about new york city essay

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Character of the city

The city site.

• Climate and plant and animal life
• The city layout
• Staten Island
• Planning the modern metropolis
• Ethnic and religious diversity
• Internal migration
• Early industries
• Shipping and transportation
• Banking and finance
• The development of industry and trade
• The centre of business
• Primary and secondary systems
• Higher education
• Cultural life
• The colonial city
• Growth of the metropolis
• Greater New York

Why is New York City important in the United States?

What is the average temperature of new york city.

New York City

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• CRW Flags - Flag of New York City, New York, United States
• Official Site of the City of New York
• Official Tourism Site of New York City, New York, United States
• PBS - American Experience - Historic New York
• United States History - History of New York City, New York
• New York City - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• New York City - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

Where is New York City located?

New York City is located at the mouth of the Hudson River in southeastern New York state, which is in the northeastern section of the United States.

What are the five boroughs of New York City?

The five boroughs of New York City are Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.

New York City is the largest and most influential American metropolis and the most populous and the most international city in the country. Located where the Hudson and East rivers empty into one of the world’s premier harbors, New York is both the gateway to the North American continent and its preferred exit to the oceans of the globe.

What does the seal of New York City look like?

The seal of the city of New York was adopted in 1686. It includes a beaver and a flour barrel, images that document the first major phase of Manhattan’s economic history, the fur trade and flour exports.

The average temperature of New York City is about 31 °F (0 °C) in January and about 72 °F (22 °C) in June, but recorded temperature extremes range from −15 to 106 °F (−26 to 41 °C). The annual precipitation is 44 inches (1,120 mm). Because of New York’s moderate climate, the harbor rarely freezes.

Recent News

New York City , city and port located at the mouth of the Hudson River , southeastern New York state, northeastern U.S. It is the largest and most influential American metropolis, encompassing Manhattan and Staten islands, the western sections of Long Island , and a small portion of the New York state mainland to the north of Manhattan. New York City is in reality a collection of many neighbourhoods scattered among the city’s five boroughs— Manhattan , Brooklyn , the Bronx , Queens , and Staten Island —each exhibiting its own lifestyle. Moving from one city neighbourhood to the next may be like passing from one country to another. New York is the most populous and the most international city in the country. Its urban area extends into adjoining parts of New York, New Jersey , and Connecticut . Located where the Hudson and East rivers empty into one of the world’s premier harbours, New York is both the gateway to the North American continent and its preferred exit to the oceans of the globe. Area 305 square miles (790 square km). Pop. (2010) 8,175,133; New York–White Plains–Wayne Metro Division, 11,576,251; New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island Metro Area, 18,897,109; (2020) 8,804,190; New York–Jersey City–White Plains Metro Division, 12,449,348; New York–Newark–Jersey City Metro Area, 20,140,470.

Did You Know? Since the first U.S. census was held in 1790, New York has been the largest city in the United States . How do other cities rank? Find out in our list of the 25 largest U.S. cities.

New York is the most ethnically diverse , religiously varied, commercially driven, famously congested, and, in the eyes of many, the most attractive urban centre in the country. No other city has contributed more images to the collective consciousness of Americans: Wall Street means finance, Broadway is synonymous with theatre, Fifth Avenue is automatically paired with shopping, Madison Avenue means the advertising industry, Greenwich Village connotes bohemian lifestyles, Seventh Avenue signifies fashion, Tammany Hall defines machine politics, and Harlem evokes images of the Jazz Age , African American aspirations , and slums. The word tenement brings to mind both the miseries of urban life and the upward mobility of striving immigrant masses. New York has more Jews than Tel Aviv , more Irish than Dublin , more Italians than Naples , and more Puerto Ricans than San Juan . Its symbol is the Statue of Liberty , but the metropolis is itself an icon, the arena in which Emma Lazarus ’s “tempest-tost” people of every nation are transformed into Americans—and if they remain in the city, they become New Yorkers.

For the past two centuries, New York has been the largest and wealthiest American city. More than half the people and goods that ever entered the United States came through its port, and that stream of commerce has made change a constant presence in city life. New York always meant possibility, for it was an urban centre on its way to something better, a metropolis too busy to be solicitous of those who stood in the way of progress. New York—while the most American of all the country’s cities—thus also achieved a reputation as both foreign and fearsome, a place where turmoil, arrogance , incivility, and cruelty tested the stamina of everyone who entered it. The city was inhabited by strangers, but they were, as James Fenimore Cooper explained, “essentially national in interest, position, pursuits. No one thinks of the place as belonging to a particular state but to the United States.” Once the capital of both its state and the country, New York surpassed such status to become a world city in both commerce and outlook, with the most famous skyline on earth. It also became a target for international terrorism—most notably the destruction in 2001 of the World Trade Center , which for three decades had been the most prominent symbol of the city’s global prowess. However, New York remains for its residents a conglomeration of local neighbourhoods that provide them with familiar cuisines, languages, and experiences. A city of stark contrasts and deep contradictions, New York is perhaps the most fitting representative of a diverse and powerful nation.

