster several
times until he had 300 full-sized sections. Thin copper sheets were hammered into shape
against wooden forms matching the contours of the plaster sections to form the statue.
Eiffel designed a huge central iron pylon to support a secondary framework, to which the
statue's "skin" was attached.The statue is 91.5 m high from the pedestal to the torch, the height of statue is 45.3 m and it weights 225 tons. The Lady holds a book with the inscription "4th July 1776", the date of the beginning of the independent United States.
The Statue of Liberty's skin is turning color. Some parts of Miss Liberty's skin are turning black. Scientists worry that the statue might soon have holes in its skin. What is happening to the Statue of Liberty? Scientists have two ideas.
Some scientists say salt water is making the statue's skin turn black. The statue stands on an island. Sometimes salt water blows over the statue. Rain washes some salt off Miss Liberty's skin. But rain doesn't wash all the salt away.
Other scientists say pollution is harming the Statue of Liberty. Cars and factories pollute our air. When it rains, pollution comes back to the Earth in raindrops. This dirty rain, called "acid rain", harms Miss Liberty's skin. Scientists want to learn what the real problem is.
This island is situated not far from Liberty Island. It was a gateway to America for more than 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954 and it was known as Isle of tears, isle of hopes.
Manhattan, the heart of New York, is famous for its skyline, a large number of skyscrapers on a small area. Midtown Manhattan is mainly the commercial heart and the Downtown the financial center.
The United States's financial world is concentrated around Wall Street which once marked the northernmost boundary of New Amsterdam. It occupies the place of a former wall which protected the settlement first against Indians and then against the English. From 1792 when the first stock exchange was organised in this neighborhood, Wall Street began to establish its reputation as a financial center. The Stock Exchange and many banks are situated here (Citibank, Bank of New York).
FEDERAL HALL NATIONAL MEMORIAL
It is to be found not far from Wall Street. The original building was the site of George Washington's inauguration as the first president of the United States in 1789.
But probably the best known building in Lower Manhattan is the World Trade Center, a complex of seven buildings, dominated by the 110-story twin towers. They are the highest points in the city (417m, built in 1973) and the second highest in the USA after Sears Tower in Chicago. The WTC is the property of the port authorities of the states of New York and New Jersey.
At 8:55 a.m. on Tuesday 11, September 2001, the world changed. A new era arrived. An era witch many say will be filled with violence, uncertainty, and foremost terror. Two hijacked jet airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., sending thousands of innocent people to their deaths. Then both twin towers and several other surrounding buildings collapsed. (picture1, picture2, picture3)
In the South of Manhattan between Park Row and Broadway
City Hall (1826), the Mayor's office and the place for official ceremonies, is situated. Park Row to the east of Broadway used to be the center of journalism and the area around City Hall was well known as a theater district. At present the newspapers and theaters have moved uptown to the vicinity of Times Square.
St. Paul's Chapel, the oldest church in New York (built in 1766) stands in the intersection of Broadway and Fulton Street.
If we go further to the north, we come up to Washington Square. This square has been the artistic and intellectual center of Greenwich Village since the beginning of the century largely bohemian in atmosphere and attracting avant-garde artists.
Located at the intersection of Broadway and 4th Avenue, Union Square was laid out in 1831. From a wealthy residential area and then a theater district it became a favourite site for labor-union gatherings and political demonstrations.
Madison Square, which was named in memory of James Madison, president of the USA, was founded as a park in 1811. Northwest of the square there is situated the
Madison Square Garden Center. This vast complex was built in 1968 and offers cultural and sporting events. It is the third with this name (the former two fell victim to fire). Next to it and below it there is one of the two largest train stations in New York - the Pennsylvania Station.
Probably the most famous building of New York is the Empire State Building, built in 1931
at the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street. It has 102 stories and is 1,250 feet - 381 m
high. The television mast added in 1951 brings its total height to 1,472 feet - 448.7 m.
