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Manhattan (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entirely on Manhattan Island near the southern tip of the state, Manhattan constitutes the center of the Northeast megalopolis and the urban core of the New York metropolitan area.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Manhattan serves as New York City's economic and administrative center and has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ManhattanMediaEntertainmentCapital>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Present-day Manhattan was originally part of Lenape territory.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> European settlement began with the establishment of a trading post by Dutch colonists in 1624 on Manhattan Island; the post was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The territory came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> New York, based in present-day Lower Manhattan, served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790.<ref name=senate>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor greeted millions of arriving immigrants in the late 19th century and is a world symbol of the United States and its ideals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Manhattan became a borough during the consolidation of New York City in 1898, and houses New York City Hall, the seat of the city's government.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harlem in Upper Manhattan became the center of what is now known as the cultural Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, part of the Stonewall National Monument, is considered the birthplace in 1969 of the modern gay-rights movement, cementing Manhattan's central role in LGBTQ culture.<ref name=NPS99000562/><ref name=ObamaStonewall/> Manhattan was the site of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed during the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors, the borough is bounded by the Hudson, East, and Harlem rivers and includes several small adjacent islands, including Roosevelt, U Thant, and Randalls and Wards Islands. It also includes the small neighborhood of Marble Hill now on the U.S. mainland. Manhattan Island is divided into three informally bounded components, each cutting across the borough's long axis: Lower Manhattan, Midtown, and Upper Manhattan. Manhattan is one of the most densely populated locations in the world, with a 2020 census population of 1,694,250 living in a land area of Template:Convert,<ref name=QuickFacts/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or Template:Convert, and its residential property has the highest sale price per square foot in the United States.<ref name="ManhattanPricePerSquareFoot" />
Manhattan is home to Wall Street as well as the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.<ref name="LargestExchanges">Neufeld, Dorothy. "Mapped: The Largest Stock Exchanges in the World", Virtual Capitalist, October 18, 2023. Accessed December 26, 2023.</ref> Many multinational media conglomerates are based in Manhattan, as are numerous colleges and universities, such as Columbia University, New York University, Rockefeller University, and the City University of New York. The headquarters of the United Nations is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan. Manhattan hosts three of the world's top 10 most-visited tourist attractions: Times Square, Central Park, and Grand Central Terminal.<ref name="Ann Shields">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> New York Penn Station is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Chinatown has the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fifth Avenue has been ranked as the most expensive shopping street in the world, before falling to second in 2024.<ref>Freeman, Jess. "Milan's Via Montenapoleone Tops Ranking Of World's Most Expensive Retail Destinations For First Time", Cushman & Wakefield, November 21, 2024. Accessed December 4, 2024. "Milan's Via Montenapoleone, where rents have risen by nearly a third in the past two years, has overtaken New York's Upper 5th Avenue to be crowned the world's most expensive retail destination, according to Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK).... Synonymous with fashion and luxury, Via Montenapoleone has steadily climbed the rankings in recent years, reaching second for the first time in 2023. Rents rose 11% to US$2,047 per square foot (psf) in the past 12 months, whereas rents on Upper 5th Avenue (US$2,000) remained flat for a second consecutive year."</ref><ref name="FifthAvenueMostExpensiveStreetOnEarth">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The borough hosts many prominent bridges, tunnels, and skyscrapers including the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and One World Trade Center.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is also home to the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks and the National Hockey League's New York Rangers.
HistoryEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also
Lenape settlementEdit
Manhattan was historically part of the Lenapehoking territory inhabited by the Munsee, Lenape,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Wappinger tribes.<ref name="nb">Benchley, Nathaniel. "The $24 Swindle" American Heritage, 1959, Vol. 11, Issue 1. Accessed January 5, 2024.</ref> There were several Lenape settlements in the area including Sapohanikan, Nechtanc, and Konaande Kongh, which were interconnected by a series of trails. The primary trail on the island, which would later become Broadway, ran from what is now Inwood in the north to Battery Park in the south.<ref>Broadway, Society of Architectural Historians. Accessed November 30, 2023. "Predating the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, Broadway was initially a Native American trading trail running the length of Manhattan. Various indigenous peoples living on the island—including Lenni Lenape, Delaware Lenape, and Wickquasgeck—used the route, known as the Wickquasgeck Trail, to exchange goods with each other. Following Dutch settlement in 1609 and the establishment of Fort Amsterdam in lower Manhattan, the Wickquasgeck Trail's southern endpoint became a site for trading between the indigenous peoples and the European colonists."</ref> There were various sites for fishing and planting established by the Lenape throughout Manhattan.<ref name=":1" />
ToponymyEdit
Template:Further The etymology of the name Manhattan is most likely, via loaning by Dutch, from the Lenape's local language Munsee, manaháhtaan (where manah- means "gather", -aht- means "bow", and -aan is used to form verb stems). The Lenape word has been translated as "the place where we get bows" or "place for gathering the (wood to make) bows". According to a Munsee tradition recorded by Albert Seqaqkind Anthony in the 19th century, the island was named for a grove of hickory trees that was considered ideal for bowmaking. An alternate theory claims a "Delaware source akin to Munsee munahan ("island")."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Colonial eraTemplate:AnchorEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Multiple image In April 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, sailing in service of Francis I of France, became the first documented European to visit the area that would become New York City.<ref>Giovanni da Verrazzano, Mariners' Museum and Park. Accessed December 24, 2023. "Verrazzano sailed onward, continuing his search for the Northwest Passage. In mid-April 1524, Verrazzano and his crew became the first known Europeans to sail into New York Bay. Once again they were greeted peacefully by the Native Americans and treated well."</ref> Verrazzano entered the tidal strait now known as The Narrows and named the land around Upper New York Harbor New Angoulême, in reference to the family name of King Francis I; he sailed far enough into the harbor to sight the Hudson River, and he named the Bay of Santa Margarita – what is now Upper New York Bay – after Marguerite de Navarre, the elder sister of the king.<ref>R. J. Knecht: Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I; p. 372. Cambridge University Press (1996) Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Seymour I. Schwartz: The Mismapping of America. p. 42; The University of Rochester Press (2008) Template:ISBN</ref>
Manhattan was first mapped during a 1609 voyage of Henry Hudson.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Hudson came across Manhattan Island and the native people living there, and continued up the river that would later bear his name, the Hudson River.<ref name=SciAm>"Henry Hudson and His Exploration" Template:Webarchive Scientific American, September 25, 1909. Accessed May 1, 2007. "This was a vain hope however, and the conviction must finally have come to the heart of the intrepid adventurer that once again he was foiled in his repeated quest for the northwest passage ... On the following day the Half Moon let go her anchor inside of Sandy Hook. The week was spent in exploring the bay with a shallop, or small boat, and "they found a good entrance between two headlands" (the Narrows) "and thus entered on the 12th of September into as fine a river as can be found""</ref> Manhattan was first recorded in writing as Manna-hata, in the logbook of Robert Juet, an officer on the voyage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A permanent European presence in New Netherland began in 1624, with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island.<ref>History, Governor's Island. Accessed December 24, 2023. "The Dutch West India Company first arrived to New Amsterdam and opted to set up camp on the small, 70-acre Island rather than brave the wilderness that lay across the water on the island that would later be known as Manhattan."</ref> In 1625, construction was started on the citadel of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam), in what is now Lower Manhattan.<ref>Dutch Colonies Template:Webarchive, National Park Service. Accessed May 19, 2007. "Sponsored by the West India Company, 30 families arrived in North America in 1624, establishing a settlement on present-day Manhattan."</ref><ref name=Tolerance>GovIsland Park-to-Tolerance: through Broad Awareness and Conscious Vigilance Template:Webarchive, Tolerance Park. Accessed November 20, 2016. See Legislative Resolutions Senate No. 5476 and Assembly No. 2708.</ref> The establishment of Fort Amsterdam is recognized as the birth of New York City.<ref>City Seal and Flag Template:Webarchive, New York City. Accessed November 20, 2016. "Date: Beneath the horizontal laurel branch the date 1625, being the year of the establishment of New Amsterdam."</ref> In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony.<ref>Journal of New Netherland 1647. Written in the Years 1641, 1642, 1643, 1644, 1645, and 1646., Library of Congress. Accessed August 6, 2023. "The West India Company removed Kieft from his post in 1647 and replaced him with Peter Stuyvesant, the last director-general of New Netherland before the colony was taken over by the English in 1664."</ref> New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653.<ref>About the Council Template:Webarchive, New York City Council. Accessed May 18, 2007.</ref> In 1664, English forces conquered New Netherland and renamed it "New York" after the English Duke of York and Albany, the future King James II.<ref>New Netherlands Becomes New York, University of Houston Digital History. Accessed January 3, 2024. "In 1664, the English sent a fleet to seize New Netherlands, which surrendered without a fight. The English renamed the colony New York, after James, the Duke of York, who had received a charter to the territory from his brother King Charles II."</ref> In August 1673, the Dutch reconquered the colony, renaming it "New Orange", but permanently relinquished it back to England the following year under the terms of the Treaty of Westminster that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War.<ref>Scheltema, Gajus and Westerhuijs, Heleen (eds.),Exploring Historic Dutch New York. Museum of the City of New York/Dover Publications, New York (2011). Template:ISBN</ref><ref>"History of New York City - 1600s NYC", History 101 NYC. Accessed January 3, 2024. "1673: A pivotal moment in New York City's history when Dutch forces briefly reclaimed it during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The city, captured by the English in 1664 and renamed New York, was temporarily dubbed New Orange in honor of William of Orange.... 1674: The Treaty of Westminster, signed in February, officially concluded the Third Anglo-Dutch War. This treaty marked a crucial turn in colonial history, transferring New York permanently to English control."</ref>
American RevolutionTemplate:AnchorEdit
Manhattan was at the heart of the New York Campaign, a series of major battles in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was forced to abandon Manhattan after the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776.<ref>Fort Washington, American Battlefield Trust. Accessed November 30, 2023. "Fought on November 16, 1776 on the island of Manhattan, the Battle of Fort Washington was the final devastating chapter in General Washington's disastrous New York Campaign.... At 3:00 P.M., after a fruitless attempt to gain gentler surrender terms for his men, Magaw surrendered Fort Washington and its 2,800 surviving defenders to the British."</ref> The city, greatly damaged by the Great Fire of New York during the campaign, became the British military and political center of operations in North America for the remainder of the war.<ref>Fort Washington Park Template:Webarchive, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed May 18, 2007.</ref> British occupation lasted until November 25, 1783, when George Washington returned to Manhattan, a day celebrated as Evacuation Day, marking when the last British forces left the city.<ref>Axelson, Erik Peter."Happy Evacuation Day" Template:Webarchive, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, November 23, 2005. Accessed December 24, 2023. "During the Revolutionary War, New York City was occupied by British forces (from September 15, 1776 to November 25, 1783). For generations afterward, New Yorkers celebrated its repatriation from the British as Evacuation Day."</ref>
From January 11, 1785, until 1789, New York City was the fifth of five capitals of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, with the Continental Congress meeting at New York City Hall (then at Fraunces Tavern).<ref>"January Highlight: Superintending Independence, Part 1", Harvard University Declaration Resources Project, January 4, 2017. Accessed December 24, 2023. "From January 11, 1785 through 1789, the Congress of the Confederation met in New York City, at City Hall (which later became Federal Hall) and at Fraunces Tavern."</ref> New York was the first capital under the newly enacted Constitution of the United States, from March 4, 1789, to August 12, 1790, at Federal Hall.<ref>The Nine Capitals of the United States Template:Webarchive. United States Senate Historical Office. Accessed June 9, 2005. Based on Fortenbaugh, Robert, The Nine Capitals of the United States, York, Pennsylvania: Maple Press, 1948...</ref> Federal Hall was where the United States Supreme Court met for the first time,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the United States Bill of Rights were drafted and ratified,<ref name=cwf>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and where the Northwest Ordinance was adopted, establishing measures for admission to the Union of new states.<ref>History & Culture: Federal Hall National Memorial, National Park Service. Accessed November 30, 2023. "After the American Revolution, the Continental Congress met at City Hall and, in 1787, adopted the Northwest Ordinance, establishing procedures for creating new states."</ref>
19th centuryEdit
New York grew as an economic center, first as a result of Alexander Hamilton's policies and practices as the first Secretary of the Treasury to expand the city's role as a center of commerce and industry.<ref>Historic New York, American Experience. Accessed December 24, 2023. "But New York's enormous Revolutionary War debt had the federal government hovering on the brink of bankruptcy, so Alexander Hamilton struck a momentous deal with Thomas Jefferson.... Alexander Hamilton's extraordinary early vision helped invent the economic future not only for his adoptive city, but also for the rest of the United States. Although the country was 90% agrarian, Hamilton understood that the future lay in manufacturing. As the first Secretary of the Treasury in New York City in 1789, he mapped out a blueprint for a new kind of nation – one based not on plantations and slave labor, but on commerce, manufacturing, and immigrant toil."</ref> By 1810, New York City, then confined to Manhattan, had surpassed Philadelphia as the most populous city in the United States.<ref>Dunlap, David W. "Last Time New York Had Just 27 House Seats? The City Was on the Rise", Template:Webarchive The New York Times, December 1, 2010. Accessed December 24, 2023. "Even as war with Britain seemed more and more inevitable, however, New York spent much of 1810 — boisterously and confidently — developing into the American metropolis. New York, just as I pictured it. This was the year New York surpassed Philadelphia in population to become the largest city of the young republic, with 96,373 people; 94,687 of whom were free, 1,686 of whom were enslaved."</ref> The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 laid out the island of Manhattan in its familiar grid plan.<ref name=MCNY1811>The Commissioners' Plan, 1811, Museum of the City of New York. Accessed December 1, 2023. "The avenues are 100 feet wide, the standard cross street is 60 feet, and major cross streets are 100 feet.... The second pattern derives from block dimensions: all blocks are 200 feet north to south, but their dimensions east to west vary, diminishing in width from the center of the island to the shorelines."</ref> The city's role as an economic center grew with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, cutting transportation costs by 90% compared to road transport and connecting the Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the Midwestern United States and Canada.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="lankevich-p67">Lankevich (1998), pp. 67–68.</ref><ref>Canal History Template:Webarchive, New York State Canal Corporation. Accessed January 3, 2024. "In 1825, Governor Dewitt Clinton officially opened the Erie Canal as he sailed the packet boat Seneca Chief along the Canal from Buffalo to Albany.... The explosion of trade prophesied by Governor Clinton began, spurred by freight rates from Buffalo to New York of $10 per ton by Canal, compared with $100 per ton by road.... The Erie Canal played an integral role in the transformation of New York City into the nation's leading port, a national identity that continues to be reflected in many songs, legends and artwork today."</ref>
