New York City

New York, often calledNew York CityorNYC, is themost populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip ofNew York Stateonone of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprisesfive boroughs, each coextensive witha respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both theNortheast megalopolisand theNew York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population andurban area. New York is aglobal centeroffinanceandcommerce,culture,technology,entertainmentandmedia, academics andscientific output,the arts andfashion, and, as home to theheadquarters of the United Nations,international diplomacy.
With an estimated population in 2023 of 8,258,035distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km),the city is themost densely populatedmajor city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population ofLos Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city.With more than 20.1 million people in itsmetropolitan statistical areaand 23.5 million in itscombined statistical areaas of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populousmegacities.The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legalimmigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York City,making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the United States,the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world.
New York City tracesits originstoFort Amsterdamand a trading post founded on Manhattan Island byDutch colonistsaround 1624. The settlement was namedNew Amsterdamin 1626 and wascharteredas a city in 1653. The city came underEnglish controlin 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after KingCharles IIgranted the lands to his brother, theDuke of York,before being permanently renamed New York in November 1674. Following independence from Great Britain, the city was thenational capitalof the United States from 1785 until 1790.The modern city was formed by the1898 consolidationof its fiveboroughs:Manhattan,Brooklyn,Queens,the Bronx, andStaten Island.
Anchored byWall Streetin theFinancial District, Manhattan, New York City has been called both the world's premier financial andfintechcenterand the most economically powerful city in the world.As of 2022, the New York metropolitan area is thelargest metropolitan economy in the world, with agross metropolitan productof over US$2.16 trillion.The New York metropolitan area's economy is larger than all butnine countriesin the world. Despite having a24/7rapid transit system, New York also leads the world in urban automobiletraffic congestion.The city is home to the world's twolargest stock exchangesbymarket capitalizationof their listed companies: theNew York Stock ExchangeandNasdaq. New York City is an established safe haven for global investors.As of 2023, New York City is the most expensive city in the world forexpatriatesand has by a wide margin the highest residential rents of any city in the nation;andFifth Avenueis the most expensive shopping street in the world.New York City is home by a significant margin to thehighest number of billionaires,individuals ofultra-high net worth(greater than US$30 million),andmillionairesof any city in the world.
In 1664, New York was named in honor of theDuke of York(later KingJames II of England).James's elder brother, KingCharles II, appointed himproprietorof the former territory ofNew Netherland, including the city ofNew Amsterdam, when theKingdom of Englandseized it fromDutch control.
In thepre-Columbian era, the area of present-day New York City was inhabited byAlgonquians, including theLenape. Their homeland, known asLenapehoking, included the present-day areas ofStaten Island,Manhattan,the Bronx, the western portion ofLong Island(includingBrooklynandQueens), and theLower Hudson Valley.
The first documented visit intoNew York Harborby a European was in 1524 by explorerGiovanni da Verrazzano.He claimed the area forFranceand named itNouvelle Angoulême(NewAngoulême).A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captainEstêvão Gomessailing forEmperor Charles V, arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of theHudson River, which he namedRío de San Antonio('Saint Anthony's River').
In 1609, the English explorerHenry Hudsonrediscovered New York Harbor while searching for theNorthwest Passageto theOrientfor theDutch East India Company.He sailed up what the Dutch calledNorth River(now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as theMauritiusafterMaurice, Prince of Orange.
Hudson claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area betweenCape CodandDelaware Baywas claimed by the Netherlands and calledNieuw-Nederland('New Netherland'). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City wasJuan Rodriguez, a merchant fromSanto Domingowho arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping forpeltsand trading with the local population as a representative of the Dutch.
A permanent European presence nearNew York Harborwas established in 1624, making New York the12th-oldest continuously occupiedEuropean-established settlement in thecontinental United States, with the founding of a Dutchfur tradingsettlement onGovernors Island. In 1625, construction was started on acitadelandFort Amsterdam, later calledNieuw Amsterdam(New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island.
The colony of New Amsterdam extended from the southern tip of Manhattan to modern-dayWall Street, where a 12-foot (3.7 m) woodenstockadewas built in 1653 to protect against Native American and English raids.In 1626, the Dutch colonial Director-GeneralPeter Minuit, as charged by theDutch West India Company, purchased the island of Manhattan from theCanarsie, a small Lenape band,for "the value of 60guilders"(about $900 in 2018).A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads.
Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly.To attract settlers, the Dutch instituted thepatroon systemin 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen (patroons, or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded land, local political autonomy, and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success.
Since 1621, the Dutch West India Company had operated as amonopolyin New Netherland, on authority granted by theDutch States General. In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth, the Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with theDutch West Indies).
In 1647,Peter Stuyvesantbegan his tenure as the lastDirector-Generalof New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000.Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order; however, he earned a reputation as adespoticleader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over theDutch Reformed Church, and blocked other religious groups from establishing houses of worship.
In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by ColonelRichard Nicolls, without bloodshed.The terms of the surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in the colony and allowed for religious freedom.
In 1667, during negotiations leading to theTreaty of Bredaafter theSecond Anglo-Dutch War, the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is nowSuriname, which they had gained from the English,and in return the English kept New Amsterdam. The settlement was promptly renamed "New York" after the Duke of York (the future King James II and VII).The duke gave part of the colony to proprietorsGeorge CarteretandJohn Berkeley.
On August 24, 1673, during theThird Anglo-Dutch War,Anthony Colveof the Dutch navyseized New Yorkat the behest ofCornelis Evertsen the Youngestand rechristened it "New Orange" afterWilliam III, thePrince of Orange.The Dutch soon returned the island to England under theTreaty of Westminsterof November 1674.
Several intertribal wars among the Native Americans andepidemicsbrought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between 1660 and 1670.By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200.New York experienced severalyellow feverepidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone.
In the early 18th century, New York grew in importance as atrading portwhile as a part of thecolony of New York.It became a center ofslavery, with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730.Most weredomestic slaves; others were hired out as labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York's economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with theAmerican South. During construction inFoley Squarein the 1990s, theAfrican Burying Groundwas discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free.
The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan ofJohn Peter Zenger, who had been accused ofseditious libelafter criticizingcolonial governorWilliam Cosby, helped to establishfreedom of the pressinNorth America.In 1754,Columbia Universitywas founded.
TheStamp Act Congressmet in New York in October 1765, as theSons of Libertyorganization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there.TheBattle of Long Island, the largest battle of theAmerican Revolutionary War, was fought in August 1776 within modern-day Brooklyn.A British rout of the Continental Army at theBattle of Fort Washingtonin November 1776 eliminated the last American stronghold in Manhattan, causingGeorge Washingtonand his forces to retreat across the Hudson River toNew Jersey, pursued by British forces.
After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America.The city was a haven forLoyalistrefugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom promised by theCrown, with as many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation, the largest such community on the continent.When the British forcesevacuatedNew York at the close of the war in 1783, they transported thousands offreedmenfor resettlement inNova Scotia, England, and theCaribbean.
The attempt at a peaceful solution to the war took place at theConference Houseon Staten Island between American delegates, includingBenjamin Franklin, and British generalLord Howeon September 11, 1776.Shortly after the British occupation began, theGreat Fire of New Yorkdestroyed nearly 500 buildings, about a quarter of the structures in the city, includingTrinity Church.
In January 1785, the assembly of theCongress of the Confederationmade New York City the national capital.New York was the last capital of the United States under theArticles of Confederationand the first under theConstitution.As the capital, New York City hosted the inauguration of the first President,George Washington, and the firstCongress, atFederal HallonWall Street. Congress drafted theBill of Rightsthere.TheSupreme Courtheld its first organizational sessions in New York in 1790.
In 1790, for the first time, New York City surpassedPhiladelphiaas the nation's largest city. At the end of 1790, the national capital wasmoved to Philadelphia.
During the 19th century, New York City's population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million.Under New York State'sgradual emancipationact of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held inindentured servitudeuntil their mid-to-late twenties.Together with slaves freed by their masters after the Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. TheNew York Manumission Societyworked for abolition and established theAfrican Free Schoolto educate Black children.It was not until 1827 thatslavery was completely abolished in the state.Free Blacks struggled with discrimination and interracial abolitionist activism continued. New York City's population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 (10,886 of whom were Black and of which 518 were enslaved) to 312,710 by 1840 (16,358 of whom were Black).
Also in the 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national andinternational trading center, as well as by European immigration, respectively.The city adopted theCommissioners' Plan of 1811, which expanded the citystreet gridto encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of theErie Canalthroughcentral New Yorkconnected theAtlanticport to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and theGreat Lakes.Local politics became dominated byTammany Hall, apolitical machinesupported byIrishandGerman immigrants.In 1831,New York Universitywas founded.
Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, includingWilliam Cullen Bryant,Washington Irving,Herman Melville,Rufus Wilmot Griswold,John Keese,Nathaniel Parker Willis, andEdgar Allan Poe. Members of the business elite lobbied for the establishment ofCentral Park, which in 1857 became the firstlandscaped parkin an American city.
TheGreat Irish Faminebrought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing over a quarter of the city's population.Extensive immigration from the German provinces meant that Germans comprised another 25% of New York's population by 1860.
Democratic Partycandidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing the city's ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, MayorFernando Woodcalled on thealdermento declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on.Anger at newmilitary conscriptionlaws during theAmerican Civil War(1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to theDraft Riots of 1863, whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class.
The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York's elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers after fierce competition for a decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground.At least 120 people were killed.Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance.It was one of the worst incidents ofcivil unrest in American history.
In 1886, theStatue of Liberty, a gift fromFrance, was dedicated in New York Harbor. The statue welcomed 14 million immigrants as they arrived viaEllis Islandby ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the United States and American ideals of liberty and peace.
In 1898, the City of New York was formed with theconsolidationof Brooklyn (until then a separate city), the County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens.The opening of theNew York City Subwayin 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together.Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication.
In 1904, thesteamshipGeneral Slocumcaught fire in theEast River, killing 1,021 people.In 1911, theTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the city's worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of theInternational Ladies' Garment Workers' Unionand major improvements in factory safety standards.
New York's non-White population was 36,620 in 1890.New York City was a prime destination in the early 20th century for Blacks during theGreat Migrationfrom the American South, and by 1916, New York City had the largest urbanAfrican diasporain North America.TheHarlem Renaissanceof literary andcultural lifeflourished during the era ofProhibition.The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height.
New York City became the most populousurbanized areain the world in the early 1920s, overtakingLondon. The metropolitan area surpassed 10 million in the early 1930s, becoming the firstmegacity.TheGreat Depressionsaw the election of reformerFiorello La Guardiaas mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance.
ReturningWorld War IIveterans created a post-wareconomic boomand the development of largehousing tractsin eastern Queens andNassau County, with Wall Street leading America's place as the world's dominant economic power. TheUnited Nations headquarterswas completed in 1952, solidifying New York's globalgeopoliticalinfluence, and the rise ofabstract expressionismin the city precipitated New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world.
In 1969, theStonewall riotswere a series of violent protests by members of thegay communityagainst apolice raidthat took place in the early morning of June 28, 1969, at theStonewall InninGreenwich Village.They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to thegay liberationmovementand the modern fight forLGBT rights.Wayne R. Dynes, author of theEncyclopedia of Homosexuality, wrote thatdrag queenswere the only "transgenderfolks around" during the Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality.
In the 1970s, job losses due toindustrial restructuringcaused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates.Growing fiscal deficits in 1975 led the city to appeal to the federal government for financial aid; PresidentGerald Fordgave a speech denying the request, which was paraphrased on the front page of theNew York Daily Newsas "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD".TheMunicipal Assistance Corporationwas formed and granted oversight authority over the city's finances.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 that decade and into the beginning of the 1990s.
New York City's population exceeded 8 million for the first time in the2000 census;further records were set in the2010and2020censuses.Important new economic sectors, such asSilicon Alley, emerged.
The year2000was celebrated with fanfare inTimes Square.New York City suffered the bulk of theeconomic damageand largest loss of human life in the aftermath of theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks.Two of the four hijacked airliners were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the deaths of 2,753 people, including 343 first responders from theNew York City Fire Departmentand 71 law enforcement officers.
The area was rebuiltwith anew World Trade Center, theNational September 11 Memorial and Museum, and other new buildings and infrastructure,including theWorld Trade Center Transportation Hub, the city's third-largest hub.The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphereand theworld's seventh-tallest buildingbypinnacleheight, with itsspirereaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m), a reference to the year ofAmerican independence.
TheOccupy Wall Streetprotests inZuccotti Parkin theFinancial Districtof Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing theOccupy movementagainstsocialandeconomic inequalityworldwide.
New York City washeavily impactedbyHurricane Sandyin October 2012, including flooding that led to the days-long shutdown of the subway system,and flooding of allEast Riversubway tunnels and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except theLincoln Tunnel.The New York Stock Exchange closed for two days due to weather for the first time since theGreat Blizzard of 1888.At least 43 people died in New York City as a result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $19 billion.The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counterclimate changeand rising seas, with $15 billion in federal funding received through 2022 towards those resiliency efforts.
In March 2020, the first case ofCOVID-19in the city was confirmed.With its population density and extensive exposure to global travelers, the city rapidly replacedWuhan, China as the global epicenter ofthe pandemicduring the early phase, straining the city's healthcare infrastructure.Through March 2023, New York City recordedmore than 80,000 deathsfrom COVID-19-related complications.
New York City lies in thenortheastern United States, in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway betweenWashington, D.C.andBoston. Its location at the mouth of theHudson River, which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into theAtlantic Ocean, has helped the city become a significant trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
During theWisconsin glaciation, 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a largeice sheet.The erosive forward movement of the ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action leftbedrockat a relatively shallow depth, providing a solidfoundationfor most of Manhattan's skyscrapers.
The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley intoNew York Bay. Between New York City andTroy, New York, the river is anestuary.The Hudson River separates the city from New Jersey. The East River—atidal strait—flows fromLong Island Soundand separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. TheHarlem River, another tidal strait between the East and Hudson rivers, separates most of Manhattan from the Bronx. TheBronx River, which flows through the Bronx andWestchester County, is the only entirelyfreshwaterriver in the city.
The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerableland reclamationalong thewaterfrontssince Dutch colonial times; reclamation is most prominent in Lower Manhattan, with developments such asBattery Park Cityin the 1970s and 1980s.Some of the natural relief in topography has been evened out, especially in Manhattan.
The city's total area is 468.484 square miles (1,213.37 km). 302.643 sq mi (783.84 km) of the city is land and 165.841 sq mi (429.53 km) of it is water.The highest point in the city isTodt Hillon Staten Island, which, at 409.8 feet (124.9 m)above sea level, is the highest point on the eastern seaboard south ofMaine.The summit of the ridge is mostly covered inwoodlandsas part of theStaten Island Greenbelt.
New York Cityis sometimes referred to collectively as theFive Boroughs.Each borough is coextensive with a respectivecountyof New York State, making New York City one of theU.S. municipalities in multiple counties.
Manhattan (New York County) is the geographically smallest and most densely populated borough. It is home to Central Park and most of the city'sskyscrapers, and is sometimes locally known asThe City.Manhattan's population density of 70,450.8 inhabitants per square mile (27,201.2/km) in 2022 makes it thehighest of any county in the United Statesandhigher than the density of any individual American city.Manhattan is the cultural, administrative, andfinancial centerof New York City and contains theheadquartersof many majormultinational corporations, theUnited Nations headquarters, Wall Street, and a number of important universities. The borough is often described as the financial and cultural center of the world.
Brooklyn(Kings County), on the western tip ofLong Island, is the city's most populous borough. Brooklyn is known for its cultural, social, and ethnic diversity, an independent art scene,distinct neighborhoods, and a distinctive architectural heritage.Downtown Brooklynis the largest central core neighborhood in the Outer Boroughs. The borough has a long beachfront shoreline includingConey Island, established in the 1870s as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the United StatesMarine ParkandProspect Parkare the two largest parks in Brooklyn.Since 2010, Brooklyn has evolved into a thriving hub ofentrepreneurshipandhigh technologystartup firms,and ofpostmodern artand design.Brooklyn is also home toFort Hamilton, theU.S. military'sonly active duty installation within New York City,aside fromCoast Guardoperations. The facility was established in 1825 on the site of abatteryused during theAmerican Revolution, and it is one of America's longest-serving military forts.
Queens(Queens County), on Long Island north and east of Brooklyn, is geographically the largest borough, the mostethnically diversecounty in the United States,and the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world.Queens is the site of theCiti Field, home of theNew York Mets, and hosts the annualUS Open tennis tournamentat theUSTA Billie Jean King National Tennis CenterinFlushing Meadows–Corona Park, with plans to buildEtihad Park, a soccer-specific stadium forNew York City FC.Additionally, two of the three busiest airports serving the New York metropolitan area,John F. Kennedy International AirportandLaGuardia Airport, are in Queens.
