Manhattan
From Free net encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation).
Image:Manhattan Highlight New York City Map Julius Schorzman.png Manhattan refers both to the Island of Manhattan which borders the lower Hudson River, and also to the Borough of Manhattan (one of The Five Boroughs of New York City), which includes the Island of Manhattan itself, as well as several other smaller islands and a small portion of the mainland (see geography). The borough is coterminous with New York County, and addresses within the borough of Manhattan are typically designated as New York, NY. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population comprised 1,537,195 people, but the county is geographically among the smallest in the United States with only 23.7 square miles (61.4 km²) of land. With 66,900 people per square mile (25,800/km²), it is by far the most densely populated county in both New York State and the entire United States.
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History
Image:CastelloMap.JPG The name Manhattan derives from the word Manna-hata so written earliest in the 1609 log book of Robert Juet, an officer of the Dutch East India Company yacht Halve Maen or Half Moon. The ship was captained by Henry Hudson, who, in the service of the Dutch Republic, was (covertly) commissioned to seek a north-west passage to China. The Half Moon first entered Upper New York Bay on September 11, 1609, and sailing up the lower Hudson River, anchored off the tip of northern Manhattan that night. As emissary of Holland’s Lord-Lieutenant Maurits he named the river he discovered after him; the Mauritius River.
A manuscript map of 1610 depicts the name Manahata twice, on the west as well as the east side of the Mauritius River, later named Hudson River, thereby referring to the tribes that dwelled at the mouth of the river as the Manahata Indians. In 1625, Johannes de Laet, Director of the Dutch West India Company wrote in his “New World”: “The great North River of New-Netherland is called by some the Manhattas River from the people who dwell near its mouth; but by our countrymen it is generally called the Great River”. In the 1630 edition he continues to write of “another fort of greater importance at the mouth of the same North River, upon an island which our people call Manhattas or Manhattans Island, because of this nation of Indians happened to possess the same, and by them it has been sold to the company”. He thus confirmed that the island had been purchased in 1626 by Peter Minuit, the third director of New Netherland from the native Mannahatans for 60 guilders worth of trade goods (translated to about $24 which at a 4% annual inflation rate would be 71.3 million dollars today).
It is generally assumed that the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano explored New York harbor in 1524 and that a few months later the Portuguese Esteban Gómez did the same. However, there is no evidence of any exploration, latitude calculations, surveying or mapping. There is only a vague textual description of having seen an estuary that may perhaps resemble Hudson’s river. None of those navigators from other nations had penetrated well into the bay or explored the chief river substantiated with textual and visual evidence till the Dutch did so in 1609.
The province of New Netherland was settled in 1624 at Governors Island (the birth date of New York State) whereas the town of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island was founded in 1625 (the birth date of New York City) by New Netherland's second director, Willem Verhulst, who, together with his council, had selected Manhattan as the most optimal place for permanent settlement. That year, in 1625, military engineer and surveyor Cryn Fredericksz van Lobbrecht laid out a citadel with Fort Amsterdam as centerpiece.
In 1664, the Duke of York, King Charles II, had resolved to annex New Netherland and consolidate it with his North American possessions in order “to install one form of government , both in church and state…to install the Anglican government as in Old England”. He sent an expeditionary force composed of New Englanders and “reinforced by four royal ships crammed full with an extraordinary amount of men and warlike stores” and demanded New Netherland’s surrender. Director General Petrus Stuyvesant and his council negotiated 24 articles of provisional transfer which gave New Netherlanders liberties and freedoms unlike those available to New Englanders and Virginians.
In October 1665, Stuyvesant reported that “many verbal warnings came from diverse country people on Long Island, who daily noticed the growing and increasing strength of the English, and gathered from their talk that their business was not only with New Netherland but with the booty and plunder, and for these were they called out and enrolled. Which was afterwards confirmed not only by the dissolute English soldiery, but even by the most steady officers and by a striking example exhibited to the colonists of New Amstel on the South Delaware River, who, notwithstanding they had offered no resistance, but requested good terms, could not obtain them, but were invaded, stripped, utterly plundered and many of them sold as slaves to Virginia”.
Consequently, the negotiations assured that the legal and political tradition of tolerance as the basis of cultural diversity and pluralism since 1624 was perpetuated by the Articles of Transfer under English authority. Thus safeguarded, the notion of tolerance endured after conclusive jurisdictional establishment of English dominion over New Netherland in 1674, and through the formation of the United States of America, when it was reintroduced as a constitutional right under the Bill of Rights in 1791.
