New York

New York is the biggest and most important city and seaport of the country. It is situated on the Atlantic coast, in the northeastern part of the country, in the state of New York at the mouth of the deep Hudson River, one of the biggest in the USA.

The Hudson River is named after Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch East India Company, who explored it in 1609.

New York is known as a "melting pot", because people of different races and nationalities make up its population of more than 8 million. Many people entered the USA through New York, the Gateway of America. Emigrants from many countries and all the continents of the world, all speaking their own languages, make up this «Modern Babylon.» New York was founded in 1613 by Dutch settlers.

New York is the financial capital of the world, the centre of the American cultural life and the national leader in fashion and entertainments. The «Big Apple» is the most popular nickname of the city. The origin of this name is unknown, but it is popular all over the world. New York has everything for everyone. It offers the best, the biggest and the brightest of everything. It is a place of excitement, beauty and contradictions.

New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

In early times the New York area was populated by Indians. In 1626 the Dutch Trade Company bought Manhattan Island from the local Indians for 24 dollars. Here the Dutch founded their colony and gave it the name New Amsterdam. In 1664, New Amsterdam was captured by British troops and renamed in New York. New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790.

Nowadays New York consists of 5 parts, called boroughs. They are Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island or Richmond were consolidated into a single city in 1898. All districts of New York are linked together by numerous bridges.

Manhattan is the central and the oldest part of the city. It is a major commercial, economic, and cultural center of the United States. Manhattan is divided into the East Side and the West Side. The dividing line is Fifth Avenue. Manhattan is also divided into Lower (Downtown) Manhattan and Upper (Uptown) Manhattan.

When people say "New York City" they usually mean Manhattan. Many of New York offices, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, Rockefeller Centre, the United Nations building, tremendous traffic, dazzling advertisements, Central Park, Times Square, Broadway, Harlem, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, with its artists and writers, the most famous avenues and streets are situated here.

Wall Street in Lower Manhattan is the financial heart of the USA and the most important banking center in the world. Here there are many business offices, banks and the world famous New York stock exchange are situated. The New York stock exchange dominates business life of many countries.

Park Avenue represents luxury and fashion because of its large expensive apartment houses. Madison Avenue is known as the centre of advertising industry. Fifth Avenue is the most famous shopping centre.

New York is a city of “skyscrapers”. The first skyscraper was built in 1902. It was 20 storeys high. The Empire State Building at Fifth Avenue is one of the tallest buildings in the world. It's a 102-storeyed building, was built in 1931. It has become a symbol of New York. Higher than that were the twin skyscrapers of the World Trade Center, each 110 stories high, destroyed in September 2001.

Not far from the Empire State Building there is an interesting architectural complex – Rockefeller Centre. It was built by John Rockefeller during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Rockefeller Centre consists of 19 skyscrapers. It houses all kinds of offices, enterprises, banks, theaters, music halls, restaurants, shops, etc. All parts of the complex are linked by underground passageways.

A traveller who visits New York for the first time wonders at the modern architecture. The Statue of Liberty, churches, hospitals, newspaper offices and other buildings are the only examples of "old" architecture in New York. Wherever your eyes travel, everywhere you can see skyscrapers.

The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbour. The statue shows liberty as a proud woman draped in the graceful folds of a loose robe. In her right hand, she holds a glowing torch. She wears a crown with 7 spikes that stand for the light of liberty shining on the 7 seas and 7 continents. In her left arm, she holds a tablet with the date of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A chain that represents tyranny lies broken at her feet. The Statue of Liberty was France's gift to America. It was designed by the French sculptor Bartholdi and presented to the USA in 1886.

New York is often called the cultural capital of the USA. It has many museums and art galleries which have collected works of art of many peoples and of all times. One of the best known museums is the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is at Fifth Avenue. It is the largest art museum and archaeology, founded in 1870. Its magnificent collection of European and American paintings contains works of many of the greatest masters of art world. This museum attracts many visitors.

The second best known museum is the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It has wonderful collections of modern art and photography. The Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art contains an impressive collection of modern artists ranging from impressionists to abstractionists. The unusual circular building of the museum was designed by F.L. Wright. The Whitney Museum of American Art or "the Whitney" comprises paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, films, videos, and new media.

No other city in the world offers as much theatre as New York where there is a daily choice of almost two hundred productions. You can see the newest plays and shows on Broadway. Broadway is the centre of the theatres and night life. It is known as “The Great White Way”, in reference to its brilliant street illuminations. Broadway is the symbol of American theatre, as Hollywood is of American cinema.

The intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue forms world-famous Times Square, the heart of the New York Theatre District. New Year's Eve celebrations stats here and at midnight a large red ball is lowered down to show that the New Year has begun.

The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Centre (the “Met”) is known throughout the music world. Several operas are presented in new productions each season. The Carnegie Hall is the city's most popular concert hall. It was opened in 1891 with a concert conducted by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

New York is famous for its festivals and special events: summer jazz, one-act play marathons, international film series and musical celebrations from the classical to the avant-garde.

New York is the city that never goes to sleep. Buses and subway run all night. There are many drugstores and restaurants which never close their doors. There are cinemas with films that start at midnight.

There are a lot of colleges and universities in New York, among them such as Columbia University, New York University, Rockefeller University, and others.

The New York Public Library is the largest library of the city. You can see a lot of interesting things here: Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington, Charles Dickens's desk and Thomas Jefferson's own handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence.

New York, one of the USA leading manufacturing cities, is the home of great firms and banks. The most important branches of industry are those producing vehicles, glass, paper products, chemicals and all kinds of machinery. The city has very busy traffic. Its streets and highways are full of cars and buses. The mouth of the Hudson River makes an excellent harbour for numerous passengers and cargo ships from all over the world. Speaking about New York one can't but mention the outstanding role, the city plays, in the cultural life of the country.