Tammany Hall, a Democratic Party political machine, began to grow in influence with the support of many of the immigrant Irish, culminating in the election of the first Tammany mayor, Fernando Wood, in 1854.<ref>"Sachems & Sinners An Informal History Of Tammany Hall", Time, August 22, 1955. Accessed December 1, 2023. "Born in Philadelphia, Wood went to New York to become an actor, but turned instead to politics and rose to become the first real Boss of Tammany Hall. In 1854 he became Mayor of New York City."</ref> Covering Template:Convert in the center of the island, Central Park, which opened its first portions to the public in 1858, became the first landscaped public park in an American city.<ref>Central Park Opens: 1858, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Accessed December 24, 2023. ""</ref><ref>Blair, Cynthia. "1858: Central Park Opens", Newsday. Accessed May 29, 2007. "Between 1853 and 1856, city commissioners purchased more than Template:Convert from 59th Street to 106th Street between Fifth and Eighth Avenues to create Central Park, the nation's first public park Template:Sic as well as its first landscaped park." In actuality, Boston Common is the nation's first public park. Boston Common Template:Webarchive, Thefreedomtrail.org.</ref><ref>Rybczynski, Witold. "Olmsted's Triumph" Template:Webarchive, Smithsonian (magazine), July 2003. Accessed November 20, 2016. "By 1876, landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux had transformed the swampy, treeless 50 blocks between Harlem and midtown Manhattan into the first landscaped park in the United States."</ref><ref>Morgan, David. "New York's Central Park", CBS News, July 21, 2019. Accessed December 24, 2023. "America's first major landscaped public park, Manhattan's 840-acre Central Park welcomes more than 37 million visitors every year."</ref>
New York City played a complex role in the American Civil War. The city had strong commercial ties to the South, but anger around conscription, resentment against Lincoln's war policies and paranoia about free Blacks taking the jobs of poor immigrants<ref>Harris, Leslie M. "The New York City Draft Riots of 1863" excerpted from In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626–1863 Template:Webarchive, University of Chicago Press. Accessed November 20, 2016.</ref> culminated in the three-day-long New York Draft Riots of July 1863, among the worst incidents of civil disorder in American history.<ref>Ward, Geoffrey C. "Gangs of New York" Template:Webarchive, a review of Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker, The New York Times, October 6, 2002. Accessed June 30, 2009. "The New York draft riots remain the worst civil disturbance in American history: according to the historian Adrian Cook, 119 people are known to have been killed, mostly rioters or onlookers who got too close when federal troops, brought back from the battlefield to restore order, started shooting."</ref> The rate of immigration from Europe grew steeply after the Civil War, and Manhattan became the first stop for millions seeking a new life in the United States, a role acknowledged by the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.<ref>Statue of Liberty Template:Webarchive, National Park Service. Accessed May 17, 2007.</ref><ref>"New Jerseyans' Claim To Liberty I. Rejected" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, October 6, 1987. Accessed June 30, 2009. "The Supreme Court today refused to strip the Statue of Liberty of its status as a New Yorker. The Court, without comment, turned away a move by a two New Jerseyans to claim jurisdiction over the landmark for their state."</ref> This immigration brought further social upheaval. In a city of tenements packed with poorly paid laborers from dozens of nations, the city became a hotbed of revolution (including anarchists and communists among others), syndicalism, racketeering, and unionization.Template:Citation needed
In 1883, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge across the East River established a road connection to Brooklyn and the rest of Long Island.<ref>Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Department of Transportation. Accessed November 30, 2023. "The Brooklyn Bridge was designed by John A. Roebling. Construction began in 1869 and was completed in 1883.... The Brooklyn Bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River."</ref> In 1898, New York City consolidated with three neighboring counties to form "the City of Greater New York", and Manhattan was established as one of the five boroughs of New York City.<ref>Consolidation of the Five-Borough City: 1898, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Accessed November 30, 2023. "On January 1, 1898, the separate jurisdictions of New York (Manhattan), Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island joined together to form a single metropolis: the City of Greater New York. Movements for consolidation had been considered as far back as 1820, but by the end of the 19th century proponents were claiming that a single metropolitan jurisdiction stretching over five boroughs would run more efficiently and cement New York as the economic and cultural capital of the nation."</ref><ref>McFadden, Robert D. "Rockets' Red Glare Marked Birth of Merged City in 1898", The New York Times, January 1, 1973. Accessed November 30, 2023.</ref> The Bronx remained part of New York County until 1914, when Bronx County was established.<ref>"Birth of a Borough", A Walk Through the Bronx. Accessed January 3, 2024. "After consolidation in 1898, the twenty-third and twenty-fourth wards became the borough of the Bronx, which with Manhattan remained part of New York County (the other boroughs were already separate counties).... It was not until 1912, however, that the state legislature established the County of the Bronx as the sixty-second county in the state, effective January 1, 1914."</ref>
20th centuryEdit
The construction of the New York City Subway, which opened in 1904, helped bind the new city together,<ref>Opening ceremonies, New York subway, Oct. 27, 1904, Library of Congress. Accessed December 1, 2023.</ref> as did the completion of the Williamsburg Bridge (1903) and Manhattan Bridge (1909) connecting to Brooklyn and the Queensboro Bridge (1909) connecting to Queens.<ref>Dim, Joan Marans. "New York's Golden Age of Bridges", Fordham University Press, 2012. Template:ISBN. Accessed December 4, 2023. "The Williamsburg followed in 1903, the Queensboro (renamed the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge) and the Manhattan in 1909, the George Washington in 1931, the Triborough (renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) in 1936, the Bronx-Whitestone in 1939, the Throgs Neck in 1961, and the Verrazano-Narrows in 1964."</ref> In the 1920s, Manhattan experienced large arrivals of African-Americans as part of the Great Migration from the southern United States, and the Harlem Renaissance,<ref>A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance, National Museum of African American History and Culture. Accessed December 1, 2023.</ref> part of a larger boom time in the Prohibition era that included new skyscrapers competing for the skyline, with the Woolworth Building (1913), 40 Wall Street (1930), the Chrysler Building (1930), and the Empire State Building (1931) leapfrogging each other to take their place as the world's tallest building.<ref>Barr, Jason M. "Why Doesn't New York Construct the World's Tallest Building Anymore?", Building the Skyline, December 23, 2020. Accessed December 4, 2023. "Generation II was the twentieth century before World War I. This crop included the Singer Building (1908, 674 feet, 205 meters, 41 stories), the Metropolitan Life Tower (1909, 700 feet, 210 meters, 50 stories), and the Woolworth Building (1913, 792 feet, 241 meters, 55 stories).... Left to Right: Bank of Manhattan Building (1930), Chrysler Building (1930), Empire State Building (1931)."</ref> Manhattan's majority white ethnic group declined from 98.7% in 1900 to 58.3% by 1990.<ref name=Census1790to1990/> On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Greenwich Village killed 146 garment workers,<ref>The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Accessed December 1, 2023. "One hundred years ago on March 25, fire spread through the cramped Triangle Waist Company garment factory on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the Asch Building in lower Manhattan. Workers in the factory, many of whom were young women recently arrived from Europe, had little time or opportunity to escape. The rapidly spreading fire killed 146 workers."</ref> leading to overhauls of the city's fire department, building codes, and workplace safety regulations.<ref>Markel, Howard. "How the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire transformed labor laws and protected workers' health", PBS NewsHour, March 31, 2021. Accessed December 4, 2023. "Activists kept their memory alive by lobbying their local and state leaders to do something in the name of building and worker safety and health. Three months later, John Alden Dix, then the governor of New York, signed a law empowering the Factory Investigating Committee, which resulted in eight more laws covering fire safety, factory inspection, and sanitation and employment rules for women and children. The following year, 1912, activists and legislators in New York State enacted another 25 laws that transformed its labor protections among the most progressive in the nation."</ref> In 1912, about 20,000 workers, a quarter of them women, marched upon Washington Square Park to commemorate the fire. Many of the women wore fitted tucked-front blouses like those manufactured by the company, a clothing style that became the working woman's uniform and a symbol of women's liberation, reflecting the alliance of the labor and suffrage movements.<ref>The Triangle Factory Fire Template:Webarchive, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Accessed April 25, 2007.</ref>
Despite the Great Depression, some of the world's tallest skyscrapers were completed in Manhattan during the 1930s, including numerous Art Deco masterpieces that are still part of the city's skyline, most notably the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and 30 Rockefeller Plaza.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A postwar economic boom led to the development of huge housing developments targeted at returning veterans, the largest being Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village, which opened in 1947.<ref>"Stuyvesant Town to Get Its First Tenants Today", p. 19, The New York Times, August 1, 1947. Accessed December 4, 2023.</ref><ref>"A History of StuyTown & Peter Cooper Village" Template:Webarchive, Stuytown, January 12, 2019. Accessed December 27, 2023. "Construction of StuyTown took place between 1945-1947, encompassing 110 buildings and 11,250 apartments."</ref> The United Nations relocated to a new headquarters that was completed in 1952 along the East River.<ref>About Us, United Nations. Accessed December 27, 2023. "Construction began on UN Day (24 October) 1949 and was completed in 1952. Since then, the iconic buildings have gracefully 'hovered' over the East River, using the natural landscape to emphasize the brilliance of the 'glass curtain' wall of the Secretariat (the first of its kind in Manhattan), like a beacon of light to the world."</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Rosenthal, A. M.. "U.N. Vacates Site at Lake Success; Peace Building Back to War Output", The New York Times, May 19, 1951. Accessed December 27, 2023.</ref>
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement<ref name=GayGreenwichVillage1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=KentuckyStonewall/> and the modern fight for LGBT rights.<ref name=NPSStonewall/><ref name=ObamaStonewall/><ref name="GayborhoodGreenwichVillage">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=NPS99000562>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City, including Manhattan, to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through the decade and into the beginning of the 1990s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The 1980s saw a rebirth of Wall Street, and Manhattan reclaimed its role as the world's financial center, with Wall Street employment doubling from 1977 to 1987.<ref>David, Greg. "New York City: Then & Now", Crain's New York, June 27, 2010. Accessed December 3, 2023. "Still, Wall Street stands apart, not only as the engine of the city's rebirth and the dominant figure on the New York business landscape, but as the singular ingredient that the city can no longer live without, for better and for worse.... Back in 1977, Wall Street's ranks had been winnowed to 70,000, a decline of 30% during the decade. Those jobs accounted for only 5% of all the wages in the city.... The securities industry in the city more than doubled in size in the decade to 160,000. The pay its people received increased sixfold, accounting for almost 13% of all the wages in the city."</ref> The 1980s also saw Manhattan at the heart of the AIDS crisis, with Greenwich Village at its epicenter.<ref>St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. Accessed December 3, 2023. "By the time HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was first identified in 1983, St. Vincent's had become the epicenter of the epidemic in New York City with patients overwhelming the emergency room, its hallways, and beds."</ref>
In the 1970s, Times Square and 42nd Street – with its sex shops, peep shows, and adult theaters, along with its sex trade, street crime, and public drug use – became emblematic of the city's decline, with a 1981 article in Rolling Stone magazine calling the stretch of West 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues the "sleaziest block in America".<ref>Chakraborty, Deblina. "When Times Square was sleazy", CNN, April 18, 2016. Accessed January 2, 2024. "The sex market and drug trade thrived in the area, and homeless encampments dotted its streets. Many local theaters – once legitimate operations showcasing the performances of renowned actors like Lionel Barrymore – had become home to peep shows and porn movies.... In 1981, Rolling Stone magazine called West 42nd Street, located in the heart of Times Square, the 'sleaziest block in America.'"</ref> By the late 1990s, led by efforts by the city and the Walt Disney Company, the area had been revived as a center of tourism to the point where it was described by The New York Times as "arguably the most sought-after 13 acres of commercial property in the world."<ref>Bagli, Charles V.; and Kennedy, Randy. "Disney Wished Upon Times Sq. And Rescued a Stalled Dream", The New York Times, April 5, 1998. Accessed January 2, 2024. "Only five years later, a relative blink of the eye in the world of New York City development, that 42d Street is a dim memory. Times Square is a swirl of theaters, theme restaurants, tourist buses and construction cranes. It has become arguably the most sought-after 13 acres of commercial property in the world."</ref>
By the 1990s, crime rates began to drop dramatically<ref>Fagan, Jeffrey; Zimring, Franklin E.; and Kim, June. "Declining Homicide in New York City: A Tale of Two Trends", Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Summer 1998. Accessed December 3, 2023. "The peak year in Manhattan and the Bronx was 1990, while Brooklyn and Queens had their highest levels in 1991. Still, the temporal pattern during the late 1980s and early 1990s was pretty consistent across boroughs."</ref><ref>"1990s Drop in NYC Crime Not Due to CompStat, Misdemeanor Arrests, Study Finds", New York University, February 4, 2013. Accessed December 3, 2023. "New York City experienced a historic decline in crime rates during the 1990s, but it was not due to the implementation of CompStat or enhanced enforcement of misdemeanor offenses, according to an analysis by NYU sociologist David Greenberg."</ref> and the city once again became the destination of immigrants from around the world, joining with low interest rates and Wall Street bonus payments to fuel the growth of the real estate market.<ref>Hevesi, Dennis. "In Much of the City, A Robust Market" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, March 16, 1997. Accessed June 29, 2009.</ref> Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley, emerged in the Flatiron District, cementing technology as a key component of Manhattan's economy.<ref>Gallagher, Fergal. "The Mysterious Origins of the Term Silicon Alley Revealed", Built in NYC, November 4, 2015. Accessed December 3, 2023. "The moniker 'Silicon Alley' first emerged in the mid-1990s as a way to group the wave of new media tech startups that were located around the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan near Madison Square Park. The physical alley refers to the corridor that connects Midtown to Lower Manhattan, running past the Flatiron building at Madison Square Park and Union Square towards Soho."</ref>
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing, described by the FBI as "something of a deadly dress rehearsal for 9/11", was a terrorist attack in which six people were killed when a van bomb filled with explosives was detonated in a parking lot below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex.<ref>World Trade Center Bombing 1993, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed December 3, 2023. "On February 26, 1993, at about 17 minutes past noon, a thunderous explosion rocked lower Manhattan. The epicenter was the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center, where a massive eruption carved out a nearly 100-foot crater several stories deep and several more high.... The attack turned out to be something of a deadly dress rehearsal for 9/11; with the help of Yousef's uncle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al Qaeda would later return to realize Yousef's nightmarish vision."</ref>
21st centuryEdit
On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center were struck by hijacked aircraft and collapsed in the September 11 attacks launched by al-Qaeda terrorists. The collapse caused extensive damage to surrounding buildings and skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan, and resulted in the deaths of 2,606 of the 17,400 who had been in the buildings when the planes hit, in addition to those on the planes.<ref>Jackson, Patrick. "September 11 attacks: What happened on 9/11?", BBC News, August 3, 2021. Accessed December 3, 2023. "How many people died?... At the Twin Towers, 2,606 people died - then or later of injuries... When the first plane struck, an estimated 17,400 people were in the towers."</ref> Since 2001, most of Lower Manhattan has been restored, although there has been controversy surrounding the rebuilding. In 2014, the new One World Trade Center, at Template:Convert measured to the top of its spire, became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere<ref>Boyette, Chris; and Hetter, Katia. "It's official: One World Trade Center to be tallest U.S. skyscraper", CNN, November 12, 2013. Accessed December 3, 2023. "One World Trade Center in New York will be the United States' tallest building when completed, beating out Chicago's Willis Tower, according to an announcement Tuesday by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.... The spire reaches from that parapet to the new building's height of 1,776 feet."</ref> and is the world's seventh-tallest building (as of 2023).<ref>Tallest Buildings, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Accessed December 3, 2023.</ref>
The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and spawning the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide.<ref>"Hundreds of protesters descend to 'Occupy Wall Street'", CNN Money, September 17, 2011. Accessed December 1, 2023.</ref><ref>Greene, Brian. "How 'Occupy Wall Street' Started and Spread", U. S. News & World Report, October 17, 2011. Accessed December 1, 2023.</ref>
