Manhattan Vintage Nyc Chrysler Building Negatives X 2 Original 1940S

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 176278959944 MANHATTAN VINTAGE NYC CHRYSLER BUILDING NEGATIVES X 2 ORIGINAL 1940S. TWO VINTAGE ORIGINAL 4X5 INCHY NEGATIVES c1940's OF THE CHRYSLER BUILDING APPROX 30TH FLOOR AND DOWN
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue near Midtown Manhattan. At 1,046 feet (319 m), it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework, and was the world's tallest building for 11 months after its completion in 1930.[4][12] As of 2019, the Chrysler is the 11th-tallest building in the city, tied with The New York Times Building.[13] Originally a project of real estate developer and former New York State Senator William H. Reynolds, the building was constructed by Walter Chrysler, the head of the Chrysler Corporation. The construction of the Chrysler Building, an early skyscraper, was characterized by a competition with 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building to become the world's tallest building. Although the Chrysler Building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for its construction and never owned it; Walter Chrysler decided to fund the entire cost personally so his children could inherit it. An annex was completed in 1952, and the building was sold by the Chrysler family the next year, with numerous subsequent owners. When the Chrysler Building opened, there were mixed reviews of the building's design, ranging from views of it as inane and unoriginal to the idea that it was modernist and iconic. Perceptions of the building have slowly evolved into its now being seen as a paragon of the Art Deco architectural style; and in 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1978, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Contents 1 Site 2 History 2.1 Context 2.2 Development 2.3 Completion 2.4 Use 3 Design 3.1 Form 3.2 Facade 3.3 Interior 4 Chrysler Center 5 Tenants 6 Impact 6.1 Critical reception 6.2 As icon 6.3 In popular culture 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Notes 8.2 Citations 8.3 Bibliography 8.4 Further reading 9 External links Site The Chrysler Building is on the eastern side of Lexington Avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets.[14] The land was donated to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1902.[15][16] The site is roughly a trapezoid with a 201-foot-long (61 m) frontage on Lexington Avenue; a 167-foot-long (51 m) frontage on 42nd Street; and a 205-foot-long (62 m) frontage on 43rd Street.[17] The site bordered the old Boston Post Road,[18][19] which predated, and ran aslant of, the Manhattan street grid established by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. As a result, the east side of the building's base is similarly aslant.[20] The Grand Hyatt New York hotel and the Graybar Building are across Lexington Avenue, while the Socony–Mobil Building is across 42nd Street. In addition, the Chanin Building is to the southwest, diagonally across Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street.[14] History Context A view of the Chrysler Building from the Empire State Building The Chrysler Building from the Empire State Building, both erected as part of New York City's 1920s building boom In the mid-1920s, New York's metropolitan area surpassed London's as the world's most populous metropolitan area[21] and its population exceeded ten million by the early 1930s.[22] The era was characterized by profound social and technological changes. Consumer goods such as radio, cinema, and the automobile became widespread.[23] In 1927, Walter Chrysler's automotive company, the Chrysler Corporation, became the third-largest car manufacturer in the United States, behind Ford and General Motors.[24][25] The following year, Chrysler was named Time magazine's "Person of the Year".[26][27] The economic boom of the 1920s and speculation in the real estate market fostered a wave of new skyscraper projects in New York City.[27] The Chrysler Building was built as part of an ongoing building boom that resulted in the city having the world's tallest building from 1908 to 1974.[28] Following the end of World War I, European and American architects came to see simplified design as the epitome of the modern era and Art Deco skyscrapers as symbolizing progress, innovation, and modernity. The 1916 Zoning Resolution restricted the height that street-side exterior walls of New York City buildings could rise before needing to be setback from the street.[a][31] This led to the construction of Art Deco structures in New York City with significant setbacks, large volumes, and striking silhouettes that were often elaborately decorated.[32][33] Art Deco buildings were constructed for only a short period of time; but because that period was during the city's late-1920s real estate boom, the numerous skyscrapers built in the Art Deco style predominated in the city skyline, giving it the romantic quality seen in films and plays.[34] The Chrysler Building project was shaped by these circumstances.[27] Development Planning A view of the Chrysler Building from 42nd Street Originally, the Chrysler Building was to be the Reynolds Building, a project of real estate developer and former New York State Senator William H. Reynolds.[35][9][36] Prior to his involvement in planning the building, Reynolds was best known for developing Coney Island's Dreamland amusement park. When the amusement park was destroyed by fire in 1911, Reynolds turned his attention to Manhattan real estate, where he set out to build the tallest building in the world.[35][9][37] In 1921, Reynolds rented a large plot of land at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street with the intention of building a tall building on the site.[9][36] In 1927, after several years of delays, Reynolds hired the architect William Van Alen to design a forty-story building there.[38] Van Alen's original design featured many Modernist stylistic elements, with glazed, curved windows at the corners.[35] Van Alen was respected in his field for his work on the Albemarle Building at Broadway and 24th Street, designing it in collaboration with his partner H. Craig Severance.[39][40] Van Alen and Severance complemented each other, with Van Alen being an original, imaginative architect and Severance being a shrewd businessperson who handled the firm's finances.[41] However, the relationship between them became tense over disagreements on how best to run the firm.[38] The breaking point came after a 1924 article in the Architectural Review, praising the Albemarle Building's design; Van Alen was attributed as the designer in the firm, while Severance's role was altogether ignored.[42][43][44] The architects' partnership dissolved acrimoniously several months later, with lawsuits over the firm's clients and assets lasting over a year.[43][44] The rivalry ended up being decisive for the design of the future Chrysler Building, since Severance's more traditional architectural style would otherwise have restrained Van Alen's more modern outlook.[45] Refinement of designs By February 2, 1928, the proposed building's height had been increased to 54 stories, which would have made it the tallest building in Midtown.[46] The proposal was changed again two weeks later, with official plans for a 63-story building.[47] A little more than a week after that, the plan was changed for the third time, with two additional stories added.[48] By this time, 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue were both hubs for construction activity, due to the removal of the Third Avenue Elevated's 42nd Street spur, which was seen as a blight on the area. The adjacent 56-story Chanin Building was also under construction. Because of the elevated spur's removal, real estate speculators believed that Lexington Avenue would become the "Broadway of the East Side", causing a ripple effect that would spur developments farther east.[49] In April 1928, Reynolds signed a 67-year lease for the plot and finalized the details of his ambitious project.[50] Van Alen's original design for the skyscraper called for a base with first-floor showroom windows that would be triple-height, and above would be 12 stories with glass-wrapped corners, to create the impression that the tower was floating in mid-air.[36][51] Reynolds's main contribution to the building's design was his insistence that it have a metallic crown, despite Van Alen's initial opposition;[5] the metal-and-crystal crown would have looked like "a jeweled sphere" at night.[52] Originally, the skyscraper would have risen 808 feet (246 m), with 67 floors.[8][53][51] These plans were approved in June 1928.[54] Van Alen's drawings were unveiled in the following August and published in a magazine run by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).[55] Eventually, this design would prove too advanced and expensive for Reynolds.[6] He instead devised an alternate design for the Reynolds Building, which was published in August 1928. The new design was much more conservative, with an Italianate dome that a critic compared to Governor Al Smith's bowler hat, and a brick arrangement on the upper floors that simulated windows in the corners, a detail that remains in the current Chrysler Building. This design almost exactly reflected the shape, setbacks, and the layout of the windows of the current building, but with a different dome.[36] Final plans and start of construction With the design complete, groundbreaking for the Reynolds Building took place on September 19, 1928,[6] but Reynolds did not have the means to carry on construction.[56][37] Reynolds sold the plot, lease, plans, and architect's services to Walter Chrysler for $2 million on October 15, 1928.[57][56][17] That same day, the Goodwin Construction Company began demolition of what had been built.[58][17] A contract was awarded on October 28,[59] and demolition was completed on November 9.[58] Chrysler's initial plans for the building were similar to Reynolds's, but with the 808-foot building having 68 floors instead of 67. The plans entailed a ground-floor pedestrian arcade; a facade of stone below the fifth floor and brick-and-terracotta above; and a three-story bronze-and-glass "observation dome" at the top.[57][17] However, Chrysler wanted a more progressive design, and he worked with Van Alen to redesign the skyscraper to be 925 ft (282 m) tall.[60][6] At the new height, Chrysler's building would be taller than the 792-foot (241 m) Woolworth Building, a building in lower Manhattan that was the world's tallest at the time.[61][17] At one point, Chrysler had requested that Van Alen shorten the design by ten floors, but reneged on that decision after realizing that the increased height would also result in increased publicity.[62] One of the radiator cap–themed ornaments From late 1928 to early 1929, modifications to the design of the dome continued.[38] In March 1929, the press published details of an "artistic dome" that had the shape of a giant thirty-pointed star, which would be crowned by a sculpture five meters high.[63][36][64] The final design of the dome included several arches and triangular windows.[38] Lower down, the design was affected by Walter Chrysler's intention to make the building the Chrysler Corporation's headquarters, and as such, various architectural details were modeled after Chrysler automobile products, such as the hood ornaments of the Plymouth (see § Designs between setbacks).[36][8] The building's gargoyles on the 31st floor and the eagles on the 61st floor, were created to represent flight,[65] and to embody the machine age of the time.[36][8] Even the topmost needle was built using a process similar to one Chrysler used to manufacture his cars, with precise "hand craftmanship".[66] In his autobiography, Chrysler says he suggested that his building be taller than the Eiffel Tower.[67][9] Meanwhile, excavation of the new building's 69-foot-deep (21 m) foundation began in mid-November 1928[68][69] and was completed in mid-January 1929, when bedrock was reached.[58] A total of 105,000,000 pounds (48,000,000 kg) of rock and 36,000,000 pounds (16,000,000 kg) of soil was excavated for the foundation, equal to 63% of the future building's weight.[69] Construction of the building proper began on January 21, 1929.[58] The Carnegie Steel Company provided the steel beams, the first of which was installed on March 27; and by April 9, the first upright beams had been set into place.[69] The steel structure was "a few floors" high by June 1929, 35 floors high by early August,[69] and completed by September.[27] Despite a frantic steelwork construction pace of about four floors per week,[6] no workers died during the construction of the skyscraper's steelwork.[6][70] Chrysler lauded this achievement, saying, "It is the first time that any structure in the world has reached such a height, yet the entire steel construction was accomplished without loss of life".