Cities around the world adorn themselves with the attribute of “metropolis”. If any community deserves the label, it's New York City, "the city that never sleeps." Located in the US state of New York, the megacity is the most populous city in the United States. Almost eight and a half million people live within its borders. The “New York metropolitan area” is even estimated to have 19,8 million inhabitants.
Article overview New York
Lower Manhattan with One World Trade Center
New York - worth knowing
Such a development could not have been foreseen when, in 1626, a couple of Dutchmen bought a piece of land from the native Indians on what is now the Manhattan Peninsula and set up a first settlement called "Nieuw Amsterdam". Since then, the city has expanded far beyond the tongue of land between the Hudson and the East River. Amazingly, New York's total area is only 784 square kilometers. In comparison, Berlin has 892 square kilometers.
Five districts called "boroughs" form the city. More than 2,5 million people live in Brooklyn, the largest borough. The smallest county, Staten Island, has a population of over half a million.
Historically, the city's growth seems literally unreal. In 1700, just 5.000 people lived in New York. One hundred years later only 87.685 inhabitants were counted. From then on, the development accelerated noticeably. In 1900 there were already 3,44 million inhabitants and on April 1, 2010 the number of inhabitants was 8,175 million.
A bird's-eye view of New York
The city is the location of the United Nations and other international organizations. For a brief period between 1788 and 1790, New York was the capital of the United States.
New York – the economic and financial metropolis
In line with population growth, the metropolitan area has developed into one of the most important economic areas in the world. New York is an important port location. Global corporations, world-renowned media companies and service providers operate from New York. Among the financial centers, New York competes with London and Tokyo. Several major stock exchanges trade securities or commodities, including the New York Stock Exchange, founded on May 17, 1792.
The gross domestic product, the total value of all goods (goods and services), is more than 69.900 dollars pa per capita. Only a few metropolises worldwide trump this value.
The flip side of the coin: New York's rise means that the city is one of the most expensive cities in the world according to Forbes Magazine. In the United States, New York is already the most expensive city in the country. It is said that the cost of living in New York is 120 percent higher than the national average.
New York – the unique tourist destination
According to the official marketing and tourism agency NYC & Company, in the record year 2019, before the start of the corona pandemic, almost 67 million tourists visited the "Big Apple", the associated income was estimated at 47,4 billion dollars. In "normal years" more than 13,5 million foreigners move to New York, including several hundred thousand Germans.
New York and its sights
New York's guests choose from hundreds of galleries and museums, countless theaters and thousands of restaurants. You marvel at the impressive buildings in Manhattan Downtown and Midtown.
Attractions are the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building with more than 3,5 million visitors a year, the Flatiron Building, the city's first skyscraper or the 20-part building complex of the Rockefeller Center on Rockefeller Plaza.
Churches worth seeing are the American Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, the largest Catholic cathedral in the USA on 5th Avenue, Saint Patrick's Cathedral or the Trinity Church of the Episcopal Church at the end of Wall Street.
The most famous monuments and places in New York include Grand Central Terminal, which opened in 1913, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Madison Square Garden Arena.
The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883. The then longest high bridge in the world was and still is a technical marvel. It offers passers-by impressive views of New York City.
Brooklyn Bridge
Worth a visit are Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, where the first World Trade Center, destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001, used to stand, or Times Square.
We present an incomplete list of what to admire in New York at New York attractions.
The cruise destination New York
New York has three cruise terminals. They are the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the Manhattan Cruise Terminal and the Cape Liberty Cruise Port. Located on the Hudson River, the Manhattan Cruise Terminal is the best-located of New York's terminals. It is located in the Hell's Kitchen district and is well connected to the public transport network.
Manhattan Cruise Terminal with Norwegian Spirit
Cunards operates at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal across from Governors Island in Brooklyn Queen Mary 2 during visits to New York.
Brooklyn Cruise Terminal with Queen Mary 2
It's a bit far from the shot Cape Liberty cruiseport. It is used exclusively by ships belonging to the Royal Caribbean group. From our perspective, Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Newark, New Jersey is the most remote cruise port.
That being said, getting around New York is easy from all three docks using Lyft and Uber ride services, taxis, and public transit.
Update February 2023