New Amsterdam’s significance, therefore, lies in the fact that it gave rise to what would become the most diverse city in the world, and the nation’s largest municipality―itself a legal concept introduced, in 1653, in New Amsterdam. Its national importance lies in the fact that it produced the most powerful state based on the implicit principle of personal freedom; which, inarguably, is defined in terms of the twin concepts of tolerance and liberty. That legacy is of immense importance to the future of the United States, as it is the dynamic precept of tolerance that distinguishes the specifically American notion of freedom from the “generic” or “static”.
Having so saved the New Netherland culture from destruction, the political power of a minority among the majority was soon to transform, over time, the region from a utilitarian community based on the values of a republic and the Dutch language to a class society based on royal values and the English language. Hence, New York County is named in honor of the Royal Majesty of Great Britain, the Duke of York, later to become the Catholic James II of England after whom the City and State of New York were also named. In 1691, however, the Catholic religion was outlawed in New York by an act of parliament until 1783.
At the time of creation of New York County, its territory consisted of Manhattan Island, and occupied the same area which it occupies today. In 1873, the western portion of the present Bronx County was transferred to New York County, and in 1895 the remainder of the present Bronx County was transferred to New York County. In 1898, when New York City was constituted as five boroughs, the separate boroughs of Manhattan and of the Bronx were formed, though both remained within the single County of New York. In 1914, those parts of the then New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County were constituted the new Bronx County, and New York County was reduced again to its present boundaries.
From the latter half of the 1960s through most of the 1970s, Manhattan suffered from urban flight as the middle-class fled to the outer boroughs and suburbs due to an increase in crime. However, as with many other American cities, there was an increase in population growth in the latter part of the century due to a renewed interest in the urban lifestyle, a trend which began in the late 1980s and has continued to present day. It was thought that the September 11, 2001 attacks would initiate a new exodus from the City due to a fear of terrorism, but this has not come to pass.
Geography
Image:Timessquareapril2005.jpg The terms "New York County" and the "Borough of Manhattan" refer to the same geographical area, although in former times New York County also included part of today's Borough of The Bronx. As a part of New York City, New York County contains no other political subdivisions. It occupies the whole of Manhattan Island, surrounded by the East River, the Harlem River, and the Hudson River. It also includes some smaller islands, including Roosevelt Island (formerly Welfare Island, and even earlier Blackwell's Island), U Thant Island (officially known as Belmont Island), and a small portion of the North American mainland (Marble Hill) contiguous with The Bronx. Marble Hill was originally part of Manhattan Island; but the Harlem River Ship Canal, dug in the late 19th century to improve navigation on the Harlem River, separated it from the remainder of Manhattan, and eventually the part of the original Harlem River channel separating Marble Hill from the Bronx was filled in.
Manhattan Island is recorded as having 20 square miles (51.8 km²) of land, and measures 13 miles (21 km) long and 2.3 miles (3.7 km) wide (at its widest point).
According to the United States Census Bureau, New York County (the Borough of Manhattan) has a total area of 33.8 mi² (87.5 km²). 23.0 mi² (59.5 km²) of it is land and 10.8 mi² (28.0 km²) of it is water. The total area is 32.01% water.
Image:LowerManhattanSunset.jpg Manhattan is connected by bridges and tunnels to New Jersey to the west, and three New York City boroughs: the Bronx to the northeast; Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island to the east and south. Its only direct connection with the fifth New York City borough is the Staten Island Ferry, whose terminal is at Battery Park at its southern tip.
A consequence of the strict grid plan of most of Manhattan, and the grid's skew of approximately 28.9 degrees, is a phenomenon sometimes referred to as Manhattanhenge (by analogy with Stonehenge). On separate occasions in late May and early July (for 2006 the exact dates are May 25 and July 17), the sunset is aligned with the street grid lines, with the result that the sun is visible at or near the western horizon from street level. A similar phenomenon occurs with the sunrise in January and December (January 11 and December 2 in 2006).
Manhattan landmarks
Image:Lower Manhattan from Staten Island Ferry Jan 2006.jpg Image:Woolworth building.jpg The Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, the theater district around Broadway, New York University, Columbia University, Yeshiva University, the financial center around Wall Street, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Harlem, the American Museum of Natural History, Chinatown, and Central Park are all located on this densely populated island. The phrase "a New York minute" refers to the extremely rapid pace of living in Manhattan.