[70] In total, 391,881 rivets were used, and approximately 3,826,000 bricks were manually laid[6] to create the non-loadbearing walls of the skyscraper.[71] Walter Chrysler personally financed the construction with his income from his car company.[72] The Chrysler Building's height officially surpassed the Woolworth's on October 16, 1929, thereby becoming the world's tallest structure.[73] Competition for "world's tallest building" title The same year that the Chrysler Building's construction started, banker George L. Ohrstrom proposed the construction of a 47-story office building at 40 Wall Street downtown. Shortly thereafter Ohrstrom modified his project to have 60 floors, but it was still below Woolworth and the 808-foot Chrysler Building project as announced in 1928.[61] H. Craig Severance, Van Alen's former partner and the architect of 40 Wall Street, increased 40 Wall's height to 840 feet (260 m) with 62 floors in April of that year. It would thus exceed the Woolworth's height by 48 feet (15 m) and the Chrysler's by 32 feet (9.8 m).[61] 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building started competing for the distinction of "world's tallest building".[74][75] The Empire State Building, on 34th Street and Fifth Avenue, entered the competition in 1929.[76] The race was defined by at least five other proposals, although only the Empire State Building would survive the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[77][b] The "Race into the Sky", as popular media called it at the time, was representative of the country's optimism in the 1920s, which helped fuel the building boom in major cities.[76] The 40 Wall Street tower was revised from 840 feet (260 m) to 925 feet in April 1929, which would make it the world's tallest.[79] Severance then publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest building.[80] Construction of 40 Wall Street began in May 1929 at a frantic pace, and it was completed twelve months later.[61] In response, Van Alen obtained permission for a 125-foot-long (38 m) spire[81][82][c] and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of his building.[79][62] The spire was delivered to the site in four different sections.[81] On October 23, 1929, one week after surpassing the Woolworth Building's height and one day before the catastrophic Wall Street Crash of 1929 started, the spire was assembled. According to one account, "the bottom section of the spire was hoisted to the top of the building's dome and lowered into the 66th floor of the building."[61] Then, within 90 minutes the rest of the spire's pieces were raised and riveted in sequence,[83] helping raise the tower's height to 1,046 feet.[84][85] Van Alen, who witnessed the process from the street along with its engineers and Walter Chrysler,[84] compared the experience to watching a butterfly leaving its cocoon.[62][85] In "The Structure and Metal Work of the Chrysler Building", an article published in the October 1930 edition of Architectural Forum, Van Alen explained the design and construction of the crown and needle:[86][27] A high spire structure with a needle-like termination was designed to surmount the dome. This is 185 feet high and 8 feet square at its base. It was made up of four corner angles, with light angle strut and diagonal members, all told weighing 27 tons. It was manifestly impossible to assemble this structure and hoist it as a unit from the ground, and equally impossible to hoist it in sections and place them as such in their final positions. Besides, it would be more spectacular, for publicity value, to have this cloud-piercing needle appear unexpectedly. The steel tip brought the Chrysler Building to a height of 1,046 feet (319 m), greatly exceeding 40 Wall Street's height.[87] However, contemporary news media did not write of the spire's erection, nor were there any press releases celebrating the spire's erection. Even the New York Herald Tribune, which had virtually continuous coverage of the tower's construction, did not report on the spire's installation until days after the spire had been raised.[88] Chrysler realized that his tower's height would exceed the Empire State Building's as well, having ordered Van Alen to change the Chrysler's original roof from a stubby Romanesque dome to the narrow steel spire.[79] However, the Empire State's developer John J. Raskob reviewed the plans and realized that he could add five more floors and a spire of his own to his 80-story building,[89] and subsequently acquired the nearby plots needed to support that building's height extension.[90][91] Two days later, the Empire State Building's co-developer, former Governor Al Smith, announced the updated plans for that skyscraper, with an observation deck on the 86th-floor roof at a height of 1,050 feet (320 m), higher than the Chrysler's 71st-floor observation deck at 783 feet (239 m).[89] Completion The Chrysler Building in 1932 In January 1930, it was announced that the Chrysler Corporation would maintain offices in the Chrysler Building during Automobile Show Week,[92] and the first leases by outside tenants were announced in April 1930, before the building was officially completed.[93][1] The building was formally opened on May 27, 1930, in a ceremony that coincided with the 42nd Street Property Owners and Merchants Association's meeting that year. In the lobby of the building, a bronze plaque that read "in recognition of Mr. Chrysler's contribution to civic advancement" was unveiled. Former Governor Smith, former Assemblyman Martin G. McCue, and 42nd Street Association president George W. Sweeney were among those in attendance.[1][2] By June, it was reported that 65% of the available space had been leased.[94] By August, the building was declared complete, but the New York City Department of Construction did not mark it as finished until February 1932.[1] The added height of the spire allowed the Chrysler Building to surpass 40 Wall Street as the tallest building in the world and the Eiffel Tower as the tallest structure.[89] The Chrysler Building was thus the first man-made structure to be taller than 1,000 feet (300 m);[95] and as one newspaper noted, the tower was also taller than the highest points of five states.[96] The Chrysler Building was appraised at $14 million, but was exempt from city taxes per an 1859 law that gave tax exemptions to sites owned by the Cooper Union.[97] The city had attempted to repeal the tax exemption, but Cooper Union had opposed that measure.[98] Because the Chrysler Building retains the tax exemption, it has paid Cooper Union for the use of their land since opening.[99] Van Alen's satisfaction at these accomplishments was likely muted by Walter Chrysler's later refusal to pay the balance of his architectural fee.[36] Chrysler alleged that Van Alen had received bribes from suppliers, and Van Alen had not signed any contracts with Walter Chrysler when he took over the project.[37][38] Van Alen sued and the courts ruled in his favor, requiring Chrysler to pay Van Alen $840,000, or 6% of the total budget of the building.[100] However, the lawsuit against Chrysler markedly diminished Van Alen's reputation as an architect, which, along with the effects of the Great Depression and negative criticism, ended up ruining his career.[101][37][38] Van Alen ended his career as professor of sculpture at the nearby Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and died in 1954. According to author Neal Bascomb, "The Chrysler Building was his greatest accomplishment, and the one that guaranteed his obscurity."[38] The Chrysler Building's distinction as the world's tallest building was short-lived. John Raskob realized the 1,050-foot Empire State Building would only be 4 feet (1.2 m) taller than the Chrysler Building,[89] and Raskob was afraid that Walter Chrysler might try to "pull a trick like hiding a rod in the spire and then sticking it up at the last minute."[102] Another revision brought the Empire State Building's roof to 1,250 feet (380 m), making it the tallest building in the world by far[103][104] when it opened on May 1, 1931.[3] However, the Chrysler Building is still the world's tallest steel-supported brick building.[8] The Chrysler Building fared better commercially than the Empire State Building did: by 1935, the Chrysler had already rented 70% of its floor area,[105] while the Empire State had only leased 23% of its area[106] and was popularly derided as the "Empty State Building".[107] The Chrysler Corporation was not involved in the construction or ownership of the Chrysler Building, although it was built and designed for the corporation. It was a project of Walter P. Chrysler for his children.[36] In his autobiography, Chrysler wrote that he wanted to erect the building "so that his sons would have something to be responsible for".[67][9] Use 20th century Height comparison of buildings in New York City The Chrysler family inherited the property after the death of Walter Chrysler in 1940, with the property being under the ownership of W.P. Chrysler Building Corporation.[108] In 1944, the corporation filed plans to build a 38-story annex to the east of the building, at 666 Third Avenue.[109] In 1949, this was revised to a 32-story annex costing $9 million.[110] The annex building, designed by Reinhard, Hofmeister & Walquist,[111][112] had a facade similar to that of the original Chrysler Building. The stone for the original building was no longer manufactured, and had to be specially replicated.[113] Construction started on the annex in June 1950,[114] and the first tenants started leasing in June 1951.[115] The building itself was completed by 1952,[111] and a sky bridge connecting the two buildings' seventh floors was built in 1959.[116] The family sold the building in 1953 to William Zeckendorf[117] for its assessed price of $18 million.[118] The 1953 deal included the annex and the nearby Graybar Building, which along with the Chrysler Building sold for a combined $52 million. The new owners were Zeckendorf's company Webb and Knapp, who held a 75% interest in the sale, and the Graysler Corporation, who held a 25% stake. At the time, it was reported to be the largest real estate sale in New York City's history.[119][120] In 1957, the Chrysler Building, its annex, and the Graybar Building were sold for $66 million to Lawrence Wien's realty syndicate, setting a new record for the largest sale in the city.[121] In 1960, the complex was purchased by Sol Goldman and Alex DiLorenzo,[122] who received a mortgage from the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company.[123] In 1961, the building's stainless steel elements, including the needle, crown, gargoyles, and entrance doors, were polished for the first time.[124][125] A group of ten workers steam-cleaned the facade below the 30th floor, and manually cleaned the portion of the tower above the 30th floor, for a cost of about $200,000.[125] Massachusetts Mutual obtained outright ownership in 1975 after Goldman and DiLorenzo defaulted on the mortgage.[123][126] The company purchased the building for $35 million.[126] In 1978, they devised plans to renovate the facade, heating, ventilation, air‐conditioning, elevators, lobby murals, and Cloud Club headquarters in a $23 million project.[126] This renovation was completed in 1979.[127][128] They delegated the leasing of the building's space to the Edward S. Gordon Company, which leased 750,000 square feet (70,000 m2) of vacant space within five years.[129] During Massachusetts Mutual's ownership of the Chrysler Building, the tower received two historic designations. The building was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976,[11][130] and as a New York City Landmark in 1978,[9] although the city only landmarked the lobby and facade.[131] Massachusetts Mutual had opposed the city landmark designation because it "would cause 'inevitable delay' in moving new tenants into the skyscraper".[132] At the time, the building had 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of vacant floor space, representing 40% of the total floor area.[126] In September 1979, the building was sold again, this time to entrepreneur and Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke, in a deal that also transferred ownership of the Los Angeles Kings and Lakers to Jerry Buss.[128][133] The spire underwent a restoration that was completed in 1995. The joints in the now-closed observation deck were polished, and the facade restored, as part of a $1.5 million project. Some damaged steel strips of the needle were replaced and several parts of the gargoyles were re-welded together.[134] The cleaning received the New York Landmarks Conservancy's Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award for 1997.[135] Cooke died in 1997, and creditors moved to foreclose on the estate's unpaid fees soon after.[136] Tishman Speyer Properties and the Travelers Insurance Group bought the Chrysler Center in 1997–1998 for about $220 million (equal to $350 million in 2020) from a consortium of banks and the estate of Jack Kent Cooke. Tishman Speyer Properties had negotiated a 150-year lease from the Cooper Union, and the college continues to own the land under the Chrysler Building.