The landscape

Sections of the granite bedrock of New York date to about 100 million years ago, but the topography of the present city is largely the product of the glacial recession that marked the end of the Wisconsin Glacial Stage about 10,000 years ago. Great erratic boulders in Manhattan’s Central Park , deep kettle depressions in Brooklyn and Queens, and the glacial moraine that remains in parts of the metropolitan area provide silent testimony to the enormous power of the ice. Glacial retreat also carved out the waterways around the city. The Hudson and East rivers, Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and Arthur Kill are, in reality, estuaries of the Atlantic Ocean , and the Hudson is tidal as far north as Troy . The approximately 600 miles (1,000 km) of New York shoreline are locked in constant combat with the ocean, as it erodes the land and adds new sediments elsewhere. Although the harbour is constantly dredged, ship channels are continually filled with river silt and are too shallow for more modern deep-sea vessels.

South of the rockbound terrain of Manhattan stretches a sheltered deepwater anchorage offering easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1524 the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to enter the harbour, which he named Santa Margarita, and he reported that the hills surrounding the vast expanse of New York Bay appeared to be rich in minerals; more than 90 species of precious stone and 170 of the world’s minerals have actually been found in New York. Verrazzano’s daring expedition was commemorated in 1964, when what was then the world’s longest suspension bridge was dedicated to span the Narrows at the entrance to Upper New York Bay.

Only the third largest American port at the time of the American Revolution , New York gradually achieved trade domination and by the mid-1800s handled more than half of the country’s oceangoing travelers and commercial trade. After 1900 New York was the world’s busiest port, a distinction it held until the 1950s. Cargo containerization, the obsolescence of its waterfront piers, and soaring labour costs shifted business to the New Jersey side of the river after the 1960s, but at the beginning of the 21st century the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey still dominated the water trade of the northeastern United States.

Essay About New York City: World’s Most Breathtaking Place

Our world is full of wonders and every person should plunge into unforgettable feelings they give us. One of those wonders is New York City. It is considered to be the city of diversity, opportunities, and unbelievable beauty. This essay on New York will definitely help you find your own way in exploring it.

New York essay: Five delicious pieces of the Big Apple

Each of five boroughs is unique and characterized by specific features of living there. You can recognize Manhattan by its eminent skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center, numerous universities and colleges and wonderful Central Park. It represents the financial heart of the city. You can see busy clerks and businessmen on Wall Street and hear continuous clicking and typing of office workers and programmers eager to make fortune. It is for sure, they would make money faster with the smart writing service like ours.

Brooklyn nowadays is a core of the powerful “machine” producing exclusive organic food and promoting modern art, cinema and indie music. All creativity is mostly presented by the Williamsburg neighborhood, the hot spot for the young people ready to enjoy every single breath of night. However, you can notice how the fascinating night clubs transform into calm and quiet Cobble Hill and Park Slope residences. Bushwick offers shopping for young families.

In the northern part of New York, the Bronx stretches its boundaries. Known for its agrarian past and the first settlers skilled at farming, hunting and fishing , the Bronx has parklands and gardens at its disposal now. New York Botanical Garden will amaze you with the beauty of rare flowers and plants and the Bronx Zoo is going to immerse you in the atmosphere of wildlife. Have you ever been to Italy? The Bronx is called “real Little Italy” , by the way. New York City makes it possible to fall for the charm of Bella Italia right on Arthur Avenue.

If you think about sports as the best way of entertainment or care for your body and want to keep trim, you are to visit Queens. Take your rollers and skates and be free to disclose vivid streets. Stroll by Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Root for New Your Mets at Citi Field stadium. Go to Flushing Chinatown nearby to satisfy your hunger with some special Asian dainties. But be careful with those dainties, for instance, choose a healthy Mediterranean diet and make the right choice of your dietary pattern for effective training.

Staten Island is regarded as the keeper of the city’s past. This part of NYC encompasses museums and historical attractions such as prominent Historic Richmond Town where anyone may play the role of a person of the 19th century. Moreover, this place combines sunny beaches and the biggest and coolest forest preserve of the city. If you are interested in ordering an essay concerning New York boroughs, take a look at our services. Our company will help you save your money.

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New York City in five words

It is hard sometimes to describe a beautiful place just in a few words. Only a skilled writer expresses the right thought briefly and clearly. We know that New York welcomes everyone all over the world. Despite the great number of tourist attractions, its vividness and versatility also catch an eye. Take a look at five simple words describing New York:

1. Multiplicity.

New York is a real polygonal diamond in the jewel box of America. That is why it has about one hundred different names. For example, look at how the name “The Big Apple” appeared . John Fitzgerald, a sports reporter, was the first to use such a nickname in his articles. One day, he heard the horsemen in New Orleans talking about going to “the big apple”, the venue of horseracing, which was NYC. In the 17th century, New York City also got the name New Amsterdam due to Dutch West India company.

