Rationale

My Atestat Paper aims to present one of my favourite cities, New York, a true metropolis
and a mixture of cultures in its own original way .
What impressed me most about this fascinating city is that you cannot say about it that it`s
the best at only one thing; New York is the best in everything it deals with, be it fashion, or media,
or infrastructure. Frank Sinatra once sang: “ If l can make it there, / I`ll make it anywhere”, and he
was right about that.
The reason for which I have chosen New York as the theme of my Atestat Paper is its
complexity and, of course, its beauty and uniqueness. New York is the original “big city”,
offering spectacular views and many ways of entertainment, a city everything but boring.
The city`s rich history is to be presented in the first chapter, from the 17 th century up to the
present days.
The second one brings in data about New York ` s geography, and the way its climate and
environmental issues have influenced development.
The third chapter illustrates the major aspects of the city`s culture, New York being one of
the top cities when it comes to literature, theatre, Broadway events or movie backgrounds.
Last, but not least , the fourth chapter deals with the media, and it is well-known that New
York is the largest Media Market in North America.
In conclusion, there are no arguments whatsoever to argue with the idea that New York is
the greatest metropolis in the world, due to its popularity, its heavy word in almost any cultural
area and its amazing architecture; to my mind, it`s the most vibrant urban place.
 Introduction

New York City (officially The City of New York) is the most populous city in the United
States, with its metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world. Founded as a
commercial trading post by the Dutch in 1625, it has been the largest city in the United States since
1790, and was the first capital under the Constitution. Located on one of the world`s finest natural
harbors, New York is one of the world`s major centers of commerce and finance. New York also
exerts global influence in media, politics, education, entertainment, arts, fashion and advertising.
The city is also a major center for international affairs, hosting the headquarters of the United
Nations. New York city comprises 5 boroughs : The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and
Staten Island within five Counties: New York County, Bronx County, Kings County, Queens
County, Richmond County, With over 8,2 million residents within an area of 322 square miles
(830 km2) , New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States.

Many of the city`s neighborhoods and landmarks are known around the world. The Statue
of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to America in the late 19th and early 20 th
centuries. Wall Street, in Lower Manhattan, has been a dominant global financial center since
World War II and is home to the New York Stock Exchange. The city has been home to several of
the tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building and the twin towers of the
World Trade Center. New York is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the
Harlem Renaissance in literature and visual art, abstract expressionism (also known as the New
York School) in painting, and hip hop, punk, salsa, and Tin Pan Alley in music. It is the home of
Broadway theater.

In 2005, nearly 170 languages were spoken in the city 36% of is population was born
outside the United States. With its 24-hour subway and constant bustling of traffic and people,
New York is sometimes called “The City That Never Sleeps” . Other nicknames include the “Big
Apple” and “Gotham”.
 Chapter One: History of New York City

The region was inhabited by about 5.000 Lenape Native Americans at the time of its
European discovery in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer in the service of the
French crown, who called it “Nouvelle Angoulême”. (New Angoulême).
European settlement began with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement, later called “New
Amsterdam”, on the southern tip of Manhattan in 1625. Dutch colonial Director-General Peter
Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape in 1626 (legend, now disproved, gives
the price as $ 24 worth of glass beads). In 1664, the English conquered the city and renamed it
”New York” after the English Duke of York and Albany. At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch
War the Dutch let the British keep New Amsterdam (New York) in exchange for the more
valuable Run in the East Indies. By 1700, the Lenape population was diminished to 200.
New York City grew in importance as a trading port while under British rule, in 1754,
Columbia University was founded under charter by King George II as King`s College. The city
emerged as the theater for a series of major battles known as the New York Campaign during the
American Revolutionary War, serving for more than seven years as the main base of British
operations in North America (1776-1783). The Continental Congress met in New York City and in
1789 the first President of the United States, George Washington, was inaugurated at Federal Hall
on Wall Street. New York City was the capital of the United States until 1790.
During the 19th century, when the city was transformed by immigration, by a visionary
development proposal called the Commissioners Plan of 1811 that expanded the city street grid to
encompass all of Manhattan, and by the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal, which connected the
Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the North American interior. In 1831, as the city
continued to expand, the University of the City of New York, now New York University, was
founded at Washington Square in Greenwich Village.
Local politics fell under the domination of Tammany Hall, a political machine supported
by immigrants. Public – minded members of the old merchant aristocracy pressed for Central Park,
which became the first landscaped park in am American city in 1857.
Anger at military conscription during the American Civil War (1861-1865) led to the Draft
Riots of 1863, one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history. In 1898, the modern
City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then an independent city),
Manhattan and outlying areas. The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904 helped bind the
new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for
industry, commerce, and communication.
In the 1920s, New York City was a major destination for African Americans during the
Great Migration from the American South. By 1916, New York City was home to the largest urban
African diaspora in North America. The Harlem Renaissance flourished during the era of
Prohibition, coincident with a larger economic boom that saw the skyline develop with the
construction of competing skyscrapers. For a while, New York City became the most populous
city in the world, starting in 1952 and overtaking London, which had reigned for a century (its
current position is between 11th and 17th , depending on source). The difficult years of the Great
Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello LaGuardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany
Hall after eighty years of political dominance.
Returning World War II veterans and immigrants from Europe created a postwar economic
boom and the development of huge housing tracts in eastern Queens. New York emerged from the
war as thw leading city of the world, with wall Street leading America`s ascendance as the world`s
dominant economic power , the Wall Street leading America`s ascendance as the world`s dominant
economic power, the United Nations headquarters (built in 1952) emphasizing New York`s
political influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitating New York`s
displacement of Paris as the center of the art world. Yet like many large American cities, New
York suffered a decline in manufacturing and rising crime rates, race riots, and white flight in the
1960s. By the 1970s, the city had gained a reputation as a crime-ridden relic of history.
In the 1980s, a resurgence in the financial industry improved the city`s fiscal health. By the
1990s, racial tensions had calmed, crime rates dropped dramatically, and waves of new immigrants
arrived from Asia and Latin America. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley, emerged in the
city`s economy and New York`s population reached an all-time high in the 2000 census.
The city was one of the sites of the September 11, 2001 attacks, when nearly 3,000 people
died in the destruction of the World Trade Center. The Freedom Tower will be built on the site and
is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Lenape and New Netherland: prehistory - 1664