On October 29 and 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused extensive destruction in the borough, ravaging portions of Lower Manhattan with record-high storm surge from New York Harbor,<ref name="NYC after Sandy">Template:Cite news</ref> severe flooding, and high winds, causing power outages for hundreds of thousands of city residents<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and leading to gasoline shortages<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and disruption of mass transit systems.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:YouTube</ref> The storm and its profound impacts have prompted discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of the borough and the metropolitan area to minimize the risk of destructive consequences from another such event in the future.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
GeographyEdit
According to the United States Census Bureau, New York County has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (32%) is water.<ref name="CensusArea" /> The northern segment of Upper Manhattan represents a geographic panhandle. Manhattan Island is Template:Convert in area, Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide, at its widest point, near 14th Street.<ref name=Passikoff>Passikoff, Ben. The Writing on the Wall: Rediscovering New York City's "Ghost Signs", p. 61. Simon and Schuster, 2017. Template:ISBN. Accessed January 1, 2024. "Manhattan is 22.7 square miles of land, measuring 2.3 miles wide at 14th Street and 13.4 miles long."</ref><ref>Visitor Information, New York City Tourism + Conventions. Accessed February 24, 2025. "Manhattan Island is roughly 13.4 miles (21.6km) long and about 2.3 miles (3.7km) across at its widest point."</ref>
The borough consists primarily of Manhattan Island, along with the Marble Hill neighborhood and several small islands, including Randalls Island and Wards Island and Roosevelt Island in the East River; and Governors Island and Liberty Island to the south in New York Harbor.<ref name=Islands>New York City Administrative Code Section 2-202 Division into boroughs and boundaries thereof – Division Into Boroughs And Boundaries Thereof. Template:Webarchive, Justia. Accessed November 20, 2016. "The borough of Manhattan shall consist of the territory known as New York county, which shall contain all that part of the city and state, including that portion of land commonly known as Marble Hill and included within the county of New York and borough of Manhattan for all purposes pursuant to chapter nine hundred thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-four and further including the islands called Manhattan Island, Governor's Island, Bedloe's Island, Ellis Island, Franklin D. Roosevelt Island, Randall's Island and Oyster Island..."</ref>
Manhattan IslandEdit
The Island is about Template:Convert from north to south, and at its widest, Template:Convert.<ref name=Passikoff/> Manhattan Island is loosely divided into Downtown (Lower Manhattan), Midtown (Midtown Manhattan), and Uptown (Upper Manhattan), with Fifth Avenue dividing Manhattan lengthwise into its East Side and West Side.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Manhattan Island is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and the East River to the east. To the north, the Harlem River divides Manhattan Island from the Bronx and the mainland United States. Early in the 19th century, land reclamation was used to expand Lower Manhattan from the natural Hudson shoreline at Greenwich Street to West Street.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> When building the World Trade Center in 1968, Template:Convert of material excavated from the site<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> was used to expand the Manhattan shoreline across West Street, creating Battery Park City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Constructed on piers at a cost of $260 million, Little Island opened on the Hudson River in May 2021, connected to the western termini of 13th and 14th Streets by footbridges.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Marble HillEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Marble Hill was part of the northern tip of Manhattan Island, but the Harlem River Ship Canal, dug in 1895 to better connect the Harlem and Hudson rivers, separated it from the remainder of Manhattan.<ref name="canal">Gray, Christopher. "Streetscapes: Spuyten Duyvil Swing Bridge; Restoring a Link In the City's Lifeline" Template:Webarchive. The New York Times, March 6, 1988. Accessed December 26, 2023. "At some point, the wooden bridge was replaced by an iron one, certainly by 1895 when the Spuyten Duyvil Creek and the Harlem River were widened and joined as the Harlem River Ship Canal, linking the East and Hudson Rivers."</ref> Before World War I, the section of the original Harlem River channel separating Marble Hill from the Bronx was filled in, and Marble Hill became part of the mainland.<ref>Jackson, Nancy Beth. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Marble Hill; Tiny Slice of Manhattan on the Mainland" Template:Webarchive. The New York Times, January 26, 2003. Accessed December 26, 2023. "The building of the Harlem River Ship Canal turned the hill into an island in 1895, but when Spuyten Duyvel Creek on the west was filled in before World War I, the 51 acres became firmly attached to the mainland and the Bronx."</ref> After a May 1984 court ruling that Marble Hill was simultaneously part of the Borough of Manhattan (not the Borough of the Bronx) and part of Bronx County (not New York County),<ref>Chambers, Marcia. "Judge's Ruling Revives Dispute On Marble Hill", The New York Times, May 16, 1984. Accessed January 8, 2024. "After a painstaking legal and historical analysis, Justice Peter J. McQuillan said rather, that Marble Hill lies in both. 'The conclusion is irresistible,' he said in a 36-page opinion, that Marble Hill is situated in the Borough of Manhattan, but is not part of New York County. By statute, he said, 'it is in Bronx County.' Contrary to what the Legislature may have thought when it redefined boundary lines for Manhattan in 1938 and again in 1940, it 'dealt only with boroughs and not counties,' the judge wrote. In short, the boundaries of New York County and Manhattan are not the same, he said."</ref> the matter was definitively settled later that year when the New York Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation declaring the neighborhood part of both New York County and the Borough of Manhattan.<ref>"Bill Would Clarify Marble Hill's Status", The New York Times, June 27, 1984. Accessed January 8, 2024. "The Assembly voted tonight to move the Marble Hill section of the Borough of Manhattan into New York County, thereby correcting a 46-year old mistake.... A dispute over Marble Hill followed, but the matter was mostly put to rest in 1938, when the boundaries of the Borough of Manhattan were shifted to include Marble Hill.... Tonight the Assembly voted 140 to 4 and joined the Senate in moving to change that, and the measure now goes to the Governor. It would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 1938."</ref><ref>Montesano v New York City Hous. Auth., Justia, as corrected through March 19, 2008. Accessed January 8, 2024. "Less than 10 weeks after the Boyd decision, the Legislature eliminated any doubt that the Borough of Manhattan and New York County were conterminous in this respect by specifically including Marble Hill in both the Borough of Manhattan and New York County, 'for all purposes,' retroactive to 1938 (L 1984, ch 939). The official map of the City of New York now shows that Marble Hill is located in New York County."</ref>
Smaller islandsEdit
Within New York Harbor, there are three smaller islands:
- Ellis Island, shared with New Jersey<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Governors Island<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Liberty Island (administered by the National Park Service)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Other smaller islands, in the East River, include (from north to south):
- Randalls and Wards Islands, joined by landfill
- Mill Rock
- Roosevelt Island, which has a population of 14,000, extends for Template:Convert, and was renamed in 1973 from Welfare Island to honor President Franklin D. Roosevelt.<ref>Roosevelt Island, The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Accessed December 26, 2023. "Called Blackwell Island beginning in the 18th century, this 147-acre, two-mile-long island in the East River was sold to the City of New York in 1828....In 1973 the island was renamed for Franklin D. Roosevelt, during which time Louis Kahn was commissioned to design a memorial park honoring Roosevelt's four freedoms speech, which was not completed until 2012. Today, the island is home to more than 14,000 residents."</ref>
- U Thant Island (legally Belmont Island)
GeologyEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The bedrock underlying much of Manhattan consists of three rock formations: Inwood marble, Fordham gneiss, and Manhattan schist, and is well suited for the foundations of Manhattan's skyscrapers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is part of the Manhattan Prong physiographic region.
Adjacent countiesEdit
ClimateEdit
Under the Köppen climate classification, New York City features both a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and a humid continental climate (Dfa);<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it is the northernmost major city on the North American continent with a humid subtropical climate. The city averages 234 days with at least some sunshine annually.<ref name="noaasun"/>
Winters are cold and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore temper the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean, yet the Atlantic and the partial shielding from colder air by the Appalachians keep the city warmer in the winter than inland North American cities at similar or lesser latitudes. The daily mean temperature in January, the area's coldest month, is Template:Convert;<ref name="New York City Weatherbox NOAA txt" /> temperatures usually drop to Template:Convert several times per winter,<ref name="New York City Weatherbox NOAA txt" /><ref name="NYC climate">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and reach Template:Convert several days in the coldest winter month.<ref name="New York City Weatherbox NOAA txt" /> Spring and autumn are unpredictable and can range from chilly to warm, although they are usually mild with low humidity. Summers are typically warm to hot and humid, with a daily mean temperature of Template:Convert in July.<ref name="New York City Weatherbox NOAA txt" /> Nighttime conditions are often exacerbated by the urban heat island phenomenon, which causes heat absorbed during the day to be radiated back at night, raising temperatures by as much as Template:Convert when winds are slow.<ref>"Keeping New York City 'Cool' Is The Job Of NASA's 'Heat Seekers'" Template:Webarchive, NASA, January 30, 2006. Accessed November 20, 2016. "The urban heat island occurrence is particularly pronounced during summer heat waves and at night when wind speeds are low and sea breezes are light. During these times, New York City's air temperatures can rise Template:Convert higher than in surrounding areas."</ref> Daytime temperatures exceed Template:Convert on average of 17 days each summer<ref name="New York City Weatherbox NOAA" /> and in some years exceed Template:Convert. Extreme temperatures have ranged from Template:Convert, recorded on February 9, 1934, up to Template:Convert on July 9, 1936.<ref name="New York City Weatherbox NOAA" /> Manhattan lies in USDA plant hardiness zone 7b (5 to 10 °F/-15 to -12.2 °C).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Manhattan receives Template:Convert of precipitation annually, which is relatively evenly spread throughout the year. Average winter snowfall between 1981 and 2010 has been Template:Convert; this varies considerably from year to year.<ref name="New York City Weatherbox NOAA" />
NeighborhoodsEdit
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Manhattan's many neighborhoods are not named according to any particular convention, nor do they have official boundaries. Some are geographical (the Upper East Side), or ethnically descriptive (Little Italy). Others are acronyms, such as TriBeCa (for "TRIangle BElow CAnal Street") or SoHo ("SOuth of HOuston"), NoLIta ("NOrth of Little ITAly"), and NoMad ("NOrth of MADison Square Park").<ref>Senft, Bret. "If You're Thinking of Living In/TriBeCa; Families Are the Catalyst for Change" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, September 26, 1993. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Families have overtaken commerce as the catalyst for change in this TRIangle BElow CAnal Street (although the only triangle here is its heart: Hudson Street meeting West Broadway at Chambers Street, with Canal its north side) ... Artists began seeking refuge from fashionable SoHo (SOuth of HOuston) as early as the mid-70s."</ref><ref>Cohen, Joyce. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Nolita; A Slice of Little Italy Moving Upscale" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, May 17, 1998. Accessed November 30, 2023. "No one is quite certain what to call this part of town. Nolita—north of Little Italy, that is—certainly pinpoints it geographically. The not-quite-acronym was apparently coined several years ago by real-estate brokers seeking to give the area at least a little cachet."</ref><ref>Louie, Elaine. "The Trendy Discover NoMad Land, and Move In" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, August 5, 1999. Accessed November 30, 2023.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Sternbergh, Adam. "Soho. Nolita. Dumbo. NoMad? Branding the last unnamed neighborhood in Manhattan." Template:Webarchive, New York (magazine), April 11, 2010. Accessed November 20, 2016.</ref> Harlem is a name from the Dutch colonial era after Haarlem, a city in the Netherlands.<ref>Pitts, David. "U.S. Postage Stamp Honors Harlem's Langston Hughes" Template:Webarchive, United States Department of State. Accessed November 20, 2016. "Harlem, or Nieuw Haarlem, as it was originally named, was established by the Dutch in 1658 after they took control from Native Americans. They named it after Haarlem, a city in the Netherlands."</ref> Some have simple folkloric names, such as Hell's Kitchen, alongside their more official but lesser used title (in this case, Clinton).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Some neighborhoods, such as SoHo, which is mixed use, are known for upscale shopping as well as residential use.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Others, such as Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, Alphabet City and the East Village, have long been associated with the Bohemian subculture.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Bruni, Frank. "The Grounds He Stamped: The New York Of Ginsberg" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, April 7, 1997. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Indeed, for all the worldwide attention that Mr. Ginsberg received, he was always a creature and icon principally of downtown Manhattan, his world view forged in its crucible of political and sexual passions, his eccentricities nurtured by those of its peculiar demimonde, his individual myth entwined with that of the bohemian East Village in which he made his home. He embodied the East Village and the Lower East Side, Bill Morgan, a friend and Mr. Ginsberg's archivist, said yesterday."</ref> Chelsea is one of several Manhattan neighborhoods with large gay populations and has become a center of both the international art industry and New York's nightlife.<ref>Dunlap, David W. "The New Chelsea's Many Faces" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, November 13, 1994. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Gay Chelsea's role has solidified with the arrival of A Different Light bookstore, a cultural cornerstone that had been housed for a decade in an Template:Convert nook at 548 Hudson Street, near Perry Street. It now takes up more than Template:Convert at 151 West 19th Street and its migration seems to embody a northward shift of gay life from Greenwich Village... Because of Chelsea's reputation, Mr. Garmendia said, single women were not likely to move in. But single men did. "The whole neighborhood became gay during the 70's", he said."</ref> Chinatown has the highest concentration of people of Chinese descent outside of Asia.<ref>Grimes, Christopher. "World News: New York's Chinatown starts to feel the pinch over 'the bug'", Financial Times, April 14, 2003. Accessed May 19, 2007. "New York's Chinatown is the site of the largest concentration of Chinese people in the western hemisphere."</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, NYC & Company. Accessed June 30, 2009. "No visit to New York City is complete without exploring the sights, cuisines, history, and shops of the biggest Chinatown in the United States. The largest concentration of Chinese people—150,000—in the Western Hemisphere are in a two-square-mile area in downtown Manhattan that's loosely bounded by Lafayette, Worth, and Grand streets and East Broadway."</ref> Koreatown is roughly centered on 32nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.<ref name=KoreatownExpanding>Template:Cite news</ref> Rose Hill features a growing number of Indian restaurants and spice shops along a stretch of Lexington Avenue between 25th and 30th Streets which has become known as Curry Hill.<ref>Ensminger, Kris. "More Than Tandoori" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, November 20, 2016. "Curry Hill, centered on Lexington Avenue and 28th Street, is named for its many Indian restaurants and spice shops."</ref> Washington Heights in Uptown Manhattan is home to the largest Dominican immigrant community in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harlem, also in Upper Manhattan, is the historical epicenter of African American culture.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since 2010, a Little Australia has emerged and is growing in Nolita, Lower Manhattan.<ref name=LittleAustraliaNYC>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Manhattan has two central business districts, the Financial District at the southern tip of the island, and Midtown Manhattan. The term uptown also refers to the northern part of Manhattan above 72nd Street and downtown to the southern portion below 14th Street,<ref name="NYCBasics">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, NYC & Company. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Downtown (below 14th Street) contains Greenwich Village, SoHo, TriBeCa, and the Wall Street financial district."</ref> with Midtown covering the area in between, though definitions can be fluid. Fifth Avenue roughly bisects Manhattan Island and acts as the demarcation line for east/west designations.<ref name="NYCBasics"/><ref>Grynbaum, Michael C. "Along 5th Ave. in Manhattan, a Dispute Over Where East and West Begin", The New York Times, March 22, 2011. Accessed January 1, 2024. "Fifth Avenue, the glittering central spine of Manhattan, is the undisputed divider of the city's famous street grid: east of Fifth is East, and west of Fifth is West. Been that way since 1838."</ref> South of Waverly Place, Fifth Avenue terminates and Broadway becomes the east/west demarcation line.Template:Citation needed In Manhattan, uptown means north and downtown means south.<ref name=ManhattanUptownDowntown>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This usage differs from that of most American cities, where downtown refers to the central business district.