2. Hospitality.

The city is the paradise for immigrants. It takes the first place among heavily-populated cities of America. Many foreigners from all over the world come here willing to open new possibilities and challenge themselves. This multicultural harbor is a combination of the true American lifestyle and international flavoring. Aliens can find here a place reminding their own cultural environment. For instance, Brooklyn is a borough where Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Jamaican people etc. may encounter fellow countrymen and simply feel at home. Check our essay on American culture to get more information: https://smartwriters.org/blog/essay-on-american-culture-how-should-we-start

3. Musicality.

The Big Apple can boast its staginess of the onstage and musical life. Dozens of theaters open their doors for visitors in Broadway. Many essays on New York cover great Broadway performances including astonishing “Cats” and “Chicago”. These are the must-see performances accompanied by incredible acting and pompous dancing. You can hear music everywhere in the city. Feel its sound from the windows of huge dwellings and especially on the streets of Times Square and even underground. Lots of street musicians and dancers entertain passers-by and devote themselves entirely to the rhythm and endless passion of music.

4. Eccentricity.

By the way, famous Times Square, the place of giant shining billboards, big screens, fashionable shopping centers and glam, gathers lots of extraordinary personalities. You can meet here specific characters form the Statue of Liberty in human guise to cartoons and even daring naked cowboy with the guitar hiding the most “shocking” parts of his body in his hands. So getting amazing emotions is possible for free right in Times Square. Here, you can allow yourself being a bit of weirdo especially when it comes to putting your personal goals into life. Look here for some interesting ideas on achieving success in our essay about career goals .

Did you know how many bridges there are in New York? In total, almost 2,000 bridges and tunnels were built here. Today, the most outstanding of them comprises Brooklyn, Manhattan and Verrazzano Bridges. All they are the symbolic architectural embodiment of a connection between things, which seem utterly differ at first glance. Considering the contrast between nations, religions, sights, and territories that the city represents, the feeling of unity there is quite impressive. This contrast is based on the grounds of respect and friendship. Look at this essay to enquire the importance of friendship in our life: https://smartwriters.org/blog/what-is-friendship-essay-who-is-a-friend

Consider this descriptive essay on New York City as your guide. Now it is up to you to choose your path in the kingdom where everything is so different and similar at the same time. Keep in mind that there are plenty of options. At one moment you find yourself inside the boiling business pot like Wall Street or rejoice over bright sun of the beaches standing with your toes in the warm sand, listening to the sound of the sea at another moment. Whatever you want to do, New York has it all. If you liked this essay, you can find out more about our company and writing services.

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Essay on New York City

Students are often asked to write an essay on New York City in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on New York City

Introduction to new york city.

New York City is a big, busy place in the United States. It has five parts called boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Many people from all over the world live here, making it a place with lots of different cultures.

Famous Places in New York City

Life in new york city.

In New York City, life moves fast. Streets are filled with taxis, buses, and people walking. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and places to have fun.

New York City is known for its bright lights and tall buildings. It’s a place where you can find something new and exciting around every corner.

250 Words Essay on New York City

The city is known for some very famous spots. The Statue of Liberty is a huge statue that stands for freedom. Central Park is a big green space where people can play and relax. The Empire State Building is a very tall building that lets you see the city from high up.

Life here is fast and exciting. The streets are often full of cars and the sidewalks full of people walking. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and places to see plays called theaters. The city never sleeps, which means there is always something to do, even late at night.

Transport in New York City

Getting around the city is easy with many buses and trains. The subway is a train that runs under the ground and can take you to many places quickly.

Culture and Food

New York City has food from all around the world because people from different countries live here. You can try new foods and learn about other cultures.

New York City is a special place with lots to see and do. It is full of life, with many different people and activities that make it an exciting city to visit or live in.

500 Words Essay on New York City

The skyline and buildings.

When you think of New York City, you might picture its skyline first. The skyline is the shape made by all the tall buildings when you look at the city from far away. The tallest of these buildings is called One World Trade Center. There are many other tall buildings, too, like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. These buildings are not just offices; some have places to live, restaurants, and shops.

The People of New York

Lots of people live in New York City. In fact, over eight million people call it home. They come from all over the world, which makes New York a very special place. You can hear different languages, eat foods from many countries, and meet people with different customs and traditions.

Famous Places to Visit

Transportation in the city.

Getting around New York City is easy because there are many ways to travel. The subway is a train that runs under the ground and can take you to many places quickly. Buses run on the streets, and there are also yellow taxis that you can hail to get a ride.

