24 facts about New York City

  1. In 1626, the Dutch purchased Manhattan Island from the Lenape Native Americans for 60 guilders (about $1000).photo New York City night
  2. In the 1660s New York City's “skyline” was dominated by a two-story-high windmill.
  3. The English conquered the city from the Dutch in 1664, and “New Amsterdam” became “New York.”
  4. When the Dutch still controlled the region, Wall Street was the city limit and there was actually a wall there.
  5. In 1698, New York City only had a population of 4,937 people.
  6. New York City served as the capital of the United States in the 1780s before it was moved to Philadelphia and then Washington D.C.
  7. George Washington, the first President of the United States, was inaugurated in New York in 1789 at the site of Federal Hall.
  8. Manhattan's Chinatown is the largest Chinese enclave in the Western Hemisphere.
  9. Despite the many rat infested slums in New York City, only 311 people are bitten by rats in an average year. ¡But 1,519 residents are bitten annually by other New Yorkers!
  10. Lady Gaga was born in New York City on March 28, 1996.
  11. New York City is now the most populated city in the USA with more than 8.2 million people.
  12. Hong Kong is the only city in the world with more completed skyscrapers than New York City.
  13. 36% of the current population of New York City was born outside the United States.
  14. Since 2005, New York City has the lowest crime rate of the 25 largest US cities, and one of the safest cities in the US overall.
  15. The vaults 80 feet beneath the Federal Reserve Bank on Wall Street store more than 25% of the world's gold bullion (and you thought it was all in Fort Knox!).
  16. The New York subway system is the largest mass transit system in the world with 468 stations and 842 miles (1355 km) of track.
  17. Unlike most major subways systems around the world, the New York Subway runs 24 hours a day.
  18. About 40% of the New York Subway system is above ground.
  19. Cleopatra's Needle, a 3,000-year-old Egyptian ruin, can actually be found in New York's Central Park. In 1879 it was given to the city as a gift by the Khedive of Egypt. The 220-ton, 66-foot-high monument took a decade to be fully transported.
  20. The musicians who perform in the NYC Subway system have to go through a competitive audition process — some of the subway musicians have also played at Carnegie Hall.
  21. Almost 35 million vehicles pass through the Holland Tunnel each year.
  22. The New York City Marathon is the largest in the world, with 37,850 finishers in 2006.
  23. Central Park attracts 25 million visitors per year.
  24. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (”The Met”) contains over 2 million works, making it one of the largest art museums in the world.
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