[117] Cooper Union's name is on the deed.[99] 21st century In 2001, a 75% stake in the building was sold, for US$300 million (equal to $440 million in 2020), to TMW, the German arm of an Atlanta-based investment fund.[137] In June 2008, it was reported that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council was in negotiations to buy TMW's 75% economic interest, a 15% interest from Tishman Speyer Properties in the building, and a share of the Trylons retail structure next door for US$800 million.[138] In July 2008, it was announced that the transaction had been completed, and that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council was now 90% owner of the building, with Tishman Speyer retaining 10%.[139][140] From 2010 to 2011, the building's energy, plumbing, and waste management systems were renovated. This resulted in a 21% decrease in the building's total energy consumption, a 64% decrease in water consumption, and an 81% rate of waste being recycled. In 2012, the building received a LEED Gold accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council, which recognized the building's environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.[141] The Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Tishman Speyer put the Chrysler Building on sale again in January 2019.[142][143] It was reported in March 2019 that Aby Rosen's RFR Holding LLC, in a joint venture with the Austrian SIGNA Group, had reached an agreement to purchase the Chrysler Building,[7][144] albeit at a steeply discounted price, for US$150 million.[145][146] Design The building's distinctive Art Deco crown and spire The Chrysler Building is considered a leading example of Art Deco architecture.[147][148] It is constructed of a steel frame in-filled with masonry, with areas of decorative metal cladding. The structure contains 3,862 exterior windows.[8] Approximately fifty metal ornaments protrude at the building's corners on five floors reminiscent of gargoyles on Gothic cathedrals.[149] The 31st-floor contains gargoyles[65] and replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps,[150][151] the 61st-floor eagles,[65] a nod to America's national bird.[152] The Chrysler Building uses bright "Nirosta"[153] stainless steel extensively in its design, an austenitic alloy developed in Germany by Krupp[154][155] (a German acronym for nichtrostender Stahl, meaning "non-rusting steel").[36][156] It was the first use of this "18-8 stainless steel" in an American project,[157] composed of 18% chromium and 8% nickel.[156] Nirosta was used in the exterior ornaments, the window frames, the crown, and the needle.[158] The steel was an integral part of Van Alen's design, as E.E. Thum explains: "The use of permanently bright metal was of greatest aid in the carrying of rising lines and the diminishing circular forms in the roof treatment, so as to accentuate the gradual upward swing until it literally dissolves into the sky...."[149][159] Stainless steel producers used the Chrysler Building to evaluate the durability of the product in architecture. In 1929, the American Society for Testing Materials created an inspection committee to study its performance, which regarded the Chrysler Building as the best location to do so; a subcommittee examined the building's panels every five years until 1960, when the inspections were canceled because the panels had shown minimal deterioration.[152] Form Ornaments resembling: Hood ornaments (31st floor) Hubcaps and fenders (31st floor) Eagles (61st floor) The Chrysler Building's height and legally mandated setbacks influenced Van Alen in his design.[155] The walls of the lowermost sixteen floors rise directly from the sidewalk property lines, except for a recess on one side that gives the building a "U"-shaped floor plan above the fourth floor.[35][160] There are setbacks on floors 16, 18, 23, 28, and 31, making the building compliant with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. This gives the building the appearance of a ziggurat on one side and a U-shaped palazzo on the other.[160] Above the 31st floor, there are no more setbacks until the 60th floor, above which the structure is funneled into a Maltese cross shape[161] that "blends the square shaft to the finial", according to author and photographer Cervin Robinson.[160] The floor plans of the first sixteen floors were made as large as possible to optimize the amount of rental space nearest ground level, which was seen as most desirable. The U-shaped cut above the fourth floor served as a shaft for air flow and illumination. The area between floors 28 and 31 added "visual interest to the middle of the building, preventing it from being dominated by the heavy detail of the lower floors and the eye-catching design of the finial. They provide a base to the column of the tower, effecting a transition between the blocky lower stories and the lofty shaft."[160] Facade Base and shaft The ground floor exterior is covered in polished black granite from Shastone, while the three floors above it are clad in white marble from Georgia. There are two main entrances, on Lexington Avenue and on 42nd Street, each three floors high with Shastone granite surrounding each proscenium-shaped entryway. At some distance into each main entryway, there are revolving doors "beneath intricately patterned metal and glass screens", designed so as to embody the Art Deco tenet of amplifying the entrance's visual impact. A smaller side entrance on 43rd Street is one story high.[57][155][162] There are storefronts consisting of large Nirosta-steel-framed windows at ground level, with office windows on the second through fourth floors.[155] The west and east elevations of the building contain the air shafts above the fourth floor, while the north and south sides contain the receding setbacks.[155] Below the 16th floor, the facade is clad with white brick interrupted by white-marble bands in a manner similar to a basket weaving.[163] The windows, arranged in grids, do not have window sills, the frames being flush with the facade.[155] Between the 16th and 24th floors, the exterior exhibits vertical white brick columns that are separated by windows on each floor. This visual effect is made possible by the presence of aluminum spandrels between the columns of windows on each floor. There are abstract reliefs on the 20th through 22nd-floor spandrels, while the 24th floor contains 9-foot (2.7 m) decorative pineapples.[155] Above the third setback, consisting of the 24th through 27th floors, the facade contains horizontal bands and zigzagged gray-and-black brick motifs. The section above the fourth setback, between the 27th and 31st floors, serves as a podium for the main shaft of the building.[35][155] At each corner of the 31st floor, large car-hood ornaments made of Nirosta steel serve as visually striking objects that make the base look larger. These corner extensions help counter a common optical illusion seen in tall buildings with horizontal bands, whose taller floors would normally look larger.[160][161] The 31st floor also contains a gray and white frieze of hubcaps and fenders,[57][5] which symbolizes both the Chrysler Corporation and serves as a visual signature of the building's Art Deco design.[8][36][57] The bonnet embellishments take the shape of Mercury's winged helmet and resemble hood ornaments installed on Chrysler vehicles at the time.[161] The shaft of the tower was designed to emphasize both the horizontal and vertical: each of the tower's four sides contains three columns of windows, each framed by bricks and an unbroken marble pillar that rises along the entirety of each side. The spandrels separating the windows contain "alternating vertical stripes in gray and white brick", while each corner contains horizontal rows of black brick.[164] Crown and spire Detail of the Art Deco ornamentation at the crown The Chrysler Building is renowned for, and recognized by, its terraced crown, which is an extension of the main tower.[160] Composed of seven radiating terraced arches, Van Alen's design of the crown is a cruciform groin vault of seven concentric members with transitioning setbacks, mounted one behind another.[57][165] The entire crown is clad with Nirosta steel, ribbed and riveted in a radiating sunburst pattern with many triangular vaulted windows, reminiscent of the spokes of a wheel.[57][36][166] The windows are repeated, in smaller form, on the terraced crown's seven narrow setbacks.[36][166] Due to the curved shape of the dome, the Nirosta sheets had to be measured on site, so most of the work was carried out in workshops on the building's 67th and 75th floors.[27] According to Robinson, the terraced crown "continue[s] the wedding-cake layering of the building itself. This concept is carried forward from the 61st floor, whose eagle gargoyles echo the treatment of the 31st, to the spire, which extends the concept of 'higher and narrower' forward to infinite height and infinitesimal width. This unique treatment emphasizes the building's height, giving it an other worldly atmosphere reminiscent of the fantastic architecture of Coney Island or the Far East."[160] Illumination of the building at night Television station WCBS-TV (Channel 2) originated its transmission from the top of the Chrysler Building in 1938.[167] WCBS-TV transmissions were shifted to the Empire State Building in 1960[168] in response to competition from RCA's transmitter on that building.[169] For many years WPAT-FM and WTFM (now WKTU) also transmitted from the Chrysler Building, but their move to the Empire State Building by the 1970s ended commercial broadcasting from the structure.[168] The crown and spire are illuminated by a combination of fluorescent lights framing the crown's distinctive triangular windows and colored floodlights that face toward the building, allowing it to be lit in a variety of schemes for special occasions.[8] The V-shaped fluorescent "tube lighting" – hundreds of 480V 40W bulbs framing 120 window openings[170] – was added in 1981, although it had been part of the original design.[52][131] Until 1998, the lights were turned off at 2 a.m., but The New York Observer columnist Ron Rosenbaum convinced Tishman Speyer to keep the lights on until 6 a.m.[171] Since 2015, the Chrysler Building and other city skyscrapers have been part of the Audubon Society's Lights Out program, turning off their lights during bird migration seasons.[172] Interior The interior of the building contains several innovative elements. The partitions between the offices are soundproofed and divided into interchangeable sections, so that the layout of any could be changed quickly and comfortably. Pipes under the floors carry both telephone and electricity cables.[164] Lobby Lobby Art Deco lamp Entrance doors Futuristic digital clock The triangular lobby[173][174][162] is regarded as a paragon of the Art Deco style, with clear influences of German Expressionism.[5] Chrysler wanted the design to impress other architects and automobile magnates, so he imported various materials without giving consideration to the extra costs incurred.[175] He covered the walls with huge slabs of African red granite.[175][99] On the floor, he marked a path from the entrances to the elevators using travertine from Siena.[176][174][177] Originally, Van Alen's plans for the lobby included four large supporting columns, but they were removed after Chrysler objected on the grounds that the columns made the lobby appear "cramped".[174] Opposite the main entrance is a security guard's desk topped by a digital clock.[177] The lobby has dim lighting that gives it a somewhat subdued quality, although the appliqués of the lamps are striking and iconic. Both combine to create an intimate atmosphere and act to highlight the place.[175][177] Vertical bars of fluorescent light are covered with Belgian blue marble and Mexican amber onyx, which soften and diffuse the light, to both illuminate and blend with the red marble walls.[178] The lobby also contains four elevator banks, each with a different design.[148][174] The ceiling contains a 110-by-67-foot (34 by 20 m) mural named "Transport and Human Endeavor", commissioned from Edward Trumbull in 1930. The mural's theme is "energy and man's application of it to the solution of his problems", and it pays homage to the Golden Age of Aviation and the Machine Age.[179][174][177] The mural is painted in the shape of a "Y" with ocher and golden tones. The central image of the mural is a "muscled giant whose brain directs his boundless energy to the attainment of the triumphs of this mechanical era", according to a 1930 pamphlet that advertised the building. The mural's Art Deco style is manifested in characteristic triangles, sharp angles, slightly curved lines, chrome ornaments, and numerous patterns.[179] The mural depicts several silver planes, including the Spirit of St. Louis, as well as furnaces of incandescent steel and the building itself.