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New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. NYC is more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city. New York City is at the southern tip of New York State and is situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each of which is coextensive with a respective county. The five boroughs, which were created in 1898 when local governments were consolidated into a single municipality, are: Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens (Queens County), Manhattan (New York County), the Bronx (Bronx County), and Staten Island (Richmond County). New York City is a global city and a cultural, financial, high-tech, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and scientific output in life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, and it is sometimes described as the world's most important city and the capital of the world.

The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities. The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. New York City enforces a right-to-shelter law guaranteeing shelter to anyone who needs shelter, regardless of their immigration status; and the city is home to more than 3.2 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world as of 2016. It is the most visited U.S. city by international visitors. Providing continuous 24/7 service and contributing to the nickname The City That Never Sleeps, the New York City Subway is the largest single-operator rapid transit system in the world with 472 passenger rail stations, and Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere. (Full article...)

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Moses in 1939 with a model of his proposed Battery Bridge

Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influential individuals in the history of New York City and New York State. The grand scale of his infrastructural projects and his philosophy of urban development influenced a generation of engineers, architects, and urban planners across the United States.

Moses held various positions throughout his more than forty-year long career. He at times held up to 12 titles simultaneously, including New York City Parks Commissioner and chairman of the Long Island State Park Commission. Having worked closely with New York governor Al Smith early in his career, Moses became expert in writing laws and navigating and manipulating the inner workings of state government. He created and led numerous semi-autonomous public authorities, through which he controlled millions of dollars in revenue and directly issued bonds to fund new ventures with little outside input or oversight. (Full article...)

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In the news

15 March 2022 – 2022 Northeastern U.S. serial shooter
The DC Police Department arrest a suspected serial killer involved in the murders of two homeless men, and the attempted murder of three others in Washington, D.C. and New York City. (New York Post)
14 March 2022 – 2022 Northeastern U.S. serial shooter
The New York City Police Department releases images of a suspected serial killer who has shot five homeless men, two fatally, in New York City and Washington, D.C., in the last week. (The New York Times)
10 March 2022 – 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
U.S. bank Goldman Sachs announces that it is closing its operations in Russia, becoming the first major Wall Street bank to leave the country following the invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)
7 March 2022 – COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
New York City formally ends its mask mandate for its school district as well as its indoor vaccine mandate for restaurants, bars and theaters. (The New York Times) (WNYW-TV)
27 February 2022 – COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announces that the city will lift their vaccine mandate for indoor businesses and dining on March 7. (NBC News)

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Did you know...

  • ... that New York City's Equitable Building, completed just before the 1916 Zoning Resolution, was described as being "more famous for what it caused than what it is"?
  • ... that American business executive William M. Ellinghaus helped rescue New York City from bankruptcy in the late 1970s?
  • ... that the Hearst Tower was built nearly eight decades after its base was completed?
  • ... that while 1271 Avenue of the Americas was being built at New York City's Rockefeller Center, Marilyn Monroe re-launched the Center's long-dormant "Sidewalk Superintendents' Club"?
  • ... that during contract bidding for structural steel for New York City's New Lots Line, all three bids were rejected partly because the chief engineer was banking on steel prices falling?
  • ... that the Twin Parks housing project in New York City, the site of a January 2022 fire that killed seventeen people, won architectural awards after it was constructed in the early 1970s?
  • ... that The Little Players performed invitation-only puppet shows out of a New York City living room for over 25 years?
  • ... that Wall Street Journal architecture columnist Julie V. Iovine caused an uproar when she wrote that Yale University had a reputation for being a "gay school" in 1987?

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