NEW YORK HARBOR IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND BEST IN THE WORLD, OVERSEEING AN INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNMATCHED BY ANY OTHER AMERICAN PORT. THE CITY IS THE PUBLISHING, FASHION, AND RETAIL CENTRE OF THE UNITED STATES, AND HOME TO A GREAT VARIETY OF MANUFACTURING€TIVITIES.
AS A CENTRE FOR THE ARTS NY CITY IS UNCHALLENGED. ITS FAMOUS BROADWAY THEATRE DISTRICT IS STILL THE MOST LIVELY IN THE U.S. . AND THERE ARE OFF-BROADWAY AND OFF-OFF-BROADWAY PRODUCTIONS AS WELL. THE METROPOLITAN OPERA AT LINCOLN CENTRE IS KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE MUSIC WORLD, AS ARE THE BALLET COMPANIES, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, AND THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM. THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY IS AN OUTSTANDING RESEARCH FACILITY. THE WORLD’S LARGEST GOTHIC-STYLE CHURCH, THE CATHEDRAL OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE, IS IN UPPER MANHATTAN, NEAR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. THE UNIVERSITY ITSELF IS ONE OF THE MANY PRESTIGIOUS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS THAT DOT THE AREA.
A MAJOR PART OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA, AND GEOGRAPHICALLY LARGER THAN THE CITY, IS LONG ISLAND. BEFORE WORLD WAR II THE ISLAND WAS MOSTLY RURAL, APART FROM THE BOROUGHS OF BROOKLYN AND QUEENS, WITH SMALL VILLAGES AND HOLIDAY HOMES FOR THE WEALTHY. SUBURBAN DEVELOPMENT BEGAN AFTER THE WAR, AND TODAY MOST OF THE ISLAND IS HEAVILY SUBURBANIZED AND COVERED WITH EXPRESSWAYS. YET A GOOD DEAL OF RURAL AREA REMAINS FOR FARMING AND FOR USE AS SUMMER PLAYGROUNDS.
FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS NEW YORK SERVED AS PORT OF ENTRY FOR MOST OF THE IMMIGRANTS WHO CAME TO AMERICA. THEIR FIRST SIGHT WAS OFTEN THE MAGNIFICENT STATUE OF LIBERTY STANDING 92 METRES (302 FEET) HIGH ON LIBERTY ISLAND JUST WEST OF BATTERY PARK AT THE TIP OF LOWER MANHATTAN. ONLY IN RECENT YEARS HAS LOS ANGELES TAKEN OVER AS THE CHIEF POINT OF ENTRY TO THE U.S.A. .
MORE THAN 80 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN THROUGHOUT THE NEIGHBOURHOODS AND STREETS OF NEW YORK. THE LARGEST EARLY IMMIGRANT GROUP CAME FROM GERMANY; LARGER GROUPS QUICKLY FOLLOWED. THE IRISH WERE THE FIRST OF THESE. AT ONE TIME THEY MADE UP ONE QUARTER OF THE CITY’S POPULATION. THE IRISH ARE NOW DISPERSED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND THERE IS NO PART OF IT THAT COULD NOW BE DESCRIBED AS STRICTLY IRISH. BUT MUCH OF THE CITY’S POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CHARACTER CAN BE TRACED TO THE IRISH.
A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF NEW YORK’S RESIDENTS ARE OF JEWISH ANCESTRY. MOST CAME FROM EASTERN EUROPE, AND YIDDISH IS STILL THE MOTHER TONGUE FOR SOME OF THEM (YIDDISH IS BASICALLY A GEMANIC DIALECT WITH MANY HEBREW WORDS). THE LOWER EAST SIDE WAS LONG FAMOUS FOR ITS JEWISH FLAVOUR, BUT TODAY JEWS LIVE THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
ITALIANS BEGAN ARRIVING IN LARGE NUMBERS IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY. LITTLE ITALY ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE OF MANHATTAN AND THE ITALIAN NEIGHBOURHOODS OF GREENWICH VILLAGE REFLECT THE ORIGINAL SICILIAN AND SOUTHERN ITALIAN CUSTOMS AND LANGUAGES.
HARLEM, A SECTION OF UPPER MANHATTAN, IS THE BEST KNOWN BLACK NEIGHBOURHOOD IN THE UNITED STATES. IT WAS HOME, EARLIER IN THIS CENTURY, TO A CULTURAL AND LITERARY REVIVAL CALLED THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE, WHICH BROUGHT FAME TO A NUMBER OF WRITERS AND ARTISTS, INCLUDING JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, CLAUDE MCKAY, COUNTEE CULLEN, LANGSTON HUGHES, WALLACE THURMAN, AND WILLIAM JORDAN RAPP. SINCE WORLD WAR II HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PUERTO RICANS HAVE MIGRATED TO NEW YORK, AND MANY LIVE IN THE GHETTOS OF EAST HARLEM.
AN EXTENSIVE AND MODERN TRANSPORT SYSTEM IS VITAL TO A CITY OF NEW YORK’S SIZE. THE 1ST ELEVATED URBAN TRANSIT LINES OPENED IN NY IN 1868. SUBWAY TRAVEL IN THE CITY BEGAN IN 1904.
MORE THAN 70 BRIDGES AND TUNNELS CROSS THE WIDE RIVERS THAT GO THROUGH AND AROUND THE CITY. BOTH THE HOLLAND AND THE LINCOLN TUNNELS PASS UNDER THE HUDSON RIVER. THE QUEENS-MIDTOWN TUNNEL AND THE BROOKLYN-BATTERY TUNNEL PASS UNDER THE EAST RIVER.
NY CITY INCLUDES SOME OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST BRIDGES. THE BROOKLYN, WILLIAMSBURG, MANHATTAN, QUEENSBORO, AND TRIBOROUGH BRIDGES CROSS THE EAST RIVER. THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE CROSSES THE HUDSON RIVER, AND THE VERRAZANO-NARROWS BRIDGE CROOSES NY BAY. THE CITY HAS THREE AIRPORTS: LA GUARDIA, KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL, AND NEWARK.
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