[180][5] There is a wall panel dedicated to the work of clinchers, surveyors, masons, carpenters, plasterers, and builders. Fifty different figures were modeled after workers who participated in its construction.[180] In 1999, the mural was returned to its original state after a restoration that removed the polyurethane coating and filled-in holes added in the 1970s.[179] Presently, the lobby is the only publicly accessible part of the Chrysler Building.[181]: 129 [99] When the building opened, the first and second floors housed a public exhibition of Chrysler vehicles.[176][182][183] The exhibition, known as the Chrysler Automobile Salon, was near the corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Streets, and opened in 1936.[184] The ground floor featured "invisible glass" display windows,[185][186][187] a 51-foot (16 m) diameter turntable upon which automobiles were displayed, and a ceiling with lights arranged in concentric circles.[185][186][188] Escalators led to the showroom's second floor where Plymouths, Dodges, and DeSotos were sold.[189] The Chrysler Salon remained operational through at least the 1960s.[190] Elevators Open doors Closed doors Elevator interior with inlaid wood There are 32 elevators in the skyscraper, clustered into four banks.[177][191] At the time of opening, 28 of these elevators were for passenger use.[192] Each bank serves different floors within the building, with several "express" elevators going from the lobby to a few landings in between, while "local" elevators connect the landings with the floors above these intermediate landings.[193] As per Walter Chrysler's wishes, the elevators were designed to run at a rate of 900 feet per minute (270 m/min),[63] despite the 700-foot-per-minute (210 m/min) speed restriction enforced in all city elevators at the time.[164] This restriction was loosened soon after the Empire State Building opened in 1931, as that building had also been equipped with high-speed elevators.[194] The Chrysler Building also had three of the longest elevator shafts in the world at the time of completion.[177][164] Over the course of a year, Van Alen painstakingly designed these elevators with the assistance of L.T.M. Ralston, who was in charge of developing the elevator cabs' mechanical parts.[191] The cabs were manufactured by the Otis Elevator Company,[195][196] while the doors were made by the Tyler Company. The dimensions of each elevator were 5.5 feet (1.7 m) deep by 8 feet (2.4 m) wide.[191] The doors are made of metal and covered with eight types of exotic woods.[37] When the doors are closed, they resemble "tall fans set off by metallic palm fronds rising through a series of silver parabolas, whose edges were set off by curved lilies" from the outside, as noted by Curcio. However, when a set of doors is open, the cab behind the doors resembles "an exquisite Art Deco room".[191] These elements were influenced by ancient Egyptian designs, which significantly impacted the Art Deco style.[192] According to Vincent Curcio, "these elevator interiors were perhaps the single most beautiful and, next to the dome, the most important feature of the entire building."[191] Even though the woods in the elevator cabs were arranged in four basic patterns, each cab had a unique combination of woods.[177][191] Curcio stated that "if anything the building is based on patterned fabrics, [the elevators] certainly are. Three of the designs could be characterized as having 'geometric', 'Mexican' and vaguely 'art nouveau' motifs, which reflect the various influences on the design of the entire building."[191] The roof of each elevator was covered with a metal plate whose design was unique to that cab, which in turn was placed on a polished wooden pattern that was also customized to the cab. Hidden behind these plates were ceiling fans.[192] Curcio wrote that these elevators "are among the most beautiful small enclosed spaces in New York, and it is fair to say that no one who has seen or been in them has forgotten them".[191] Curcio compared the elevators to the curtains of a Ziegfeld production, noting that each lobby contains lighting that peaks in the middle and slopes down on either side.[191] The decoration of the cabs' interiors was also a nod to the Chrysler Corporation's vehicles: cars built during the building's early years had dashboards with wooden moldings.[5] Both the doors and cab interiors were considered to be works of extraordinary marquetry.[197] Basement On the 42nd Street side of the Chrysler Building, a staircase from the street leads directly under the building to the New York City Subway's 4, ​5, ​6, <6>​, 7, <7>​​, and S trains at Grand Central–42nd Street station.[198][199] It is part of the structure's original design.[177][200] The Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which at the time was the operator of all the routes serving the 42nd Street station, originally sued to block construction of the new entrance because it would cause crowding,[201] but the New York City Board of Transportation pushed to allow the corridor anyway.[202] Chrysler eventually built and paid for the building's subway entrance.[164] Work on the new entrance started in March 1930[203] and it opened along with the Chrysler Building two months later.[204] The basement also had a "hydrozone water bottling unit" that would filter tap water into drinkable water for the building's tenants. The drinkable water would then be bottled and shipped to higher floors.[205] Upper stories Cloud Club View from one of the north-facing triangular windows Main article: Cloud Club The private Cloud Club formerly occupied the 66th through 68th floors.[131] It opened in July 1930 with some three hundred members, all wealthy males who formed the city's elite.[157][206][207] Its creation was spurred by Texaco's wish for a proper restaurant for its executives prior to renting fourteen floors in the building. The Cloud Club was a compromise between William Van Alen's modern style and Walter Chrysler's stately and traditional tastes.[206] A member had to be elected, and if accepted, paid an initial fee of $200, plus a $150 to $300 annual fee.[208] There was a Tudor-style foyer on the 66th floor with oak paneling, and an old English-style grill room with wooden floors, wooden beams, wrought-iron chandeliers, and glass and lead doors.[177][157][206] The main dining room, on the 67th floor, was connected to the 66th floor by a Renaissance-style marble and bronze staircase and had a futuristic appearance, with polished granite columns and etched glass appliqués in Art Deco style.[177][207] There was a mural of a cloud on the ceiling, and a mural of Manhattan on the dining room's north side.[206] It is believed that the dining room was an inspiration for the Rainbow Room and the Rockefeller Center Luncheon Club, both at 30 Rockefeller Center.[209] On the same floor, Walter Chrysler and Texaco both had private dining rooms.[207] Chrysler's dining room had a black and frosted-blue glass frieze of automobile workers.[177] The 68th floor mainly contained service spaces.[207] In the 1950s and 1960s, members left the Cloud Club for other clubs. Texaco, whose executives comprised most of the Cloud Club's membership, moved to Westchester County in 1977,[210] and the club closed two years later.[206] Although there have been several projects to rehabilitate the club or transform it into a disco or a gastronomic club, these plans have never materialized,[207][211] as then-owner Cooke reportedly did not want a "conventional" restaurant operating within the old club.[212] Tishman Speyer rented the top two floors of the old Cloud Club.[213] The old staircase has been removed, as have many of the original decorations,[207] which prompted objections from the Art Deco Society of New York.[211] Private Chrysler offices Originally, Walter Chrysler had a two-story apartment on the 69th and 70th floors with a fireplace and a private office. The office also contained a gymnasium and the loftiest bathrooms in the city.[37] The office had a medieval ambience with leaded windows, elaborate wooden doors, and heavy plaster.[177] Chrysler did not use his gym much, instead choosing to stay at the Chrysler Corporation's headquarters in Detroit.[99] Subsequently, the 69th and 70th floors were converted into a dental clinic.[211] In 2005, a report by The New York Times found that one of the dentists, Charles Weiss, had operated at the clinic's current rooftop location since 1969.[214] The office still had the suite's original bathroom and gymnasium.[211] Chrysler also had a unit on the 58th through 60th floors, which served as his residence.[215] Observation deck From the building's opening until 1945, it contained a 3,900 square feet (360 m2) observation deck on the 71st floor, called "Celestial".[216][208] For fifty cents visitors could transit its circumference through a corridor with vaulted ceilings painted with celestial motifs and bedecked with small hanging glass planets.[5][208][217] The center of the observatory contained the toolbox that Walter P. Chrysler used at the beginning of his career as a mechanic;[131][27][164][218] it was later preserved at the Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan.[219] An image of the building resembling a rocket hung above it.[208] According to a contemporary brochure, views of up to 100 miles (160 km) were possible on a clear day;[217] but the small triangular windows of the observatory created strange angles that made viewing difficult, depressing traffic. When the Empire State Building opened in 1931 with two observatories at a higher elevation, the Chrysler observatory lost its clientele.[27] After the observatory closed, it was used to house radio and television broadcasting equipment.[220] Since 1986, the old observatory has housed the office of architects Harvey Morse and Cowperwood Interests.[220][221] As of May 2020, a new observation deck has been proposed for the 61st floor of the building. The new deck will take advantage of that floor's setbacks to create an outdoor space.[222] Attic The stories above the 71st floor are designed mostly for exterior appearance, functioning mainly as landings for the stairway to the spire and do not contain office space.[223] They are very narrow, have low and sloping roofs, and are only used to house radio transmitters and other mechanical and electrical equipment.[36] For example, the 73rd floor houses the motors of the elevators and a 15,000-US-gallon (57,000 L) water tank, of which 3,500 US gallons (13,000 L) are reserved for extinguishing fires.[221] Chrysler Center Chrysler East (at left), seen next to the original building Chrysler Trylons Chrysler Center is the name of the building complex consisting of the Chrysler Building, Chrysler Building East, and the commercial pavilion between the two, called Chrysler Trylons. In 1998, Tishman Speyer acquired the entire complex[117] and renovated it completely over the next two years.[224] The Chrysler Building annex at 666 Third Avenue, also known as the Kent Building at the time, was renovated and renamed Chrysler Building East.[224] This International Style building, built in 1952,[111] is 432 feet (132 m) high and has 32 floors.[225][226] The mechanical systems were modernized and the interior was modified. Renowned architect Philip Johnson replaced the glass facade with darker glass and added a 135,000 square feet (12,500 m2) extension.[226][227] After the addition, the total area of this building was 770,000 square feet (72,000 m2).[228] Finally, a new building, which was also designed by Philip Johnson, was built between the original skyscraper and the annex.[229] This became the Chrysler Trylons, a commercial pavilion three stories high with a retail area of 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2). Its design, consisting of three triangular glass pyramids that intersect each other, was inspired by the triangular windows of the Chrysler Building's crown. The building's design was so complex that a replica was built at Rimouski, Quebec. Johnson designed Chrysler Trylons as "a monument for 42nd Street [...] to give you the top of the Chrysler Building at street level."[224] After these modifications, the total leasable area of the complex was 2,062,772 square feet (191,637.8 m2).[228] The total cost of this project was about one hundred million dollars.[224] This renovation has won several awards and commendations, including an Energy Star rating from the Environmental Protection Agency;[230] a LEED Gold designation;[141] and the Skyscraper Museum Outstanding Renovation Award of 2001.[231] Tenants The Chrysler Corporation moved into the building as an anchor tenant in 1930.[92] In addition to the Chrysler Salon on the first and second floors, parts of the building had the Chrysler Corporation's offices, as well as a lounge and a theater for showing films of Chrysler products.[189] Other original large tenants included Time, Inc. and Texaco oil.[232] Needing more office space,[233] Time moved to Rockefeller Center in 1937.