Fifth Avenue roughly bisects Manhattan Island and acts as the demarcation line for latitudinal east/west designations (e.g., East 27th Street, West Houston Street). The Manhattan street-numbering system extends into the western Bronx, using Jerome Avenue as the east-west divider.
In Manhattan, uptown means north and downtown means south, either in direction of motion or in relative location. For example, an uptown train means a subway train heading north, while a restaurant located three blocks downtown would be three city blocks south of the person who is speaking. Beginning north of Houston Street, and fully in place north of 14th Street, nearly all east-west streets use numeric designations - which increase from south to north (reflecting the city's original growth in that direction), all the way up to 220th Street, the highest numbered street. The terms uptown and downtown are most often used in the relative sense of north and south; however, uptown can also refer to the northern part of Manhattan (generally speaking, above 59th Street) and downtown to the southern part (typically, below 23rd Street or 14th Street). Keep in mind that these terms are relative - a resident of the Bronx would probably consider anything in Manhattan below 96th Street to be "downtown".
This usage differs from that of most American cities, where downtown refers to the central business district. Manhattan has two central business districts, namely the Financial District downtown and the newer business district in Midtown.
Within "downtown" is Lower Manhattan, a neighborhood defined as everything approximately south of Barclay Street and the Brooklyn Bridge; it is one of the best-known parts of the city, home to City Hall, Wall Street, the South Street Seaport, Manhattan's courthouses, the site of the former World Trade Center (often referred to commonly as "Ground Zero"), as well as a number of other significant landmarks.
The northernmost area of "uptown" is Upper Manhattan, encompassing the neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood, and often Harlem. It is a less famous and hectic area. Upper Manhattan is often thought of as an outer borough, given the similarities the region has to the adjacent western section of the South Bronx and the distance from Midtown. In fact, Manhattan stretches so far northward from Midtown that some in the southern parts of Manhattan jokingly refer to the Inwood neighborhood as "Upstate Manhattan," "Arctic Manhattan," or "NoFair" (short for "North of Fairway," Fairway being a popular supermarket at 132nd St. and the Hudson River).
Traditionally, most New Yorkers refer to Manhattan as the city, while referring to the other four boroughs by their popular names: Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, The Bronx.
Neighborhoods
Image:East Village Second Avenue.jpg
- Main article: List of Manhattan neighborhoods
Manhattan is politically divided in 12 Community Boards :
- 1 : Tribeca and Lower Manhattan
- 2 : Greenwich Village (aka West Village or simply "the Village"), NoHo, SoHo, Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Little Italy
- 3 : Tompkins Square, East Village, Lower East Side, Chinatown, Two Bridges
- 4 : Hell's Kitchen (Clinton), Chelsea
- 5 : Midtown
- 6 : Stuyvesant Town, Tudor City, Turtle Bay, Peter Cooper Village, Murray Hill, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, and Sutton Place
- 7 : Manhattan Valley, Upper West Side, and Lincoln Square
- 8 : Upper East Side, Lenox Hill, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island
- 9 : Hamilton Heights, Manhattanville, and Morningside Heights
- 10 : Harlem and Polo Grounds
- 11 : East Harlem, El Barrio/Spanish Harlem, Ward's and Randall's Island
- 12 : Inwood, Hudson Heights and Washington Heights
As with all large cities, Manhattan consists of many distinct neighborhoods, each with its own character.
Law, government, and politics
| Year | Reps | Dems |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 16.7% 107,405 | 82.1% 526,765 |
| 2000 | 14.2% 79,921 | 79.8% 449,300 |
| 1996 | 13.8% 67,839 | 80.0% 394,131 |
| 1992 | 15.9% 84,501 | 78.2% 416,142 |
| 1988 | 22.9% 115,927 | 76.1% 385,675 |
| 1984 | 27.4% 144,281 | 72.1% 379,521 |
| 1980 | 26.2% 115,911 | 62.4% 275,742 |
| 1976 | 25.5% 117,702 | 73.2% 337,438 |
| 1972 | 33.4% 178,515 | 66.2% 354,326 |
| 1968 | 25.6% 135,458 | 70.0% 370,806 |
| 1964 | 19.2% 120,125 | 80.5% 503,848 |
| 1960 | 34.2% 217,271 | 65.3% 414,902 |
- See also: Government of New York City
Like the other counties which are contained within New York City, there is no county government, but county courts and some others such as the district attorney (public prosecutor) do exist. Each borough within New York City elects a borough president - Manhattan's borough president is currently Democrat Scott Stringer, who took office in January 2006 - but the office no longer carries any significant powers.