The Bronx(Bronx County) is both New York City's northernmost borough and the only one that is mostly on theU.S. mainland. It is the location ofYankee Stadium, the baseball park of theNew York Yankees, and home to the largestcooperatively-owned housingcomplex in the United States,Co-op City.It is home to theBronx Zoo, the world's largest metropolitan zoo,which spans 265 acres (1.07 km) and houses more than 6,000 animals.The Bronx is the birthplace ofhip hop musicand its associatedculture.Pelham Bay Parkis the largest park in New York City, at 2,772 acres (1,122 ha).
Staten Island(Richmond County) is the most suburban in character of the five boroughs. It is connected to Brooklyn by theVerrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and to Manhattan by way of the freeStaten Island Ferry. In central Staten Island, theStaten Island Greenbeltspans approximately 2,500 acres (10 km), including 28 miles (45 km) of walking trails and one of the last undisturbed forests in the city.Designated in 1984 to protect the island's natural lands, the Greenbelt comprises seven city parks.
Under theKöppen climate classification, New York City has ahumid subtropical climate(Cfa), and is the northernmost major city on the North American continent with this categorization. The suburbs to the immediate north and west are in the transitional zone between humid subtropical andhumid continental climates(Dfa).The city receives an average of 49.5 inches (1,260 mm) of precipitation annually, which is relatively evenly spread throughout the year. New York averagesover 2,500 hours of sunshineannually.
Winters are chilly and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blowsea breezesoffshore temper the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean; yet the Atlantic and the partial shielding from colder air by theAppalachian Mountainskeep 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 33.3 °F (0.7 °C).Temperatures usually drop to 10 °F (−12 °C) several times per winter,yet can also reach 60 °F (16 °C) for several days even in the coldest winter month. Spring and autumn are unpredictable and can range from cool to warm, although they are usually mild with low humidity. Summers are typically hot and humid, with a daily mean temperature of 77.5 °F (25.3 °C) in July.
Nighttime temperatures are 9.5 °F (5.3 °C) degrees higher for the average city resident due to theurban heat islandeffect, caused by paved streets and tall buildings.Daytime temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on average of 17 days each summer and in some years exceed 100 °F (38 °C), although this is a rare occurrence, last noted on July 18, 2012.Similarly, readings of 0 °F (−18 °C) are extremely rare, last occurring on February 14, 2016.Extreme temperatures have ranged from 106 °F (41 °C), recorded on July 9, 1936, down to −15 °F (−26 °C) on February 9, 1934;the coldest recorded wind chill was −37 °F (−38 °C) on the same day as the all-time record low.Average winter snowfall between 1991 and 2020 was 29.8 inches (76 cm); this varies considerably between years. The record cold daily maximum was 2 °F (−17 °C) on December 30, 1917, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum was 87 °F (31 °C), on July 2, 1903.The average water temperature of the nearby Atlantic Ocean ranges from 39.7 °F (4.3 °C) in February to 74.1 °F (23.4 °C) in August.
Hurricanesandtropical stormsare rare in the New York area.Hurricane Sandy brought a destructivestorm surgeto New York City on the evening of October 29, 2012, flooding numerous streets, tunnels, and subway lines in Lower Manhattan and other areas of the city and cutting off electricity in many parts of the city and its suburbs.The storm and its profound impacts have prompted the discussion of constructingseawallsand other coastal barriers around the shorelines of the city and the metropolitan area to minimize the risk of destructive consequences from another such event in the future.
The city of New York has a complex park system, with various lands operated by theNational Park Service, theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and theNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation. In its 2023 ParkScore ranking, theTrust for Public Landreported that the park system in New York City was the tenth-best park system among the most populous U.S. cities, citing the city's park acreage, investment in parks and that 99% of residents are within1⁄2mile (0.80 km) of a park.
Gateway National Recreation Areacontains over 26,000 acres (110 km), most of it in New York City.In Brooklyn and Queens, the park contains over 9,000 acres (36 km) ofsalt marsh,wetlands, islands, and water, including most ofJamaica Bayand theJamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Also in Queens, the park includes a significant portion of the westernRockaway Peninsula, most notablyJacob Riis ParkandFort Tilden.In Staten Island, it includesFort Wadsworth, with historic pre-Civil War eraBattery WeedandFort Tompkins, andGreat Kills Park.
TheStatue of Liberty National MonumentandEllis Island Immigration Museumare managed by the National Park Service and are in both New York and New Jersey. They are joined in the harbor byGovernors Island National Monument. Historic sites under federal management on Manhattan Island includeStonewall National Monument;Castle Clinton National Monument; Federal Hall National Memorial;Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site;General Grant National Memorial(Grant's Tomb);African Burial Ground National Monument; andHamilton Grange National Memorial.Hundreds of propertiesare listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesor as aNational Historic Landmark.
There are seven state parks within the confines of New York City. They include: theClay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve, a natural area that includes extensiveriding trails; theRiverbank State Park, a 28-acre (11 ha) facility;and theMarsha P. Johnson State Park, a state park in Brooklyn and Manhattan that borders the East River renamed in honor ofMarsha P. Johnson.
New York City has over 28,000 acres (110 km) ofmunicipal parklandand 14 miles (23 km) of public beaches.The largest municipal park in the city is Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, with 2,772 acres (1,122 ha),and the most visited urban park is the Central Park, and one of the most filmed and visited locations in the world, with 42 million visitors in 2023.
Environmental issues in New York City are affected by the city's size, density,abundant public transportation infrastructure, and its location at the mouth of the Hudson River. For example, it is one of the country's biggest sources of pollution and has the lowest per-capitagreenhouse gas emissionsrate and electricity usage.Governors Islandis planned to host a US$1billion research and education center to make New York City the global leader in addressing theclimate crisis.
As anoceanic portcity, New York City is vulnerable to long-term manifestations ofglobal warminglikesea level riseexacerbated byland subsidence.Climate change has spawned the development of a significantclimate resiliencyandenvironmental sustainabilityeconomy in the city. New York City has focused on reducing itsenvironmental impactandcarbon footprint.Mass transituse is the highest in the country.
New York'shigh rate of public transit use, more than 610,000 daily cycling trips as of 2022,andmany pedestrian commutersmake it the most energy-efficient major city in the United States.Walk and bicycle modes of travel account for 21% of all modes for trips in the city; nationally, the rate for metro regions is about 8%.In both 2011 and 2015,Walk Scorenamed New York City the mostwalkablelarge city in the United States,and in 2018,Stackerranked New York the most walkable American city.Citibanksponsored public bicycles for the city'sbike-shareproject, which became known asCiti Bike, in 2013.New York City's numerical "in-season cycling indicator" of bicycling in the city had hit an all-time high of 437 when measured in 2014.
The New York City drinking water supply is extracted from the protectedCatskill Mountainswatershed.As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed naturalwater filtrationsystem, New York is one of only four major cities in the United States the majority of whose drinking water is pure enough not to requirewater treatment.The city's municipal water system is the nation's largest, moving more than 1 billion U.S. gallons (3.8 billion liters) of water daily from a watershed covering 1,900 square miles (4,900 km)
According to the 2016World Health OrganizationGlobal Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database,the annual average concentration in New York City's air of particulate matter measuring 2.5micrometers or less (PM2.5) was 7.0micrograms per cubic meter, or 3.0micrograms within the recommended limit of the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for the annual mean PM2.5.TheNew York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in partnership withQueens College, conducts the New York Community Air Survey to measure pollutants at about 150 locations.
New York City is the most populous city in the United States,with 8,804,190 residents as of the2020 census, its highest decennial count ever, incorporating more immigration into the city than outmigration since the2010 census.More than twice as many people live in New York City as inLos Angeles, the second-most populous American city.The city's population in 2020 was 35.9%White, 22.7%Black, 14.6%Asian, 10.5%Mixed, 0.7%Native Americanand 0.1%Pacific Islander; 28.4% identified themselves asHispanic or Latino.
Between 2010 and 2020, New York City gained 629,000 residents, more than the total gains over the same decade of the next four largest American cities (Los Angeles, Chicago,Houston, andPhoenix) combined.The city's population density of 27,744.1 inhabitants per square mile (10,712.1/km) makes it the densest of any American municipality with a population above 100,000.Manhattan's population density is 70,450.8 inhabitants per square mile (27,201.2/km), the highest of any county in the United States.