[234][235] Texaco relocated to a more suburban workplace in Purchase, New York, in 1977.[210] In addition, the offices of Shaw Walker and J. S. Bache & Company were immediately atop the Chrysler Salon, while A. B. Dick, Pan American World Airways, Adams Hats, Schrafft's, and Florsheim Shoes also had offices in the building.[236] Notable modern tenants include: Creative Artists Agency[237] Clyde & Co[238] InterMedia Partners[239] IWG[240] Outfront Media Troutman Sanders[140] YES Network[241] Impact Critical reception The completed Chrysler Building garnered mixed reviews in the press. Van Alen was hailed as the "Doctor of Altitude" by Architect magazine, while architect Kenneth Murchison called Van Alen the "Ziegfeld of his profession", comparing him to popular Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr..[39][242] The building was praised for being "an expression of the intense activity and vibrant life of our day", and for "teem[ing] with the spirit of modernism, ... the epitome of modern business life, stand[ing] for progress in architecture and in modern building methods."[164][243][244] An anonymous critic wrote in Architectural Forum's October 1930 issue: "The Chrysler...stands by itself, something apart and alone. It is simply the realization, the fulfillment in metal and masonry, of a one-man dream, a dream of such ambitions and such magnitude as to defy the comprehension and the criticism of ordinary men or by ordinary standards."[27][223] Conversely, journalist George S. Chappell called the Chrysler's design "distinctly a stunt design, evolved to make the man in the street look up".[39][177] Douglas Haskell stated that the building "embodies no compelling, organic idea",[39] and alleged that Van Alen had abandoned "some of his best innovations in behalf of stunts and new 'effects'".[57] Others compared the Chrysler Building to "an upended swordfish",[150][245] or claimed it had a "Little Nemo"-like design.[150] Lewis Mumford, a supporter of the International Style and one of the foremost architectural critics of the United States at the time, despised the building for its "inane romanticism, meaningless voluptuousness, [and] void symbolism".[23][246][164] The public also had mixed reviews of the Chrysler Building, as Murchison wrote: "Some think it's a freak; some think it's a stunt."[101][242] Later reviews were more positive. Architect Robert A. M. Stern wrote that the Chrysler Building was "the most extreme example of the [1920s and 1930s] period's stylistic experimentation", as contrasted with 40 Wall Street and its "thin" detailing.[247] George H. Douglas wrote in 2004 that the Chrysler Building "remains one of the most appealing and awe-inspiring of skyscrapers".[95] Architect Le Corbusier called the building "hot jazz in stone and steel".[174] Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable stated that the building had "a wonderful, decorative, evocative aesthetic", while Paul Goldberger noted the "compressed, intense energy" of the lobby, the "magnificent" elevators, and the "magical" view from the crown.[248] The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission said that the tower "embodies the romantic essence of the New York City skyscraper".[9] The travel guide Frommer's gave the building an "exceptional" recommendation, with author Pauline Frommer writing, "In the Chrysler Building we see the roaring-twenties version of what Alan Greenspan called 'irrational exuberance'—a last burst of corporate headquarter building before stocks succumbed to the thudding crash of 1929."[249] As icon The Chrysler Building appears in several films set in New York[250] and is widely considered one of the most positively acclaimed buildings in the city.[251][36] A 1996 survey of New York architects revealed it as their favorite, and The New York Times described it in 2005 as "the single most important emblem of architectural imagery on the New York skyline".[23] In mid-2005, the Skyscraper Museum in Lower Manhattan asked 100 architects, builders, critics, engineers, historians, and scholars, among others, to choose their 10 favorites among 25 of the city's towers. The Chrysler Building came in first place, with 90 respondents placing it on their ballots.[252] In 2007, the building ranked ninth among 150 buildings in the AIA's List of America's Favorite Architecture.[253] The Chrysler Building is widely heralded as an Art Deco icon. Fodor's New York City 2010 described the building as being "one of the great art deco masterpieces"[181]: 123  which "wins many a New Yorker's vote for the city's most iconic and beloved skyscraper".[181]: 129  Frommer's states that the Chrysler was "one of the most impressive Art Deco buildings ever constructed".[249] Insight Guides' 2016 edition maintains that the Chrysler Building is considered among the city's "most beautiful" buildings.[254] Its distinctive profile has inspired similar skyscrapers worldwide including One Liberty Place in Philadelphia,[255] Two Prudential Plaza in Chicago,[256] and the Al Kazim Towers in Dubai.[257] In popular culture While seen in many films, the Chrysler Building almost never appears as a main setting in them, prompting architect and author James Sanders to quip it should win "the Award for Best Supporting Skyscraper".[250] The building was supposed to be featured in the 1933 film King Kong, but only makes a cameo at the end thanks to its producers opting for the Empire State Building in a central role.[250] The Chrysler Building notably appears in the background of The Wiz (1978); as the setting of much of Q - The Winged Serpent (1982); in the initial credits of The Shadow of the Witness (1987); and during or after apocalyptic events in Independence Day (1996), Armageddon (1998), Deep Impact (1998), Godzilla (1998), and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001).[250] The building also appears in other films, such as Spider-Man (2002),[258] Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007),[259] Two Weeks Notice (2002),[250] The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)[260] and Men in Black 3 (2012).[261] In The Avengers (2012), Thor uses the building as an apparent amplifier to increase the effectiveness of his hammer's lighting power.[262] The Chrysler Building is frequently the subject of photographers. In December 1929, Walter Chrysler hired the famed Margaret Bourke-White to capture it for publicity purposes. She took the images from a scaffold 400 feet (120 m) high[263][264][265] and worked in a 61st-floor studio designed by John Vassos,[263][248] until she was evicted in 1934.[248] According to one account, Bourke-White wanted to live in the building for the duration of the photo shoot, but the only person able to do so was the janitor, so she was instead relegated to co-leasing a studio with Time Inc.[248] In 1930, several of her photographs were used in a special report on skyscrapers in the then-new Fortune magazine.[266] In 1934, Bourke-White's partner Oscar Graubner took a famous photo called "Margaret Bourke-White atop the Chrysler Building", which depicts her taking a photo of the city's skyline while sitting on one of the 61st-floor eagle ornaments.[263][267] On October 5, 1998, Christie's auctioned the photograph for $96,000.[268] In addition, during a January 1931 dance organized by the Society of Beaux-Arts, six architects, including Van Alen, were photographed while wearing costumes resembling the buildings that each architect designed.[269][270] The building is also mentioned in the lyrics of several songs,[271] as well as in the number "It's the Hard Knock Life" for the musical Annie.[272] In the Squaresoft (now Square Enix) videogame Parasite Eve, the building is the setting for the post-game content.[273] See also flag New York City portal icon Architecture portal Architecture of New York City List of buildings and structures List of New York City Landmarks List of tallest buildings and structures in the world List of tallest buildings in the United States List of tallest buildings in New York City List of tallest freestanding structures in the world List of tallest freestanding steel structures National Register of Historic Places listings in New York County, New York ReferencesManhattan (/mænˈhætən, mən-/), known regionally as the City,[1] is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. It is the urban core of the New York metropolitan area, and coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state of New York. Manhattan serves as the city's economic and administrative center, cultural identifier,[7] and historical birthplace.[8] The borough consists mostly of Manhattan Island, bounded by the Hudson, East, and Harlem rivers; as well as several small adjacent islands. Manhattan additionally contains Marble Hill, a small neighborhood now on the U.S. mainland, separated from the rest of Manhattan by the Harlem Ship Canal and later connected using landfill to The Bronx. Manhattan Island is divided into three informally bounded components, each cutting across the borough's long axis: Lower, Midtown, and Upper Manhattan. Manhattan has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world,[9][10][11][12] and the borough hosts the United Nations Headquarters.[13] Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world,[14][15][16][17] and Manhattan is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization: the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.[18][19] Many multinational media conglomerates are based in Manhattan, and the borough has been the setting for numerous books, films, and television shows. Manhattan real estate has since become among the most expensive in the world, with the value of Manhattan Island, including real estate, estimated to exceed US$3 trillion in 2013;[8][20] median residential property sale prices in Manhattan approximated US$1,600 per square foot ($17,000/m2) as of 2018,[21] with Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan commanding the highest retail rents in the world, at US$3,000 per square foot ($32,000/m2) per year in 2017.[22] Manhattan traces its origins to a trading post founded by colonists from the Dutch Republic in 1624 on Lower Manhattan; the post was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The territory and its surroundings came under English control in 1664[23] and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York.[24] New York, based in present-day Manhattan, served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790.[25] The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to America by ship in the late 19th century[26] and is a world symbol of the United States and its ideals of liberty and peace.[27] Manhattan became a borough during the consolidation of New York City in 1898. New York County is the smallest county by land area in the contiguous United States, the second-smallest American county overall (larger only than Kalawao County, Hawaii), as well as the most densely populated U.S. county.[28] Its density makes it one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a 2020 census population of 1,694,251 living in a land area of 22.83 square miles (59.13 km2),[29][30][5] or 72,918 residents per square mile (28,154/km2), higher than the density of any individual U.S. city.[31] On business days, the influx of commuters increases this number to over 3.9 million,[32] or more than 170,000 people per square mile (65,600/km2). Manhattan has the third-largest population of New York City's five boroughs, after Brooklyn and Queens, and is the smallest borough in terms of land area.[33] If each borough were ranked as a city, Manhattan would rank as the sixth-most populous in the U.S. Many districts and landmarks in Manhattan are well known, as New York City received a record 62.8 million tourists in 2017,[34] and Manhattan hosts three of the world's 10 most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: Times Square, Central Park, and Grand Central Terminal.[35] The borough hosts many prominent bridges, such as the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro, Triborough, and George Washington Bridges; tunnels such as the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels; skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and One World Trade Center;[36] and parks, such as Central Park. Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere,[37] and the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, part of the Stonewall National Monument, is considered the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.[38][39] The City of New York was founded at the southern tip of Manhattan,[8] and the borough houses New York City Hall, the seat of the city's government.[40] Numerous colleges and universities are located in Manhattan,[41] including Columbia University, New York University, Cornell Tech, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Rockefeller University, which have been ranked among the top 40 in the world.