Culture and Entertainment

New York City is an exciting place with lots to see and do. It’s a city of tall buildings, lots of people, and fun places to visit. Whether you are interested in history, art, or just want to see the sights, New York City has something for everyone. It’s a place that shows the best of what a big city can offer, and that’s why so many people love it.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Sometimes we just need a break. If you yearn to tune out the news for an hour or two (stepping away from Twitter is a good, albeit difficult, practice), here are 10 stories published on Curbed NY that will get your mind off the temporary situation saddling us all. These articles run the gamut, from the history of a modernist Manhattan apartment building to the personal stories of nine native New Yorkers.

As always, take care and thanks for reading.

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Law & Order’s New York was never real by James Nevius

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New York as a Tourist Attraction City Essay

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Introduction

My stay in new york, visits to famous places.

New York is a lively city and one that is constantly on the move. Apparently, the dynamic nature of the city has created a culture where residents are often fascinated by new things. For this reason, the business community has to keep coming up with new ways to package products and services. Products and services include accommodation facilities, clubs, food, transportation, and entertainment. When new attractions come into existence, they only excite residents for a short while.

New York is a famous city and one that is characterized by constant change. According to Carroll (2012), New Yorkers are often fascinated by the dynamic nature of the city. Whenever new attractions such as clubs, restaurants or stores come into existence, they only excite people for a short while. Drawing from a study by Nee (2012), New York is not viewed as a city of ancient monuments and statues. However, New Yorkers still respect the older structures that have been around for ages.

This paper presents a discussion about my visit to New York and highlights some attractions and moments that fascinated me.

From my childhood days, I always admired and desired to visit New York someday. The opportunity finally came when I received an invitation from an old friend to visit. From my little knowledge of New York, I knew that I would have an exciting experience.

On arrival, the first thing I became aware of was how busy the city was. It appeared to me like there was no room for idlers in New York. Surprisingly, New York seemed even busier at night. As noted by Nee (2012), New York is a city that roars to life every day and stays alive past midnight.

A notable characteristic of New York is the existence of many fast food restaurants. According to Parker (2014), one only needs a pizza to survive in New York. This explains the reason for many restaurants in the city. Various means of transport can be found in New York including taxis, trains, and buses. For shorter distances, taxi is the most preferred means of transport. However, it is important to note that taxi drivers do not talk much (Parker, 2014). Personally, I enjoyed using buses to move from one part of the city to another. Unlike other cities where places for walking while crossing a road are clearly designated, no such thing exists in New York.

My friend had organized for me to visit a few places in New York. The first place to visit was the 9/11 memorial. The memorial serves to remind Americans about the incident that caused the death of so many people. According to Owen (2015), the 9/11 memorial carries a very powerful message of loss in the United States. However, Presser (2012) argues that the memorial is a tribute to all those who lost their lives during the attack and is thus an important symbol of hope and revitalization.

After the 9/11 memorial, the next place for me to visit was the Times Square. Times Square is regarded as one of the renowned entertainment locations in the world (Nee, 2012). The visit to Times Square was at night and the place was colorful, noisy, and very busy. In addition, there were so many people, including the police, students, and excited theatre funs all involved in different activities.

I also got a chance to visit Central Park. Located in the heart of the city, Central Park is among the world’s most famous green places. According to Kifer (2013), the park is huge and contains a number of natural features. It is very easy to get lost unless one is careful.

When I set out to visit New York, I expected to see so much and at the end of my visit, I was not disappointed. I enjoyed every single moment in New York and would not hesitate to visit again.

Carroll, M. (2012). New York City for dummies . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Kifer, C. (2013). Tips for First-Time Travel to New York City . Web.

Nee, P. (2012). Top 10 Guide to New York City Sights . Boston, MA: Internationalist Publishing Company.

Owen, P. (2015). 10 of the best ways to enjoy New York … on a budget . Web.

Parker, L. (2014). 21 Things you learn the first time you visit NYC . Web.

Presser, B. (2012). Lonely Planet Pocket New York City . Australia: Lonely Planet.

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IvyPanda. (2021, April 15). New York as a Tourist Attraction City. https://ivypanda.com/essays/new-york-as-a-tourist-attraction-city/

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1. IvyPanda . "New York as a Tourist Attraction City." April 15, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/new-york-as-a-tourist-attraction-city/.

Bibliography

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Essay Samples on New York City

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About New York City Essay

Crafting an essay on the subject of New York City is both an exhilarating and challenging endeavor. The difficulty lies not in the scarcity of information or inspiration about this iconic metropolis, but rather in the vastness of its multifaceted identity. New York City is a kaleidoscope of cultures, history, architecture, and experiences, making it a daunting task to encapsulate its essence within the confines of an essay.

