About New York
New
York County, New
York, more accurately known as the Borough of
Manhattan or Manhattan Island, is the place tourists usually
refer to as New York City. (NYC actually consists of five
boroughs, of which Manhattan is only one.)
Manhattan’s dramatic skyline symbolizes New York to the
world. New York County, Manhattan Island, NY is bounded by the
Hudson River on the west, New York Bay on the south, the East
River on the east, and the Harlem River and Spuyten
Duyvil Creek on the northeast and north. Many bridges,
tunnels, and ferries link New York County to the other
boroughs and to New Jersey.
Many well-known destinations are harbored on this island. Broadway,
Central
Park, Times
Square, Wall
Street, Madison
Avenue, Greenwich
Village, The Empire
State Building and the former World
Trade Center or “Ground Zero” are all clustered here.
New York County, NY (Manhattan) has a total population of
1,562,723 according to the U.S.
Census 2004 estimate. That’s a population density of
66,940 persons per square mile, making New York County the
most densely populated area in America.
Median household income, $47,030, is ahead of the state
level of $43,393, and per capita income of $42,922 is almost
double that of the state average. It is a city of extremes.
Manhattan has one of the largest concentrations of extreme
wealth in the entire United States, while containing specific
areas of concentrated poverty, such as Harlem.
This 24 square mile island of Manhattan is the cultural and
commercial heart of the city. A popular haven for art, the
neighborhood of Chelsea in downtown Manhattan, is widely known
for its galleries and cultural events. The late 1970’s
popularized an ongoing "pop art" movement in the
city, which flourishes today. Among the best known of the
city's many arts museums are the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Museum
of Modern Art, the Solomon
R. Guggenheim Museum, the Frick
Collection (housed in the Frick mansion) and the Whitney
Museum of American Art.
New York City is a vibrant center for commerce and business
and one of the three “world cities”, along with London
and Tokyo,
that control world finance. Manufacturing of small but highly
diverse products, accounts for a large but declining amount of
employment. Clothing and other apparel, such as furs;
chemicals; metal products; and processed foods are some of the
principal items manufactured here. They are also a major
center of television broadcasting, book publishing,
advertising, and other facets of mass communication.
New York County, New York is also famous for its ethnic
diversity, manifesting itself in scores of communities
representing virtually every nation on earth, each preserving
its identity. Little
Italy and Chinatown
date back to the mid-19th cent. African Americans from the
South began to migrate to Harlem
after 1910, and in the 1940’s large numbers of Puerto Ricans
and other Hispanic Americans began to settle in what is now
known as Spanish
Harlem.
Ethnic and cultural diversity are celebrated in New York
County, NY. Since the 1980s New York City has undergone
substantial population growth, primarily due to new
immigration from Latin America, Asia, Jamaica, Haiti, the
Soviet Union - Russia, and Africa. |