Based on data from the 2020 census, New York City comprises about 43.6% of the state's population of 20,202,320,and about 39% of the population of theNew York metropolitan area.The majority of New York City residents in 2020 (5,141,539 or 58.4%) were living in Brooklyn or Queens, the two boroughs on Long Island.As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York,and the New York City metropolitan statistical area has the largestforeign-born population of any metropolitan regionin the world. The New York region continues to be by far the leading metropolitan gateway for legal immigrants admitted into the United States, substantially exceeding the combined totals of Los Angeles andMiami.Nearly seven times as many young professionals applied for jobs in New York City in 2023 as compared to 2019, making New York the most popular destination for recent college graduates.
According to 2022 estimates from theAmerican Community Survey, the largest self-reported ancestries in New York City wereDominican(8.7%),Chinese(7.5%),Puerto Rican(6.9%),Italian(5.5%),Mexican(4.4%),Irish(4.4%),Asian Indian(3.1%),German(2.9%),Jamaican(2.4%),Ecuadorian(2.3%),English(2.1%),Polish(1.9%),Russian(1.7%),Arab(1.4%),Haitian(1.4%),Guyanese(1.3%),Filipino(1.1%), andKorean(1.1%).
Based on American Community Survey data from 2018 to 2022, approximately 36.3% of the city's population isforeign born(compared to 13.7% nationwide),and 40% of all children are born to mothers who are immigrants.Throughout its history, New York has been a majorport of entryfor immigrants.No single country or region of origin dominates.Queens has the largestAsian AmericanandAndean populationsin the United States, and is also the most ethnically and linguistically diverse urban area in the world.
The metropolitan area has the largestAsian Indianpopulation in the Western Hemisphere; the largestRussian American,Italian American, andAfrican Americanpopulations; the largestDominican American,Puerto Rican American, andSouth Americanand second-largest overallHispanicpopulation in the United States, numbering over 5 million.Venezuela,Ecuador,Colombia,Guyana,Peru, andBrazil, are the top source countries fromSouth Americafor immigrants to the New York City region; theDominican Republic,Jamaica,Haiti, andTrinidad and Tobagoin theCaribbean;Nigeria,Egypt,Ghana,Tanzania,Kenya, andSouth AfricafromAfrica; andEl Salvador,Honduras, andGuatemalainCentral America.
New York contains the highest total Asian population of any U.S. city proper.Asian Americans in New York City, according to the 2010 census, number more than 1.2 million,greater than the combined totals ofSan FranciscoandLos Angeles.New York has the largestChinesepopulation of any city outside Asia,Manhattan's Chinatownis the highest concentration of Chinese people in theWestern Hemisphere,and Queens is home to the largestTibetanpopulation outside Asia.Arab Americansnumber over 160,000 in New York City,with the highest concentration in Brooklyn. New York City has the highestPalestinianpopulation in the United States.Central Asians, primarilyUzbek Americans, are a rapidly growing segment of the city's non-Hispanic White population.The metropolitan area is home to 20% of the nation'sIndian Americansand at least twentyLittle Indiaenclaves, and 15% of allKorean Americansand fourKoreatowns.
New York City has the largestEuropeanandnon-Hispanic whitepopulation of any American city, numbering 2.7 million in 2012.TheEuropean diasporaresiding in the city is very diverse and manyEuropean ethnic groups have formed enclaves.With 960,000 Jewish inhabitants as of 2023, New York City is home to the highestJewish populationof any city in the world,and its metropolitan area concentrated over 2 million Jews as of 2021, the second largest Jewish population worldwide after theTel Aviv metropolitan areain Israel.In the borough of Brooklyn, an estimated one in four residents was Jewish as of 2018.
New York City has been described as thegay capitalof the world and the central node of thelesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender(LGBT)sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest LGBT populations and the most prominent.The New York metropolitan area is home to about 570,000 self-identifyinggayandbisexualpeople,the largest in the country.Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults has been legal in New York since 1980'sNew York v. Onofrecase, which invalidated the state'ssodomy law.Same-sex marriage in New Yorkwas legalized on June 24, 2011, and were authorized to take place on July 23, 2011.
The annualNYC Pride Marchproceeds southward downFifth Avenueand ends atGreenwich Villagein Lower Manhattan; the parade is thelargest pride parade in the world, attracting tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June.The annualQueens Pride Paradeis held inJackson Heightsand is accompanied by the ensuingMulticultural Parade.
Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019was thelargest international Pride celebrationin history, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, with 150,000 participants and five million spectators attending in Manhattan alone.New York City is home to the largesttransgenderpopulation in the world, estimated at more than 50,000 in 2018, concentrated in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens; however, until the June 1969 Stonewall riots, this community had felt marginalized and neglected by the gay community.Brooklyn Liberation March, the largesttransgender-rightsdemonstration in LGBT history, took place on June 14, 2020, stretching fromGrand Army PlazatoFort Greene, Brooklyn, focused on supporting Black transgender lives, drawing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 participants.
Christianityis the largest religion (59% adherent) in New York City,which is home to the highest number ofchurchesof any city in the world.Catholicismis the largest Christian denomination (33%), followed byProtestantism(23%), andother Christian denominations(3%). TheLatin Catholicpopulation is primarily served by theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of New YorkandDiocese of Brooklyn, whileEastern Catholicsare divided into numerous jurisdictions throughout the city.Evangelical Protestantismis the largest branch of Protestantism in the city (9%), followed byMainline Protestantism(8%), while the converse is usually true for other cities and metropolitan areas.
With960,000 Jewish inhabitantsas of 2023,Judaismis the second-largest religion practiced in New York City.Nearly half of the city's Jews live in Brooklyn.
Islamranks as the third-largest religion in New York City, following Christianity and Judaism, with estimates ranging between 600,000 and 1,000,000 observers of Islam, including 10% of the city's public school children.22.3% ofAmerican Muslimslive in New York City, with 1.5 million Muslims in the greaterNew York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan Muslim population in theWestern Hemisphere—and the mostethnically diverseMuslim population of any city in the world.Powers Street Mosquein Brooklyn is one of the oldest continuously operating mosques in the United States, and represents the first Islamic organization in both the city and the state.
Following these three largest religious groups in New York City areHinduism,Buddhism,Sikhism,Zoroastrianism, and others. As of 2023, 24% of Greater New Yorkers identified with no organized religious affiliation, and 4% were self-identifiedatheists.
New York City is a global hub of business and commerce, sometimes called the "Capital of the World".Greater New York is theworld's largest metropolitan economy, with agross metropolitan productestimated at US$2.16 trillion in 2022.New York is a center for worldwide banking and finance,health care, andlife sciences,medical technologyandresearch, retailing, world trade, transportation, tourism, real estate,new media,traditional media, advertising,legal services,accountancy, insurance, and the arts in the United States; whileSilicon Alley,metonymousfor New York's high technology sphere, continues to expand. ThePort of New York and New Jerseyis a major economic engine, benefittingpost-Panamaxfrom the expansion of thePanama Canal.
ManyFortune 500corporations are headquartered in New York City,as are a large number ofmultinational corporations. New York City has been ranked first among cities across the globe in attractingcapital, business, and tourists.New York City's role as the top global center for theadvertising industryis metonymously reflected asMadison Avenue.The city'sfashion industryprovides approximately 180,000 employees with $11 billion in annual wages.
Significant other economic sectors include universities and non-profit institutions.Manufacturingdeclined over the 20th century but still accounts for significant employment. The city's apparel andgarment industry, historically centered on theGarment Districtin Manhattan, peaked in 1950, when more than 323,000 workers were employed in the industry in New York. In 2015, fewer than 23,000 New York City residents were employed in the industry, although revival efforts were underway,and the American fashion industry continues to be metonymized asSeventh Avenue.In 2017, the city had 205,592 employer firms, of which 22.0% were owned by women, 31.3% were minority-owned and 2.7% were owned by veterans.
In 2022, thegross domestic productof New York City was US$1.053 trillion, of which $781 billion (74%) was produced by Manhattan.Like other large cities, New York City has a degree ofincome disparity, as indicated by itsGini coefficientof 0.55 as of 2022.In November 2023, the city had total employment of over 4.75 million of which more than a quarter were in education and health services.Manhattan, which accounted for more than half of the city's jobs, had an average weekly wage of $2,590 in the second quarter of 2023, ranking fourth-highest among the nation's 360 largest counties.New York City is one of the relatively few American cities levying anincome tax(about 3%) on its residents;despite this tax levy, New York City in 2024 was home by a significant margin to the highest number ofbillionairesof any city in the world, with a total of 110.
