New York City

*"Excelsior!" --* New York City motto

The **City of New York**, often called New York City, is both the most populous city in the **United States** and the most densely populated. Located at the southern tip of the **state of New York**, the city is a global power city, exerting significant impact upon world culture and economics. It is the seat of the United Nations and is an important site of international diplomacy.

Situated in one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York consists of five boroughs, each of which is a separate county--**Brooklyn**, **Queens**, **Manhattan**, **the Bronx** and **Staten Island.** Each borough has a culture, lingo, and attitude all unto itself, though each are all considered proud New Yorkers.

## Overview

New York is the largest city and largest metropolitan area, by population, in the United States. It is an international center for politics, theater, music, fashion, finance and culture. New York City is classified as a Global City and houses the United Nations.

The city is home to many landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Flatiron Building, Chrysler Building and Saint Patrick's Cathedral, among many, many others.

### The Five Boroughs

#### **Brooklyn**

Brooklyn is the second largest of the five boroughs and the largest in population with over 2 million residents. It is a flat terrain located on Long Island across the East River and Upper New York Bay from Manhattan.

Known for its ethnic diversity, Brooklyn maintains a clear distinction from the rest of the city. It has a centralized business district and neighborhoods are varied, holding definite characteristics apart from each other. Racial tensions have been known to run high primarily in the neighborhoods of Bensonhurst, an African American neighborhood and Crown Heights, which is populated by Orthodox Jews.

Brooklyn is home to many industries and the Port of New York, which handles a large volume of foreign and domestic trade. Manufacturers are varied as the area handles anything from metalwork to textiles. Other industries include construction and transportation.

For more information on Brooklyn, you can **read more here.**

#### **The Bronx**

The Bronx is the northernmost borough of NYC and the fourth largest. A largely residential area rife with slums and urban decay, the Bronx is the only portion of New York on the mainland.

Public housing projects nestled among the piles of rubble are common sights in the Bronx. Many buildings are half-demolished and stand in urban ruins, or vacant. Industrial areas are few in the Bronx and concentrated in the southernmost portion. They are chiefly made up of manufacturing plants such as food processing and garment assembly. Along the waterfront, shipping facilities, warehouses and the largest produce market on the East coast are the mainstay of the landscape.

For more information on the Bronx, you can **read more here**.

#### **Manhattan**

The heart of New York City. This is one of the world's leading financial, cultural, commercial, manufacturing and medical centers. The smallest and oldest borough, Manhattan is the most dense in population. Comprised of an island surrounded by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay and the East River, Manhattan is approximately 31 square miles in size.

With over 1.5 million people packed into the small area, personal transportation in Manhattan is challenging at best. Most New Yorkers opt for public transportation as the city has one of the most extensive subway systems in the world. Taxis are plentiful, but be prepared to fight for one as they are in high demand. Streets are crowded with pedestrians as the busy New Yorkers spill out from the subway stations to go about their business.

The architecture varies, but on the whole it has made a practice of preserving important landmarks while building on top of other structures after demolishing them. This has created a myriad of hidden tunnels and unused structures tucked away among the towering skyscrapers that dominate the landscape.

For more information on Manhattan, **see here.**

#### **Queens**

The largest of the five boroughs of New York City, and is located to the north of Brooklyn. It covers roughly 109 square mils of western Long Island and includes a few smaller islands, most of which are in Jamaica Bay and form part of Gateway National Recreation Area.

It is primarily residential but not without its important manufacturing, distribution and transportation facilities as Queens is home to both John F. Kennedy and La Guardia Airports. Manufactures of paints, textiles and paper products are located here. Like Brooklyn, the neighborhoods of Queens are diverse and distinct.

For more information on Queens, **read here**.

#### **Staten Island**

Staten Island is the third largest and least populated of New York's boroughs. It is an overwhelmingly white and upper income suburban area with rows of neatly manicured lawns. Separated from the city by Upper and Lower New York Bays, it is closer to New Jersey than New York and is linked to Manhattan by the Verrazano Bridge and Staten Island Ferry.

With docks and shipping facilities located on the north and northeastern shores, Staten Island's industrial activities include oil refining, chemical production, communication equipment and soap.

For more information on Staten Island, **read here**.

## Culture

New York is truly cosmopolitan, home to hundreds of distinct subcultures, styles, and ethnic backgrounds that all combine to make New York City a place unlike any other in the world.