On the clearest days, visitors to the building's upper observation deck can see for some
30 miles in all directions. It became the highest building in the world until construction
of the World Trade Center (1973) and Sears Tower in Chicago (1974). The Empire State
Building also set a new record for the speed of the construction and its cost - because of
the Depression it cost less than the estimate (41 million dollars instead of 60).The official opening was a gala event, attended by Herbert Hoover, then president of the United States and by Alfred E. Smith, the former governor of New York State, whose real estate company owned and operated the structure. The building's vital statistics, as given at that time, included a total weight of 365,000 tons, of which 65,000 tons are steel. Some 10 million bricks enclose the frame. Despite the building's enormous height, its foundation extends only 55 feet (17 m) below street level, where it is firmly anchored to the underlying bedrock. Even in the winds up to 186 miles (300 km) per hour, the structure sways no more than 3/4 inch (about 2 cm). Other statistics are equally impressive: there are some 7 miles (11 km) of elevator shafts, and one elevator can reach the 80th floor in 60 seconds. Those visitors who are tough enough to walk to the top have to climb 1,860 steps. There are 6,400 windows in the building.
A disastrous event involving the Empire State Building occurred on July 28, 1945, when a U.S. B-25 bomber crashed into the 78th and 79th floors, killing 13 people and causing extensive damage in the area immediately surrounding the accident. The building itself, however, remained as sound as ever - a testimony to the quality of its construction.
The Chrysler Building (1930, 306m), is the seat of the Chrysler automobile company. It is also known for competing the vertical race with the Empire State Building. Architect Van Alen designed the spire called "the Vertex" which was raised to the top of the tower in one piece, an operation that took only an hour and a half. This steel spire enabled him to achieve the goal, but the record did not last long. The Chrysler Building is one of the most shining examples of the Art Deco Style.
It was designed in the Beaux Arts Style and was opened in 1911. The library holds about 36 million objects, including 11.3 million books. It is also the owner of some rarities such as a Gutenberg Bible and a globe dating from 1519, the first one to show in America.
It is considered to be one of the finest public buildings in the United States. The new station was opened in 1913. The architect Whitney Warren saw the terminal as a triumphal gateway to the city and he designed the facade in the remarkable Beaux Arts Style (it was the style of the architects who studied in Paris at the turn of the 20th century and adopted classical elements) - reminiscent of classical buildings.
THE UNITED NATION'S HEADQUARTERS
The United Nations Headquarters is located along the bank of the East River between 42nd
and 48th Streets. The UN organisation was created after World War II and its buildings
were finished in 1950. A team of the architects including Le Corbusier designed three
buildings: the Secretariat (39 stories) for the offices, the General Assembly and the
Conference building. Later, in 1963, the library was added. The Conference Building houses
the Security Council, the Trustship Council Chamber, the Economic and Social Council
Chamber and a number of smaller rooms. The General Assembly, which is a true international
parliament, is presently made up of delegations of 180 states.
Times Square, the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue, was, from the turn of the 20th century to the 1960s, known as a center of performing arts in New York. It received its name after the New York Times (a magazine) which in 1904 moved into the Times Tower, at the south of the square. The square has lost most of its glamour in recent years. But people still come here to welcome in the New Year.
It is the world's largest privately owned business and entertainment
center and comprises 28 skyscrapers on
some 22 acres located in mid-Manhattan between 5th and 6th Avenues. Its origin dates back
as far as 1801, when a famous physician, Dr. David Hosack, bought 20 acres on what is now
the Center's site, and turned this land into a botanical garden. Later Hosack sold his
property to New York State, which donated the land to Columbia College.In 1928 John D. Rockefeller, Jr. decided to get the land on which the Center now stands. After many problems he started his gigantic project. Before the Center could by started, 228 building had to be demolished and more than 4,000 tenants relocated. In all, 75,000 workers were employed on the site, together with another 15,000 people who processed the material to be used.