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This Essay From 1949 Is Still The Greatest Love Letter To New York City

Much has been written on the city of New York. It's the eternal backdrop for rom-coms and financial thrillers, the source of Harlem Renaissance poetry and meandering web-series set in Brooklyn. An endless sea of books, films, and blogs have put forth their opinions on the city, each as contradictory and final as the next (it's overrated, lonely, overcrowded, beautiful, dirty, loud, magnificent, and the damned trains don't work). But if there is an apotheosis of writing on the apotheosis of cities, it has to be E.B. White's aptly titled essay-turned-book Here Is New York .

E.B. White is best known today for his children's books, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan, or for his writing style guide, The Elements of Style (he's the "White" in "Strunk & White"). He was also an essayist for The New Yorker and other publications for over fifty years, and "Here Is New York" might be his most celebrated essay. It's a straightforward stroll through the streets of Manhattan, the quintessential love letter to New York and New Yorkers. And, despite being published in 1948, it might be one of the most haunting pieces of post 9/11 literature ever written.

New York has changed since 1949, of course. America has changed. But to read "Here Is New York" today, it's impossible to shake the vague feeling that E.B. White was some kind of oracle, that he knew precisely which parts of the city would flourish, which would disappear, and how it might feel to live in New York in 2018, under the existential threat of war.

Here Is New York by E.B. White, $13, Amazon

White's essay begins by getting straight to the heart of New York's character:

On any person who desires such queer prizes, New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy.

It's not quite that simple, of course. White understands that New York is made up of a latticework of neighborhoods, interwoven pockets of community, and that New Yorkers are not really the cold-hearted creatures that slow walking tourists might see them as.

At the same time, though, White revels in New York's ability to cram in several million people and maintain an air of perfect solitude. There is spectacle and excitement if one wants spectacle and excitement, but every event is optional (with the exception, according to White, of the St. Patrick's Day parade, which "hits every New Yorker on the head").

He also understands that there is no single New York, but rather a number of different, overlapping cities, depending on who's looking:

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something...Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion.

All of these conflicting New Yorks manage to meld and coexist, however, in a city that "has been compelled to expand skyward because of the absence of any other direction in which to grow." This cramped profusion of different lives and cultures only adds to the city, in White's opinion:

A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning. The city is like poetry: it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines. The island of Manhattan is without any doubt the greatest human concentrate on earth, the poem whose magic is comprehensible to millions of permanent residents but whose full meaning will always remain elusive.

For all his rhapsodizing on the poetry of New York, though, White admits that the city can impart "a feeling of great forlornness or forsakenness," that it can often be "uncomfortable and inconvenient." But, as he puts it, "New Yorkers temperamentally do not crave comfort and convenience — if they did they would live elsewhere.”

After all, "the city makes up for its hazards and deficiencies by supplying its citizens with massive doses of a supplementary vitamin: the sense of belonging to something unique, cosmopolitan, mighty, and unparalleled."

And then there are the last two pages of the essay.

The subtlest change in New York is something people don’t speak much about but that is in everyone’s mind. The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate the millions. The intimation of mortality is part of New York now: in the sound of jets overhead, in the black headlines of the latest edition.

White was writing about New York in the aftermath of World War II, after the introduction of the atomic bomb. But his words land squarely in the gut of any New Yorker who lived through 9/11, and of any American who currently lives under a president willing to make nuclear war the subject of angry tweets.

All dwellers in cities must live with the stubborn fact of annihilation; in New York the fact is somewhat more concentrated because of the concentration of the city itself, and because, of all targets, new York has a certain clear priority. In the mind of whatever perverted dreamer might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm.

White does not want to comfort his reader or assure the eternal safety of New York. He's not interested in hand-wringing or fear-mongering. He only tries to make sense of the fear. He's here to remind us of the things that must be protected in a time of political turbulence. Turning against each other is not an option for a city build on coexistence.

The city at last perfectly illustrates both the universal dilemma and the general solution, this riddle in steel and stone is at once the perfect target and the perfect demonstration of nonviolence, of racial brotherhood, this lofty target scraping the skies and meeting the destroying planes halfway, home of all people and all nations, capital of everything...

Finally, White compresses his own fear, New York's fear, the world's fear, into one last paragraph:

A block or two west of the new City of Man in Turtle Bay there is an old willow tree that presides over an interior garden. It is a battered tree, long-suffering and much climbed, held together by strands of wire but beloved of those who know it. In a way it symbolizes the city: life under difficulties, growth against odds, sap-rise in the midst of concrete, and the steady reaching for the sun. Whenever I look at it nowadays, and feel the cold shadow of the planes, I think: "This must be saved, this particular thing, this very tree." If it were to go, all would go—this city, this mischievous and marvelous monument which not to look upon would be like death.

From across the gulf of history, writing in New York of the 1940's, he manages to capture the mingled hope and terror that comes with life in any city today.

Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — New York City — The Popularity of the New York City

The Popularity of The New York City

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Collection The Life of a City: Early Films of New York, 1898 to 1906

New york city at the turn of the century.