### Art

New York City has more 2,000 arts and cultural organizations and more than 500 art galleries of all sizes. The city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the National Endowment for the Arts. Wealthy business magnates have built a network of major cultural institutions, such as the famed Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

### Cuisine

New York City's food culture includes a variety of international cuisines influenced by the city's immigrant history. Central European and Italian immigrants brought bagels, cheesecake, and New York-style pizza into the city, while Chinese and other Asian restaurants, sandwich joints, trattorias, diners, and coffeehouses have become ubiquitous.

In addition to some of the finest and oldest restaurants in the world, street food vendors with carts and trucks have become ubiquitous, found throughout the city. While hot dogs, tacos, tamales, and roasted peanuts are the first things people think of, though more recent decades have made Middle Eastern foods, such as falafel and kebabs, staples of modern New York street food.

### Literature

* **Butler Library:** Located at Columbia University, is described as one of the most beautiful college libraries in the United States.
* **New York Public Library:** Located at 5th avenue and 42nd Street, the New York Public Library has the largest collection of any public library system in the United States, is one of the business and well-known libraries in the world. Serves Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island.

### Media

* **CNN Building**
* **The New York Bulletin:** One of the more influential newspapers in the city. They tend to cover a lot of superhero-related stories.
* **The New York Times**

### Parades

New York City 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 parades are held in Manhattan. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the world's largest parade, beginning alongside Central Park and processing southward to the flagship Macy's Herald Square store; the parade is viewed on telecasts worldwide and draws millions of spectators in person.

### Performing Arts

Broadway theater is one of the premier forms of English-language theater in the world, named after Broadway, the major thoroughfare that crosses Times Square. Forty-one venues in Midtown Manhattan's Theater District, each with at least 500 seats, are classified as Broadway Theaters.

The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, anchoring Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is home to numerous influential arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet, as well as the Juliard School, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Alice Tully Hall. The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute is in Union Square and Tisch School of the Arts is based at New York University, while Central Park SummerStage presents free music concerts in Central Park.

### Sports

New York City is home to the headquarters of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer. The New York metropolitan area hosts the most sports teams in these five professional leagues. The city has played host to over forty major professional teams in the five sports and their respective competing leagues, both current and historic.

New York has been described as the "Capital of Baseball". It is one of only five metro areas to have two baseball teams. Additionally, there have been 14 World Series in which two New York City teams played each other, known as a Subway Series and occurring most recently in 2000.

* **Baseball:** New York Yankees; New York Mets; formerly Brooklyn Dodgers
* **Football:** New York Jets
* **Basketball:** New York Knicks
* **Hockey:** New York Rangers

## Climate

Winters are cold and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore temper the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean. 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 77 degrees in July.

Nighttime conditions are often exacerbated by the urban heat island phenomenon, while daytime temperatures exceed 90 degrees on average.

## Economy

#### **Stocks & Money**

New York is a global hub of international business and commerce. It's most important economic sector lies in its role as the headquarters of the U.S. Financial Industry, known as Wall Street. The city's securities industry continues to form the largest segment of the city's financial sector and many large and start-up financial companies are centered in New York City.

Lower Manhatten is the third-largest central business district in the USA and is home to the New York Stock Exchange, on Wall Street, and the NASDAQ. Many of the world's largest media conglomerates are also based in the city. Manhatten has the largest office market in the United States, while Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in the world.

#### **Technology**

Silicon Alley, centered in Manhattan, has evolved into a nickname given to the metropolitan region's high technology industries involving internet, new media, telecommunications, digital media, software development, biotechnology, game design, financial technology and other fields within information technology.

#### **Tourism**

Tourism is a vital industry for New York City, which has witnessed a growing combined volume of international and domestic tourists, receiving more than 65 million visitors annually. Many of the world's most lucrative auctions are held in New York City.

## Parks

The City of New York has a complex park system, with over 28,000 acres of municipal parkland and 14 miles of public beaches. The largest municipal park in the city is Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, though the most famous in undoubtedly **Central Park**. Notable parks include:

* **Central Park:** Located in middle-upper Manhattan, it is the most visited urban park in the United States. The park contains a myriad of attractions; there are several lakes and ponds, two ice-skating rinks, the Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, and the 106-acre Jackie Onassis Reservoir. Indoor attractions include Belvedere Castle with its nature center, the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, and the historic Carousel.
* **Flushing Meadows-Corona Park:** In Queens, it is the city's fourth largest park. It was the setting for the 1939 World's Fair and the 1964 World's Fair and is host to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and the annual United States Open Tennis Championships tournament.
* **Prospect Park:** In Brooklyn. Has a 90-acre meadow, a lake, and extensive woodlands. Within the park is the historic Battle Pass, prominent in the Battle of Long Island.
* **Washington Square Park:** A prominent landmark in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. The Washington Square Arch at the northern gateway to the park is an iconic symbol of both New York University and Greenwich Village.