BoroughscapeEdit
DemographicsEdit
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As of the 2020 census, Manhattan's population had increased by 6.8% over the decade to 1,694,250, representing 19.2% of New York City's population of 8,804,194 and 8.4% of New York State's population of 20,201,230.<ref name=QuickFacts>QuickFacts New York; New York city, New York; New York County, New York, United States Census Bureau. Accessed April 5, 2025.</ref> The population density of New York County was Template:Convert in 2022, the highest population density of any county in the United States and higher than the density of any individual U.S. city.<ref>Highest Density States, Counties and Cities (2023), United States Census Bureau. Accessed June 2, 2024.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the 2010 census, there were 1,585,873 people living in Manhattan, an increase of 3.2% from the 1,537,195 counted in the 2000 census.<ref>Results from the 2010 Census; Population Growth and Race / Hispanic Composition, New York City Department of City Planning. Accessed December 27, 2023. "Population Growth in New York City and Boroughs, New York State, and the U.S. 2000 to 2010... Manhattan 1,537,195 19.2 1,585,873 19.4 48,678 3.2"</ref>
Template:Historical populations
| Racial composition | 2020<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref>!! 2010<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref>!!2000<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref>!! 1990<ref name=Census1790to1990>Gibson, Campbell; and Jung, Kay. Historical Census Statistics On Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For Large Cities And Other Urban Places In The United States, United States Census Bureau, February 2005. Accessed December 27, 2023.</ref>!! 1950<ref name=Census1790to1990/> !! 1900<ref name=Census1790to1990/> | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 50.0% | 57.4% | 54.3% | 58.3% | 79.4% | 97.8% |
| —Non-Hispanic | 46.8% | 48% | 45.7% | 48.9% | n/a | n/a |
| Black or African American | 13.5% | 15.6% | 17.3% | 22.0% | 19.6% | 2.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) | 23.8% | 25.4% | 27.1% | 26.0% | n/a | n/a |
| Asian | 13.1% | 11.3% | 9.4% | 7.4% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
ReligionEdit
In 2010, the largest organized religious group in Manhattan was the Archdiocese of New York, with 323,325 Catholics worshiping at 109 parishes, followed by 64,000 Orthodox Jews with 77 congregations, an estimated 42,545 Muslims with 21 congregations, 42,502 non-denominational adherents with 54 congregations, 26,178 TEC Episcopalians with 46 congregations, 25,048 ABC-USA Baptists with 41 congregations, 24,536 Reform Jews with 10 congregations, 23,982 Mahayana Buddhists with 35 congregations, 10,503 PC-USA Presbyterians with 30 congregations, and 10,268 RCA Presbyterians with 10 congregations. Altogether, 44.0% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2014, Manhattan had 703 religious organizations, the seventeenth most out of all US counties.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There is a large Buddhist temple in Manhattan located at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge in Chinatown.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LanguagesEdit
As of 2015, 60.0% (927,650) of Manhattan residents, aged five and older, spoke only English at home, while 22.63% (350,112) spoke Spanish, 5.37% (83,013) Chinese, 2.21% (34,246) French, 0.85% (13,138) Korean, 0.72% (11,135) Russian, and 0.70% (10,766) Japanese. In total, 40.0% of Manhattan's population, aged five and older, spoke a language other than English at home.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:AnchorLandmarks and architectureEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also Points of interest on Manhattan Island include the American Museum of Natural History; the Battery; Broadway and the Theater District; Bryant Park; Central Park, Chinatown; the Chrysler Building; The Cloisters; Columbia University; Curry Hill; the Empire State Building; Flatiron Building; the Financial District (including the New York Stock Exchange Building; Wall Street; and the South Street Seaport); Grand Central Terminal; Greenwich Village (including New York University; Washington Square Arch; and Stonewall Inn); Harlem and Spanish Harlem; the High Line; Koreatown; Lincoln Center; Little Australia; Little Italy; Madison Square Garden; Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art); New York Penn Station, Port Authority Bus Terminal; Rockefeller Center (including Radio City Music Hall); Times Square; and the World Trade Center (including the National September 11 Museum and One World Trade Center).
There are also numerous iconic bridges across rivers that connect to Manhattan Island, as well as an emerging number of supertall skyscrapers. The Statue of Liberty rests on Liberty Island, an exclave of Manhattan, and part of Ellis Island is also an exclave of Manhattan. The borough has many energy-efficient office buildings, such as the Hearst Tower, the rebuilt 7 World Trade Center,<ref name="greenbuilding">Template:Cite news</ref> and the Bank of America Tower—the first skyscraper designed to attain a Platinum LEED Certification.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The skyscraper, which has shaped Manhattan's distinctive skyline, has been closely associated with New York City's identity since the end of the 19th century.<ref>Skyline, 1900 - 1916, Skyscraper Museum. Accessed December 3, 2023. "The majority of high-rise construction began after 1890, when the World Building topped out at 309 feet, and accelerated in the years after 1893 with a spate of new towers."</ref> Structures such as the Equitable Building of 1915, which rises vertically forty stories from the sidewalk, prompted the passage of the 1916 Zoning Resolution, requiring new buildings to contain setbacks withdrawing progressively at a defined angle from the street as they rose, in order to preserve a view of the sky at street level.<ref name="nyt20160726">Template:Cite news</ref> Manhattan's skyline includes several buildings that are symbolic of New York, in particular the Chrysler Building<ref name="Willis Friedman">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp and the Empire State Building, which sees about 4 million visitors a year.<ref name="nyt20111225">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1961, the struggling Pennsylvania Railroad unveiled plans to tear down the old Penn Station and replace it with a new Madison Square Garden and office building complex.<ref>"The Destruction of Penn Station", PBS, February 18, 2014. Accessed December 3, 2023. "In 1961, the financially strapped Pennsylvania Railroad announced it had sold the air rights above Penn Station. The company would tear down what had once been its crowning jewel to build Madison Square Garden, a high-rise office building and sports complex."</ref> Organized protests were aimed at preserving the McKim, Mead & White-designed structure completed in 1910, widely considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of the architectural jewels of New York City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite these efforts, demolition of the structure began in October 1963.<ref>Khederian, Robert. "The birth, life, and death of old Penn Station 16 The story of one of NYC's greatest architectural losses", Curbed New York, November 7, 2017. Accessed December 3, 2023. "The demolition of Pennsylvania Station started on October 28, 1963."</ref> The loss of Penn Station led directly to the enactment in 1965 of a local law establishing the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which is responsible for preserving the "city's historic, aesthetic, and cultural heritage".<ref>About the Landmarks Preservation Commission Template:Webarchive, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Accessed November 20, 2016.</ref> The historic preservation movement triggered by Penn Station's demise has been credited with the retention of some one million structures nationwide, including over 1,000 in New York City.<ref>"Requiem For Penn Station", CBS News, October 13, 2002. Accessed May 17, 2007.</ref> In 2017, a multibillion-dollar rebuilding plan was unveiled to restore the historic grandeur of Penn Station, in the process of upgrading the landmark's status as a critical transportation hub.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Template:Cvt Moynihan Train Hall, developed as a $1.6 billion renovation and expansion of Penn Station into the James A. Farley Building, the city's former main post office building, was opened in January 2021.<ref>Moynihan Station Development Corporation, Empire State Development. Accessed December 3, 2023. "The Moynihan Station Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Empire State Development, has overseen the construction of the Moynihan Train Hall, a world-class transportation hub for the 21st century. The Train Hall project was completed on-schedule and opened to the public on January 1, 2021.... The redeveloped Farley Building also houses 700,000 square feet of new commercial, retail and dining space within the mixed-use facility and has created an iconic civic space for Manhattan's West Side."</ref>
National protected areasEdit
- African Burial Ground National Monument
- Castle Clinton National Monument
- Federal Hall National Memorial
- General Grant National Memorial
- Governors Island National Monument
- Hamilton Grange National Memorial
- Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site
- Statue of Liberty National Monument (part)
- Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
ParklandEdit
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Parkland covers a total of Template:Convert, accounting for 18.2% of the borough's land area; the Template:Convert Central Park is the borough's largest park, comprising 31.6% of Manhattan's parkland.<ref name=ParkList>Parks by Total Acreage (Parks Greater or Equal than 0.5 Acres), City of New York. Accessed December 26, 2023.</ref> Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the park is anchored by the Template:Convert Great Lawn<ref>Great Lawn, Central Park Conservancy. Accessed December 26, 2023. "The 55-acre area hosts a great range of recreational activities and is a popular destination for picnicking, sunbathing, relaxing, playing and watching softball, and enjoying the scenery. The main oval lawn area is 12 acres and includes six fields for softball."</ref> and offers extensive walking tracks, two ice-skating rinks, a wildlife sanctuary, and several lawns and sporting areas, as well as 21 playgrounds,<ref>Central Park, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed December 26, 2023.</ref> and a Template:Convert road from which automobile traffic has been banned since 2018.<ref>Barron, James. "Can Central Park's Drives Become More Peaceful?", The New York Times, March 2, 2023. "There is chaos — as defined by Smith, the president of the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy — on the drives, the six miles of road inside the park that have been off limits to most cars since 2018."</ref> While much of the park looks natural, it is almost entirely landscaped; the construction of Central Park in the 1850s was one of the era's most massive public works projects, with some 20,000 workers moving Template:Convert of material to shape the topography and create the English-style pastoral landscape that Olmsted and Vaux sought.<ref>Kang, Tricia. "160 Years of Central Park: A Brief History", Central Park Conservancy, June 1, 2017. Accessed December 26, 2023. "Construction began on the Park in 1858. Workers moved nearly 5 million cubic yards of stone, earth, and topsoil, built 36 bridges and arches, and constructed 11 overpasses over the transverse roads. They also planted 500,000 trees, shrubs, and vines. The landscapes were manmade and all built by hand."</ref>
The remaining 70% of Manhattan's parkland includes 204 playgrounds, 251 Greenstreets, 371 basketball courts, and many other amenities.<ref name=MBPOEnvironment>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The next-largest park in Manhattan, the Hudson River Park, stretches Template:Convert along the Hudson River and comprises Template:Convert.<ref name="RIoG_ParkStats">Template:Cite book</ref> Other major parks include:<ref name=ParkList/>
- Bowling Green
- Bryant Park
- City Hall Park
- DeWitt Clinton Park
- East River Greenway
- Fort Tryon Park
- Fort Washington Park
- Harlem River Park
- Rucker Park
- Imagination Playground
- Inwood Hill Park
- Isham Park
- J. Hood Wright Park
- Jackie Robinson Park
- Madison Square Park
- Marcus Garvey Park
- Morningside Park
- Randall's Island Park
- Riverside Park
- Sara D. Roosevelt Park
- Seward Park
- St. Nicholas Park
- Stuyvesant Square
- The Battery
- The High Line
- Thomas Jefferson Park
- Tompkins Square Park
- Union Square Park
- Washington Square Park
EconomyEdit
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Manhattan is the economic engine of New York City, with its 2.45 million workers drawn from the entire New York metropolitan area accounting for almost more than half of all jobs in New York City.<ref name=BLS2023Q3>County Employment And Wages – Second Quarter 2023, Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 21, 2023. Accessed January 12, 2024.</ref> Manhattan's workforce is overwhelmingly focused on white collar professions. In 2010, Manhattan's daytime population was swelling to 3.94 million, with commuters adding a net 1.48 million people to the population, along with visitors, tourists, and commuting students. The commuter influx of 1.61 million workers coming into Manhattan was the largest of any county or city in the country.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Anchored by Manhattan's financial institutions, New York City has been described as the financial capital of the world.<ref name="NYCFinancialAndFintechCapitalWorld">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Financial sectorEdit
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Manhattan's most important economic sector lies in its role as the headquarters for the U.S. financial industry, metonymously known as Wall Street. Manhattan is home to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, and the Nasdaq, now located at 4 Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, representing the world's largest and second-largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured both by overall share trading value and by total market capitalization of their listed companies in 2023.<ref name="LargestExchanges" /> The NYSE American (formerly the American Stock Exchange, AMEX), New York Board of Trade, and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) are also located downtown.
Corporate sectorEdit
New York City is home to the most corporate headquarters of any city in the United States, the overwhelming majority based in Manhattan.<ref>Fortune Magazine: New York State and City Home to Most Fortune 500 Companies, Empire State Development Corporation, press release dated April 8, 2005. Accessed April 26, 2007. "New York City is also still home to more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other city in the country."</ref> Manhattan had more than Template:Convert of office space in 2022,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> making it the largest office market in the United States; while Midtown Manhattan, with more than Template:Convert is the largest central business district in the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lower Manhattan is the third-largest U.S. central business district (following the Chicago Loop).<ref>Lower Manhattan Recovery Office Template:Webarchive, Federal Transit Administration. Accessed June 23, 2014. "Lower Manhattan is the third largest business district in the nation. Prior to September 11th more than 385,000 people were employed there and 85% of those employees used public transportation to commute to work."</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> New York City's role as the top global center for the advertising industry is metonymously known as "Madison Avenue".<ref>"Defining Moments in Agency History - Madison Avenue: Place or Mindset?", American Association of Advertising Agencies, September 19, 2017. Accessed December 26, 2023. "The phrase 'Madison Avenue' has long been synonymous with the advertising agency business, but what is that based on? Were most agencies concentrated on that single street at one point, or is this a misnomer?... According to Roland Marchand's book, Advertising the American Dream, the phrase 'Madison Avenue' was first used to denote advertising around 1923, and by the late 1920s, it was both a prevalent and geographically accurate term."</ref>
Tech and biotechEdit
Manhattan has driven New York's status as a top-tier global high technology hub.<ref name=ManhattanNowBiggestTechHub>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=NewYorkCityDestinationNumberOneTechHub>Template:Cite news</ref> Silicon Alley, once a metonym for the sphere encompassing the metropolitan region's high tech industries,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is no longer a relevant moniker as the city's tech environment has expanded dramatically both in location and in its scope. New York City's current tech sphere encompasses a universal array of applications involving artificial intelligence, the internet, new media, financial technology (fintech) and cryptocurrency, biotechnology, game design, and other fields within information technology that are supported by its entrepreneurship ecosystem and venture capital investments. Template:As of, New York City hosted 300,000 employees in the tech sector.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="CNNMoney">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2015, Silicon Alley generated over US$7.3 billion in venture capital investment,<ref name=VentureCapitalNY1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> most based in Manhattan, as well as in Brooklyn, Queens, and elsewhere in the region. High technology startup companies and employment are growing in Manhattan and across New York City, bolstered by the city's emergence as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship,<ref name="VentureCapitalNY1"/> social tolerance,<ref name=SocialToleranceNY1>Template:Cite news</ref> and environmental sustainability,<ref name=EnvironmentalSustainabilityNY1>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=EnvironmentalSustainabilityNY2>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as New York's position as the leading Internet hub and telecommunications center in North America, including its vicinity to several transatlantic fiber optic trunk lines, the city's intellectual capital, and its extensive outdoor wireless connectivity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Verizon Communications, headquartered at 140 West Street in Lower Manhattan, was at the final stages in 2014 of completing a US$3 billion fiberoptic telecommunications upgrade throughout New York City.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The biotechnology sector is also growing in Manhattan based upon the city's strength in academic scientific research and public and commercial financial support. By mid-2014, Accelerator, a biotech investment firm, had raised more than US$30 million from investors, including Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, for initial funding to create biotechnology startups at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, which encompasses more than Template:Convert on East 29th Street and promotes collaboration among scientists and entrepreneurs at the center and with nearby academic, medical, and research institutions. The New York City Economic Development Corporation's Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative and venture capital partners, including Celgene, General Electric Ventures, and Eli Lilly, committed a minimum of US$100 million to help launch 15 to 20 ventures in life sciences and biotechnology.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had announced his choice of Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to build a US$2 billion graduate school of applied sciences on Roosevelt Island, Manhattan, with the goal of transforming New York City into the world's premier technology capital.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Update inline
TourismEdit
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Tourism is vital to Manhattan's economy, and the landmarks of Manhattan are the focus of New York City's tourists, with a record 66.6 million visiting the city in 2019, bringing in $47.4 billion in tourism revenue. Visitor numbers dropped by two-thirds in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, climbing back to 63.3 million visitors in 2023.<ref>The Tourism Industry in New York City Reigniting the Return, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, April 2021. Accessed January 1, 2024. "After reaching a record high of 66.6 million visitors in 2019 and generating $47.4 billion in spending, the number of visitors to New York City dropped by 67 percent and their spending declined by 73 percent in 2020.... New York City hosted 66.6 million visitors in 2019 (about 25 percent of the State's 265.5 million visitors that year), a tenth-consecutive annual record. In 2020, the pandemic and related behavioral and governmental restrictions caused the number to drop to 22.3 million, a 67 percent reduction (see Figure 1)."</ref><ref>David, Greg. "Tourists Are Back to NYC in Big Numbers", The City, September 5, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024. "But the city will not surpass its 2019 record of 66.6 million visitors because once-numerous travelers from China remain few and far between and Americans are flocking to Europe in unprecedented numbers.... Still, the numbers show a rebound with the official forecast from the tourism agency NYC & Co. still predicting 63.3 million visitors this year, up 12% from last year."</ref>
According to The Broadway League, shows on Broadway sold approximately US$1.54 billion worth of tickets in the 2022–2023 and the 2023–2024 seasons with attendance of approximately 12.3 million each.<ref name=BroadwayLeagueStatistics>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Real estateEdit
Real estate is a major force driving Manhattan's economy. Manhattan has perennially been home to some of the world's most valuable real estate, including the Time Warner Center, which had the highest-listed market value in the city in 2006 at US$1.1 billion,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to be subsequently surpassed in October 2014 by the Waldorf Astoria New York, which became the most expensive hotel ever sold after being purchased by the Anbang Insurance Group, based in China, for Template:US$.<ref name="Robert Frank">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When 450 Park Avenue was sold on July 2, 2007, for US$510 million, about US$1,589 per square foot (US$17,104/m²), it broke the barely month-old record for an American office building of US$1,476 per square foot (US$15,887/m²) based on the sale of 660 Madison Avenue.<ref>Quirk, James. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, The Record (Bergen County), July 5, 2007. Accessed July 5, 2007.</ref> In 2014, Manhattan was home to six of the top ten zip codes in the United States by median housing price.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2019, the most expensive home sale ever in the United States occurred in Manhattan, at a selling price of US$238 million, for a Template:Convert penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park,<ref>"Hedge Fund Billionaire Ken Griffin Buys America's Most Expensive Home" Template:Webarchive, Forbes, January 29, 2019. Accessed February 16, 2019.</ref> while Central Park Tower, topped out at Template:Convert in 2019, is the world's tallest residential building, followed globally in height by 111 West 57th Street and 432 Park Avenue, both also located in Midtown Manhattan.
