New York, New York - Cool Facts

New York City has 722 miles of subway track.

The first daily Yiddish newspaper appeared in 1885 in New York City.

The first international sports hero, boxer Bill Richmond of Staten Island, was born August 5, 1763.

The "New York Post" established in 1803 by Alexander Hamilton is the oldest running newspaper in the United States.

The first capital of the United States was New York City. In 1789 George Washington took his oath as president on the balcony at Federal Hall.

In November for Boy Scouts and in March for Girl Scouts the annual Urban Camp-Outs are hosted at the Empire State Building.

The first presentation of 3D films before a paying audience took place at Manhattan's Astor Theater on June 10, 1915.

Gennaro Lombardi opened the first United States pizzeria in 1895 in New York City.

On July 28, 1945 an Army Air Corps B-25 crashed into the Empire State Building at the 79th floor level.

The Erie Canal, built across New York State in the 1820s, opened the Midwest to development and helped New York City become a worldwide trading center.

Joseph C. Gayetty of New York City invented toilet paper in 1857.

The first Boy's Club was established in New York City in 1876.

The first public brewery in America was established by Peter Minuit at the Market (Marckvelt) field in lower Manhattan.

Orgins of “The Big Apple”

Rumor has it that the "Big Apple" is so named because during the depression, many former financiers would travel from their suburban cottages in full suits in order to sell apples on the streets of New York. The rumor goes that several well-to-do families had to make ends-meet by selling apples and the charade became know to many as the "Big Apple" scam of New York. Since apples have always been a big part of the New York economy the name simply stuck and was eventually promoted by local government. --Truth or fiction? The Mediabridge staff is unsure, but it makes a good story.

Shelly Warwick: "The story I've always heard as to how New York began to be called the Big Apple is that jazz musicians would refer to getting a job in New York as playing the Big Apple, and the term filtered into the general vocabulary."

Paul Bloess: "The term 'Big Apple' was originally used in the 1920s and '30s by jazz musicians as a way of saying, 'There are many apples on the success tree, but when you pick New York City, you pick the Big Apple.'"

Aubrey Starr: "'The Big Apple' was the name of a jazz club. Jazz musicians used the name as synonymous with New York City because of the club's popularity. Going to New York invariably meant playing a set at The Big Apple."

Christopher Harper: "The club in Harlem, once called "The Big Apple", is now a Pharmacy."

Scott Butler: "Accoring to David Ellis's Lonely Planet 'New York City' guide (1st edition, Sept. 1997, p. 11), NYC was named so not because of jazz musicians, but because a writer covering horse races in 1920 (named John FitzGerald) repeated in the 'Morning Telegraph' what stable hands in New Orleans referred to a trip to a NY racecourse as the 'Big Apple', or greatest reward for any thoroughbred. The city government has agreed to this story, and all public tourist literature has been ammended to reflect this."

New York City was briefly the U.S. capital from 1789 to 1790

The Dutch supposedly bought Manhattan from its Native American inhabitants for about $24 worth of trinkets

Broadway, originating from Lower Manhattan at Bowling Green and ending in Albany, is one of the world's longest streets at 150 mi (241 km). The official name of this street is Highway 9.

Manhattan's downtown southern tip area is predominantly landfill. The actual "natural" Manhattan makes up only 75% of the total area in the downtown region.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine will be the largest Gothic cathedral in the world when it is completed. However, it was originally (1892) begun as a Romanesque design and converted later to Gothic (1911).

Central Park in the middle of Manhattan covers a larger area than the principality of Monaco.

Staten Island residents voted to secede from the city in 1993, but such a move would require state approval.

New York was briefly (1789-90) the U.S. capital and was state capital until 1797. By 1790 it was the largest U.S. city, and the opening (1825) of the ERIE CANAL, linking New York with the GREAT LAKES, led to even greater expansion.

In 1898 a new charter was adopted, making the city Greater New York, a metropolis of five boroughs. Massive IMMIGRATION, mainly from Europe, swelled the city's population in the late 19th and early 20th cent. After World War II, many African Americans from the South, Puerto Ricans, and Latin Americans migrated to the city in search of jobs.

New York Discovery and Settlement

Manhattan

Giovanni da VERRAZANO may have been the first European to explore the region, and Henry HUDSON visited it, but Dutch settlements truly began the city. In 1624 the town of New Amsterdam was established on lower Manhattan; Peter MINUIT supposedly bought the island from its Native American inhabitants for about $24 worth of trinkets. In 1664 the English seized the colony and renamed it; during the AMERICAN REVOLUTION they held it from 1776 to 1781.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn was settled 1636, and chartered as part of New York City in 1898. The largest of New York's five boroughs, it has diverse industries and a waterfront handling foreign and domestic commerce. From Dutch and Walloon settlements it became the village of Brooklyn Ferry (1816) and the city of Brooklyn (1834), absorbing settlements like Flatbush and Gravesend as it grew; it became (1855) the third largest U.S. city.

Queens

Queens was largely unsettled except for small farms and rural settlements. Most of the settlement of this area has happened in the 19th and 20th centuries with an influx of immigrants looking for the American dream.

Bronx

The Bronx was originally settled by Jonas Bronck in 1636. He claimed the area for his farm. The population explosion that took place in the 19th and 20th centuries was due to an influx of Italian and Irish immigrants.

Staten Island

The Island was originally discovered by 16th century Florentine explorer Giovanni Da Verrazano. In 1687 the Duke of York offered it as a prize to the winner of a sailing race. The region remained largely unsettled and rural because of its relative isolation from the rest of the city. Not until a ferry was started to the island and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was built has the island become accessible.