At the turn of the century, New York was the preeminent American city; it represented the "new metropolis." The great waves of European immigrants coming to New York, the consolidation of the five boroughs into one vast city, the development of the city's infrastructure, and the incredible construction boom of the next thirty years all contributed to the city's prominence. In many of the New York films there is a sense of pride, or perhaps a celebration of the emergence of the great metropolis. The best of these films convey the sense that the already sprawling city was in the process of becoming something much more than a squalid, chaotic urban center; there are skyscrapers going up -- the tallest in the world; a great suspension bridge being opened -- the largest in the world; and a new subway system -- the longest in the world. We see a proud police force marching in front of a large crowd, orderly columns of street sweepers parading in clean white suits, and the most powerful fireboat in the world blasting jets of water from all of its nozzles simultaneously.

Notable among the New York actualities is a recurring theme of garbage disposal methods and equipment, showing that the city government had developed the administrative ability to provide basic services on a scale never before attempted anywhere. In Once Upon A City, Grace M. Mayer notes Charles Dickens's warning, made in 1842 to visitors of New York City: "Take care of the pigs. Two portly sows are trotting up behind this carriage, and a select party of half a dozen gentlemen hogs have just now turned the corner...They are the city scavengers, these pigs." (1)

The herds of pigs were, in fact, the first New York street cleaners, and while there was some progress, little headway was made against the filth of the city until Colonel George E. Waring and his army of "White Wings" came on the scene. In 1900 Jacob Riis observed in A Ten Years' War, "it was Colonel Waring's broom that first let light into the slum. That which had come to be considered an impossible task he did by the simple formula of 'putting a man instead of a voter behind every broom.' The streets that had been dirty were swept. The ash barrels which had befouled the sidewalks disappeared... The trucks [more than 60,000 strong] that obstructed the children's only playground, the street, went with the dirt...His broom saved more lives in the crowded tenements than a squad of doctors. It did more: it swept the cobwebs out of our civic brain and conscience, and set up a standard of a citizen's duty which...will be ours until we have dragged other things than our pavements out of the mud."(2) Little wonder then that the "White Wings" paraded proudly in April of 1903, and that there was an Edison cameraman there to film them.

• Grace M. Mayer, Once Upon a City (New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1958), p.472.
• Jacob A. Riis, A Ten Years' War: An Account of the Battle with the Slum in New York, (New York: Books for Libraries Press, 1969), pp. 172-175.

The Essay On New York: 20 Reasons To Visit This City

20 reasons why you should visit New York

• What can be better than the huge green park? That is the reason why you should visit the Central Park and find there Sheep Meadow, it is one of the most beautiful places in New York. If you wish to know more information about New York, you can order the description of New York city essay on our site and our professional writers will provide you with the interesting facts about this city.
• The Times Square. It was named because of the newspaper The Times, which is placed there from the year 1904. There are always a lot of people and because of it, there is some special atmosphere. If you wish to read the history of the Times, you can order the New York Times essays.
• You can visit American baseball and basketball. It means, that you will have a lot of beer, hotdogs and fun.
• There are a lot of places where you can buy fast food. If you like this kind of food, it means, that you have made the right choice.
• If there are any rainy days, you can spend them in the different museums or art galleries. You can find the great collections of the pictures and the modern art.
• If you are in New York with your friends, you can rent the car and travel around the city. There are a lot of opportunities to order the car in every hotel.
• You should visit the Rockefeller Center in the New York. It will be better to visit this place at the sunset, because it is the most beautiful at this time. You will be able to make a lot of different photos.
• Shopping. You should visit the Macys, because it is one of the famous supermarket for the tourists. Also, you will have the discount 10% there. From 1978, it became the historical monument of the USA.
• It is possible to visit Boston and Washington near the New York. It will take up to 3 hours to travel there. If you have enough time, you can visit the Niagara Falls, but you should remember, that the road will take up to 6 hours.
• The Statue of the Liberty. It is the famous statue not only in New York, but in the USA. The price for the ticket is $18 for the adult and $9 for the children.
• Empire State Building. You should see this place in the different films. The building of this place started in the year 1929 and from that time, it is known as the middle of the New York.
• New York Highlights. This place was built in the year 2009. There are a lot of places to relax and forget the stress .
• The Museum of Modern Art. Here you will be able to see a lot of pictures of the modern art. You should remember, that every Friday from 16:00 to 20:00 you can visit it for free.
• The Brooklyn bridge. It was built in the year 1833 and connects Brooklyn with Manhattan. It is very beautiful in the evening.
• The Cloisters. As usual, tourist do not attend this place very often, but you really need to visit it. You will see the sharp contrast between this place and the New York. You will be surprised a lot, because here is the silence and the freedom, but in New York all people are in the rush and there are a lot of sound on the streets. You should remember, that Americans are very kind people. They always smile and will help you if you have any difficulties while travelling. The interesting fact is, it is possible to visit this place for free, and the price, which is mentioned is only for the development of this place.
• The Broadway shows. You need to spend one of the evening in the New York, watching this show. You can be sure, that it is the only place, where you will be able to see it. You should not worry, that it will be difficult for you to understand the show, because it is very easy for understanding.
•  If you visit New York in the spring or in the summer, you should visit Brooklyn Botanic Garden. You can visit it every day, but not in the Monday. You need to pay if you wish to visit this place, but it is free of charge on Tuesday and on Saturday, but only from 22:00 till 00:00.
• Coney Island. You will have a lot of fun, The first fast food appeared exactly there. You should try the local hot dog and you will like it a lot.
• If you wish to see the business part of New York, you should visit the Wall Street. You can see a lot of businessmen there and the official part of the New York is located here.
• The New York Central Railroad. You can just go and to see the beauty of this place. You will find, that it is decorated with 2500 stars. It seems, that you have never seen it before.