MediaEdit
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Manhattan has been described as the media capital of the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A significant array of media outlets and their journalists report about international, American, business, entertainment, and New York metropolitan area–related matters from Manhattan.
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Manhattan is served by the major New York City daily news publications, including The New York Times, which has won the most Pulitzer Prizes for journalism<ref>Folkenflik, David. "The New York Times can't shake the cloud over a 90-year-old Pulitzer Prize", NPR, May 8, 2022. Accessed January 13, 2024. "The New York Times is looking to add to its list of 132 Pulitzer Prizes — by far the most of any news organization — when the 2022 recipients for journalism are announced on Monday."</ref> and is considered the U.S. media's newspaper of record;<ref>The New York Times, Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. Accessed January 13, 2024. "Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The Times is long regarded within the industry as a national 'newspaper of record'."</ref> the New York Daily News; and the New York Post, which are all headquartered in the borough. The nation's largest newspaper by circulation, The Wall Street Journal, is also based in Manhattan.<ref>Majid, Aisha. "Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Largest print titles fall 14% in year to March 2023", Press Gazette, June 26, 2023. Accessed January 13, 2024. "News Corp's business-focused The Wall Street Journal (609,654) and The New York Times (296,329) remain the biggest dailies in the US."'</ref> Other daily newspapers include AM New York and The Villager. The New York Amsterdam News, based in Harlem, is one of the leading Black-owned weekly newspapers in the United States. The Village Voice, historically the largest alternative newspaper in the United States, announced in 2017 that it would cease publication of its print edition and convert to a fully digital venture.<ref name=VillageVoiceDigital>Template:Cite news</ref>
The television industry developed in Manhattan and is a significant employer in the borough's economy. The four major American broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox,<ref>"History of Television in NYC", NYC TV Week. Accessed January 2, 2024. "The four major American broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, are all headquartered in New York City. New York is often thought of as the media capital of the world, due to its presence in numerous television shows and movies, and that it is the home of the four major American broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox."</ref> as well as Univision, are all headquartered in Manhattan, as are many cable channels, including CNN, MSNBC, MTV, Fox News, HBO, and Comedy Central. In 1971, WLIB became New York City's first Black-owned radio station<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and began broadcasts geared toward the African-American community in 1949.<ref>Smothers, Ronald. "Station Offers Perspective Of Black New Yorkers", The New York Times, July 3, 1987. Accessed January 2, 2024. "From sunrise to sunset each day, WLIB-AM, a radio station oriented to the concerns of a large segment of New York's black community, becomes what David Lampel likes to call 'a crucible of black opinion' as listeners call in to address issues in the news and questions posed by hosts and guests.... Inner City Broadcasting bought the station in 1973 for $1.7 million. At the time, said Percy E. Sutton, the former Manhattan Borough President who is chairman of the company, the station had been broadcasting rhythm and blues, gospel and news to a mostly black audience since 1949."</ref> WQHT, also known as Hot 97, claims to be the premier hip-hop station in the United States.<ref>Coscarelli, Joe. "For Hip-Hop Radio and Its Voices, Change Is on the Air", The New York Times, February 13, 2015. Accessed January 2, 2024. "But with the loss of so much institutional memory, including D.J.s and hosts who had witnessed the birth of hip-hop, the station risks slipping from its perch as the nation's premier regional and hard-boiled rap outlet, current and former employees said in interviews."</ref> WNYC, broadcasting on both an AM and FM signal, has the largest public radio audience in the nation and is the most-listened to commercial or non-commercial radio station in Manhattan.<ref>President's Bio Template:Webarchive, WNYC. Accessed May 1, 2007. "Heard by over 1.2 million listeners each week, WNYC radio is the largest public radio station in the country and is dedicated to producing broadcasting that extends New York City's cultural riches to public radio stations nationwide." {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> WBAI, owned by the non-profit Pacifica Foundation, broadcasts eclectic music, as well as political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning viewpoint.<ref>Levy, Nicole. "The crisis at WBAI", Politico, February 12, 2014. Accessed January 2, 2024. "It's no secret that WBAI — the wholly listener-supported, left-leaning station at 99.5 FM — and its owner, the nonprofit Pacifica Foundation, have long been strapped for cash."</ref>
The oldest public-access television cable TV channel in the United States is the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, founded in 1971, offers eclectic local programming that ranges from a jazz hour to discussions of labor issues to foreign language and religious programming.<ref>Community Celebrates Public Access TV's 35th Anniversary Template:Webarchive, Manhattan Neighborhood Network press release dated August 6, 2006. Accessed April 28, 2007. "Public access TV was created in the 1970s to allow ordinary members of the public to make and air their own TV shows—and thereby exercise their free speech. It was first launched in the U.S. in Manhattan July 1, 1971, on the Teleprompter and Sterling Cable systems, now Time Warner Cable." {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> NY1, Charter Communications's local news channel, is known for its beat coverage of City Hall and state politics.<ref>Moscatello, Caitlin. "Nobody Wraps Pat Kiernan The petty, vindictive, backbiting, lawsuit-laden, career-ruining infighting at everyone's favorite local NY1 news station.", New York, June 20, 2021. Accessed February 2, 2024. "It was hard to blame Charter for trying something new. NY1 is a beacon in local news, but it is still local news, accessed via a cable network — a dying industry within a dying industry."</ref>
EducationEdit
Education in Manhattan is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. Non-charter public schools in the borough are operated by the New York City Department of Education,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} - Text list</ref> the largest public school system in the United States. Charter schools include Success Academy Harlem 1 through 5, Success Academy Upper West, and Public Prep.
Several notable New York City public high schools are located in Manhattan, including A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, Beacon High School, Stuyvesant High School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, High School of Fashion Industries, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, NYC Lab School, Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, Hunter College High School, and High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College. Bard High School Early College, a hybrid school created by Bard College, serves students from around the city.
Many private preparatory schools are also situated in Manhattan, including the Upper East Side's Brearley School, Dalton School, Browning School, Spence School, Chapin School, Nightingale-Bamford School, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Hewitt School, Saint David's School, Loyola School, and Regis High School. The Upper West Side is home to the Collegiate School and Trinity School. The borough is also home to Manhattan Country School, Trevor Day School, Xavier High School and the United Nations International School.
Based on data from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey, 59.9% of Manhattan residents over age 25 have a bachelor's degree.<ref>S1501: EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates for Manhattan borough, New York County, New YorkTemplate:Webarchive, United States Census Bureau. Accessed January 22, 2017.</ref> As of 2005, about 60% of residents were college graduates and some 25% had earned advanced degrees, giving Manhattan one of the nation's densest concentrations of highly educated people.<ref>McGeehan, Patrick. "New York Area Is a Magnet For Graduates" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, August 16, 2006. Accessed March 27, 2008. "In Manhattan, nearly three out of five 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."</ref>
Manhattan has various colleges and universities, including Columbia University (and its affiliate Barnard College), Cooper Union, Marymount Manhattan College, New York Institute of Technology, New York University (NYU), The Juilliard School, Pace University, Berkeley College, The New School, Yeshiva University, and a campus of Fordham University. Other schools include Bank Street College of Education, Boricua College, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Manhattan School of Music, Metropolitan College of New York, Parsons School of Design, School of Visual Arts, Touro College, and Union Theological Seminary. Several other private institutions maintain a Manhattan presence, among them Adelphi University, Mercy University, King's College, St. John's University, and Pratt Institute. Cornell Tech, part of Cornell University, is developing on Roosevelt Island.
The City University of New York (CUNY), the municipal college system of New York City, is the largest urban university system in the United States, serving more than 226,000 degree students and a roughly equal number of adult, continuing and professional education students.<ref>The City University of New York is the nation's largest urban public university Template:Webarchive, City University of New York. Accessed June 30, 2009. "The City University of New York is the nation's largest urban public university..."</ref> A third of college graduates in New York City graduate from CUNY, with the institution enrolling about half of all college students in New York City. CUNY senior colleges located in Manhattan include: Baruch College, City College of New York, Hunter College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and William E. Macaulay Honors College; graduate studies and doctorate-granting institutions are Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, CUNY Graduate Center, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and CUNY School of Professional Studies.<ref>25 Colleges in the World's Greatest City, City University of New York. Accessed January 8, 2024.</ref><ref>The CUNY Senior Colleges and Professional Schools, CUNY Graduate Center. Accessed January 8, 2024.</ref> The only CUNY community college located in Manhattan is the Borough of Manhattan Community College.<ref>CUNY Community Colleges (2-Year), Hunter College. Accessed January 8, 2024.</ref> The State University of New York is represented by the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York State College of Optometry, and Stony Brook University – Manhattan.<ref>Complete Campus List, State University of New York. Accessed January 8, 2024.</ref>
Manhattan is a world center for training and education in medicine and the life sciences.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city as a whole receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health among all U.S. cities,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the bulk of which goes to Manhattan's research institutions, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Weill Cornell Medical College, and New York University School of Medicine.
Manhattan is served by the New York Public Library, which has the largest collection of any public library system in the country.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The five units of the Central Library—Mid-Manhattan Library, 53rd Street Library, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, and the Science, Industry and Business Library—are all located in Manhattan.<ref>The Central Libraries, New York Public Library. Accessed June 6, 2007. Template:Webarchive</ref> More than 35 other branch libraries are located in the borough.<ref>Manhattan Map Template:Webarchive, New York Public Library. Accessed June 6, 2006.</ref>
CultureEdit
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Manhattan is the borough most closely associated with New York City by non-residents; residents within the New York City metropolitan area, including New York City's boroughs outside Manhattan, will often describe a trip to Manhattan as "going to the City".<ref>Purdum, Todd S. "Political memo; An Embattled City Hall Moves to Brooklyn" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, February 22, 1992. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Leaders in all of them fear that recent changes in the City Charter that shifted power from the borough presidents to the City Council have diminished government's recognition of the sense of identity that leads people to say they live in the Bronx, and to describe visiting Manhattan as 'going to the city.'"</ref> Poet Walt Whitman characterized the streets of Manhattan as being traversed by "hurrying, feverish, electric crowds".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Manhattan has been the scene of many important global and American cultural movements. The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s established the African-American literary canon in the United States and introduced writers Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. Manhattan's visual art scene in the 1950s and 1960s was a center of the pop art movement, which gave birth to such giants as Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein. The downtown pop art movement of the late 1970s included artist Andy Warhol and clubs like Serendipity 3 and Studio 54, where he socialized.
Broadway theater is considered the highest professional form of theater in the United States. Plays and musicals are staged in one of the 39 larger professional theaters with at least 500 seats, almost all in and around Times Square. Off-Broadway theaters feature productions in venues with 100–500 seats.<ref>Weber, Bruce. "Critic's Notebook: Theater's Promise? Look Off Broadway" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, July 2, 2003. Accessed May 29, 2007. "It's also true that what constitutes Broadway is easy to delineate; it's a universe of 39 specified theaters, which all have at least 500 seats. Off-Broadway is generally considered to comprise theaters from 99 to 499 seats (anything less is thought of as Off Off), which ostensibly determines the union contracts for actors, directors, and press agents."</ref><ref>Theatre 101 Template:Webarchive, Theatre Development Fund. Accessed May 29, 2007.</ref> Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, anchoring Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is home to 12 influential arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and New York City Ballet, as well as the Vivian Beaumont Theater, the Juilliard School, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Alice Tully Hall. Performance artists displaying diverse skills are ubiquitous on the streets of Manhattan.
Manhattan is also home to some of the most extensive art collections in the world, both contemporary and classical art, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Frick Collection, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum. The Upper East Side has many art galleries,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the downtown neighborhood of Chelsea is known for its more than 200 art galleries that are home to modern art from both upcoming and established artists.<ref>"Stylish Traveler: Chelsea Girls" Template:Webarchive, Travel + Leisure, September 2005. Accessed May 14, 2007. "With more than 200 galleries, Chelsea has plenty of variety."</ref><ref>"City Planning Begins Public Review for West Chelsea Rezoning to Permit Housing Development and Create Mechanism for Preserving and Creating Access to the High Line" Template:Webarchive, New York City Department of City Planning press release dated December 20, 2004. Accessed May 29, 2007. "Some 200 galleries have opened their doors in recent years, making West Chelsea a destination for art lovers from around the City and the world."</ref> Many of the world's most lucrative art auctions are held in Manhattan.<ref name=ManhattanArtAuction1>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ManhattanArtAuction2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Multiple image Manhattan is the epicenter of LGBTQ culture and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem.<ref name=NYCGayCapitalOfTheWorld1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The borough is widely acclaimed as the cradle of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, with its inception at the 1969 Stonewall Riots.<ref name=KentuckyStonewall>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=PinkNewsStonewall>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=EncycloStonewall>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name=NPSStonewall>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=ObamaStonewall>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre"—<ref>Silverman, Brian. Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day (Volume 7 of Frommer's $ A Day). John Wiley & Sons, January 21, 2005. Template:ISBN, 9780764588358. p. 28.</ref> radiating from this central hub, as LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Multiple gay villages have developed, spanning the length of the borough from the Lower East Side, East Village, and Greenwich Village, through Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, uptown to Morningside Heights.
The annual NYC Pride March (or gay pride parade) traverses southward down Fifth Avenue and ends at Greenwich Village; the Manhattan parade is the largest pride parade in the world, attracting tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June.<ref name="NYCWorld'sLargestPrideParade"/><ref name="NYCWorld'sMediaCapitalLargestPrideParade"/> Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 was the largest international Pride celebration in history, produced by Heritage of Pride. The events were in partnership with the I ❤ NY program's LGBT division, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, with 150,000 participants and five million spectators attending in Manhattan.<ref name="Authorities1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The borough is represented in several prominent idioms. The phrase New York minute is meant to convey an extremely short time such as an instant,<ref name="NewYorkMinuteDefinition">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> sometimes in hyperbolic form, as in "perhaps faster than you would believe is possible," referring to the rapid pace of life in Manhattan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The expression "melting pot" was first popularly coined to describe the densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the Lower East Side in Israel Zangwill's play The Melting Pot, which was an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set in New York City in 1908.<ref>"The Melting Pot" Template:Webarchive, The First Measured Century, Public Broadcasting Service. Accessed April 25, 2007.</ref> The iconic Flatiron Building is said to have been the source of the phrase "23 skidoo" or scram, from what cops would shout at men who tried to get glimpses of women's dresses being blown up by the winds created by the triangular building.<ref>Dolkart, Andrew S. "The Architecture and Development of New York City: The Birth of the Skyscraper – Romantic Symbols" Template:Webarchive, Columbia University. Accessed May 15, 2007. "It is at a triangular site where Broadway and Fifth Avenue—the two most important streets of New York—meet at Madison Square, and because of the juxtaposition of the streets and the park across the street, there was a wind-tunnel effect here. In the early twentieth century, men would hang out on the corner here on Twenty-third Street and watch the wind blowing women's dresses up so that they could catch a little bit of ankle. This entered into popular culture and there are hundreds of postcards and illustrations of women with their dresses blowing up in front of the Flatiron Building. And it supposedly is where the slang expression "23 skidoo" comes from because the police would come and give the voyeurs the 23 skidoo to tell them to get out of the area."</ref> The "Big Apple" dates back to the 1920s, when a reporter heard the term used by New Orleans stable-hands to refer to New York City's horse racetracks and named his racing column "Around The Big Apple". Jazz musicians adopted the term to refer to the city as the world's jazz capital, and a 1970s ad campaign by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau helped popularize the term.<ref>"Mayor Giuliani signs legislation creating "Big Apple Corner" in Manhattan" Template:Webarchive, New York City press release dated February 12, 1997.</ref> Template:Multiple image Manhattan is well known for its street parades, which celebrate a broad array of themes, including holidays, nationalities, human rights, and major league sports team championship victories. The majority of higher profile parades in New York City are held in Manhattan. The primary orientation of the annual street parades is typically from north to south, marching along major avenues. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the world's largest parade,<ref name=NYCThanksgivingParade>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> beginning alongside Central Park and processing southward to the flagship Macy's Herald Square store;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the parade is viewed on telecasts worldwide and draws millions of spectators in person.<ref name=NYCThanksgivingParade/>
Other notable parades including the world's oldest St. Patrick's Day Parade, held annually in March since 1762,<ref>"Metropolitan Transportation Authority" Template:Webarchive, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, March 17, 2023. Accessed December 28, 2023. "The New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade is the oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the world. The first parade was held on March 17, 1762 — fourteen years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence."</ref><ref>"St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City through the years", New York Daily News, March 16, 2023. Accessed December 28, 2023. "The first parade was held on March 17, 1762, and has been going strong ever since, drawing more than a million spectators as of late.</ref> the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in October,<ref>About Us, New York's Village Halloween Parade. Accessed December 28, 2023.</ref> and numerous parades commemorating the independence days of many nations.<ref>Annual Events, New York City Tourism + Conventions. Accessed December 28, 2023.</ref> Ticker-tape parades celebrating sporting championships won as well as other national accomplishments march northward on Broadway from Bowling Green to City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan, along the Canyon of Heroes.<ref>Ticker Tape Parades, Baruch College. Accessed December 28, 2023. "Ticker-Tape Parades, perhaps some of the most unique NYC phenomena, are triumphant celebrations of special occasions or persons, which normally take place within a few days notice. Ticker-tape parades are held in the so called 'Canyon of Heroes' located in the Financial District on lower Broadway."</ref> New York Fashion Week, held at various locations in Manhattan, is a high-profile semiannual event featuring models displaying the latest wardrobes created by prominent fashion designers worldwide in advance of these fashions proceeding to the retail marketplace.