Prehistory in the area began with the geological formation of the peculiar territory of what
is today New York City. The area was long inhabited by the Lenape; a sedentary people who
occupied campsites seasonally, resulting in relatively easy access to the small game that inhabited
the region: fish, birds, shellfish and deer. They developed sophisticated techniques of hunting and
managing their resources. By the arrival of Europeans, the Lenape were cultivating fields of
vegetation through the slash and burn technique, which extended the productive life of planted
fields. They also harvested vast quantities of fish and shellfish from the bay. The success of these
methods allowed the tribe to maintain a larger population than nomadic hunter-gatherers were able
to support. It has been estimated that at the time of European settlement there might have been
about 15, 000 Lenape total in approximately 80 settlement sites around the region. [18] Lenape in
canoes met Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European explorer to enter New York Harbour, in
1524. Giovanni da Verrazzano named this place New Angoulême in the honour of the French king
Francis I. Although Verrazzano sailed into the New York City Harbour, he is not thought to have
travelled further than the present site of the bridge that bears his name, and instead sailed back into
the Atlantic. It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the
Dutch East India Company, that the area was mapped. He discovered Manhattan Island On
September 12, 1609, and continued up the river that bears his name, the Hudson River, until he
arrived at the site where New York State`s capital city, Albany, now stands.
European settlement began with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement in Lower
Manhattan in 1613 later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam) in the southern tip of
Manhattan in 1625. Soon thereafter, most likely in 1626, construction of Fort Amsterdam began.
Later in 1626, Peter Minuit established a long tradition of shrewd real estate investing when he
purchased Manhattan Island and Staten Island from native people in exchange for trade goods.
(Legend, now long disproved, has it that the island was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads).
Minuit`s settlement was also a haven for Huguenots seeking religious liberty.
Willem Kieft became director general in 1638, but five years later was embroiled in Kieft`s
War against he Native Americans. The Pavonia Massacre, across the Hudson River in present day
Jersey City resulted in the death of eighty natives in February 1643. Following the massacre,
eleven Algonquin tribes joined forces and nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent additional
forces to the aid of Kieft, which took part the overwhelming defeat of the Native Americans,
leading to a peace treaty on August 29 1645 to end the war.
On May 27, 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was inaugurated as director upon his arrival, and ruled
as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He curtailed the city`s religious freedoms and closed
all of the city`s taverns. The colony was granted self-government in 1652 and New Amsterdam
was formally incorporated as a city February 2, 1653. In 1654, the British conquered the area and
renamed it “New York” after the English Duke of York and Albany. The Dutch briefly regained it
in 1672, renaming the city “New Orange”, before permanently ceding the colony of New
Netherland to the British for What is now Suriname in November 1674.

British and revolution: 1665-1783

This period began with the establishment of English rule over formerly Dutch New
Amsterdam and New Netherland. As the newly renamed City of New York and surrounding areas
developed there was growing sentiment for greater independence.
Leisler`s Rebellion, an uprising in which militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of
lower New York from 1689 to 1691, occurred in the midst of Britain`s “Glorious Revolution” and
reflected colonial resentment against the policies of King James II, who in the 1680s decreed the
formation of New York, New Jersey and the Dominion of New England as royal colonies, with
New York designated as the capital. This unilateral union was highly unpopular among the
colonists. Royal authority was restored in 1691 by British troops sent by James`successor, William
III. The event introduced the principle that the people could replace a ruler they deemed
unsuitable; uprisings against royal governors sprouted throughout the colonies. In 1754, Columbia
University was founded under charter by King George II as King`s College in Lower Manhattan.
The Stamp Act and other British measures fomented dissent among local residents,
particularly among Sons of Liberty who maintained a long-running skirmish with locally stationed
British troops over Liberty Poles from 1766 to 1776. The site of modern Greater New York City
was the theatre of the New York Campaign, a series of major battles in the early American
Revolutionary War. After early success in that campaign the city became the British political and
military center of operations in North America for the remainder of the war. New York was greatly
damaged twice by fires of dubious origin during the British military rule that followed. Continental
army officer Nathan Hale was hanged in Manhattan for espionage after the Battle of Long Island
(also known as the Battle of Brooklyn), the largest battle of the entire war. In addition, the British
began to hold the majority of captured American prisoners of war aboard prison ships in Wallabout
Bay, across the East River in Brooklyn. More Americans lost their liver from neglect aboard the
prison ships than died in every battle of the war, combined. British occupation lasted until
November 25, 1783. George Washington triumphantly returned to the city that same November
25th , as the last British forces left the city. The Continental Congress met in New York City under
the Articles of Confederation, making it the first national capital of the United States. The Supreme
Court first deliberated and the new United States first expanded (via the passage of the Northwest
Ordinance) in the city.