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New York is a city of over seven millionen people, covering 780 sq km.
The city gives it name to the state of New York, the capital of which is Albany (251 km) in the north. New York is also a good base from which you can visit the historic towns of Boston and Philadelphia, as well as the spectacular Niagara Falls. New York is located on the Eastern Seaboard of the US and lies 380 km south of Washington DC. New York is made up of five distinct bouroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
History:
From ist first sighting almost 500 years ago by Giovanni da Varrazano.
The Dutch first sent fur Traders to the area in 1621 , but they lost the colony they called New Amsterdam to the English in 1664.
The settlement was re-christened, New York and the name stayed, even
after the English lost the colony in 1783, at the end of the Revolutionary War. After that, firmly established as the nation`s largest city and preeminent seaport, New York grew increasingly wealthy. Manofacturing
increased due to the ease of shipping; tycoons like John Jacob Astor made millions. The rich moved uptown; public transportation followed.
By 1900, New York was a hub of American industry; 70% of the country`s corporations were based there, and the port handled two-thirds of all imported goods. The rich got richer, but in the crowded slums, disease spread. The 1920`s were a time of high living for many New Yorkers. But the good times ended with the 1929 stock market crash. By 1932, Walker had resigned, charged with corruption, and one-quarter of New Yorkers were unemployed. With Mayor Fiorello La Guardia`s 1933 election, New york began to recover and thrive. Since World War II, New York has seen both the best of times and the worst. Although established as the financial capital of the world, the city itself went bankrupt in 1970`s. Recently the city has had to cope with racial tensions and a increase in homelessness and crime. The city is the cultural and financial hub of the United States, and while new buildings continue to spring up, many of the city`s older buildings, such as Grand Central Station, are being restored.
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