New York City's most importanteconomic sectorlies in its role as a comprehensivefinancial center, metonymously known asWall Street.Lower Manhattanis home to theNew York Stock Exchangeand theNasdaq, representing the world's largest and second largeststock exchanges, respectively, when measured both by overall average daily trading volume and by totalmarket capitalizationof their listed companies in 2013.In fiscal year 2013–14, Wall Street'ssecurities industrygenerated 19% of New York State's tax revenue.
New York City remains the largest global center for trading inpublic equityanddebtcapital markets.New York also leads inhedge fundmanagement;private equity; and the monetary volume ofmergers and acquisitions. Severalinvestment banksandinvestment managersheadquartered in Manhattan are important participants in other global financial centers.New York is the principalcommercial bankingcenter of the United States.
Manhattan contained over 500 million square feet (46.5 million m) of office space in 2018,making New York City the largest office market in the world,whileMidtown Manhattan, with 400 million square feet (37.2 million m) in 2018,is the largestcentral business districtin the world.
New York is a top-tier global technology hub.Silicon Alley, once a metonym for the sphere encompassing the metropolitan region'shigh technologyindustries,is no longer a relevant moniker as the city's tech environment has expanded dramatically both in location and in scope since at least 2003, when tech business appeared in more places in Manhattan and in other boroughs, and not muchsiliconwas involved.New York City's current tech sphere encompasses the array of applications involving universal applications ofartificial intelligence(AI),broadbandinternet,new media,financial technology(fintech) andcryptocurrency,biotechnology,game design, and other fields withininformation technologythat are supported by itsentrepreneurship ecosystemandventure capitalinvestments.Technology-drivenstartup companiesandentrepreneurialemployment are growing in New York City and the region. The technology sector has been claiming a greater share of New York City's economy since 2010.Tech:NYC, founded in 2016, is a non-profit organization which represents New York City's technology industry with government, civic institutions, in business, and in the media, and whose primary goals are to further augment New York's substantial tech talent base and to advocate for policies that will nurture tech companies to grow in the city.
New York City's AI sector raised US$483.6 million in venture capital investment in 2022.In 2023, New York unveiled the first comprehensive initiative to create both a framework of rules and achatbotto regulate the use of AI within the sphere of city government.
Thebiotechnologysector is growing in New York City, based on the city's strength in academicscientific researchand public and commercial financial support. On December 19, 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced his choice ofCornell UniversityandTechnion-Israel Institute of Technologyto build a $2 billiongraduate schoolofapplied sciencescalledCornell TechonRoosevelt Islandwith the goal of transforming New York City into the world's premier technology capital.
New York City real estate is a safe haven for global investors.The total value of all New York City property was assessed at US$1.479 trillion for the 2017fiscal year, an increase of 6.1% from the previous year. Of the total market value, single family homes accounted for $765 billion (51.7%);condominiums,co-ops, and apartment buildings totaled $351 billion (23.7%); and commercial properties were valued at $317 billion (21.4%).Fifth Avenuein Midtown Manhattan commands the highest retail rents in the world, at $2,000 per square foot ($22,000/m) in 2023.
New York City has one of the highestcosts of livingin the world, which is exacerbated by the city's housing shortage.In 2023, one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan rented at a median monthly price of US$4,443.The median house price city-wide is over $1 million as of 2023.With 33,000 units available in 2023 among the city's 2.3 million rentable apartments, the vacancy rate was 1.4%, the lowest level since 1968 and a rate that is indicative of a shortage of available units, especially among those with rents below a monthly rental of $1,650, where less than 1% of units were available.Perennially high demand from younger adults has pushed median monthly one-bedroom apartment rents in New York City over US$4,000 and two-bedroom rents over $5,000, by a significant margin the highest in the United States.
Tourism is a vital industry for New York City, andNew York City Tourism + Conventionsrepresents the city's official bureau of tourism.New York has witnessed a growing combined volume of international and domestic tourists, with as many as 66.6 million visitors to the city per year, including as many as 13.5 million international visitors, with the highest numbers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and China.Multiple sources have called New York the most photographed city in the world.I Love New York(stylized I❤NY) is both alogoand a song that are the basis of anadvertising campaignand have been used since 1977 to promotetourism in New York City,and later to promote New York State as well. Thetrademarkedlogo is owned byNew York State Empire State Development.
Manydistricts and monumentsin New York City are major landmarks, including three of the world's ten-most-visited tourist attractions in 2023.A record 66.6 million tourists visited New York City in 2019, bringing in $47.4 billion in tourism revenue. Visitor numbers dropped by two-thirds in 2020 during the pandemic, rebounding to 63.3 million in 2023.Major landmarks in New York City include theMetropolitan Museum of Art, theStatue of Liberty, theEmpire State Building, and Central Park.Times Square is the brightly illuminated hub of theBroadway Theater District,and a major center of the world'sentertainment industry,attracting 50 million visitors annually to one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections.According toThe Broadway League, shows onBroadwaysold approximately US$1.54 billion worth of tickets in both the 2022–2023 and the 2023–2024 seasons. Both seasons featured theater attendance of approximately 12.3 million each.
New York City has been described as theentertainmentanddigital mediacapital of the world.It is a center for theadvertising,music,newspaper, digital media, and publishing industries and is the largest media market in North America.Many of the world's largestmedia conglomeratesare based in the city, includingWarner Bros. Discovery, theThomson Reuters Corporation, theAssociated Press,Bloomberg L.P., theNews Corp,The New York Times Company,NBCUniversal, theHearst Corporation,AOL,Fox Corporation, andParamount Global. Seven of the world's top eight globaladvertising agencynetworks have their headquarters in New York.
More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in the city,and the publishing industry employs about 11,500 people, with an economic impact of $9.2 billion.The two national daily newspapers with the largest dailycirculationsin the United States are published in New York:The Wall Street JournalandThe New York Timesbroadsheets.With 132 awards through 2022,The Timeshas won the mostPulitzer Prizesfor journalismand is considered the U.S. media'snewspaper of record.Tabloidnewspapers in the city include theNew York Daily News, which was founded in 1919 byJoseph Medill Patterson,and theNew York Post, founded in 1801 byAlexander Hamilton.
As of 2019, New York City was the second-largest center forfilmmakingand television production in the United States, producing about 200 feature films annually. The industry employed more than 100,000 people in 2019, generating $12.2 billion in wages and a total economic impact of $64.1 billion.By volume, New York is the world leader inindependent filmproduction—one-third of all American independent films are produced there.
New York is a major center fornon-commercial educationalmedia.NYC Mediais the official public radio, television, and online media network and broadcasting service of New York City,and has produced several originalEmmy Award-winning shows covering music and culture in city neighborhoods and city government. The oldestpublic-access televisionchannel in the United States is theManhattan Neighborhood Network, founded in 1971.WNETis the city's major public television station and produces a third of nationalPublic Broadcasting Service(PBS) television programming.WNYC, apublic radiostation owned by the city until 1997,has the largest public radio audience in the United States.
New York City is frequently thesetting for novels, movies, and television programsand has been described as the cultural capital of the world.The city is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including theHarlem Renaissancein literature and visual art;abstract expressionism(known as theNew York School) in painting; andhip-hop,punk,hardcore,salsa,freestyle,Tin Pan Alley, certain forms ofjazz,and (along with Philadelphia)discoin music. New York City has been considered the dance capital of the world.
One of the most common traits attributed to New York City is its fast pace,which spawned the termNew York minute.New York City's residents are prominently known for their resilience historically, and more recently related to their management of the impacts of theSeptember 11 terrorist attacksand theCOVID-19 pandemic.New York was voted the world's most resilient city in 2021 and 2022, perTime Out's global poll of urban residents.
The centralhub of the American theater scene is Manhattan, with its divisions ofBroadway,off-Broadway, andoff-off-Broadway.Many movie and televisionstarshave gotten their big break working in New York productions.
Broadway theatre is one of the premier forms of English-language theatre in the world, named afterBroadway, the major thoroughfare that crosses Times Square,sometimes referred to as "The Great White Way".
Forty-one venuesmostly in Midtown Manhattan'sTheatre District, each with at least 500 seats, are classified as Broadway theatres.The 2018–19 Broadway theatre season set records with total attendance of 14.8 million and gross revenue of $1.83 billionRecovering from closures forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022–23 revenues rebounded to $1.58 billion with total attendance of 12.3 million.TheTony Awardsrecognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manhattan.