[42][43] Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Colonial era 2.2 American Revolution and the early United States 2.3 19th century 2.4 20th century 2.5 21st century 3 Geography 3.1 Components 3.1.1 Manhattan Island 3.1.2 Marble Hill 3.1.3 Smaller islands 3.2 Geology 3.2.1 Bedrock 3.2.2 Updated seismic analysis 3.3 Locations 3.3.1 Adjacent counties 3.3.2 National protected areas 3.3.3 Neighborhoods 3.4 Climate 3.5 Boroughscape 4 Demographics 4.1 Religion 4.2 Languages 5 Landmarks and architecture 5.1 Architectural history 5.2 Parkland 6 Economy 6.1 Financial sector 6.2 Corporate sector 6.3 Tech and biotech 6.4 Tourism 6.5 Real estate 6.6 Media 6.6.1 News 6.6.2 Television, radio, film 7 Education 8 Culture and contemporary life 9 Sports 10 Government 10.1 Politics 10.1.1 Representatives in the U.S. Congress 10.2 Federal offices 10.3 Crime and public safety 11 Housing 12 Infrastructure 12.1 Transportation 12.1.1 Public transportation 12.1.2 Major highways 12.1.3 Taxis 12.1.4 Bicycles 12.1.5 Streets and roads 12.1.6 River crossings 12.1.7 Heliports 12.2 Utilities 12.3 Health care 12.4 Water purity and availability 12.5 Address algorithm 13 See also 14 Notes 15 References 15.1 Citations 15.2 Sources 16 Further reading 17 External links 17.1 Local government and services 17.2 Maps Etymology The name Manhattan derives from the Munsee Lenape language term manaháhtaan (where manah- means "gather", -aht- means "bow", and -aan is an abstract element used to form verb stems). The Lenape word has been translated as "the place where we get bows" or "place for gathering the (wood to make) bows". According to a Munsee tradition recorded by Albert Seqaqkind Anthony in the 19th century, the island was named so for a grove of hickory trees at the lower end that was considered ideal for the making of bows.[44] It was first recorded in writing as Manna-hata, in the 1609 logbook of Robert Juet, an officer on Henry Hudson's yacht Halve Maen (Half Moon).[45] A 1610 map depicts the name as Manna-hata, twice, on both the west and east sides of the Mauritius River (later named the Hudson River). Alternative etymologies in folklore include "island of many hills",[46] "the island where we all became intoxicated" and simply "island", as well as a phrase descriptive of the whirlpool at Hell Gate.[47] It is thought that Manhattoe originally only referred to a location at the very southern tip of Manhattan, and came to signifiy the whole island to the Dutch through pars pro toto. History See also: History of New York City History of New York City Lenape and New Netherland, to 1664 New Amsterdam British and Revolution, 1665–1783 Federal and early American, 1784–1854 Tammany and Consolidation, 1855–1897 (Civil War, 1861–1865) Early 20th century, 1898–1945 Post–World War II, 1946–1977 Modern and post-9/11, 1978–present Timelines: NYC • Bronx • Brooklyn • Queens • Staten Island Category vte Colonial era Peter Minuit, early 1600s 1626 letter in Dutch by Pieter Schaghen stating the purchase of Manhattan for 60 guilders. The Castello Plan showing the Dutch colonial city of New Amsterdam in 1660 – then confined to the southern tip of Manhattan Island The area that is now Manhattan was long inhabited by the Lenape and Wappinger Indians. In 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano – sailing in service of King Francis I of France – became the first documented European to visit the area that would become New York City. He entered the tidal strait now known as The Narrows and named the land around Upper New York Harbor New Angoulême, in reference to the family name of King Francis I that was derived from Angoulême in France; he sailed far enough into the harbor to sight the Hudson River, which he referred to in his report to the French king as a "very big river"; and he named the Bay of Santa Margarita – what is now Upper New York Bay – after Marguerite de Navarre, the elder sister of the king.[48][49] It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, that the area was mapped.[50] Hudson came across Manhattan Island and the native people living there in 1609, and continued up the river that would later bear his name, the Hudson River, until he arrived at the site of present-day Albany.[51] A permanent European presence in New Netherland began in 1624, with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625, construction was started on the citadel of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam), in what is now Lower Manhattan.[52][53] The 1625 establishment of Fort Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan Island is recognized as the birth of New York City.[54] According to a letter by Pieter Janszoon Schagen, Peter Minuit and Dutch colonists acquired Manhattan on May 24, 1626, from unnamed native people, who are believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Manhattoe, in exchange for traded goods worth 60 guilders,[55] often said to be worth US$24. The figure of 60 guilders comes from a letter by a representative of the Dutch Estates General and member of the board of the Dutch West India Company, Pieter Janszoon Schagen, to the Estates General in November 1626.[56] In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 (or 60 guilders) to US$24 (he arrived at $24 = Fl 60/2.5, because the US dollar was erroneously equated with the Dutch rijksdaalder having a standard value of 2.5 guilders).[57] "[A] variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars," as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York.[58] Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006 and $963 in 2020, according to the Institute for Social History of Amsterdam.[59] Based on the price of silver, "The Straight Dope" newspaper column calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992.[60] Historians James and Michelle Nevius revisited the issue in 2014, suggesting that using the prices of beer and brandy as monetary equivalencies, the price Minuit paid would have the purchasing power of somewhere between $2,600 and $15,600 in current dollars.[61] According to the writer Nathaniel Benchley, Minuit conducted the transaction with Seyseys, chief of the Canarsee, who were willing to accept valuable merchandise in exchange for the island that was mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks, a band of the Wappinger.[62] In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony.[63] New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653.[64] In 1674, the English bought New Netherland, after the Holland lost rentable sugar business in Brazil, and renamed it "New York" after the English Duke of York and Albany, the future King James II.[65] The Dutch, under Director General Stuyvesant, successfully negotiated with the English to produce 24 articles of provisional transfer, which sought to retain for the extant citizens of New Netherland their previously attained liberties (including freedom of religion) under their new English rulers.[66][53] The Dutch Republic re-captured the city in August 1673, renaming it "New Orange". New Netherland was ultimately ceded to the English in November 1674 through the Treaty of Westminster.[67] This statue of President Washington stands in front of Federal Hall (on Wall Street) where he was inaugurated as the first U.S. president in 1789,[68] sculptor, John Quincy Adams Ward American Revolution and the early United States Manhattan was at the heart of the New York Campaign, a series of major battles in the early American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was forced to abandon Manhattan after the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776. The city, greatly damaged by the Great Fire of New York during the campaign, became the British military and political center of operations in North America for the remainder of the war.[69] The military center for the colonists was established in New Jersey.[70][71] British occupation lasted until November 25, 1783, when George Washington returned to Manhattan, as the last British forces left the city.[72] From January 11, 1785, to the fall of 1788, New York City was the fifth of five capitals of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, with the Continental Congress meeting at New York City Hall (then at Fraunces Tavern). New York was the first capital under the newly enacted Constitution of the United States, from March 4, 1789, to August 12, 1790, at Federal Hall.[73] Federal Hall was also the site where the United States Supreme Court met for the first time,[74] the United States Bill of Rights were drafted and ratified,[75] and where the Northwest Ordinance was adopted, establishing measures for adding new states to the Union.[76] 19th century New York grew as an economic center, first as a result of Alexander Hamilton's policies and practices as the first Secretary of the Treasury and, later, with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which connected the Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the Midwestern United States and Canada.[77][78] By 1810, New York City, then confined to Manhattan, had surpassed Philadelphia as the largest city in the United States.[79] The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 laid out the island of Manhattan in its familiar grid plan. Manhattan in 1873. The Brooklyn Bridge was under construction from 1870 until 1883 Tammany Hall, a Democratic Party political machine, began to grow in influence with the support of many of the immigrant Irish, culminating in the election of the first Tammany mayor, Fernando Wood, in 1854. Tammany Hall dominated local politics for decades. Central Park, which opened to the public in 1858, became the first landscaped public park in an American city.[80][81] New York City played a complex role in the American Civil War. The city's strong commercial ties to the southern United States existed for many reasons, including the industrial power of the Hudson River, which allowed trade with stops such as the West Point Foundry, one of the great manufacturing operations in the early United States; and the city's Atlantic Ocean ports, rendering New York City the American powerhouse in terms of industrial trade between the northern and southern United States. Anger arose about conscription, with resentment at those who could afford to pay $300 to avoid service leading to resentment against Lincoln's war policies and fomenting paranoia about free Blacks taking the poor immigrants' jobs,[82] culminating in the three-day-long New York Draft Riots of July 1863. These intense war-time riots are counted among the worst incidents of civil disorder in American history, with an estimated 119 participants and passersby massacred.[83] The rate of immigration from Europe grew steeply after the Civil War, and Manhattan became the first stop for millions seeking a new life in the United States, a role acknowledged by the dedication of the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886, a gift from the people of France.[84][85] New York's growing immigrant population, which had earlier consisted mainly of German and Irish immigrants, began in the late 1800s to include waves of impoverished Italians and Central and Eastern European Jews flowing in en masse. This new European immigration brought further social upheaval. In a city of tenements packed with poorly paid laborers from dozens of nations, the city became a hotbed of revolution (including anarchists and communists among others), syndicalism, racketeering, and unionization. In 1883, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge established a road connection to Brooklyn, across the East River. In 1874, the western portion of the present Bronx County was transferred to New York County from Westchester County, and in 1895 the remainder of the present Bronx County was annexed.[86] In 1898, when New York City consolidated with three neighboring counties to form "the City of Greater New York", Manhattan and the Bronx, though still one county, were established as two separate boroughs. On January 1, 1914, the New York State Legislature created Bronx County and New York County was reduced to its present boundaries.[87] The "Sanitary & Topographical Map of the City and Island of New York", commonly known as the Viele Map, was created by Egbert Ludovicus Viele in 1865 20th century Further information: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and Stonewall riots Manhattan's Little Italy, Lower East Side, circa 1900 The construction of the New York City Subway, which opened in 1904, helped bind the new city together, as did additional bridges to Brooklyn. In the 1920s Manhattan experienced large arrivals of African-Americans as part of the Great Migration from the southern United States, and the Harlem Renaissance, part of a larger boom time in the Prohibition era that included new skyscrapers competing for the skyline. New York City became the most populous city in the world in 1925, overtaking London, which had reigned for a century.[88] Manhattan's majority white ethnic group declined from 98.7% in 1900 to 58.3% by 1990.