New York City

New York City (NYC, 8.3 million inhabitants, 19 million Tri-State Area metro) is the largest US metropolis and probably the world's most iconic city — world economic capital (Wall Street, Federal Reserve, NYSE), cultural (MET, MoMA, Broadway, ABT ballet), media (NYT, CNN, NBC, FOX, ABC), gastronomic (60+ Michelin-starred restaurants). Founded by the Dutch in 1624 (Nieuw Amsterdam, sold to the English 1664 and renamed New York after the Duke of York), the city established itself in the 19th century as the first European immigration gateway (Ellis Island, 12 million immigrants 1892-1954) and New World financial hub. Today 66 million annual visitors (most visited US city), 800 languages spoken (most linguistically diverse city worldwide), 178 nationalities represented.

The city comprises 5 boroughs linked by 22 bridges and tunnels. Manhattan (22 km long x 4 km wide island, 1.7 million inhabitants) is the tourist and symbolic heart — Lower Manhattan (Wall Street, World Trade Center, Battery Park, 1886 Statue of Liberty), Midtown (Times Square, 1931 Empire State Building 381 m, Rockefeller Center, 1930 Chrysler Building — Art Deco masterpiece, 40-theater Broadway), Upper East Side (Museum Mile: MET, Guggenheim, Whitney, Frick), Upper West Side (Lincoln Center, 340 ha Central Park, AMNH American Museum of Natural History). Brooklyn (2.6 million inhabitants) — 1883 emblematic Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, Manhattan views), Williamsburg (hipster, breweries, restaurants), Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Park (Olmsted, same architect as Central Park), Coney Island (beach, historic amusement park). Queens (2.3 million, most diverse borough) — Flushing Meadows (US Open tennis), Astoria (Greek and Balkan cuisine), MoMA PS1 (contemporary art), JFK and LaGuardia airports. Bronx (1.5 million) — Yankee Stadium (baseball, 27 World Series), Bronx Zoo (largest US urban zoo), Bronx 1973 hip-hop birthplace. Staten Island (470,000) — free ferry with panoramic Statue of Liberty + Manhattan skyline view (one of the world's most memorable free activities).

The cultural scene is inexhaustible. 80+ museums (MET 1.4 million works one of 5 largest worldwide, MoMA modern art world reference, Frank Lloyd Wright Guggenheim, Whitney American art), 40 Broadway theatres (Hamilton, The Lion King, Wicked, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera since 1988), Lincoln Center (Metropolitan Opera, NY Philharmonic, NY City Ballet, Juilliard School), comedy clubs (Comedy Cellar, Caroline's). Music scene unmatched: Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, Carnegie Hall, Apollo Theater Harlem, Bowery Ballroom, Brooklyn Steel — all genres (jazz Village Vanguard since 1935, rock, hip-hop Bronx birthplace 1973, classical Carnegie 1891). Gastronomy: 60+ Michelin stars (Per Se, Le Bernardin, Eleven Madison Park 3 stars), Katz's Delicatessen (Sex and the City pastrami sandwich 1888), pizza by the slice (Joe's Pizza, Lombardi's 1905 America's first pizzeria), bagels (H&H, Russ & Daughters since 1914), street food, food halls (Chelsea Market, Time Out Market).