New York

Foreword

New York is a metropolis, the largest city in the USA, also nicknamed the Big Apple. It consists of Manhattan, the core of the New York city, Brooklyn , Bronx and Statue an Island.The reason why I have chosen to write about this city is that I consider New York one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

For centuries Ellis Island was the entrance gate for millions of emigrants from all over the world. The Statue of Liberty offered by the French people stands there as a symbol of democracy. New York is also the birth place of Uncle Sam, the nickname for the typical citizen of the USA.

Therefore, New Yorkers have a tendency to look down on the rest of America as being rather primitive, saying that Manhattan is an island off the coast of America. New York is a dream of American life, by its sky-scrapes, the Philharmonic, Bronx- the heart of jazz, the Museum of Natural History, and so forth.

Times Square, like Wall Street and Fifth Avenue, is one of those New York addresses that it’s famous the world over. Its main claim to fame is the massive neon billboards which have led historians to argue that modern mass advertising was born here. Yet, Times Square is also the heart of New York’s theatre distinds, 44 legitimate theatres- Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller were producing their best work- otherwise known as Broadway. As of that wasn’t enough, the Square is home to THE NEW YORK TIMES.

In terms of its size and beauty, Central Park is the envy of cities the world over. Race relations in America may be as bad as ever, but Central Park has come bouncing back.

It has a playground where locals of all ages can go fishing and sunbathing. Throughout the city, slammer parks are being transformed from havens for low-lives into places where normal people can go and relax. Even Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis used to go jogging in Central Park every day.

Midtown: 57th Street

57th Street is the home of the Russian Tea Room a Cargenie Hall. Entertaining “theme” restaurants are springing up all the time. Planet Hollywood, whose owners are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone, offers good American fare, you can eat surrounded by movie memorabilia like the costume that Judy Garland wore in THE WIZARD OF OZ, Kim Basinger’s handcuffs from 9 ½ WEEKS and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator face. The street’s older theme restaurant is the Hard Rock Café. The starting point for one of New York’s latest and most entertaining tourist attractions is the “Rock and Roll Tour NY”.

Downtown: SoHo

In many respects, So Ho ( “South of Huston Street”) is a part of Manhattan that has been up-and-coming for sometime. It was once an area of light industry, then the artists started to move in, turning the buildings into studious. By the 1980s So Ho was the centre of the New York-and world- art scene. It had also become a good place for clothes shops.

Places to visit

An interesting place to visit is the US Military Academy at the West Point, or you can watch a game of the Yankee’s Baseball Teem in the BRONX.

In February you can attend the Winter Carnival, or you can attend a horse race in summer.

After the tragic event on September 11th 2001, New York also became a symbol of communication among its citizens. The mayor of New York at that time gave the city a sense of leadership and self-confidence among the US cities.

New York is the home of United Nations!!!

Chapter 1

Cityscape

New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art, fashion, research, education, and entertainment. As host of the United Nations Headquarters, it is also an important center for international affairs. The city is often referred to as New York City or The City of New York to distinguish it from the state of New York, of which it is a part.

Located on a large natural harbor on the Atlantic coast of the Northeastern United States, the city consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The city's 2008 estimated population exceeds 8.3 million people, and with a land area of 305 square miles (790 km2).New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States.

Many districts and landmarks in the city have become well known to outsiders. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Times Square, iconified as "The Crossroads of the World", is the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway theater district and is one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections. Wall Street, in Lower Manhattan, has been a premier global financial center since World War II and is home to the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies.

Architecture

The building design most closely associated with New York City is the skyscraper, whose introduction and widespread adoption saw New York buildings shift from the low-scale European convention to the vertical rise of business districts.

As of August 2008, New York City has 5,538 highrise buildings, with 50 completed skyscrapers taller than 656 feet (200 m). This is more than any other city in United States, and second in the world behind Hong Kong.

New York has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a wide range of styles. These include the Woolworth Building (1913), an early gothic revival skyscraper built with massively scaled gothic detailing able to be read from street level several hundred feet below. The 1916 Zoning Resolution required setback in new buildings, and restricted towers to a percentage of the lot size, to allow sunlight to reach the streets below.

Manhattan's architectural skyline is universally recognized, and the city has been home to several of the tallest buildings in the world. The original Chinatown in Lower Manhattan is one of the most prominent ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia and draws throngs of tourists to its bustling sidewalks, restaurants, and discount retail establishments.

The Art Deco style of the Chrysler Building (1930), with its tapered top and steel spire, reflected the zoning requirements. The building is considered by many historians and architects to be New York's finest building, with its distinctive ornamentation such as replicas at the corners of the 61st floor of the 1928 Chrysler eagle hood ornaments and V-shaped lighting inserts capped by a steel spire at the tower's crown.

A highly influential example of the international style in the United States is the Seagram Building (1957), distinctive for its facade using visible bronze-toned I-beams to evoke the building's structure. The Condé Nast Building (2000) is an prominent example of green design in American skyscrapers.

New York's large residential districts are often defined by the classic brownstone rowhouses, townhouses, and shabby tenements that were built during a period of rapid growth 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 the Great Fire of 1835.

Unlike Paris, which for centuries was built from its own limestone bedrock, New York has always drawn its building stone from a far-flung network of quarries and its stone buildings contain a variety of textures and hues.