New York is the city, that never sleeps. You can even think, that you are in the cinema, because it is difficult to believe that everything, that you can see there is real. New York is the unique city: if you visit it one time, you will never forget about it.

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Women Who Shaped History

A Smithsonian magazine special report

History | July 9, 2024

Meet Vivian Maier, the Reclusive Nanny Who Secretly Became One of the Best Street Photographers of the 20th Century

The self-taught artist is getting her first museum exhibition in New York City, where she nurtured her nascent interest in photography

Ellen Wexler

Assistant Editor, Humanities

Vivian Maier took more than 150,000 photographs as she scoured the streets of New York and Chicago. She rarely looked at them; often, she didn’t even develop the negatives. Without any formal training, she created a sprawling body of work that demonstrated a wholly original way of looking at the world. Today, she is considered one of the best street photographers of the 20th century.

Maier’s photos provide audiences with a tantalizing peek behind the curtain into a remarkable mind. But she never intended to have an audience. A nanny by trade, she rarely showed anyone her prints. In her final years, she stashed five decades of work in storage lockers, which she eventually stopped paying for. Their contents went to auction in 2007.

Many of Maier’s photos ended up with amateur historian John Maloof , who purchased 30,000 negatives for about $400. In the years that followed, he sought out other collectors who had purchased boxes from the same lockers. He didn’t learn the photographer’s identity until 2009, when he found her name scrawled on an envelope among the negatives. A quick Google search revealed that Maier had died just a few days earlier. Uncertain of how to proceed, Maloof started posting her images online.

“I guess my question is, what do I do with this stuff?” he wrote in a Flickr post . “Is this type of work worthy of exhibitions, a book? Or do bodies of work like this come up often? Any direction would be great.”

Maier quickly became a sensation. Everyone wanted to know about the recluse who had so adeptly captured 20th-century America. Her life and work have since been the subject of a best-selling book , a documentary and exhibitions around the world .

Now, the self-taught photographer is headlining her first major American retrospective. “ Vivian Maier: Unseen Work ,” which is currently on view at Fotografiska New York, features some 230 pieces from the 1950s through the 1990s, including black-and-white and color photos, vintage and modern prints, films, and sound recordings. The show is also billed as the first museum exhibition in Maier’s hometown, the city where she nurtured her nascent interest in photography.

Born in New York City in 1926, Maier grew up mostly in France, where she began experimenting with a Kodak Brownie , an affordable early camera designed for amateurs. After returning to New York in 1951, she purchased a Rolleiflex , a high-end camera held at the waist, and began developing her signature style: images of everyday life framed with a stark humor and intuitive understanding of human emotion. She started working as a governess, a role that allowed her to spend hours wandering the city, children in tow, as she snapped away.

She left New York about five years later, when she secured a job as a nanny for three boys—John, Lane and Matthew Gensburg—in the Chicago suburbs. The family was devoted to Maier, though they knew very little about her. The boys remember attending art films and picking wild strawberries as her charges, but they don’t recall her ever mentioning any family or friends. Their parents knew that Maier traveled—they would hire a replacement nanny in her absence—but they didn’t know where she went.

“You really wouldn’t ask her about it at all,” Nancy Gensburg, the boys’ mother, told Chicago magazine in 2010. “I mean, you could, but she was private. Period.”

Despite Maier’s reclusive tendencies, the Gensburgs knew about her photography. It would have been difficult to hide. After all, she lived with the family and had a private bathroom, which she used as a darkroom to develop black-and-white photos herself. The Gensburgs frequently witnessed her taking photos; on rare occasions, she even showed them her prints.

Maier stayed with the Gensburgs until the early 1970s, when the boys were too old for a nanny. She spent the next few decades working in other caretaking roles, though she doesn’t appear to have developed a similar relationship with these families, who viewed her as a competent caregiver with an eccentric personality. Most never saw her prints, though they do remember her moving into their homes with hundreds of boxes of photos in tow.

