New York City [antikvár]

o many, New York City, that colossus of roads, bridges, skyscrapers, and humanity, is America. From its pastoral beginnings, this city grew to encompass dozy villages and working farms, úrban grandeur and surburban sprawl. Indeed, New York-big, boastful, materialistic, and multicultural since its inception-anticipated the America of today. From the beginning, New York City was a business venture. And when Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Queens were added, in the 1890's, to the borough of Manhattan, creating Greater New York, 650 miles of oceanfront land became available for development and commerce. New York was thus ideally situated to dominate trade with both Europe and the American continent. Greater New York has a striking collective personality, yet each of its five boroughs retains a unique character of its own. Manhattan, often defined by its famous skyscrapers, most notably the Empire State and Chrysler buildings and the World Trade Center's twin towers, alsó possesses the magnificent 843-acre Central Park. Manhattan's fabled "Museum Mile" on Fifth Avenue, boasts an array of legendary cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Guggenheim Museum. An architectural and cultural treasure trove of great buildings, churches, and institutions, from Wall Street to Harlem, Soho to Times Square, the East Village to the Upper West Side, Manhattan's neighborhoods themselves have become popular tourist spots. Brookyn, the city's most nostalgic borough, conjures up images of the Dodgers playing ball at Ebbets Field, of Coney Island's exotic attractions, of pungent "Brookyn accents," and stately brownstone neighborhoods üke Cobble Hill, Park Slope, and Brooklyn Heights. Somé of the borough's many cultural landmarks include The Brooklyn Museum, enormous Green-Wood Cemetery, "Brooklyn's Garden City of the Dead," and Prospect Park. Two of New York's finest cultural fixtures, The Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden, thrive in New York's northern borough, the Bronx, home of the world champion Yankees. The first four houses of the Historic House Trust of New York, including the home where Edgár Allén Poe wrote somé of his greatest works, are alsó found in the Bronx. Admirers of Queens, the largest and most residential borough, speak of the neighborhood identities that have lingered. Alongside the close-knit communities of Astoria, Jackson Heights, and Floral Park, amongst others, can be found such amenities as the Socrates Sculpture Park. And Staten Island, the last of the boroughs to be connected by bridge with another, remains proud of its world-famous ferry, its independent air, and its Historic Richmond Town. A lively arts and humanities council presents free concerts and performances, several times a month, all across the island from which, thanks to its hilly terrain, somé of the best views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan skylines can be seen. A brave, brash, ultimately great city, New York, in all its protean energy and strength, continues to stimulate, challenge, and reward all who experience it-immigrants, residents, and visitors alike. Overleaf: Immigrants sailed past the inspiring Statue of Liberty, whosefull name is Liberty Enlightening the World. Thei^i-foothigh statue became a symbol offreedom not only in America, but alsó around the world. After Lady Liberty's centennial restoration, her originál torch was moved to her main lobby and replaced by one that is coated in twenty-four-karat gold leaf. Emma Lazarus's poem that begins, "Give me your tired, your poor," is engraved on the statue's base, which was designed by architect Richárd Morris Hunt.