New York

New York City

State: New York

One of the most exciting
cities in the world

The city of immigrants

Nicknames:

The Big Apple

Gotham
Center of the Universe
The City That Never
Sleeps

New York boroughs

Manhattan

Brooklyn

Queens

The Bronx

Staten Island

Manhattan

Manhattan

When we say New York,

we usually mean
Manhattan
Island
13 miles long and 2 miles
wide
Center of American
finance, advertising, art,
theater, publishing,
fashion, etc.

Manhattan Geography

Manhattan is divided into the

East Side and the West Side.
The dividing line is Fifth
Avenue.
E.g., East 42th Street and West
42th Street begin at Fifth Avenue.

Avenues with lower numbers

are on the East Side, avenues
with higher numbers on the
West Side.

Manhattan Geography

Manhattan is also divided

into:
Lower (Downtown) below 14th
Street

Midtown between 14th Street and

Central Park

Upper (Uptown) Manhattan

northern part of the island

As you go north, or uptown,

the street numbers get
higher.

The Financial District

The Financial District

In Lower Manhattan
Wall Street = American
capitalism
Wall Street area:

New York Stock Exchange

American Stock Exchange
Stockbrokers
Banks
Investment banks
Headquarters of large
corporations
Federal Reserve Bank of
New York

The Financial District

South Street Seaport

Open area of low

buildings on the East
River
Shops, restaurants,
museum, old houses,
ships, shipyards
Fulton Fish Market

The World Trade Center

National September 11 Memorial &

Museum

Buying Manhattan

The first business

deal on Manhattan
was struck in the
financial district.
The Dutch bought
Manhattan from
the Indians for 24
dollars worth of
beads and trinkets.

The Lower East Side

Originally an elegant
neighborhood
When NY was the capital of
the USA, president George
Washington lived there.

The Lower East Side

It changed greatly by the mid1800.

Crime and poverty
Immigrants settled there: first
Irish, then Jews
Bad living and working
conditions (crowded
tenements, sweatshops)

Lower East Side Pleasures

FOOD
Egg cream
Fish (herring)
Sour pickles
Knishes

Lower East Side Today

Many Jews have

moved elsewhere.
Newer immigrant
group Puerto
Ricans and other
Hispanics

Little Italy

Italians settled Little

Italy at the same time
that Jews settled the
Lower East Side
They also have moved
to other
neighborhoods.
Italian restaurants and
cafes

Chinatown

The streets of Little

Italy have become
part of Chinatown.
The only immigrant
community in
Manhattan that is still
growing
Nearly 200
restaurants

Greenwich Village and the East Village

Greenwich Village and the East

Village

At the center of New

Yorks excitement
Places for people with
creative and different
ideas
Active nightlife: bars,
restaurants, clubs

Greenwich Village

Nickname: the Village

Residential area: narrow
tree-lined streets
This attracted bohemians
writers and artists in the
early 1900s
The rents were cheap
Sex and revolution were
openly discussed

Greenwich Village

By the 1920s, the Village became full

of people curious to see how the odd
Villagers lived.
The artists and writers began moving
out, some to the East Village.

Today, rents are far from cheap.

Touristy

Still authentic:

students from the NYU

active jazz scene
Washington Square: street performers,
police, drug dealers, joggers, roller
skaters, etc.

Gay community: gay bars, Gay Pride

march

Greenwich Village

East Village

Many immigrants
Center for many
movements:
Beat poets in the
1950s
Hippies of the
1960s
New Yorks punk
scene

Midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan
SKYSCRAPERS

Late 1920s: art deco

style: highly decorated
and elaborate

Chrysler Building
Empire State Building

1950s: steel and glass

skyscrapers
The United Nations
Secretariat
The Seagram Building

Midtown Manhattan

Rockefeller Center:
the worlds largest
privately owned
business and
entertainment
center
RCA Building
Radio City Music
Hall

Midtown Manhattan

Fifth Avenue
expensive stores:
Cartier, Gucci,
Tiffanys

Department stores:
Macys,
Bloomingdale

The Theater District

The Theater District

Times Square

Around 42nd Street and

Broadway
Named after the New York
Times
New York contrasts are
most obvious here: elegant
theaters vs. adult shows and
shops

Large numbers of police

Times Square

New York Papers

New York Times

Tabloids: Daily
News, New York
Post, New York
Newsday
Village Voice

On Broadway and Off

Broadway center of
theater in the United
States
Times Square is the
beginning of the theater
district the area where
Broadway plays are
performed
Most Broadway theaters
are located east or west of
Broadway on streets in the
40s and 50s
Tickets are very expensive

On Broadway and Off

In addition to Broadway,
there are Off-Broadway
and Off-Off-Broadway
theaters
Most of them are in the
Village and the East Village

* The category depends on

size, not on location.

Plays at these theaters are

more experimental.

Central Park

Green island in the sea of

concrete
Designed in 1850s by
Frederick Law Olmsted.
He wanted it to be a rural
paradise within an urban
area, a place for all rich
and poor, young and old
Attractions: gardens, zoo,
skating rink, old fashioned
carousel, lake, outdoor
theater

Central Park

East Side

Central Park was opened in

1876
Wealthy New Yorkers soon
built mansions along Fifth
Avenue.
The mansions that remain
now hold art collections
Museum Mile the part
of Fifth Avenue along
Central Park

West Side

Large and unusual

apartment
buildings
The Dakota: John
Lennon was
murdered here

Harlem

Harlem

Black neighborhood
The 1920s were Harlems great years,
especially in the arts: jazz, literature
It had a very active club scene
The depression of the 1930s hit
Harlem hard. It became poorer.
Harlem has never really recovered.
Yet, it has become a center for black
culture.
Attractions:

churches (gospel music)

Restaurants (soul food)
Nightclubs (jazz)
Apollo Theater

New York