[89] On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Greenwich Village killed 146 garment workers. The disaster eventually led to overhauls of the city's fire department, building codes, and workplace regulations.[90] The period between the World Wars saw the election of reformist mayor Fiorello La Guardia and the fall of Tammany Hall after 80 years of political dominance.[91] As the city's demographics stabilized, labor unionization brought new protections and affluence to the working class, the city's government and infrastructure underwent a dramatic overhaul under La Guardia. Despite the Great Depression, some of the world's tallest skyscrapers were completed in Manhattan during the 1930s, including numerous Art Deco masterpieces that are still part of the city's skyline, most notably the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the 30 Rockefeller Plaza.[92] V-J Day in Times Square in Times Square, 1945 Returning World War II veterans created a postwar economic boom, which led to the development of huge housing developments targeted at returning veterans, the largest being Peter Cooper Village-Stuyvesant Town, which opened in 1947.[93] In 1951–1952, the United Nations relocated to a new headquarters the East Side of Manhattan.[94][95] The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement[96][97] and the modern fight for LGBT rights.[98][99] In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City, including Manhattan, to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates.[100] While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through the decade and into the beginning of the 1990s.[101] The 1980s saw a rebirth of Wall Street, and Manhattan reclaimed its role at the center of the worldwide financial industry. The 1980s also saw Manhattan at the heart of the AIDS crisis, with Greenwich Village at its epicenter. The organizations Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) were founded to advocate on behalf of those stricken with the disease. By the 1990s crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification, and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. Murder rates that had reached 2,245 in 1990 plummeted to 537 by 2008, and the crack epidemic and its associated drug-related violence came under greater control.[102] The outflow of population turned around, as the city once again became the destination of immigrants from around the world, joining with low interest rates and Wall Street bonuses to fuel the growth of the real estate market.[103] Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley, emerged in Manhattan's economy. The newly completed Singer Building towering above the city, 1909   A construction worker atop the Empire State Building as it was being built in 1930; to the right is the Chrysler Building.   The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, a designated U.S. National Historic Landmark and National Monument, as the site of the June 1969 Stonewall riots and the cradle of the modern gay rights movement.[96][104][105]   United Airlines Flight 175 hits the South Tower of the first World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. 21st century Further information: September 11 attacks Flooding on Avenue C caused by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012[106] On September 11, 2001, two of four hijacked planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center, and the towers subsequently collapsed. 7 World Trade Center collapsed due to fires and structural damage caused by heavy debris falling from the collapse of the Twin Towers. The other buildings within the World Trade Center complex were damaged beyond repair and soon after demolished. The collapse of the Twin Towers caused extensive damage to other surrounding buildings and skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan, and resulted in the deaths of 2,606 people, in addition to those on the planes. Since 2001, most of Lower Manhattan has been restored, although there has been controversy surrounding the rebuilding. Many rescue workers and residents of the area developed several life-threatening illnesses that have led to some of their subsequent deaths.[107] A memorial at the site was opened to the public on September 11, 2011, and the museum opened in 2014. In 2014, the new One World Trade Center, at 1,776 feet (541 m) and formerly known as the Freedom Tower, became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere,[108] while other skyscrapers were under construction at the site. The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and spawning the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide.[109] On October 29 and 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused extensive destruction in the borough, ravaging portions of Lower Manhattan with record-high storm surge from New York Harbor,[110] severe flooding, and high winds, causing power outages for hundreds of thousands of city residents[111] and leading to gasoline shortages[112] and disruption of mass transit systems.[113][114][115][116] The storm and its profound impacts have prompted the discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of the borough and the metropolitan area to minimize the risk of destructive consequences from another such event in the future.[117] Around 15 percent of the borough is considered to be in flood-risk zones.[118] On October 31, 2017, a terrorist took a rental pickup truck and deliberately drove down a bike path alongside the West Side Highway in Lower Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring a dozen others before crashing into a school bus.[119] Geography See also: Geography of New York City Satellite image of Manhattan Island, bounded by the Hudson River to the west, the Harlem River to the north, the East River to the east, and New York Harbor to the south, with rectangular Central Park prominently visible. Roosevelt Island, in the East River, belongs to Manhattan. Location of Manhattan (red) within New York City (remainder white) Components The borough consists of Manhattan Island, Marble Hill, and several small islands, including Randalls Island and Wards Island, and Roosevelt Island in the East River, and Governors Island and Liberty Island to the south in New York Harbor.[120] According to the United States Census Bureau, New York County has a total area of 33.6 square miles (87 km2), of which 22.8 square miles (59 km2) is land and 10.8 square miles (28 km2) (32%) is water.[2] The northern segment of Upper Manhattan represents a geographic panhandle. Manhattan Island is 22.7 square miles (59 km2) in area, 13.4 miles (21.6 km) long and 2.3 miles (3.7 km) wide, at its widest (near 14th Street).[121] Icebergs are often compared in size to the area of Manhattan.[122][123][124] Manhattan Island Manhattan Island is loosely divided into Downtown (Lower Manhattan), Midtown (Midtown Manhattan), and Uptown (Upper Manhattan), with Fifth Avenue dividing Manhattan lengthwise into its East Side and West Side. Manhattan Island is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and the East River to the east. To the north, the Harlem River divides Manhattan Island from the Bronx and the mainland United States. Early in the 19th century, landfill was used to expand Lower Manhattan from the natural Hudson shoreline at Greenwich Street to West Street.[125] When building the World Trade Center in 1968, 1.2 million cubic yards (917,000 m3) of material was excavated from the site.[126] Rather than dumping the spoil at sea or in landfills, the fill material was used to expand the Manhattan shoreline across West Street, creating Battery Park City.[127] The result was a 700-foot (210-m) extension into the river, running six blocks or 1,484 feet (452 m), covering 92 acres (37 ha), providing a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) riverfront esplanade and over 30 acres (12 ha) of parks;[128] Hudson River Park was subsequently opened in stages beginning in 1998.[129] Little Island opened on the Hudson River in May 2021, connected to the western termini of 13th and 14th Streets by footbridges.[130] Marble Hill One neighborhood of New York County, Marble Hill, is contiguous with the U.S. mainland. Marble Hill at one time was part of Manhattan Island, but the Harlem River Ship Canal, dug in 1895 to improve navigation on the Harlem River, separated it from the remainder of Manhattan as an island between the Bronx and the remainder of Manhattan.[131] Before World War I, the section of the original Harlem River channel separating Marble Hill from The Bronx was filled in, and Marble Hill became part of the mainland.[132] Marble Hill is one example of how Manhattan's land has been considerably altered by human intervention. The borough has seen substantial land reclamation along its waterfronts since Dutch colonial times, and much of the natural variation in its topography has been evened out.[46] Smaller islands See also: List of smaller islands in New York City Within New York Harbor, there are three smaller islands: Ellis Island, shared with New Jersey Governors Island Liberty Island Other smaller islands, in the East River, include (from north to south): Randalls and Wards Islands, joined by landfill Mill Rock Roosevelt Island U Thant Island (legally Belmont Island) Geology Bedrock Manhattan schist outcropping in Central Park The bedrock underlying much of Manhattan is a mica schist known as Manhattan schist[133] of the Manhattan Prong physiographic region. It is a strong, competent metamorphic rock that was created when Pangaea formed. It is well suited for the foundations of tall buildings. In Central Park, outcrops of Manhattan schist occur and Rat Rock is one rather large example.[134][135][136] Geologically, a predominant feature of the substrata of Manhattan is that the underlying bedrock base of the island rises considerably closer to the surface near Midtown Manhattan, dips down lower between 29th Street and Canal Street, then rises toward the surface again in Lower Manhattan. It has been widely believed that the depth to bedrock was the primary underlying reason for the clustering of skyscrapers in the Midtown and Financial District areas, and their absence over the intervening territory between these two areas.[137][138] However, research has shown that economic factors played a bigger part in the locations of these skyscrapers.[139][140][141] Updated seismic analysis According to the United States Geological Survey, an updated analysis of seismic hazard in July 2014 revealed a "slightly lower hazard for tall buildings" in Manhattan than previously assessed. Scientists estimated this lessened risk based upon a lower likelihood than previously thought of slow shaking near New York City, which would be more likely to cause damage to taller structures from an earthquake in the vicinity of the city.[142] Locations A tall green statue on an island in a harbor. Liberty Island is an exclave of Manhattan, of New York City, and of New York State, that is surrounded by New Jersey waters Adjacent counties Bergen County, New Jersey—west and northwest Hudson County, New Jersey—west and southwest Bronx County (The Bronx)—north and northeast Queens County (Queens)—east Kings County (Brooklyn)—south and southeast Richmond County (Staten Island)—southwest National protected areas African Burial Ground National Monument Castle Clinton National Monument Federal Hall National Memorial General Grant National Memorial Governors Island National Monument Hamilton Grange National Memorial Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site Statue of Liberty National Monument (part) Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site Neighborhoods Main articles: Neighborhoods in New York City and List of Manhattan neighborhoods Manhattan's many neighborhoods are not named according to any particular convention. Some are geographical (the Upper East Side), or ethnically descriptive (Little Italy). Others are acronyms, such as TriBeCa (for "TRIangle BElow CAnal Street") or SoHo ("SOuth of HOuston"), or the far more recent vintages NoLIta ("NOrth of Little ITAly").[143][144] and NoMad ("NOrth of MADison Square Park").[145][146][147] Harlem is a name from the Dutch colonial era after Haarlem, a city in the Netherlands.[148] Alphabet City comprises Avenues A, B, C, and D, to which its name refers. Some have simple folkloric names, such as Hell's Kitchen, alongside their more official but lesser used title (in this case, Clinton). The Empire State Building in the foreground looking southward from the top of Rockefeller Center, with One World Trade Center in the background, at sunset. The Midtown South Community Council acts as a civic caretaker for much of the neighborhood between the skyscrapers of Midtown and Lower Manhattan. Some neighborhoods, such as SoHo, which is mixed use, are known for upscale shopping as well as residential use. Others, such as Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, Alphabet City and the East Village, have long been associated with the Bohemian subculture.