SportsEdit
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Manhattan is home to the NBA's New York Knicks and the NHL's New York Rangers, both of which play their home games at Madison Square Garden, the only major professional sports arena in the borough.<ref>Ozanian, Mike. "Dolan's MSG Sports Says It's Open To Selling Stakes In The Knicks Or Rangers", Forbes, February 7, 2023. Accessed December 28, 2023. "The Knicks and Rangers play in Madison Square Garden, which is owned by publicly traded MSG Entertainment, also run by Dolan."</ref> The Garden was also home to the WNBA's New York Liberty through the 2017 season, but that team's primary home is now the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The New York Jets proposed a West Side Stadium for their home field, but the proposal was defeated in June 2005, and they now play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Manhattan does not currently host a professional baseball franchise. The original New York Giants played primarily in the various incarnations of the Polo Grounds from their inception in 1883 until they headed to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season.<ref>Giants Ballparks: 1883 – present Template:Webarchive, MLB.com. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> The New York Yankees began their franchise as the Highlanders, named for Hilltop Park, where they played from their creation in 1903 until 1912.<ref>Lamb, Bill. Hilltop Park (New York), Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed December 28, 2023. "Unloved and short-lived – it served as a baseball venue for only ten years – scant tears were shed when the confines passed from the major-league scene after the 1912 season. Yet without Hilltop Park, the American League would have been unable to secure a foothold in New York City. And the fortunes of the game's dominant franchise might well have played out far differently."</ref> The team moved to the Polo Grounds with the 1913 season, where they were officially christened the New York Yankees, remaining there until they moved across the Harlem River in 1923 to Yankee Stadium.<ref>Yankee Ballparks: 1903 – present Template:Webarchive, MLB.com. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> The New York Mets played in the Polo Grounds in 1962 and 1963, their first two seasons, before Shea Stadium was completed in 1964.<ref>Mets Ballparks: 1962 – present Template:Webarchive, MLB.com. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> After the Mets departed, the Polo Grounds was demolished in April 1964.<ref>Drebinger, John. "The Polo Grounds, 1889–1964: A Lifetime of Memories; Ball Park in Harlem Was Scene of Many Sports Thrills", The New York Times, January 5, 1964. Accessed December 28, 2023. "With this move, the Mets committed themselves, come hell or high water right out of Flushing Bay, to open their 1964 National League season next April in Shea Stadium, their new home in Flushing Meadow. At the same time, the City Housing Authority announced it meant to lose no time putting into operation its housing development that is to go up on the site now occupied by the Polo Grounds."</ref><ref>Arnold, Martin. "Ah, Polo Grounds, The Game is Over; Wreckers Begin Demolition for Housing Project", The New York Times, April 11, 1964. Accessed December 28, 2023. "Thus began the demolition of the Polo Grounds yesterday.... After demolition is completed, the site will be used for a $30 million low‐rent, public housing project. In the project, 1,614 families will live in four 30-story buildings, will attend schooI and will use the project's children center, play area, community center and child welfare station."</ref>
The first national college-level basketball championship, the National Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.<ref>History of the National Invitation Tournament Template:Webarchive, National Invitation Tournament. Accessed May 8, 2007. "Tradition. The NIT is steeped in it. The nation's oldest postseason collegiate basketball tournament was founded in 1938."</ref> The New York Knicks started play in 1946 as one of the National Basketball Association's original teams, playing their first home games at the 69th Regiment Armory, before making Madison Square Garden their permanent home.<ref>The Knickerbocker Story Template:Webarchive, NBA.com. Accessed November 20, 2016.</ref> The New York Liberty of the WNBA shared the Garden with the Knicks from their creation in 1997 as one of the league's original eight teams through the 2017 season,<ref>The New York Liberty Story Template:Webarchive, Women's National Basketball Association. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> after which the team moved nearly all of its home schedule to White Plains, New York.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Rucker Park in Harlem is a playground court, famed for its streetball style of play, where many NBA athletes have played in the summer league.<ref>Rucker Park Template:Webarchive, ThinkQuest New York City. Accessed June 30, 2009.</ref>
Although both of New York City's football teams play today in MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, both teams started out playing in the Polo Grounds. The New York Giants played side-by-side with their baseball namesakes from the time they entered the National Football League in 1925, until crossing over to Yankee Stadium in 1956.<ref>"Home Sweet Home" Template:Webarchive, Pro Football Hall of Fame, September 10, 2010. Accessed November 20, 2016. "The Giants shared the Polo Grounds with the New York Baseball Giants from the time they entered the league in 1925 until 1955."</ref> The New York Jets, originally known as the Titans of New York, started out in 1960 at the Polo Grounds, before joining the Mets in Queens at Shea Stadium in 1964.<ref>Stadiums of The NFL: Shea Stadium Template:Webarchive, Stadiums of the NFL. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref>
The New York Rangers of the National Hockey League have played in the various locations of Madison Square Garden since the team's founding in the 1926–1927 season. The Rangers were predated by the New York Americans, who started play in the Garden the previous season, lasting until the team folded after the 1941–1942 NHL season, a season it played in the Garden as the Brooklyn Americans.<ref>New York Americans Template:Webarchive, Sports Encyclopedia. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref>
The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League played their home games at Downing Stadium for two seasons, starting in 1974. The playing pitch and facilities at Downing Stadium were in unsatisfactory condition, however, and as the team's popularity grew they too left for Yankee Stadium, and then Giants Stadium. The stadium was demolished in 2002 to make way for the $45 million, 4,754-seat Icahn Stadium.<ref>Collins, Glenn. "Built for Speed, And Local Pride; Track Stadium Emerges On Randalls Island" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, August 20, 2004. Accessed June 30, 2009.</ref><ref>"Mayor Michael Bloomberk, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe and the Randall's Island Sports Foundation Name New York City's Newest Athletic Facility Icahn Stadium" Template:Webarchive, Mayor of New York City press release, dated January 28, 2004. Accessed September 24, 2007.</ref>
GovernmentEdit
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Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, Manhattan has been governed by the New York City Charter; its 1989 revision provided for a strong mayor–council system.<ref>"Report on Ballot Proposals of the 2003 New York City Charter Revision Commission" Template:Webarchive (PDF), Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Accessed May 11, 2007. "Unlike most cities that employ nonpartisan election systems, New York City has a very strong mayor system and, following the 1989 Charter Amendments, an increasingly powerful City Council."</ref> The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in Manhattan.
The office of Borough President was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful administrative role derived from having a vote on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the city's budget and proposals for land use. In 1989, the US Supreme Court declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional because Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island, the least populous borough, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.<ref>Cornell Law School Supreme Court Collection: Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris Template:Webarchive, Cornell Law School. Accessed June 12, 2006.</ref> Since 1990, the largely powerless Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations.Template:Citation needed Manhattan's current Borough President is Mark Levine, elected as a Democrat in November 2021.
Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, is the District Attorney of New York County. Manhattan has ten City Council members, the third largest contingent among the five boroughs. It also has twelve administrative districts, each served by a local Community Board. Community Boards are representative bodies that field complaints and serve as advocates for local residents.
As the host of the United Nations, the borough is home to the world's largest international consular corps, comprising 105 consulates, consulates general and honorary consulates.<ref>About Us Template:Webarchive, Society of Foreign Consuls. Accessed July 19, 2006.</ref> It is also the home of New York City Hall, the seat of New York City government housing the Mayor of New York City and the New York City Council. The mayor's staff and thirteen municipal agencies are located in the nearby Manhattan Municipal Building, completed in 1914, one of the largest governmental buildings in the world.<ref>The David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building Template:Webarchive, New York City. Accessed November 20, 2016. "The Municipal Building was completed in 1914, but the first offices were occupied as early as January 1913. By 1916, the majority of the offices were full and open to the public."</ref>
PoliticsEdit
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The Democratic Party holds most public offices. Registered Republicans are a minority in the borough, constituting 9.88% of the electorate Template:As of. Registered Republicans are more than 20% of the electorate only in the neighborhoods of the Upper East Side and the Financial District Template:As of. Democrats accounted for 68.41% of those registered to vote, while 17.94% of voters were unaffiliated.<ref>Grogan, Jennifer. Election 2004—Rise in Registration Promises Record Turnout, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Accessed April 25, 2007. "According to the board's statistics for the total number of registered voters as of the October 22 deadline, there were 1.1 million registered voters in Manhattan, of which 727,071 were Democrats and 132,294 were Republicans, which is a 26.7 percent increase from the 2000 election, when there were 876,120 registered voters."</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Manhattan is heavily urbanized and thus powerfully Democratic in federal elections. Over three-quarters of its vote has gone to Democratic presidential candidates in every election since 1988, and over 80% in every election since 2004. Manhattan has repeatedly held the record as the most Democratic out of all counties in New York at the federal level; this was the case in 2020 and 2024, for example. It voted solidly for Democrat Bill Clinton in both 1992 and 1996, and defied national trends by giving negligible votes to third-party candidate Ross Perot. Democrats continued to see large gains in Manhattan in the 21st Century, with Barack Obama's 2008 performance and subsequently Hillary Clinton's 2016 performance of over 86% being the best ever by Democratic presidential nominees; Joe Biden was not far behind in 2020. In 2024, Republican Donald Trump gained the best percentage of the vote (and the largest number of raw votes) for any Republican since 1988, even though Kamala Harris still managed 80% of the vote. This reflected similar rightward shifts across the state of New York and the nation as a whole in that election.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
As of 2023, three Democrats represented Manhattan in the United States House of Representatives.<ref name="govtrack.us 2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Dan Goldman (first elected in 2022) represents New York's 10th congressional district, which includes Lower Manhattan, as well as a portion of Brooklyn.
- Jerry Nadler (first elected in 1992) represents New York's 12th congressional district, which includes the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Midtown Manhattan.
- Adriano Espaillat (first elected in 2016) represents New York's 13th congressional district, which includes the Upper Manhattan, as well as part of the northwest Bronx.
Federal officesEdit
The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Manhattan. The James Farley Post Office in Midtown Manhattan is New York City's main post office.<ref>"Post Office Location – James A. Farley." United States Postal Service. Accessed May 5, 2009.</ref> Both the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit are located in Lower Manhattan's Foley Square, and the U.S. Attorney and other federal offices and agencies maintain locations in that area.
Crime and public safetyEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Starting in the mid-19th century, the United States became a magnet for immigrants seeking to escape poverty in their home countries. After arriving in New York, many new arrivals ended up living in squalor in the slums of the Five Points neighborhood, an area between Broadway and the Bowery, northeast of New York City Hall. By the 1820s, the area was home to many gambling dens and brothels, and was known as a dangerous place to go. In 1842, Charles Dickens visited the area and was appalled at the horrendous living conditions he had seen.<ref>Christiano, Gregory. "The Five Points" Template:Webarchive, Urbanography. Accessed May 16, 2007.</ref> The predominantly Irish Five Points Gang was one of the country's first major organized crime entities.