The New York area is home to a distinctive regional accent and speech pattern called theNew York dialect, alternatively known asBrooklyneseorNew Yorkese. It has been considered one of the most recognizable accents withinAmerican English.The traditional New York area speech pattern is known for its rapid delivery, and its accent is characterized asnon-rhoticso that the sound[ɹ]does not appear at the end of asyllableor immediately before aconsonant, therefore the pronunciation of the city name as "New Yawk".The classic version of the New York City dialect is centered onmiddle-andworking-classNew Yorkers. The influx of non-European immigrants in recent decades has led to changes in this distinctive dialect,and the traditional form of this speech pattern is no longer as prevalent.
New York has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a wide range of styles and from distinct time periods, from the Dutch ColonialPieter Claesen Wyckoff Housein Brooklyn, the oldest section of which dates to 1656, to the modernOne World Trade Center, the skyscraper atGround Zeroin Lower Manhattan and themost expensive office towerin the world by construction cost.
Manhattan'sskyline, with its many skyscrapers, has been recognized as an iconic symbol of the city,and the city has been home to several of thetallest buildings in the world. As of 2019, New York City had 6,455 high-rise buildings, the third most in the world afterHong KongandSeoul.
The character of New York's large residential districts is often defined by the elegantbrownstonerowhouses andtownhousesand shabbytenementsthat were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930.Stone and brick became the city's building materials of choice after the construction of wood-frame houses was limited in the aftermath of theGreat Fire of 1835.
In contrast, New York City also has neighborhoods that are less densely populated and feature free-standing dwellings. In neighborhoods such asRiverdale(in the Bronx),Ditmas Park(in Brooklyn), andDouglaston(in Queens), large single-family homes are common in various architectural styles such asTudor RevivalandVictorian.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, anchoringLincoln Squareon the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is home to numerous influential arts organizations, including theMetropolitan Opera,New York City Opera,New York Philharmonic, andNew York City Ballet, as well as theVivian Beaumont Theater, theJuilliard School,Jazz at Lincoln Center, andAlice Tully Hall. TheLee Strasberg Theatre and Film Instituteis inUnion Square, andTisch School of the Artsis based at New York University, whileCentral Park SummerStagepresents free concerts in Central Park.
New York City has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations and more than 500art galleries.The city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than theNational Endowment for the Arts.The city is also home to hundreds of cultural institutions and historic sites.Museum Mileis the name for a section of Fifth Avenue running from 82nd to 105th streets on theUpper East Sideof Manhattan,in the upper portion ofCarnegie Hill.
Nine museums occupy this section of Fifth Avenue, making it one of the densest displays ofhigh culturein the world.Its art museums include theGuggenheim,Metropolitan Museum of Art,Neue Galerie New York, andThe Africa Center. In addition to other programming, the museums collaborate for the annual Museum Mile Festival, held each year in June, to promote the museums and increase visitation.Many of the world's most lucrativeart auctionsare held in New York City.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is thelargest art museumin theAmericas. In 2022, it welcomed 3.2 million visitors, ranking it thethird-most visited museumin the country, andeighth-most visited art museumin the world.Its permanent collection contains more than two million works across 17 curatorial departments,and includes works of art fromclassical antiquityandancient Egypt; paintings and sculptures from nearly all theEuropean masters; and an extensive collection ofAmericanandmodern art. The Met maintains extensive holdings ofAfrican,Asian,Oceanian,Byzantine, andIslamic art.
New York City's food culture includes an array of international cuisines influenced by the city's longimmigranthistory.CentralandEastern Europeanimmigrants, especiallyJewishimmigrants from those regions, broughtNew York-style bagels,cheesecake,hot dogs,knishes, anddelicatessens(delis) to the city.Italianimmigrants broughtNew York-style pizzaandItalian cuisineinto the city, while Jewish immigrants and Irish immigrants broughtpastramiandcorned beef,respectively.Chineseand other Asian restaurants, sandwich joints,trattorias,diners, andcoffeehousesare ubiquitous throughout the city. Some 4,000 mobile food vendors licensed by the city, many immigrant-owned, have made Middle Eastern foods such asfalafelandkebabsexamples of modern New Yorkstreet food. The city is home to "nearly one thousand of the finest and most diversehaute cuisinerestaurants in the world", according toMichelin.TheNew York City Department of Health and Mental Hygieneassigns letter grades to the city's restaurants based on inspection results.As of 2019, there were 27,043 restaurants in the city, up from 24,865 in 2017.TheQueens Night MarketinFlushing Meadows–Corona Parkattracts more than ten thousand people nightly to sample food from more than 85 countries.
New York City is a globalfashion capital, and thefashion industryemploys 4.6% of the city's private workforce.New York Fashion Week(NYFW) is a high-profile semiannual event featuringmodelsdisplaying the latest wardrobes created byfashion designersworldwide in advance of these fashions proceeding to the marketplace.
NYFW sets the tone for the global fashion industry.New York's fashion district encompasses roughly 30 city blocks inMidtown Manhattan,clustered around a stretch ofSeventh AvenuenicknamedFashion Avenue.New York's fashion calendar also includes Couture Fashion Week to showcasehaute couturestyles.The Met Gala is often described as "Fashion's biggest night".
New York City is well known for its streetparades, the majority in Manhattan. The primary orientation of the annual street parades is typically from north to south, marching along major avenues. The annualMacy's Thanksgiving Day Paradeis the world's largest parade,beginning alongside Central Park and proceeding southward to the flagshipMacy's Herald Squarestore;the parade is viewed on telecasts worldwide and draws millions of spectators in person.Other notable parades including the annualNew York City St. Patrick's Day Paradein March, theNYC LGBT Pride Marchin June, the LGBT-inspiredGreenwich Village Halloween Paradein October, and numerous parades commemorating the independence days of many nations.Ticker-tape paradescelebrating championships won by sports teams as well as other accomplishments march northward along theCanyon of HeroesonBroadwayfromBowling GreentoCity Hall Parkin Lower Manhattan.
New York City is home to the headquarters of theNational Football League,Major League Baseball,theNational Basketball Association,theNational Hockey League,andMajor League Soccer.
New York City hosted the1984 Summer Paralympicsand the1998 Goodwill Games.New York City'sbidto host the2012 Summer Olympicswas one of five finalists, but lost out toLondon.
The city has played host to more than 40 major professional teams in the five sports and their respective competing leagues. Four of the ten most expensive stadiums ever built worldwide (MetLife Stadium, the newYankee Stadium,Madison Square Garden, andCiti Field) are in the New York metropolitan area.
The city is represented in the National Football League by theNew York Giantsand theNew York Jets, although both teams play their home games at MetLife Stadium in nearbyEast Rutherford, New Jersey,which hostedSuper Bowl XLVIIIin 2014.
The city's two Major League Baseball teams are theNew York Mets, who play at 41,800-seat Citi Field in Queens and theNew York Yankees, who play at 47,400-seatYankee Stadiumin the Bronx.Thetwo rivals competein four games ofinterleague playevery regular season, called theSubway Series.The Yankees have won an MLB-record 27 championships,while the Mets have won theWorld Seriestwice.The city was once home to the Brooklyn Dodgers (now theLos Angeles Dodgers), who won the World Series once,and theNew York Giants(now theSan Francisco Giants), who won the World Series five times. Both teams moved to California in 1958.There is oneMinor League Baseballteam in the city, the Mets-affiliatedBrooklyn Cyclones,and the city gained a club in the independentAtlantic Leaguewhen theStaten Island FerryHawksbegan play in 2022.
The city's National Basketball Association teams are theNew York Knicks, who play atMadison Square Garden, and theBrooklyn Nets, who play at theBarclays Center. TheNew York Libertyis the city'sWomen's National Basketball Associationteam. The first national college-level basketball championship, theNational Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.
The metropolitan area is home to three National Hockey League teams. TheNew York Rangers, one of the league'sOriginal Six, play at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. TheNew York Islanders, traditionally representingLong Island, play inUBS ArenainElmont, New York, but played in Brooklyn's Barclays Center from 2015 to 2020. TheNew Jersey Devilsplay atPrudential Centerin nearbyNewark, New Jersey.
New York City is represented byNew York City FCof Major League Soccer, who play their home games at Yankee Stadiumand theNew York Red Bulls, who play their home games atSports Illustrated Stadiumin nearbyHarrison, New Jersey.NJ/NY Gotham FCin theNational Women's Soccer Leagueplays their home games in Sports Illustrated Stadium.Brooklyn FCis a professional soccer club based in that borough, fielding a women's team in the first-divisionUSL Super Leaguestarting in 2024 and a men's team in the second-divisionUSL Championshipin 2025.New York was a host city for the1994 FIFA World Cup, with matches being played atGiants Stadiumin neighboringEast Rutherford, New Jersey.New York City will be one of eleven host cities for the2026 FIFA World Cup, with thefinalset to be played at MetLife Stadium.