## Landmarks

Some of New York City's most famous landmarks include:

* **Chrysler Building:** Located in Manhattan.
* **Empire State Building:** Located in Manhattan.
* **Grand Central Station:** Located in Midtown Manhattan.
* **New York Bulletin Building:** Located in Brooklyn.
* **Statue of Liberty**
* **United Nations Headquarters:** Located in Manhattan.
* **United States Atomic Research Center:** Located on the outskirts of Queens.

## Points of Interest

The following are places throughout the city where characters may find interesting or want to visit, or can provide story opportunities:

* **Astro Labs:** The Applied Scientific and Technical Research Organization (ASTRO) is the largest scientific research company in the world. The company occupies its own office park in the North End.
* **DeCosta Construction:** DeCosta Construction is the largest building contractor in New York City. The company is a local success story and quite popular with the blue-collar community for the number of jobs it provides. It's based out of a renovated brownstone in Brooklyn.
* **Eclipse:** This club in Manhattan's south side caters to the Goth and Industrial crowd. The owners like to claim the club was built in an old church, but the building was actually owned by NYU and renovated to *look* like an old church. The club's closeness to NYU makes it a popular nightspot for students.
* **Hot Licks:** This Midtown jazz bar features live acts for the connoisseur. It's in a rebuilt early 1900s house that's deliberately cozy--some would say "cramped".
* **Imperial Technologies:** The offices of **Imperial Technologies** and their R&D labs.
* **Machine:** The city's foremost gay club, the building is a renovated warehouse with plenty of exposed pipes and brickwork overlaid with a lot of exposed metal. Pounding dance music fills the entire place. The main dance floor spans the building's first floor while tables and bars occupy the two upper balcony areas that overlook the scene.
* **Midnight Hour:** This underground alternative (and dry) dance club is very popular with high school students and college patrons not yet old enough to enter the other clubs legally. It's a "good place to keep kids off the street".
* **Stan's Super Heroes:** A local chain of sandwich shops known for reasonable prices and large portions.
* **The Starlight Room:** High atop the Tremont Hotel in downtown Manhattan is the Starlight Room, a revolving restaurant offering a spectacular view of the city skyline and serving fine cuisine prepared by its staff of chefs. The Starlight Room also features night dancing and live music, making it a popular--if expensive--nightspot.
* **Tia Maria's:** This west end restaurant, located in Hell's Kitchen, is known for its unique blend of Spanish and Italian cuisine and it comes family-style with enormous portions; people always take leftovers from a meal here.
* **Titan Security Services:** A top-of-the-line security consulting company for businesses and wealthy individuals.
* **Wading Way Brewery:** A microbrewery and American pub-style restaurant, it is located not far from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Park. It's popular with college students and young professionals.
* **Wintergreen:** This upscale cafe in Tribeca is the converted bottom floor of an old rowhouse. Far from any competing Starbucks, this cozy setting serves a variety of coffees and teas, pastries and other delicacies.

## Extrahumans

After **The Storm**, New York City became a hub for extrahuman activity. Unlike the riots in **Los Angeles**, New York seems to have some sort of respect for and acceptance of superheroes. With time, the local superheroes take on a local celebrity among the city's residents.

The early days and immediate fallout of the superhero scene in New York City is chronicled in the **Guardians** campaign.

### The Rhoades Institute

Notably, though few people are aware of its existence, one of the pioneers of extrahuman research, **Dr. Alexander Rhoades**, lived in Manhattan for many years and founded **The Rhoades Institute** in 1968 in Midtown as a means to help young extrahumans struggling with the physical and psychological difficulties associated with their abilities.

The Rhoades Institute no longer exists as an entity today, with its existence only being hinted at in Dr. Rhoades' controversial and difficult to find book titled *Evolution Horizon: Mankind's Tomorrow*. The Rhoades Institute plays a central role in the **Generation X** campaign.

## Notable Residents

* **Ada Lang**
* **Astrid Lang**
* **Carmine Driogano**
* **Frankie Tonifanni**
* **Giovanni "Johnny" Oliverti**
* **Joe Fordman**
* **Samuel Vought**
* **Tony Zucco**