As Italian immigration grew in the early 20th century many joined ethnic gangs, including Al Capone, who got his start in crime with the Five Points Gang.<ref>Al Capone Template:Webarchive, Chicago History Museum. Accessed May 16, 2007. "Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York.... He became part of the notorious Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's Brooklyn dive, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender."</ref> The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily and spread to the US East Coast during the late 19th century following waves of Sicilian and Southern Italian emigration. Lucky Luciano established Cosa Nostra in Manhattan, forming alliances with other criminal enterprises, including the Jewish mob, led by Meyer Lansky, the leading Jewish gangster of that period.<ref name=Smithsonian>Jaffe, Eric. "Talking to the Feds: The chief of the FBI's organized crime unit on the history of La Cosa Nostra" Template:Webarchive, Smithsonian (magazine), April 2007. Accessed November 20, 2016.</ref> From 1920 to 1933, Prohibition helped create a thriving black market in liquor, upon which the Mafia was quick to capitalize.<ref name=Smithsonian/>
New York City as a whole experienced a sharp increase in crime during the post-war period.<ref>Langan, Patrick A. and Durose, Matthew R. "The Remarkable Drop in Crime in New York City" Template:Webarchive (PDF). United States Department of Justice, October 21, 2004. Accessed June 4, 2014.</ref> The murder rate in Manhattan hit an all-time high of 42 murders per 100,000 residents in 1979.<ref name=Henshaw>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Manhattan retained the highest murder rate in the city until 1985 when it was surpassed by the Bronx.<ref name=Henshaw/> Most serious violent crime has been historically concentrated in Upper Manhattan and the Lower East Side, though robbery in particular was a major quality of life concern throughout the borough. Through the 1990s and 2000s, levels of violent crime in Manhattan plummeted to levels not seen since the 1950s,<ref>Southall, Ashley. "Crime in New York City Plunges to a Level Not Seen Since the 1950s", The New York Times, December 27, 2017. Accessed August 6, 2023. "It would have seemed unbelievable in 1990, when there were 2,245 killings in New York City, but as of Wednesday there have been just 286 in the city this year — the lowest since reliable records have been kept.... If the trend holds just a few more days, this year's homicide total will be under the city's previous low of 333 in 2014, and crime will have declined for 27 straight years, to levels that police officials have said are the lowest since the 1950s."</ref> with murders in Manhattan dropping from 503 in 1990, at the citywide peak, to 78 in 2022, a decline of 84%.<ref>Dale, Daniel. "Fact check: Here's the truth about crime in Manhattan", CNN, April 17, 2023. Accessed January 3, 2024. "New York City publishes crime statistics on its website, so the truth is easy to find. In 1990, when the city set its all-time record for total murders, there were 503 recorded murders in Manhattan, which is one of the city's five boroughs. In 2022, Manhattan recorded 78 murders – a decline of about 84% from 1990."</ref>
Today crime rates in most of Lower Manhattan, Midtown, the Upper East Side, and the Upper West Side are consistent with other major city centers in the United States. However, crime rates remain high in the Upper Manhattan neighborhoods of East Harlem, Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and New York City Housing Authority developments across the borough, despite significant reductions. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, there had been an increase in violent crime, particularly in Upper Manhattan.<ref>Marcius, Chelsia Rose; and Shanhan, Ed. "Major Crimes Rose 22 Percent in New York City, Even as Shootings Fell", The New York Times, January 5, 2023. Accessed August 6, 2023. "The declines in murders and shootings last year appeared to be in line with similar drops in other U.S. cities, which, like New York, experienced a surge in such crimes in 2020 and 2021 amid the worst of the pandemic, criminal justice experts said.... Mr. Herrmann also noted that, based on his own analysis of Police Department data, the decline in shootings had yet to be felt in some neighborhoods long plagued by gun violence, including Brownsville and Bushwick in Brooklyn; Central Harlem and Inwood in Manhattan; and East Concourse and Claremont in the Bronx."</ref> Mirroring a nationwide trend, rates of shootings and violent crimes in 2023 declined from their peaks during the pandemic.<ref>Meko, Hurubie. "Shootings in New York Drop by a Quarter as Surge of Violence Eases; Murders and rapes were also down, part of a nationwide trend after a post-pandemic spike.", The New York Times, July 6, 2023. Accessed January 3, 2024. "Shootings in New York City dropped by about 25 percent through the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, extending a downward trend after a spike in violent crime during the pandemic. The sharp drop, which mirrored similar decreases across the United States, came amid widespread fears about crime in the city, which officials have blamed for keeping workers and suburbanites cloistered in their homes."</ref><ref>Marcello, Philip. "FACT FOCUS: NYC crime is not worst ever, despite claims", Associated Press, April 18, 2023. Accessed January 3, 2024."</ref><ref>Marcello, Philip. "FACT FOCUS: NYC crime is not worst ever, despite claims", Associated Press, April 18, 2023. Accessed January 3, 2024.""CLAIM: Crime in New York City is the worst it's ever been, especially in the borough of Manhattan where Trump faces criminal charges. THE FACTS: While it's true that major crimes in New York City rose last year compared to 2021, criminal justice experts say crime levels were significantly higher three decades ago, and that the current levels are more comparable to where New York was a decade ago, when people frequently lauded it as America's safest big city.... 'Virtually every major crime category is lower in Manhattan now than it was last year,' he wrote."</ref>
HousingEdit
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The rise of immigration near the turn of the 20th century left major portions of Manhattan, especially the Lower East Side, densely packed with recent arrivals, crammed into unhealthy and unsanitary housing. Tenements were usually five stories high, constructed on the then-typical Template:Convert lots, with "cockroach landlords" exploiting the new immigrants.<ref>Building the Lower East Side Ghetto. Accessed April 30, 2007. Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=NYTTenements>Peterson, Iver. "Tenements of 1880s Adapt to 1980s" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, January 3, 1988. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Usually five stories tall and built on a Template:Convert lot, their exteriors are hung with fire escapes and the interiors are laid out long and narrow—in fact, the apartments were dubbed railroad flats."</ref> By 1929, a new housing code effectively ended construction of tenements, though some survive today on the East Side of the borough.<ref name=NYTTenements/> Conversely, there were also areas with luxury apartment developments, the first of which was the Dakota on the Upper West Side.<ref name="spt19880110">Template:Cite news</ref>
Manhattan offers a wide array of private housing, as well as public housing, which is administered by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Affordable rental and co-operative housing units throughout the borough were created under the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program.<ref>Mitchell-Lama, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Accessed January 5, 2024.</ref> There were 928,714 housing units in 2023<ref name=QuickFacts/> at an average density of Template:Convert. Template:As of, only 24.3% of Manhattan residents lived in owner-occupied housing, the second-lowest rate of all counties in the nation, after the Bronx.<ref name=OwnerOccupied>Percent of Occupied Housing Units That are Owner-occupied, United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 15, 2015.</ref> Public housing administered by NYCHA accounts for nearly 100,000 residents in more than 50,000 units in 2023.<ref>NYCHA 2023 Fact Sheet, New York City Housing Authority, April 2023. Accessed January 5, 2024. Public Housing Borough Breakdown: Manhattan: 79 developments with 50,220 apartments and 99,777 residents"</ref> Completed in 1935, the First Houses in the East Village were one of the country's first publicly-funded low-income housing projects.<ref>Apmann, Sarah Bean. "Landmarks of New York: First Houses", Village Preservation Blog, December 3, 2015. Accessed January 7, 2024. "On December 3, 1935, First Houses were dedicated and opened, the first housing project undertaken by the then-recently established New York City Housing Authority and the first publicly-funded low-income housing project in the nation. The groundbreaking development was made a New York City landmark on November 12, 1974."</ref><ref>Price, Richard. "The Rise and Fall of Public Housing in NYC; A subjective overview.", Guernica, October 1, 2014. Accessed January 7, 2024. "In 1935, the first public housing complex in New York, prosaically christened First Houses, (landmarked since 1974) on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, offered 122 apartments featuring oak wood floors and brass fixtures. The rent, adjusted to each family's monthly income, ranged from five to seven dollars."</ref> At $2,024 in 2022, Manhattan has the highest average cost for rent of any county in the US, although a lower percentage of annual income than in several other American cities.<ref name=name>Template:Cite news</ref>
Manhattan's real estate market for luxury housing continues to be among the most expensive in the world,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Manhattan residential property continues to have the highest sale price per square foot in the United States.<ref name="ManhattanPricePerSquareFoot">Manhattan, NY Homes for Sale Template:Webarchive, Redfin. Accessed January 31, 2018.</ref> Manhattan's apartments cost Template:Convert, compared to San Francisco housing at Template:Convert, Boston housing at Template:Convert, and Los Angeles housing at Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the median value of homes in Manhattan was $1,306,208, second highest among US counties.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
InfrastructureEdit
TransportationEdit
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Public transportationEdit
Manhattan is unique in the U.S. for intense use of public transportation and lack of private car ownership. While 88% of Americans nationwide drive to their jobs, with only 5% using public transport, mass transit is the dominant form of travel for residents of Manhattan, with 72% of borough residents using public transport to get to work, while only 18% drove.<ref>Highlights of the 2001 National Household Travel Survey Template:Webarchive, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, United States Department of Transportation. Accessed May 21, 2006.</ref><ref>"New York City Pedestrian Level of Service Study – Phase I, 2006" Template:Webarchive, New York City Department of City Planning, April 2006, p. 4. Accessed May 17, 2007. "In the year 2000, 88% of workers over 16 years old in the U.S. used a car, truck or van to commute to work, while approximately 5% used public transportation and 3% walked to work.... In Manhattan, the borough with the highest population density (66,940 people/sq mi. in year 2000; 1,564,798 inhabitants) and concentration of business and tourist destinations, only 18% of the working population drove to work in 2000, while 72% used public transportation and 8% walked."</ref> According to the 2000 United States Census, 77.5% of Manhattan households do not own a car.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Congestion pricing was implemented in New York City in January 2025 and apply to most motor vehicular traffic using the central business district area of Manhattan south of 60th Street, in an effort to encourage commuters to use mass transit instead.<ref name=ManhattanCongestionPricing>Template:Cite news</ref>
The New York City Subway, the largest subway system in the world by number of stations, is the primary means of travel within the city, linking every borough except Staten Island. There are 151 subway stations in Manhattan, out of the Template:NYCS const stations.<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> A second subway, the PATH system, connects six stations in Manhattan to northern New Jersey. Passengers pay fares with pay-per-ride MetroCards, which are valid on all city buses and subways, as well as on PATH trains.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Commuter rail services operating to and from Manhattan are the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), which connects Manhattan and other New York City boroughs to Long Island; the Metro-North Railroad, which connects Manhattan to Upstate New York and Southwestern Connecticut; and NJ Transit trains, which run to various points in New Jersey.
The US$11.1 billion East Side Access project, which brings LIRR trains to Grand Central Terminal, opened in 2023; this project utilized a pre-existing train tunnel beneath the East River, connecting the East Side of Manhattan with Long Island City, Queens.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Four multi-billion-dollar projects were completed in the mid-2010s: the $1.4 billion Fulton Center in November 2014,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the $2.4 billion 7 Subway Extension in September 2015,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the $4 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub in March 2016,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Phase 1 of the $4.5 billion Second Avenue Subway in January 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
MTA New York City Transit offers a wide variety of local buses within Manhattan under the brand New York City Bus. An extensive network of express bus routes serves commuters and other travelers heading into Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite NYC bus map</ref> The bus system served 784 million passengers citywide in 2011, placing the bus system's ridership as the highest in the nation, and more than double the ridership of the second-place Los Angeles system.<ref>Bus Facts Template:Webarchive, Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Accessed July 15, 2016.</ref>
The Roosevelt Island Tramway, one of two commuter cable car systems in North America, takes commuters between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan Island in less than five minutes, and has been serving the island since 1978.<ref>Lee, Jennifer 8. "Midair Rescue Lifts Passengers From Stranded East River Tram" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, April 19, 2006. Accessed February 28, 2008. "The system, which calls itself the only aerial commuter tram in the country, has been featured in movies including City Slickers, starring Billy Crystal; Nighthawks, with Sylvester Stallone; and Spider-Man in 2002."</ref><ref>The Roosevelt Island Tram, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. Accessed April 30, 2007. Template:Webarchive</ref>
The Staten Island Ferry, which runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, annually carries over 21 million passengers on the Template:Convert run between Manhattan and Staten Island. Each weekday, five vessels transport about 65,000 passengers on 109 boat trips.<ref>Facts About the Ferry Template:Webarchive, New York City Department of Transportation. Accessed August 28, 2012. "On a typical weekday, five boats make 109 trips, carrying approximately 65,000 passengers. During rush hours, the ferry runs on a four-boat schedule, with 15 minutes between departures."</ref><ref>An Assessment of Staten Island Ferry Service and Recommendations for Improvement (PDF), New York City Council, November 2004. Accessed April 28, 2007. "Of the current fleet of seven vessels, five boats make 104 trips on a typical weekday schedule". Template:Webarchive</ref> The ferry has been fare-free since 1997.<ref>Holloway, Lynette. "Mayor to End 50-Cent Fare On S.I. Ferry" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, April 29, 1997. Accessed June 30, 2009. "Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said yesterday that he would eliminate the 50-cent fare on the Staten Island Ferry starting July 4, saying people who live outside Manhattan should not have to pay extra to travel."</ref> In February 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city government would begin NYC Ferry to extend ferry transportation to traditionally underserved communities in the city.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nbcny-hornblower">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first routes of NYC Ferry opened in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":14">Template:Cite news</ref> All of the system's routes have termini in Manhattan, and the Lower East Side and Soundview routes also have intermediate stops on the East River.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The metro region's commuter rail lines converge at New York Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, on the west and east sides of Midtown Manhattan, respectively. They are the two busiest rail stations in the United States. About one-third of users of mass transit and two-thirds of railway passengers in the country live in New York and its suburbs.<ref>The MTA Network Template:Webarchive, Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Accessed November 20, 2016.</ref> Amtrak provides inter-city passenger rail service from Penn Station to Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.; Upstate New York and New England; cross-Canadian border service to Toronto and Montreal; and destinations in the Southern and Midwestern United States.
The Port Authority Bus Terminal is the city's main intercity bus terminal and the world's busiest bus station. It serves 250,000 passengers on 7,000 buses each workday in a 1950 building designed to accommodate 60,000 daily passengers. A 2021 plan announced by the Port Authority would spend $10 billion to expand capacity and modernize the facility.<ref name=PABT2008>Architect Chosen for Planned Office Tower Above Port Authority Bus Terminal's North Wing, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, dated November 17, 2008. Accessed January 4, 2024. "The Port Authority Bus Terminal opened in 1950 and has become the busiest bus passenger facility in the world, handling 7,000 buses and 200,000 commuters each day. It includes 223 bus gates, retail and commercial space, and public parking for 1,250 vehicles."</ref><ref name=NYT2021>McGeehan, Patrick; and Hu, Winnie. "'Notorious' Port Authority Bus Terminal May Get a $10 Billion Overhaul", The New York Times, January 21, 2021, updated September 23, 2021. Accessed January 4, 2024. "The bus terminal plan, which has been in the works for more than seven contentious years, would cost as much as $10 billion and could take a decade to complete.... More than 250,000 people passed through it on a typical weekday before the pandemic, according to the Port Authority.... The bus terminal, a brick hulk perched at the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel, has long exceeded its capacity — when it opened in late 1950, it was expected to handle 60,000 passengers a day."</ref><ref name=Record2021>Wilson, Colleen. "Port Authority Bus Terminal was once a marvel. Will the next one meet commuters' needs?", The Record, June 30, 2021. Accessed January 4, 2024. "Becoming the busiest bus terminal in the world doesn't happen without also bearing the brunt of blame every time a commute goes horribly wrong — deserved or otherwise.... The popularity of bus commuting over the Hudson River has steadily risen over the last seven decades, with some 260,000 people a day coming through the terminal pre-pandemic.... A more efficient terminal should improve some of the delays through the Lincoln Tunnel and exclusive bus lane (XBL), the dedicated lane in the morning that converges all buses into a single lane from I-495 into the Lincoln Tunnel from New Jersey."</ref> In 2024, the Port Authority announced plans for a new terminal that would be completed by 2032 and include a pair of office buildings to defray the costs of the project.<ref>McGeehan, Patrick. "A Look at the $10 Billion Design for a New Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority unveiled a revised design for a replacement of the much-reviled transit hub, which opened in 1950.", The New York Times, February 1, 2024. Accessed February 9, 2024. "Instead of the dismal, brick hulk that has darkened two full blocks of Midtown Manhattan for more than 70 years, there would be a bright, modern transit hub topped by two office towers.... Construction is expected to take eight years, he said, meaning the project could be completed by 2032.... The revised plan eliminates those structures but includes a pair of office towers that could be more than 60 stories tall on Eighth Avenue at the corners of 40th and 42nd Streets. Payments from the developers of those buildings would help cover the cost of the project, Mr. Cotton said."</ref>
Major highwaysEdit
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TaxisEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} New York's iconic yellow taxicabs, which number 13,087 citywide and must have a medallion authorizing the pickup of street hails, are ubiquitous in the borough.<ref>About the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission Template:Webarchive. Accessed September 4, 2006.</ref> Private vehicle for hire companies provide significant competition for taxicabs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
BicyclesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} According to the government of New York City, Manhattan had 19,676 bicycle commuters in 2017, roughly doubling from its total of 9,613 in 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:AnchorStreets and roadsEdit