Manhattan is officially designated as the county seat of New York County.Template:GR This is meaningless for all practical purposes because there are no other towns or cities in New York County, which is wholly contained within the City of New York. However, the Borough President's office, City Hall, the District Attorney's office, and the Municipal Building all cluster, within a few blocks of each other, near Centre Street and the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge - a downtown neighborhood.
Manhattan is one of the main strongholds of the Democratic party, and has not voted for a Republican in a presidential election since 1924. The GOP used to win more than 20% of the vote, but it hasn't won even that much since before the Clinton era. Moreover, Republican registered voters are a very tiny minority in the borough, making more than 20% of the electorate only in the Upper East Side and Financial District.
Demographics
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Image:Chinatown-manhattan-2004.jpg
New York County is the most densely populated state county in the United States, with a density of 25,849.9/km². In 1910, it reached a peak to 46,428.9/km².
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 1,537,195 people, 738,644 households, and 302,105 families residing in the county. The population density was 25,849.9/km² (66,940.1/mi²). There were 798,144 housing units at an average density of 13,421.8/km² (34,756.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 54.36% White, 27.18% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, 17.39% Black or African American, 0.50% Native American, 9.40% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 14.14% other races, and 4.14% from two or more races.
A partial list of the specific European ancestry claimed by Manhattan residents is as follows (2000):
According to an estimation by the Census Bureau, the population of New York county increased to 1,562,723 in 2004. Lower Manhattan (ie Manhattan south of Houston street) has a sharply different population than the rest of the borough. Indeed, to the census of 2000, the neighborhood was 41 percent Asian, 32 percent non-Hispanic white, 19 percent Hispanic and 6 percent black, and 43 percent of the inhabitants were immigrants. This can be explained by the demographic weight of Chinatown, which counts for 55% of the population of Lower Manhattan.
There were 738,644 households out of which 17.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 59.1% were non-families. 48.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the county the population was spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 38.3% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $47,030, and the median income for a family was $50,229. Males had a median income of $51,856 versus $45,712 for females. The per capita income for the county was $42,922. 20.0% of the population and 17.6% of families were below the poverty line. 31.8% of those under the age of 18 and 18.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Manhattan is one of the highest-income places in the United States with a population over 1,000,000. In particular the Upper East Side, ZIP Code 10021, with over 100,000 inhabitants and a per capita income of over $90,000, is one of the largest concentrations of extreme wealth in the entire United States. Nevertheless, like all large cities, Manhattan does have some large enclaves of concentrated poverty. Image:Manhattan.jpg
Arts and culture
A popular haven for art, the neighborhood of Chelsea in downtown Manhattan is widely known for its galleries and cultural events. The late 1970s popularized an ongoing "pop art" movement in the city, largely in part to Andy Warhol.
Education
Manhattan's schools are operated by the New York City Department of Education.
Some of the best-known New York City public high schools, such as Stuyvesant High School and Hunter College High School, are located in Manhattan.
See also
- New York City
- Midtown
- Times Square
- Central Park
- Chinatown
- Sawing off of Manhattan Island
- List of streets in Manhattan
- Transportation in New York City
External links
Manhattan local government and services
- Manhattan Borough President official site
- Manhattan District Attorney official site
- NYC MTA Transit Bus Map of Manhattan (PDF file)
Maps, streets, and neighborhoods
Template:Geolinks-US-cityscale
Historical references
- Letter of 1626 stating that Manhattan Island had been purchased for the value of 60 guilders (PD)
- Map of Mannados or Manhattan in 1661 (PD)
- 1729 map of Manhattan
- The Story of Manhattan, by Charles Hemstreet. 1901 publication from Project Gutenberg
Guides to Manhattan
- Guide to New York City & Manhattan - About.com
- Randall's Lost New York City
- New York City Walk
- to stroll in Manhattan
Photographs and videos of Manhattan
- Photographs of Manhattan
- Forgotten New York
- gallery ' Manhattan' in Black and White
- to visit all the districts of manhattan in photographs
- Manhattan Skyline Panoramas
- www.idonothingallday.com - A Video Blog documenting reality on the streets of NYC
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