The annualUS Openis one of fourGrand Slamtennis tournaments and is held at theNational Tennis CenterinFlushing Meadows–Corona Park.TheNew York City Marathon, which courses through all five boroughs, is the world's largest running marathon, with 51,402 finishers in 2023, who came from all 50 states and 148 nations.TheMillrose Gamesis an annualtrack and fieldmeet held at theFort Washington Avenue Armory, whose featured event is theWanamaker Mile.Boxing is a prominent part of the city's sporting scene, with events like theNew York Golden Glovesheld at Madison Square Garden each year.
New York City has the largest educational system of any city.The city's educational infrastructure spansprimary education,secondary education,higher education, andresearch. TheNew York City Public Schoolssystem, managed by theNew York City Department of Education, is the largest public school system in the United States, serving about 1.1 million students in approximately 1,800 separate primary and secondary schools, includingcharter schools, as of 2017–2018.There are approximately 900 additional privately run secular and religious schools.
TheNew York Public Library(NYPL) has the largest collection of any public library system in the United States.Queens is served by theQueens Borough Public Library(QPL), the nation's second-largest public library system, while theBrooklyn Public Library(BPL) serves Brooklyn.
More than a million students, the highest number of any city in the United States,are enrolled in New York City's more than 120 higher education institutions, with more than half a million in theCity University of New York(CUNY) system alone as of 2020.According toAcademic Ranking of World Universities, New York City has, on average, the best higher education institutions of anyglobal city.
The public CUNY system comprises 25 institutions across all five boroughs. The publicState University of New York(SUNY) system's campuses in New York City includeSUNY Downstate Health Sciences University,Fashion Institute of Technology,SUNY Maritime College, andSUNY College of Optometry. New York City is home to such notable private universities asBarnard College,Columbia University,Cooper Union,Fordham University,New York University,New York Institute of Technology,Rockefeller University,Mercy University,Cornell TechandYeshiva University; several of these are ranked among the top universities in the world,while some of the world's most prestigious institutions likePrinceton UniversityandYale Universityremain in theNew York metropolitan area.
Much of thescientific researchin the city is done in medicine and thelife sciences. In 2019, the New York metropolitan area ranked firstby share of published articles in life sciences.New York City has the most postgraduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, and in 2012, 43,523 licensed physicians were practicing in New York City.There are 127Nobel laureateswith roots in local institutions as of 2004.
New York City is a center for healthcare and medical training, with employment of over 750,000 in the city's health care sector.Private hospitals in New York City include theHospital for Special Surgery,Lenox Hill Hospital,Long Island Jewish Medical Center,Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,Mount Sinai Hospital,NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, andNYU Langone Health.Medical schoolsincludeSUNY Downstate College of Medicinein Brooklyn,Albert Einstein College of Medicinein the Bronx, andCUNY School of Medicine,Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine,Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons,Weill Cornell Medicine,Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, andNew York University School of Medicinein Manhattan.
NYC Health + Hospitals(HHC) is apublic-benefit corporationestablished in 1969 which operates the city'spublic hospitalsand a network ofoutpatientclinics.As of 2021, HHC is the largest American municipal healthcare system with $10.9 billion in annual revenues.HHC serves 1.4 million patients, including more than 475,000 uninsured city residents.HHC operates elevenacute-carehospitals, fourskilled nursing facilities, six diagnostic and treatment centers, and more than 70 community-basedprimary caresites, serving primarily the city's poor and working-class residents.HHC's MetroPlus Health Plan is one of New York City's largest providers of government-sponsored health insurance, enrolling 670,000 city residents as of June 2022.
HHC's facilities annually provides service to millions of New Yorkers, interpreted in more than 190 languages.The best-known hospital in the HHC system isBellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in the United States, established in 1736.Bellevue is the designated hospital for treatment of the president and otherworld leadersshould they require care while in New York City.
The city banned smoking in most parts of restaurants in 1995 and prohibited smoking in bars, restaurants and places of public employment in 2003.Pharmaciesare banned from selling smoked and vaped products in New York State.
New York City enforces aright-to-shelterlaw guaranteeing shelter to anyone who needs it, regardless of their immigration, socioeconomic, or housing status, which entails providing adequate shelter and food.As a result, while New York has the highest total homeless population of American cities, only 5% were unsheltered by the city, representing a significantly lower percentage of outdoor homelessness than in other cities.As of 2023, there were 92,824homeless peoplesleeping nightly in the shelter system.
TheNew York Police Department(NYPD) is the largest police force in the United States, with more than 36,000 sworn officers.Members of the NYPD are frequently referred to by politicians, the media, and their own police cars by the nickname,New York's Finest.
The city saw a spike in crime in the 1970s through 1990s.Crime overall has trended downward in New York City since the 1990s;violent crime decreased more than 75% from 1993 to 2005, and continued decreasing during periods when the nation as a whole saw increases.TheNYPD's stop-and-friskprogram was declared unconstitutional in 2013 as a "policy of indirectracial profiling" of Black and Mixed residents,although claims of disparate impact continued in subsequent years.The stop-and-frisk program had been widely credited as being behind the decline in crime, though rates continued dropping in the years after the program ended.
The city set a record high of 2,245 murders in 1990 and hit a near-70-year record low of 289 in 2018.The number of murders and the rate of 3.3 per 100,000 residents in 2017 was the lowest since 1951.New York City recorded 386 murders in 2023, a decline of 12% from the previous year.New York City hadone of the lowest homicide rates among the ten largest U.S. citiesat 5.5 per 100,000 residents in 2021.
New York Cityhas stricter gun lawsthan mostother cities in the United States—a license to own any firearm is required, and theNY SAFE Actof 2013banned assault weapons. New York State had the fifth-lowest gun death rate of the states in 2020.
Organized crimehas long been associated with New York City, beginning with theForty Thievesand theRoach Guardsin theFive Pointsneighborhood in the 1820s, followed by theTongsin the same neighborhood, which ultimately evolved into Chinatown, Manhattan. The 20th century saw a rise in theMafia, dominated by theFive Families, as well as ingangs, including theBlack Spades.The Mafia and gang presence has declined in the city in the 21st century.
TheFire Department of New York(FDNY) providesfire protection, technical rescue, primary response to biological, chemical, and radioactive hazards, andemergency medical services. FDNY faces multifaceted firefighting challenges in many ways unique to New York. In addition to responding tobuilding typesthat range from wood-frame single family homes tohigh-rise structures, the FDNY responds to fires that occur in theNew York City Subway.Secluded bridges and tunnels, as well as large parks and wooded areas that can give rise to brush fires, also present challenges. The FDNY is headquartered at9 MetroTech CenterinDowntown Brooklyn,and the FDNY Fire Academy is onRandalls Island.
Mass transit in New York City, most of which runs 24 hours a day, accounts for one in every three users of mass transit in the country, and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in the New York City metropolitan area.
New York City's publicbus fleetruns24/7and is the largest in North America.The New York City bus system serves the most passengers of any city in the nation: In 2022,MTA New York City Transit's buses served 483.5 million trips, whileMTA Regional Bus Operationshandled 100.3 million trips.
ThePort Authority Bus Terminalis the city's mainintercity busterminal and the world's busiest bus station, serving 250,000 passengers on 7,000 buses each workday in a building opened in 1950 that was 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.In 2024, the Port Authority announced plans for a new terminal that would feature a glass atrium at a new main entrance on 41st Street.
TheNew York City Subwaysystem is the largestrapid transitsystem in the world when measured by stations in operation, with 472, and by length of routes. Nearly all of New York's subway system is open 24 hours a day, in contrast to the overnight shutdown common to most subway systems.The New York City Subway isthe busiest metropolitan rail transit system in the Western Hemisphere,with 1.70 billion passenger rides in 2019.
Public transport is widely used in New York City. 54.6% of New Yorkers commuted to work in 2005 usingmass transit.This is in contrast to the rest of the country, where 91% of commuters travel in automobiles to their workplace.According to theNew York City Comptroller, workers in the New York City area spend an average of 6hours and 18 minutes getting to work each week, the longest commute time in the nation among large cities.New York is the only American city in which a majority (52%) of households do not have a car; only 22% of Manhattanites own a car.Due to theirhigh usage of mass transit, New Yorkers spend less of their household income on transportation than the national average, saving $19 billion annually on transportation compared to other urban Americans.