The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 called for twelve numbered "avenues" running north and south roughly parallel to the Hudson River, each Template:Convert wide, with First Avenue on the east side and Twelfth Avenue on the west side.<ref name=MCNY1811/><ref>Gray, Christopher. "Are Manhattan's Right Angles Wrong?", The New York Times, October 23, 2005. Accessed December 1, 2023. "In 1811, the New York commissioners published their eight-foot-long map, showing 12 main north-south avenues and a dense network of east-west streets for much of Manhattan, with the old angled road of Broadway meandering through."</ref> There are several intermittent avenues east of First Avenue, including four additional lettered avenues running from Avenue A eastward to Avenue D in an area now known as Alphabet City.<ref>Morris, Gouverneur; De Witt, Simeon; and Rutherfurd, John (March 1811) "Remarks Of The Commissioners For Laying Out Streets And Roads In The City Of New York, Under The Act Of April 3, 1807", Cornell University Library. Accessed December 30, 2023. "These are one hundred feet wide, and such of them as can be extended as far north as the village of Harlem are numbered (beginning with the most eastern, which passes from the west of Bellevue Hospital to the east of Harlem Church) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. This last runs from the wharf at Manhattanville nearly along the shore of the Hudson river, in which it is finally lost, as appears by the map. The avenues to the eastward of number one are marked A, B, C, and D."</ref> The numbered streets in Manhattan run east–west, and are generally Template:Convert wide, with about Template:Convert between streets.<ref name=MCNY1811/> The address algorithm of Manhattan is used to estimate the closest east–west cross street for building numbers on north–south avenues.<ref>"Unlock the Grid, Then Ditch the Maps and Apps", Metrofocus. Accessed December 1, 2023.</ref>
According to the original Commissioner's Plan, there were 155 numbered crosstown streets,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but later the grid was extended up to the northernmost corner of Manhattan Island, where the last numbered street is 220th Street, though the grid continues to 228th Street in the borough's Marble Hill neighborhood.<ref>North of Central Park: Revising the Grid, Museum of the City of New York. Accessed December 1, 2023.</ref><ref name=NYT2002>Boland, Ed Jr. "F.Y.I.: By the Numbers", The New York Times, August 18, 2002. Accessed December 1, 2023. "Q. What is the highest numbered street in New York City?... The highest numbered street in Manhattan is 228th Street, but that is in Marble Hill, a section of Manhattan north of the Harlem River. The highest numbered street on Manhattan Island is 220th Street in Inwood. The northbound numerations that begin in Manhattan continue through the Bronx until New York City meets Yonkers at West 263rd Street."</ref> Fifteen crosstown streets were designated as Template:Convert wide, including 34th, 42nd, 57th and 125th Streets,<ref>Remarks of the Commissioners for laying out streets and roads in the City of New York, under the Act of April 3, 1807 Template:Webarchive, Cornell University. Accessed May 2, 2007. "These streets are all sixty feet wide except fifteen, which are one hundred feet wide, viz.: Numbers fourteen, twenty-three, thirty-four, forty-two, fifty-seven, seventy-two, seventy-nine, eighty-six, ninety-six, one hundred and six, one hundred and sixteen, one hundred and twenty-five, one hundred and thirty-five, one hundred and forty-five, and one hundred and fifty-five—the block or space between them being in general about two hundred feet."</ref> which became some of the borough's most significant transportation and shopping venues. Broadway, following the route of a Native American trail, is the most notable of many exceptions to the grid, starting at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan and continuing north for Template:Convert into the Bronx.<ref>Broadway, Society of Architectural Historians. Accessed December 30, 2023. "Broadway is a 13-mile roadway running from the southern tip to the northernmost point of the island of Manhattan.... Predating the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, Broadway was initially a Native American trading trail running the length of Manhattan. Various indigenous peoples living on the island—including Lenni Lenape, Delaware Lenape, and Wickquasgeck—used the route, known as the Wickquasgeck Trail, to exchange goods with each other."</ref> In much of Midtown Manhattan, Broadway runs at a diagonal to the grid, creating major named intersections at Union Square, Madison Square, Herald Square, Times Square, and Columbus Circle.<ref>"Grow the Green Line", Urban Design Forum, February 26, 2018. Accessed December 30, 2023. "Broadway today is an anomaly, unneeded for vehicular traffic, that cuts through a standardized urban form. It is an extra street modulating an otherwise functioning grid. However, it is the only road that connects four of the most important public spaces in the city: Union Square, Madison Square, Herald Square, and Times Square; each found where this diagonal route crosses an avenue and marks a major street."</ref><ref>Union Square, Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace. Accessed December 30, 2023. "New York's famed thoroughfare Broadway is responsible for some of the city's most famous parks. The irregularity of Broadway's span created space for Union Square, Madison Square, Herald Square, Times Square, and Columbus Circle.... Therefore Broadway does not run parallel to the north-south avenues of the grid. Broadway runs diagonally, intersecting other avenues and slicing uniform rectangles into small awkward blocks."</ref>
"Crosstown streets" refers primarily to major east-west streets connecting Manhattan's East Side and West Side. The trip is notoriously frustrating for drivers because of heavy congestion on narrow local streets; absence of express roads other than the Trans-Manhattan Expressway at the far north end of Manhattan Island; and restricted to very limited crosstown automobile travel within Central Park. Proposals to build highways traversing the island through Manhattan's densest neighborhoods, namely the Mid-Manhattan Expressway across 34th Street and the Lower Manhattan Expressway through SoHo, failed in the 1960s.<ref>Sagalyn, Lynne B. "The Cross Manhattan Expressway", Museum of the City of New York, November 14, 2016. Accessed January 3, 2024. "In 1959, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, under the control and direction of New York City's 'master builder' Robert Moses, put forth ambitious plans for two expressways crossing Manhattan. These elevated highways would cut through neighborhoods and across the island, connecting New York with its wider metropolitan region.... Moses was particularly dedicated to pushing the Lower Manhattan Expressway through after another plan for Mid-Manhattan failed.... The citizen-led opposition campaign that led to the high-profile defeat of the Lower Manhattan Expressway in 1967 saved the neighborhood of SoHo and triggered a new, broader appreciation for preservation in areas that were of historical significance for cultural and economic reasons."</ref><ref>Cross Manhattan arterials and related improvements, Hagley Digital Archives, published November 12, 1959. Accessed January 3, 2024.</ref> In New York City, all turns at red lights are illegal unless a sign permitting such maneuvers is present, significantly shaping traffic patterns in Manhattan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Another consequence of the strict grid plan of most of Manhattan, and the grid's skew of approximately 28.9 degrees, is a phenomenon sometimes referred to as Manhattanhenge (by analogy with Stonehenge).<ref name=Manhattanhenge>Template:Cite news</ref> On May 28 and July 12, the sunset is aligned with the street grid lines, with the result that the sun is visible at or near the western horizon from street level.<ref name=Manhattanhenge/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A similar phenomenon occurs with the sunrise on the eastern horizon on December 5 and January 8.<ref>Morris, Hugh. "Manhattanhenge is coming: what is it, and how can I see it?", The Daily Telegraph, May 31, 2019. Accessed December 30, 2023. "It is worth noting that the time when the rising sun aligns with Manhattan's streets, around December 5 and January 8, on either side of the winter solstice, is also known as Manhattanhenge but nobody seems that fussed about it. Poor Winter"</ref>
The FDR Drive and Harlem River Drive, both designed by controversial New York master planner Robert Moses,<ref>Kennicott, Philip. "A Builder Who Went to Town: Robert Moses Shaped Modern New York, for Better and for Worse" Template:Webarchive, The Washington Post, March 11, 2007. Accessed April 30, 2007. "The list of his accomplishments is astonishing: seven bridges, 15 expressways, 16 parkways, the West Side Highway and the Harlem River Drive..."</ref> comprise a single, long limited-access parkway skirting the east side of Manhattan along the East River and Harlem River south of Dyckman Street. The Henry Hudson Parkway is the corresponding parkway on the West Side north of 57th Street.
Bridges, tunnels, and ferriesEdit
Being primarily an island, Manhattan is linked to New York City's outer boroughs by bridges. Manhattan has fixed highway connections with New Jersey to its west by way of the George Washington Bridge, the Holland Tunnel, and the Lincoln Tunnel, and to three of the four other New York City boroughs—the Bronx to the northeast, and Brooklyn and Queens (both on Long Island) to the east and south. Its only direct connection with the fifth New York City borough, Staten Island, is the free Staten Island Ferry across New York Harbor, located near Battery Park at Manhattan's southern tip. It is also possible to travel on land to Staten Island by way of Brooklyn, via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
The 14-lane George Washington Bridge, the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge,<ref name="panynj.gov">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=abcgwb>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> connects Washington Heights, in Upper Manhattan to Bergen County in New Jersey.<ref>Lynn, Kathleen. "Fort Lee, N.J.: 'Like Being in the City Without Being in the City'", The New York Times, January 4, 2023. Accessed December 4, 2023.</ref> There are numerous bridges to the Bronx across the Harlem River, and five (listed north to south)—the Triborough (known officially as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), Ed Koch Queensboro (also known as the 59th Street Bridge), Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges—that cross the East River to connect Manhattan to Long Island.<ref>Sharif, Mo. "Protecting New York City's Bridge Assets", Federal Highway Administration Public Roads, May / June 2005. Accessed December 4, 2023.</ref>
Several tunnels also link Manhattan Island to New York City's outer boroughs and New Jersey. The Lincoln Tunnel, which carries 120,000 vehicles a day under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan, is the busiest vehicular tunnel in the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The tunnel was built instead of a bridge to allow unfettered passage of large passenger and cargo ships that sail through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River to Manhattan's piers. The Holland Tunnel, connecting Lower Manhattan to Jersey City, New Jersey, was the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Queens–Midtown Tunnel, built to relieve congestion on the bridges connecting Manhattan with Queens and Brooklyn, was the largest non-federal project in its time when it was completed in 1940;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first person to drive through it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel runs underneath Battery Park and connects the Financial District at the southern tip of Manhattan to Red Hook in Brooklyn.
Several ferry services operate between New Jersey and Manhattan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These ferries mainly serve midtown, Battery Park City, and Wall Street.
HeliportsEdit
Manhattan has three public heliports: the East 34th Street Heliport (also known as the Atlantic Metro-port), owned by New York City and run by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC); the Port Authority Downtown Manhattan/Wall Street Heliport, owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and run by the NYCEDC; and the West 30th Street Heliport, owned by the Hudson River Park Trust.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
UtilitiesEdit
Gas and electric service is provided by Consolidated Edison. Manhattan witnessed the doubling of its natural gas supply when a new gas pipeline opened on November 1, 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Con Edison operates the world's largest district steam system, which consists of Template:Convert of steam pipes, providing steam for heating, hot water, and air conditioning<ref>Ray, C. Claiborne. "Q&A" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, May 12, 1992. Accessed June 30, 2009. "In a steam-powered system, the whole cycle of compression, cooling, expansion and evaporation takes place in a closed system, like that in a refrigerator or electrical air-conditioner. The difference, Mr. Sarno said, is that the mechanical power to run the compressor comes from steam-powered turbines, not electrical motors."</ref> by some 1,800 Manhattan customers.<ref>A brief history of con edison: steam Template:Webarchive, Consolidated Edison. Accessed May 16, 2007.</ref> Cable service is provided by Time Warner Cable and telephone service is provided by Verizon Communications, although AT&T is available as well.
The New York City Department of Sanitation is responsible for garbage removal.<ref>About DSNY Template:Webarchive, New York City Department of Sanitation. Accessed May 16, 2007.</ref> The bulk of the city's trash is disposed at mega-dumps in Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio (via transfer stations in New Jersey, Brooklyn and Queens) since the 2001 closure of the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island.<ref>Burger, Michael and Stewart, Christopher. "Garbage After Fresh Kills" Template:Webarchive, Gotham Gazette, January 28, 2001. Accessed May 16, 2007.</ref> A small amount of trash processed at transfer sites in New Jersey is sometimes incinerated at waste-to-energy facilities.
New York City has the largest clean-air diesel-hybrid and compressed natural gas bus fleet, which also operates in Manhattan, in the country. It also has some of the first hybrid taxis, most of which operate in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Health careEdit
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There are many hospitals in Manhattan, including two of the 25 largest in the United States (as of 2017):<ref>Gooch, Kelly. "25 largest hospitals in America" Template:Webarchive, Becker Hospital Review, January 18, 2017. Accessed May 14, 2017.</ref>
- Bellevue Hospital
- Lenox Hill Hospital
- Lower Manhattan Hospital
- Metropolitan Hospital Center
- Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital (closed, April 2025)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Mount Sinai Hospital
- NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital
- NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem
- NYU Langone Medical Center
Water purity and availabilityEdit
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New York City is supplied with drinking water by the protected Catskill Mountains watershed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration system, New York is one of only four major cities in the US with a majority of drinking water pure enough not to require water treatment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Croton Watershed north of the city is undergoing construction of a US$3.2 billion water purification plant to augment New York City's water supply by an estimated 290 million gallons daily, representing a greater than 20% addition to the city's water availability.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Water comes to Manhattan through the tunnels 1 and 2, and in the future through Tunnel No. 3, begun in 1970.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See alsoEdit
- History of New York City
- List of Manhattan neighborhoods
- List of people from Manhattan
- Manhattanhenge
- Manhattanization
- Manhattoe
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan
- Sawing-off of Manhattan Island
- Timeline of New York City
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
SourcesEdit
- Burke, Katie. ed. Manhattan Memories: A Book of Postcards of Old New York (2000); Postcards lacking the (c) symbol are in the public domain.
- Jackson, Kenneth T. and David S. Dunbar, eds. Empire City: New York Through the Centuries (2005), 1015 pages of excerpts
- Still, Bayrd, ed. Mirror for Gotham: New York as Seen by Contemporaries from Dutch Days to the Present (New York University Press, 1956)
- Virga, Vincent, ed. Historic Maps and Views of New York (2008)
- Stokes, I.N. Phelps. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498–1909 compiled from original sources and illustrated by photo-intaglio reproductions of important maps plans views and documents in public and private collections (6 vols., 1915–28). A highly detailed, heavily illustrated chronology of Manhattan and New York City. see The Iconography of Manhattan Island All volumes are on line free at:
- I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 1. 1915 v. 1. The period of discovery (1524–1609); the Dutch period (1609–1664). The English period (1664–1763). The Revolutionary period (1763–1783). Period of adjustment and reconstruction; New York as the state and federal capital (1783–1811)
- I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 2. 1916 v. 2. Cartography: an essay on the development of knowledge regarding the geography of the east coast of North America; Manhattan Island and its environs on early maps and charts / by F.C. Wieder and I.N. Phelps Stokes. The Manatus maps. The Castello plan. The Dutch grants. Early New York newspapers (1725–1811). Plan of Manhattan Island in 1908
- I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 3. 1918 v. 3. The War of 1812 (1812–1815). Period of invention, prosperity, and progress (1815–1841). Period of industrial and educational development (1842–1860). The Civil War (1861–1865); period of political and social development (1865–1876). The modern city and island (1876–1909)
- I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 4. 1922; v. 4. The period of discovery (565–1626); the Dutch period (1626–1664). The English period (1664–1763). The Revolutionary period, part I (1763–1776)
- I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 5. 1926; v. 5. The Revolutionary period, part II (1776–1783). Period of adjustment and reconstruction New York as the state and federal capital (1783–1811). The War of 1812 (1812–1815); period of invention, prosperity, and progress (1815–1841). Period of industrial and educational development (1842–1860). The Civil War (1861–1865); Period of political and social development (1865–1876). The modern city and island (1876–1909)
- I.N. Phelps Stokes; The Iconography of Manhattan Island Vol 6. 1928; v. 6. Chronology: addenda. Original grants and farms. Bibliography. Index.
Further readingEdit
- Burns, Ric, and Sanders, James. New York: An Illustrated History (2003), book version of 17-hour Burns PBS documentary, New York: A Documentary Film
- Template:Cite gotham, The standard scholarly history, 1390pp
- Ellis, Edward Robb. The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History (2004) 640pp; Excerpt and text search; Popular history concentrating on violent events & scandals
- Homberger, Eric. The Historical Atlas of New York City: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York City's History (2005)
- Template:Cite enc-nyc2
- Kouwenhoven, John Atlee. The Columbia Historical Portrait of New York: An Essay in Graphic History. (1953)
- Lankevich, George J. New York City: A Short History (2002)
- McCully, Betsy. City at the Water's Edge: A Natural History of New York (2005), environmental history excerpt and text search
- Reitano, Joanne. The Restless City: A Short History of New York from Colonial Times to the Present (2010), Popular history with focus on politics and riots excerpt and text search
- Filler, Martin (April 2015). New York: Conspicuous Construction. Analysis of architectural and social aspects of "ultra-luxury towers ... the smokestack-like protuberances that now disrupt the skyline of midtown Manhattan." The New York Review of Books
- Story, Louise and Saul, Stephanie (February 2015). Towers of Secrecy. A series of 6 articles "examining people behind shell companies buying high-end real estate" in midtown Manhattan. Part 1: Time Warner Center: Symbol of the Boom, Part 2: The Mysterious Malaysian Financier, Part 3: The Besieged Indian Builder, Part 4: The Mexican Power Brokers, Part 5: The Russian Minister and Friends, Summary: The Hidden Money Buying Up New York Real Estate. The New York Times
External linksEdit
Template:Commons and category Template:Wikivoyage
Local government and servicesEdit
- Manhattan Borough President official site
- New York City Government with links to Manhattan specific agencies
MapsEdit
- Maps of Building Heights and Land Value, plus theoretical and zoning-based maps of underdevelopment, all from Radicalcartography.net
- Historical:
- 1729 map of Manhattan Template:Webarchive
- William J. Broad, Why They Called It the Manhattan Project, The New York Times, October 2007. Ten sites in Manhattan that helped to build the first atomic bomb in the 1940s
- Manhattan Lying on the North River by Joan Vinckeboons, 1639, from the World Digital Library
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