New York City, New York

The largest city in the United States with a population of 8,175,133 according to the 2010 Census. The city istelf is comprised of five city boroughs which are co-terminous with five state counties, making it a consolidated city/county type municipal government structure in the United States.

Inhabited by Lenape Native Americans when first explored by Europeans in 1524. The Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam was formed on the southern end of Manhattan island in 1614. In 1626 the Dutch purchased the island from the Lenape for the equivalent of about $1,000 in today's money. The English conquered the island in 1664 and renamed it New York after the Duke of York, the future James II.

It served as the colonial capital of New York from 1691 until 1776. As it grew in importance as a trading center of the British Empire it became an important site for Revolutionary activity, including the founding of the Sons of Liberty in 1765. Occupied by the British in 1776 during the Revolutionary War and turned into the British base of operations until the British recognized American independence in 1783. The city served as the national capital from 1785 to 1788 and 1789 to 1790, and was the place of the drafting of the Bill of Rights. It also served as the state capital of New York from 1788 to 1797, when the capital was moved to Albany.

The opening of the Erie Canal made the city an even more important trading center. Throughout the mid 19th century New York was the center of free African American life in the United States and an important abolitionist base. Its importance as a commercial and trading center made it a prime location for immigrant settlement from the 1840s to the 1920s; for much of that time, New York was the officially designated reception point for foreign immigration into the country. The modern City of New York was formed in 1898 out of the consolidation of the County of New York with the city of Brooklyn, the County of Richmond and the western part of the County of Queens.

In the early 20th century New York became the largest city in world as well as a center of world finance and culture. Although no longer the world's biggest city, it remains one of the most important. It remains a touchstone of popular media, serving as the setting of dozens of movies, plays, television shows and novels. Significant movies set at least partially in New York include Annie Hall, Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, Dog Day Afternoon, The Godfather Parts I and II, and West Side Story. Significant television shows set in New York include Mad Men, Seinfeld, Sex and the City, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, NYPD Blue and Law and Order.

New York's architecture and urban landscape includes (or has included) iconic structures and locations like the World Trade Center Twin Towers, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Flatiron Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the PanAm Building, Rockefeller Plaza, Time Square, Union Square, Central Park and the Statue of Liberty. Its cultural scene includes world famous museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Cloisters, as well as a well established theater industry based around Broadway. The internationally renowned universities Columbia and New York University are situated here, as well as other prominent colleges like Fordham, the City College of New York, the City University of New York, the New School and Pace University.

Prominent natives or residents of New York have included Benjamin Cardozo, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Rudy Guiliani, Mario Cuomo, Michael Bloomberg, Nelson Rockefeller, "Boss" William Tweed, Samuel Tilden, Aaron Burr, Jerry Seinfeld, Woody Allen, Alan Alda, Bea Arthur, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Al Capone, Ann Coulter, Duke Ellington, Peter Fonda, Lou Gehrig, William and Henry James, Michael Jordan, the Marx Brothers, Harvey Milk, Norman Rockwell, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Carl Sagan, Martin Scorsese, Bill Cosby, Dick Clark, Bob Dylan, Greta Garbo, Martin van Buren and Andy Warhol.

Also known as: Gotham, The Empire City, The Big Apple and The City That Never Sleeps.
Boroughs/Counties: Manhattan/New York, Brooklyn/King's, The Bronx/Bronx, Queen's and Staten Island/Richmond.

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NYC Council - council.nyc.gov/html/home/home.shtml