The first group of
14 buildings was completed on November 1939, but by the end of World War II they were
already completely occupied and new construction was undertaken that by 1979 brought the
total number of buildings in the project to 28. The architectural team responsible for
designing the center utilized three essentials: light, air, and transportation. This
three-dimensional approach to urban design was so brilliantly executed that the plan was
adopted for similar developments around the world.The main axis is composed of Rockefeller Plaza, the Lower Plaza and the Channel Gardens. Rockefeller Plaza is dominated by the General Electric Building (70 stories) while the Lower Plaza is lorded over by a bronze statue of Prometheus rising from the waves of the fountain and bringing fire-light to people. The Lower Plaza is a sunny terrace with an elegant cafe in summer and an open-air skating rink in winter. Everything in Lower Plaza - fountains, flags, or a huge Christmas tree combines to create a continual mood of festivity.
We can find there 35 restaurants, more than 200 air-conditioned shops,
drug stores, at least a dozen banks, many travel agencies, its own post office, a passport
agency, a national weather service, shipping companies, several theatres, and the
consulates of 17 nations. Its Radio City Music Hall has long been one of the country's
major entertainment centers, with a seating capacity of 6,000. Rockefeller Center is the
major Art Deco complex in New York. This huge building complex which is often called the 51st state of the USA was built by John Davison Rockefeller, Junior, the famous philanthropist, the son of one of the richest men of America, John Davison Rockefeller, Sr.
Almost opposite Rockefeller
Center there is St.Patrick's Cathedral. It was inspired by the great Gothic cathedrals.Saint Patrick's is the largest Roman Catholic church in America and the eleventh largest church in the world. St. Patrick's was the dream of John Hughes, the first Archbishop of New York. The site Hughes chose was a former graveyard at Fifth Avenue and 51 Street, in New York City.
The cornerstone was laid in 1858. But in 1860, work stopped for lack of money. When Hughes died in 1864, the site of St. Patrick's was overgrown with weeds. After the Civil War, Archbishop John McCloskey, Hughes's successor went on with the great work and on May 25, 1879, the cathedral, without its spires, opened for services. And still the work went on. The spires were lifted in 1889, but not until 1906 was St. Patrick's finally completed.
Although the Cathedral reminds us of some other cathedrals - Cologne and Rheims, for instance - its Gothic style, common in European churches is worthseeing.
The Cathedral is named in honor of Ireland's patron saint. The height of the spires from the street is 330 feet (100.6 m). The great organ has 7,380 pipes. The seating capacity is approximately 2,400. The Cathedral chimes have 19 bells.
New
York houses numerous theaters, movie theaters and concert halls which are mainly
concentrated round
The most outstanding theaters are Lyric (1903), Lamb's Theater (1904), the Lyceum Theater (1903), the Booth (1891), the Shubert (1913) or the Majestic (1927). The most famous stage for musicals is the Imperial Theater (1923).
Radio City Music Hall
At the corner of 57th Street and 7th Avenue Carnegie Hall, the building in Italian Renaissance style, was built in 1891. This concert hall was financed by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) for the choir and later the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (it moved to Lincoln Center in 1962).
Lincoln
Center
A part of 5th Avenue between 70th and 104th Streets is known as
Museum Mile. It owes its name to the group of prestigious museums - Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Frick Collection and others).
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A part of this museum in north Manhattan was established in 1938 in the Cloisters and is devoted exclusively to European art of the Middle Age.
The
Museum of Modern Arts
close to Rockefeller Center on 5th Avenue was founded in 1929. The intention was to make it the largest museum of modern art in the world. Its collections form one of the most wide-ranging panoramas of modern arts : paintings, sculptures, engravings and photographs as well as films, architectural models and highstyle functional objects (cars).
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
American Museum of Natural History
is one of the most visited museums in New York. It is located in the west of Central Park and its collections document Native American, African and Pacific civilisations.