“I once saw her taking a picture inside a refuse can,” talk show host Phil Donahue, who employed Maier as a nanny for less than a year, told Chicago magazine. “I never remotely thought that what she was doing would have some special artistic value.”

Meanwhile, the Gensburgs kept in touch. As Maier grew older, they took care of her, eventually moving her to a nursing home. They never knew about the storage lockers. When she died at age 83, a short obituary appeared in the Chicago Tribune , describing her as a “second mother” to the three boys, a “free and kindred spirit,” and a “movie critic and photographer extraordinaire.”

Maier’s mysterious backstory is a large part of her present-day appeal. Fans are captivated by the photos, but they’re also intrigued by the reclusive nanny who developed her talents in secret. “Vivian Maier the mystery, the discovery and the work—those three parts together are difficult to separate,” Anne Morin, curator of the new exhibition, tells CNN .

The show is meant to focus on the work rather than the mystery. As Morin says to the Art Newspaper , she hopes to avoid “imposing an overexposed interpretation of her character.” Instead, the exhibition aims to elevate Maier’s name to the level of other famous street photographers—such as Robert Frank and Diane Arbus —and take on the daunting task of examining her large oeuvre.

“In ten years, we could do another completely different show,” Morin tells CNN. “She has more than enough material to bring to the table.”

The subjects of Maier’s street photos ran the gamut, but she often turned her lens toward “people on the margins of society who weren’t usually photographed and of whom images were rarely published,” per a statement from Fotografiska New York. The Gensburg boys recall her taking them all over the city, adamant that they witness what life was like beyond the confines of their affluent suburb.

The exhibition is organized thematically, with sections devoted to Maier’s famous street photos, her experimental abstract compositions and her stylized self-portraits. The self-portraits, which frequently incorporate mirrors and reflections, amplify her enigmatic qualities, usually showing her with a deadpan, focused expression. Her voice can be heard in numerous audio recordings, which play throughout the exhibition. As such, even as the show focuses on the work, Maier the person is still a frequent presence in it.

“The paradox of Vivian Maier is that the lifetime of anonymity that has captured the public imagination persists in the work,” writes art critic Arthur Lubow for the New York Times , adding, “An artist uses a camera as a tool of self-expression. Maier was a supremely gifted chameleon. After immersing myself in her work, other than detecting a certain wryness, I could not get much sense of her sensibility.”

The artist undoubtedly possessed a curiosity about her immediate surroundings, which she photographed with a “lack of self-consciousness,” Sophie Wright, the New York museum’s director, tells CNN. “There’s no audience in mind.” There is no evidence that Maier wondered about her viewers—or that she ever imagined having viewers in the first place. They, however, will never stop wondering about her.

“ Vivian Maier: Unseen Work ” is on view at Fotografiska New York through September 29.

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Ellen Wexler is Smithsonian magazine’s assistant digital editor, humanities.

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How Well Do You Know Literary Brooklyn?

By J. D. Biersdorfer July 22, 2024

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A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz celebrates Brooklyn and novels set around the bustling borough. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. Links to the books will be listed at the end of the quiz if you’d like to do further reading.

Jonathan Lethem’s 1999 novel “Motherless Brooklyn,” a crime story set around New York City, is narrated by a detective with Tourette’s syndrome who grew up in St. Vincent’s Home for Boys — which happens to be near a Brooklyn landmark that opened in 1883. Which landmark is it?

Brooklyn Museum

Grand Army Plaza

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Brooklyn Bridge

What is the title of Paule Marshall’s classic 1959 novel about an immigrant family from Barbados trying to make their way in America during the middle years of the 20th century?

“A Meaningful Life”

“Brookland”

“Brown Girl, Brownstones”

“Another Brooklyn”

In Colm Tóibín’s 2009 novel “Brooklyn,” the protagonist Eilis Lacey gets a job at the department store Bartocci & Company in the 1950s. The store was fictional, but it was located on a real street that was home to many department stores of the era. What street is it?

Tillary Street

Fulton Street

Smith Street

Fifth Avenue

This neighborhood near Green-Wood Cemetery is home to Brooklyn’s first Chinatown and a robust Latin American community. It’s also the setting for Zoraida Córdova’s “Labyrinth Lost,” the first book in her “Brooklyn Brujas” trilogy of Y.A. fantasy novels about three witch sisters and their magical family. Where does the family live?

Sunset Park

Dyker Heights

Jenny Jackson’s 2023 novel is about the dynamics of a wealthy family who lives on one of the “fruit streets” in Brooklyn. The book’s title is “Pineapple Street” — in what neighborhood can it be found?

Williamsburg

Brooklyn Heights

Cobble Hill

Fort Greene

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