Geography

According to allpubliclibraries, New York is located in the northeastern United States, in southeastern New York State, and roughly halfway between Washington DC and Boston.

Its location at the mouth of the Hudson River, which forms a naturally protected harbor and empties into the Atlantic Ocean, has contributed to the growth of the city and its importance as a commercial city.

Most of New York is built on three islands: Manhattan, Staten Island and Long Island, making building land scarce and thus generating a high population density.

The Hudson River flows through the valley of the same name to New York Bay. Between New York and the city of Troy, the river becomes an estuary that separates the city from New Jersey. The East River (East River) flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River, between the East and Hudson rivers, separates Manhattan from the Bronx.

The terrain of the city has been considerably altered by human intervention, various lands have been reclaimed from rivers since Dutch colonial times. This is most notable in lower Manhattan, where planning like Battery Park City took place in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the variations in topography have been leveled, particularly in Manhattan.

The area of ​​the city is 831.4 km². The highest point in the city is Todt Hill on Staten Island (124.9 meters above sea level). The summit is covered by forests, since it is part of the green belt of Staten Island.

Districts

The city is made up of five districts or communes called boroughs, among all the districts there are hundreds of neighborhoods, many with their own identity and past.

• Bronx: It is the only section of the city that is part of the continental shelf of the United States. It is home to the Bronx Zoo, the largest metropolitan zoo in the country. The Bronx is the birthplace of rap and hip hop culture. It is home to Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees’ besisbol stadium.
• Brooklyn: It is the most populous district in the city and was an independent city until 1898. It is known for its cultural, social and ethnic diversity, its independent arts scene, distinctive neighborhoods, and unique architectural heritage.
• Manhattan: It is the densest district and home to most of the city’s skyscrapers, as well as Central Park. It is the financial center of the city and locates the headquarters of many important corporations, such as the UN, as well as important universities; and many cultural attractions, including museums, Broadway theaters , Greenwich Village, and Madison Square Garden.
• Queens: It is the geographically largest borough and the most ethnically diverse county in the United States. Originally, the district was a collection of small towns and villages founded by the Dutch. Today it is mostly residential and middle class. In the district are the two major airports, LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport.
• Staten Island: It is a suburban district. It is connected to Brooklyn by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and to Manhattan through the Staten Island Ferry. It has about half the protected area of ​​the city, a third of the district is forested area.

Climate

Despite being located at the same latitude as the much warmer European cities of Naples and Madrid, New York has a humid continental climate, a result of the constant winds that bring cold air from the interior of the American continent.

New York has cold winters, but the city’s coastal location keeps temperatures slightly warmer than inland regions, helping to moderate the amount of snow, which averages 63.5 to 88.9 cm per year.

The city has a temperate period that lasts an average of 199 days between seasonal frosts. Spring and fall are erratic, and can range from cold and snowy to hot and humid. Summer is mild and humid, with temperatures of 30 ° C or more averaging between 18 and 25 days each summer.

Given that not be frequent, in New York there are records of hurricanes, such as occurred in 1981 that flooded lower Manhattan, and in 1938 that killed more than 700 people, most of them in the region of New England.

The city’s long-term weather patterns have been caused by the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation, a 70-year warming and cooling cycle that influences the frequency and severity of hurricanes and coastal storms in the region. However, scientists believe that global warming will change these patterns.

Economy

New York City is a global link for international trade and business, and is one of the nerve centers of the world economy (along with Paris, London, and Tokyo). The city is one of the leading centers for finance, insurance, real estate, media, and the arts in the United States.

Architecture

It has concentrated many of the tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building and the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which were toppled in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The building most associated with New York City is the skyscraper. It has around 4,493 buildings of this type, more than any other city in the world. It has important buildings in a wide range of architectural styles. These include the Woolworth Building (1913), the Chrysler Building (1930), the Seagram Building (1957). A distinctive feature of many of the city’s buildings is the presence of spire towers mounted on the roofs.