PARKS
There are not so many open spaces in New York in comparison to the area that it
occupies because the first town planners thought them unnecessary. The Central Park, the largest of all
New York's parks, was created in 1858. Then many more parks were founded such as
Battery Park,
East River Park,
Riverside
Park or Brooklyn Heights. The Bronx has two of the
city's outstanding treasures - the
New
York Botanical Garden and the
Bronx Z00.
The
busiest shopping streets are 5th Avenue (Rockefeller Center
and the area around the Grand Central Terminal), Broadway and Madison Avenue. 5th Avenue
is the place where the largest department stores or fashion stores are situated - Saks, Lord and Taylor, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany's jewellery store
or the famous F.A.O. Schwarz toy store. Other famous shops
are Bloomingdales in Third Avenue and 57th Street,
and Macy's (the biggest shop in the world) on Broadway and 34th
Street. Brooks Brothers, world-famous for men's clothes, in
on Madison Avenue, but there are also many smaller shops. If you are shopping for
something "different", go to SoHo (between Canal Street and West Houston Street)
or Greenwich Village. The world famous art auction halls Christie's
and Sotheby's can also be found in New York, on Park Avenue
and York Avenue.There are 17,000 or more restaurants, cafes, "fast food" shops and food stands in New York, and there are more and more every day. You can eat in New York every night for fifty years and never visit the same cafe or restaurant twice! And you can find food from every country in the world. New Yorkers often eat at the "deli" or the delicatessen. These sell wonderful sandwiches. There are lots of "fast food" shops to buy something to eat quickly. There are many street stands on many street corners. These sell hamburgers, hot dogs, pretzels, and drinks like Coca-Cola. Go to Chinatown for the best Chinese food, and Little Italy for the best Italian food. You can eat twenty-four hours a day in New York!
New York is also home to many schools, a few universities (Columbia University 1754, New
York University 1831, City University of New York 1849, Fordham University 1841 etc.) and
colleges (Barnard College 1889, City College 1847) and other higher education institutions
such as New York Institute of Technology (1955).
Columbia University, the oldest of them, is one of the oldest and largest
universities in the country and one of the largest private landowners in New York.
Columbia university has 18 000 students now.
New York University is the largest private university in the United States. The main
building is located in Washington Square.
New York has
always been closely joined with the world of sports. Americans love to watch an exciting
game of baseball, and New York has two famous baseball teams - the Mets and the Yankees.
There are also two of the country's most famous stadiums -
Yankee and
Shea.
Madison Square Garden is the most famous sports center in New York. It is home to the
Knicks (baseball) and the Rangers (ice-hockey).
If you like tennis, you can go to the United States Open Tennis
Championships (early September) at the National Tennis Center,
Flushing Meadow, Queens.
In November of every year, 25,000 or more people run through all five
boroughs of New York in the New York
Marathon. They finish - after running 41.84
kilometers - in Central Park. A million or more people watch them.
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Marathon |
Tennis |
Shea Stadium |
NEW YORK AND NEW YORKERS
Some visitors
find that New Yorkers are not very friendly. Some are, some aren't. Some taxi drivers talk
all through the journey, some talk if you talk to them, but only to say 'Yeah!' or 'OK!'
Is New York dangerous? Perhaps it is, but so are many cities. Remember:
- Don't carry a lot of money with you,
- Don't travel on the subway alone at night,
- Stay with the crowds late at night,
- Go into the nearest hotel or shop if you suddenly feel afraid.
Remember that New York can be very hot in the middle of summer and very cold in the middle
of winter. Go at the right time and take the right clothes with you.
The city is always changing. You can hear the noise of buildings going
up or coming down all the time. Cars and buses stop and start, and policemen blow whistles
at the drivers. WALK and DON'T WALK signs go on and off, and people run between streets
and avenues. That's New York. That's the most exciting city in the world.
