Otázka: New York
Jazyk: Angličtina
Přidal(a): Adriana Pavliková
NEW YORK
- area: 780 km2
- population: 18 million (the whole metropolitan area counted)
- the largest city in the USA, one of the largest in the world (after Sao Paolo, Seoul, Mexico City, Tokyo)
- one of the most important financial, commercial and cultural centres in the world
- lies on the east coast at the estuary of the Hudson and East Rivers
- 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island (Richmond)
- alive with action all day and night: “the city that never sleeps”, ”the Big Apple”, “the Melting Pot” – cosmopolitan society
- NY’s Harbor: a very important American port; primarily a business centre (the Stock Exchange, numerous banks, Wall Street, international institutions)
- ferries;3 main airports: J.F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark International Airport and La Guardia Airport; trains: Grand Central Terminal, Pannsylvania Station; bus connection; the subway system (tha largest urban stransportation system in the world); yellow taxis called cabs
- New Amsterdam’s first streets named (Broadway, Wall street, Bowery..); grid street system (due to the anticipation of its growth in the past) with rectangular numbered streets (155) and avenues (12) à blocks divided into plots
History
- 16th century the area occupied by Algoquin tribes (Indians)
- 1524 Giovanni da VERRAZANO: the 1st European to enter
- Henry HUDSON: English, but employed by the Dutch East Indian Company, sailed up the river
- 1624 the island was bought from the Indians by the Dutch and named New Amsterdam
- 1664 it became an English colony, the king of England Charles II. gave it to the Duke of York, his brother à it was renamed New York
- There used to be a wall against the Indians protecting the southern part of Manhattan, now replaced by Wall Street
- the capital for 2 years, it grew more and more cosmopolitan (different religions, cultures, languages respected)
- 20th century: the first skyscrapers( Flatiron Building, Citibank, Woolworth Building) built because of the lack of space; steel frames to support the vertical load; built with the help of computers which take in consideration the wind, earthquakes…
- WW: many intellectuals and artists took refuge in NY (Einstein, Chagall, Rubinstein…); “the city of immigrants”—Chinatown, Little Italy, the Jewish Neighborhood, Harlem… (self-sufficient immigrant communities)
- 1945: the seat of the newly created United Nations
Places of interest
- the Brooklyn Bridge (over the East River; joining Manhattan with Long Island where Brooklyn and Bronx are situated); the George Washington Bridge (the only bridge over the Hudson River); the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (spans the strait dividing Brooklyn from Staten Island at the mouth of the Upper Bay)
- the Statue of Liberty (1886): on Liberty island; gift from the French; symbol of freedom and hope, the USA and a memory of French-American friendship; Frederic Auguste BARTHOLDI; 91,5 m high with the pedestal; holding a book with the inscription 4th July 1776 (the independence of the USA)
- the Empire State Building
- the World Trade Center
- Manhattan: the heart of NYC; skyscrapers, commercial and financial centre
- Wall Street: the financial center, many banks, (the Stock Exchange is situated in Broad Street)
- the World Trade Center Memorial: WTC used to be dominated by the twin towers (the highest point in the city, the second highest in the world – 417 m); nowadays, there is the WTC memorial to the people who died, built where they used to stand after the terrorist attack on 11th September 2001
- City Hall – the Mayor’s office and the place for official ceremonies
- Park Row – used to be the centre of journalism; now they have moved to the vicinity of Times Square
- Paul’s Chapel – the oldest church in NY
- Washington Square (artistic and intellectual hub), Union Square (favourite site for labor-union gatherings and political demonstrations), Madison Square (named after the president James Madison; the Madison Square gardenà cultural and sport events)
- the Empire State Building: 1931; very high; the highest until the twins
- theNew York Public Library: 36 million objects, rarities like a Gutenberg Bible…
- the Chrysler Building: one of the most shining examples of the Art Deco style; very high
- the Grand Central Terminal: one of the finest public buildings in the US; 1913; architect Whitney Warren; a triumphal gateway to the city
- the United Nations Headquarters: along the bank of the East River; designed by a team of ten architects (e.g.: Le Corbusier)
- the Times Square: a great crossroad (Broadway – 7th Avenue); the center of performing arts; named after NY Times – moved into the Square Tower; New Year; many theatres and concert halls located around
- Central Park: Frederic Lan Olmsted; 1858; famous rock concerts take place there; the largest park in NYC
- Yankee and Shea: the most favourite baseball stadiums; Madison Square Garden: the most famous sport centre in NY
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Guggenheim Museum (five major private collections); Museum of Modern Art
- Columbia University: the oldest and the largest university in the country