New York City'scommuter railnetwork is the largest in North America.The rail network, connecting New York City to its suburbs, consists of theLong Island Rail Road,Metro-North Railroad, andNew Jersey Transit. The combined systems converge at Grand Central Terminal andNew York Penn Stationand contain more than 250 stations and 20 rail lines.The elevatedAirTrain JFKin Queens connectsJFK International Airportto the New York City Subway and the Long Island Rail Road.Forinter-city rail, New York City is served byAmtrak, whose busiest station by a significant margin is Penn Station on theWest Sideof Manhattan, from which Amtrak provides connections to Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. along theNortheast Corridor, and long-distance train service to other North American cities.
TheStaten Island Railwayrapid transit system solely serves Staten Island, operating 24 hours a day, with access to Manhattan from theSt. George Terminalvia theStaten Island Ferry.ThePATHtrain links Midtown and Lower Manhattan withHoboken TerminalandNewark Penn Stationin New Jersey, and then those stations with theWorld Trade Center Oculusacross the Hudson River.Like the New York City Subway, the PATH operates 24 hours a day, meaning three of the five American rapid transit systems which operate on 24-hour schedules are wholly or partly in New York.Grand Central Terminalis the world's largest train station by number ofrail platformsand acres occupied.
Multibillion-dollarheavy railtransit projects under construction in New York City include theSecond Avenue Subway.
New York's airspaceis the busiest in the United States and one of the world's busiest air corridors. The three busiest airports in the New York metropolitan area areJohn F. Kennedy International Airport(with 55.3 million passengers),Newark Liberty International Airport(43.6 million) andLaGuardia Airport(29.0 million); 127.9 million travelers used these three airports in 2022.JFK and Newark Liberty were thebusiest and fourth-busiest U.S. gatewaysfor international air passengers, respectively, in 2023.As of 2011, JFK was thebusiest airport for international passengersin North America.
Described in 2014 by then-Vice PresidentJoe Bidenas the kind of airport travelers would see in "some third world country", LaGuardia Airport has undergone an $8 billion project with federal and state support that has replaced its aging facilities with modern terminals and roadways.Plans have advanced to expand passenger volume at a fourth airport,Stewart International Airport, nearNewburgh, New York, by thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey.Other commercial airports in or serving theNew York metropolitan areaincludeLong Island MacArthur Airport,Trenton–Mercer AirportandWestchester County Airport. The primary general aviation airport serving the area isTeterboro Airport.
TheStaten Island Ferryis the world's busiestferry, carrying more than 23 million passengers from July 2015 through June 2016 on a 5.2-mile (8.4 km) route between Staten Island and Lower Manhattan and running 24/7.Other ferry systems shuttle commuters between Manhattan and other locales within the city and the metropolitan area.NYC Ferry, aNYCEDCinitiative with routes planned to travel to all five boroughs, was launched in 2017.
Identified by their color andtaxi medallion, the city's 13,587yellow taxicabsare the only vehicles allowed to pick up riders making street hails throughout the city.Apple green-coloredboro taxiscan pick up street hails inUpper Manhattanand the four outer boroughs.Long dominated by yellow taxis,high-volume for-hire vehiclesfromUberandLyfthave provided the most trips in the city since December 2016, when the for-hire vehicles and cabs each had about 10.5 million trips. By October 2023, the 78,000 vehicles-for-hire combined for 20.3 million trips, while 3.5 million trips were in yellow taxis.
TheRoosevelt Island Tramway, anaerial tramwaythat began operation in 1976,transports 2 million passengers per year the 3,140 feet (960 m) between Roosevelt Island and59th StreetandSecond Avenueon Manhattan Island.
New York City has mixed cycling conditions which include urban density, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and many pedestrians. The city's large cycling population includesutility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; recreationalcycling clubs; and an increasing number ofcommuters. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2022 there were approximately 61,200 people who commuted daily using a bicycle and 610,000 daily bike trips, both nearly doubling over the previous decade.As of 2022, New York City had 1,525 miles (2,454 km) ofbike lanes, including 644 miles (1,036 km) of segregated or "protected" bike lanes citywide.
Streets are also a defining feature of the city. New York has been found to lead the world in urban automobiletraffic congestion.TheCommissioners' Plan of 1811greatly influenced its physical development. New York City has an extensive web offreewaysandparkways, which link the city's boroughs to each other and toNorth Jersey, Westchester County, Long Island, and southwesternConnecticutthroughbridges and tunnels. Because these highways serve millions of outer borough and suburban residents whocommuteinto Manhattan, it is common for motorists to be stranded for hours in dense traffic congestion that is a daily occurrence, particularly duringrush hour.Congestion pricing in New York Citywas activated in January 2025, applying to most motor vehicular traffic using the area of Manhattan south of60th Street, in an effort to encourage commuters to userapid transitinstead.Unlike the rest of the country, New York State prohibitsturns on red lightsin cities with a population greater than one million, to reduce collisions and increase pedestrian safety. In New York City, therefore, all turns on red lights are illegal unless a sign permitting such maneuvers is present.
The boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island are located on islands with the same names, while Queens and Brooklyn are at the west end of the larger Long Island, and the Bronx is on New York State's mainland. Manhattan Island is linked to the outer boroughs and to New Jersey by an extensive network of bridges and tunnels. The 14-laneGeorge Washington Bridge, connecting Manhattan to New Jersey across the Hudson River, is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge.TheVerrazzano-Narrows Bridge, spanningthe Narrowsbetween Brooklyn and Staten Island, is the longestsuspension bridgein the Americas and one of the world's longest.TheBrooklyn Bridge, with its stone neo-Gothic suspension towers, is an icon of the city; opened in 1883, it was the first steel-wire suspension bridge and was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903.TheQueensboro Bridge"was the longestcantilever spanin North America" from 1909 to 1917.TheManhattan Bridge, opened in 1909, "is considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges", and its design "served as the model for the major long-span suspension bridges" of the early 20th century.TheThrogs Neck BridgeandWhitestone Bridgeconnect Queens and the Bronx, while theTriborough Bridgeconnects Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.
TheLincoln 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.The tunnel was built instead of a bridge to allow unfettered passage of large passenger andcargo shipsthat sailed through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River to Manhattan's piers. TheHolland Tunnel, connecting Lower Manhattan toJersey City, New Jersey, was the first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel when it opened in 1927.TheQueens–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.TheBrooklyn–Battery Tunnel(officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) is the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in North America and runs underneathBattery Park, connecting theFinancial District, Manhattan, toRed Hook, Brooklyn.
New York City is ametropolitan municipalitywith astrong mayor–council form of government.The city government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services.
TheCity Councilis aunicameralbody of 51 council members whose districts are defined by geographic population boundaries.Each term for themayorand council members lasts four years and has a twoconsecutive-term limit,(reset after a four-year break). TheNew York City Administrative Code, theNew York City Rules, andThe City Recordare the code of local laws, compilation of regulations, and official journal, respectively.
Each borough is coextensive with ajudicial districtof the stateUnified Court System, of which theCriminal Courtand theCivil Courtare the local courts, while theNew York Supreme Courtconducts major trials and appeals. Manhattan hosts the First Department of theSupreme Court, Appellate Division, while Brooklyn hosts the Second Department. There are several extrajudicialadministrative courts, which are executive agencies and not part of the state Unified Court System.
New York City is divided between, and is host to the main branches of, two differentU.S. district courts: theDistrict Court for the Southern District of New York, whose main courthouse is onFoley Squarein Manhattan and whose jurisdiction includes Manhattan and the Bronx;and theDistrict Court for the Eastern District of New York, whose main courthouse is in Brooklyn and whose jurisdiction includes Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.TheU.S. Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitandU.S. Court of International Tradeare also based on Foley Square.
The city's mayor isEric Adams, a Democrat who waselected in 2021.The Democratic Party holds the majority of public offices. As of November 2023, 67% of active registered voters in the city are Democrats and 10.2% areRepublicans.New York City has not been carried by a Republican presidential candidate since1924, and no Republican candidate for statewide office has won all five boroughs since the city was incorporated in 1898. In redistricting following the 2020 census, 14 ofNew York's 26 congressional districtsinclude portions of New York City.
New York City is a significant source ofpolitical fundraising.The city has a strong imbalance of payments with the national and state governments. It receives 83 cents in services for every $1 it sends to the federal government intaxes(or annually sends $11.4 billion more than it receives back). City residents and businesses also sent an additional $4.1 billion in the 2009–2010fiscal yearto the state than the city received in return.
In 2006, thesister cityprogramwas restructured asNew York City Global Partners. New York'shistoric sister citiesare denoted below by the year they joined New York City's partnership network.