[149] Chelsea is one of several Manhattan neighborhoods with large gay populations and has become a center of both the international art industry and New York's nightlife.[150] Washington Heights is a primary destination for immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Chinatown has the highest concentration of people of Chinese descent outside of Asia.[151][152] Koreatown is roughly bounded by 6th and Madison Avenues,[153][154][155] between 31st and 33rd Streets, where Hangul signage is ubiquitous. Rose Hill features a growing number of Indian restaurants and spice shops along a stretch of Lexington Avenue between 25th and 30th Streets which has become known as Curry Hill.[156] Since 2010, a Little Australia has emerged and is growing in Nolita, Lower Manhattan.[157] In Manhattan, uptown means north (more precisely north-northeast, which is the direction the island and its street grid system are oriented) and downtown means south (south-southwest).[158] This usage differs from that of most American cities, where downtown refers to the central business district. Manhattan has two central business districts, the Financial District at the southern tip of the island, and Midtown Manhattan. The term uptown also refers to the northern part of Manhattan above 72nd Street and downtown to the southern portion below 14th Street,[159] with Midtown covering the area in between, though definitions can be rather fluid depending on the situation. Fifth Avenue roughly bisects Manhattan Island and acts as the demarcation line for east/west designations (e.g., East 27th Street, West 42nd Street); street addresses start at Fifth Avenue and increase heading away from Fifth Avenue, at a rate of 100 per block on most streets.[159] South of Waverly Place, Fifth Avenue terminates and Broadway becomes the east/west demarcation line. Although the grid does start with 1st Street, just north of Houston Street (the southernmost street divided in west and east portions; pronounced HOW-stin), the grid does not fully take hold until north of 14th Street, where nearly all east-west streets are numerically identified, which increase from south to north to 220th Street, the highest numbered street on the island. Streets in Midtown are usually one-way, with the few exceptions generally being the busiest cross-town thoroughfares (14th, 23rd, 34th, and 42nd Streets, for example), which are bidirectional across the width of Manhattan Island. The rule of thumb is that odd-numbered streets run west, while even-numbered streets run east.[121] Climate Central Park in autumn Under the Köppen climate classification, using the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm, New York City features both a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and a humid continental climate (Dfa);[160] it is the northernmost major city on the North American continent with a humid subtropical climate. The city averages 234 days with at least some sunshine annually.[161] The city lies in the USDA 7b plant hardiness zone.[162] Winters are cold and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore temper the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean; yet the Atlantic and the partial shielding from colder air by the Appalachians keep the city warmer in the winter than inland North American cities at similar or lesser latitudes such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. The daily mean temperature in January, the area's coldest month, is 32.6 °F (0.3 °C);[163] temperatures usually drop to 10 °F (−12 °C) several times per winter,[163][164] and reach 60 °F (16 °C) several days in the coldest winter month.[163] Spring and autumn are unpredictable and can range from chilly to warm, although they are usually mild with low humidity. Summers are typically warm to hot and humid, with a daily mean temperature of 76.5 °F (24.7 °C) in July.[163] Nighttime conditions are often exacerbated by the urban heat island phenomenon, while daytime temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on average of 17 days each summer[165] and in some years exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Extreme temperatures have ranged from −15 °F (−26 °C), recorded on February 9, 1934, up to 106 °F (41 °C) on July 9, 1936.[165] Summer evening temperatures are elevated by the urban heat island effect, which causes heat absorbed during the day to be radiated back at night, raising temperatures by as much as 7 °F (4 °C) when winds are slow.[166] Manhattan receives 49.9 inches (1,270 mm) of precipitation annually, which is relatively evenly spread throughout the year. Average winter snowfall between 1981 and 2010 has been 25.8 inches (66 cm); this varies considerably from year to year.[165] vte Climate data for New York (Belvedere Castle, Central Park), 1991–2020 normals,[b] extremes 1869–present[c] Climate data for New York Boroughscape Ten-mile Manhattan skyline panorama from 120th Street to the Battery, taken February 21, 2018, from across the Hudson River in Weehawken, New Jersey. Riverside ChurchTime Warner Center220 Central Park SouthCentral Park TowerOne57432 Park Avenue53W53Chrysler BuildingBank of America TowerConde Nast BuildingThe New York Times BuildingEmpire State BuildingManhattan Westa: 55 Hudson Yards, b: 35 Hudson Yards, c: 10 Hudson Yards, d: 15 Hudson Yards56 Leonard Street8 Spruce StreetWoolworth Building70 Pine Street30 Park Place40 Wall StreetThree World Trade CenterFour World Trade CenterOne World Trade Center Demographics Main article: Demographics of Manhattan See also: Demographics of New York City New York City's five boroughsvte Jurisdiction Population GDP Land area Density Borough County Census (2020) billions (2012 US$) square miles square km persons / mi2 persons / km2 The Bronx Bronx 1,472,654 42.695 42.2 109.3 34,920 13,482 Brooklyn Kings 2,736,074 91.559 69.4 179.7 39,438 15,227 Manhattan New York 1,694,251 600.244 22.7 58.8 74,781 28,872 Queens Queens 2,405,464 93.310 108.7 281.5 22,125 8,542 Staten Island Richmond 495,747 14.514 57.5 148.9 8,618 3,327 City of New York 8,804,190 842.343 302.64 783.83 29,095 11,234 State of New York 20,215,751 1,731.910 47,126.40 122,056.82 429 166 Sources:[170][171][172][173] and see individual borough articles Historical population Year Pop. ±% 1656 1,000 —     1698 4,937 +393.7% 1712 5,841 +18.3% 1723 7,248 +24.1% 1731 8,622 +19.0% 1746 11,717 +35.9% 1756 13,040 +11.3% 1771 21,863 +67.7% 1786 23,614 +8.0% 1790 33,131 +40.3% 1800 60,489 +82.6% 1810 96,373 +59.3% 1820 123,706 +28.4% 1830 202,589 +63.8% 1840 312,710 +54.4% 1850 515,547 +64.9% 1860 813,669 +57.8% 1870 942,292 +15.8% 1880 1,164,674 +23.6% 1890 1,441,216 +23.7% 1900 1,850,093 +28.4% 1910 2,331,542 +26.0% 1920 2,284,103 −2.0% 1930 1,867,312 −18.2% 1940 1,889,924 +1.2% 1950 1,960,101 +3.7% 1960 1,698,281 −13.4% 1970 1,539,233 −9.4% 1980 1,428,285 −7.2% 1990 1,487,536 +4.1% 2000 1,537,195 +3.3% 2010 1,585,873 +3.2% 2020 1,694,251 +6.8% Sources:[29][174][175][5] Racial composition 2020[176] 2010[177] 2000[178] 1990[179] 1950[179] 1900[179] White 50.0% 57.4% 54.3% 58.3% 79.4% 97.8%  —Non-Hispanic 46.8% 48% 45.7% 48.9% n/a n/a Black or African American 13.5% 15.6% 17.3% 22.0% 19.6% 2.0% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 23.8% 25.4% 27.1% 26.0% n/a n/a Asian 13.1% 11.3% 9.4% 7.4% 0.8% 0.3% In 2020, 1,694,251 people lived in Manhattan. At the 2010 U.S. census, there were 1,585,873 people living in Manhattan, an increase of 3.2% since 2000. Since 2010, Manhattan's population was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to have increased 2.7% to 1,628,706 as of 2018, representing 19.5% of New York City's population of 8,336,817 and 8.4% of New York State's population of 19,745,289.[29][180] As of the 2017 census estimates, the population density of New York County was around 72,918 people per square mile (28,154/km²), the highest population density of any county in the United States.[29] In 1910, at the height of European immigration to New York, Manhattan's population density reached a peak of 101,548 people per square mile (39,208/km²).[29][180] In 2006, the New York City Department of City Planning projected that Manhattan's population would increase by 289,000 people between 2000 and 2030, an increase of 18.8% over the period.[181] However, since then, Lower Manhattan has been experiencing a baby boom, well above the overall birth rate in Manhattan, with the area south of Canal Street witnessing 1,086 births in 2010, 12% greater than 2009 and over twice the number born in 2001.[182] The Financial District alone has witnessed growth in its population to approximately 43,000 as of 2014, nearly double the 23,000 recorded at the 2000 Census.[183] The southern tip of Manhattan became the fastest growing part of New York City between 1990 and 2014.[184] According to the 2009 American Community Survey,[185] the average household size was 2.11, and the average family size was 3.21. Approximately 59.4% of the population over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree or higher. Approximately 27.0% of the population is foreign-born, and 61.7% of the population over the age of 5 speak only English at home. People of Irish ancestry make up 7.8% of the population, while Italian Americans make up 6.8% of the population. German Americans and Russian Americans make up 7.2% and 6.2% of the population respectively.[186] Manhattan is one of the highest-income places in the United States with a population greater than one million. As of 2012, Manhattan's cost of living was the highest in the United States,[187] but the borough also contained the country's most profound level of income inequality.[188] Manhattan is also the United States county with the highest per capita income, being the sole county whose per capita income exceeded $100,000 in 2010.[189] However, from 2011–2015 Census data of New York County, the per capita income was recorded in 2015 dollars as $64,993, with the median household income at $72,871, and poverty at 17.6%.[190] In 2012, The New York Times reported that inequality was higher than in most developing countries, stating, "The wealthiest fifth of Manhattanites made more than 40 times what the lowest fifth reported, a widening gap (it was 38 times, the year before) surpassed by only a few developing countries".[191] Religion In 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Manhattan was the Archdiocese of New York, with 323,325 Catholics worshipping at 109 parishes, followed by 64,000 Orthodox Jews with 77 congregations, an estimated 42,545 Muslims with 21 congregations, 42,502 non-denominational adherents with 54 congregations, 26,178 TEC Episcopalians with 46 congregations, 25,048 ABC-USA Baptists with 41 congregations, 24,536 Reform Jews with 10 congregations, 23,982 Mahayana Buddhists with 35 congregations, 10,503 PC-USA Presbyterians with 30 congregations, and 10,268 RCA Presbyterians with 10 congregations. Altogether, 44.0% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information.[192] In 2014, Manhattan had 703 religious organizations, the seventeenth most out of all US counties.[193] Languages As of 2010, 59.98% (902,267) of Manhattan residents, aged five and older, spoke only English at home, while 23.07% (347,033) spoke Spanish, 5.33% (80,240) Chinese, 2.03% (30,567) French, 0.78% (11,776) Japanese, 0.77% (11,517) Russian, 0.72% (10,788) Korean, 0.70% (10,496) German, 0.66% (9,868) Italian, 0.64% (9,555) Hebrew, and 0.48% (7,158) spoke African languages at home. In total, 40.02% (602,058) of Manhattan's population, aged five and older, spoke a language other than English at home.[194] Landmarks and architecture Main article: Architecture of New York City See also: List of skyscrapers in New York City The Estonian House, the main center of Estonian culture amongst Estonian Americans Points of interest on Manhattan Island include the American Museum of Natural History; the Battery; Broadway and the Theater District; Bryant Park; Central Park, Chinatown; the Chrysler Building; Columbia University; Curry Hill; the Empire State Building; Flatiron Building; the Financial District (including the New York Stock Exchange Building; Wall Street; and the South Street Seaport); Grand Central Terminal; Greenwich Village (including New York University; Washington Square Arch; and Stonewall Inn); Harlem and Spanish Harlem; the High Line; Koreatown; Lincoln Center; Little Australia; Little Italy; Madison Square Garden; Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art); Penn Station, Port Authority Bus Terminal; Rockefeller Center (including Radio City Music Hall); Times Square; Trump Tower; and the World Trade Center (including the National September 11 Museum and One World Trade Center). There are also numerous iconic bridges across rivers that connect to Manhattan Island, as well as an emerging number of supertall skyscrapers. The Statue of Liberty rests on a pedestal on Liberty Island, an exclave of Manhattan, and part of Ellis Island is also an exclave of Manhattan. The borough has many energy-efficient, environmentally friendly office buildings, such as the Hearst Tower, the rebuilt 7 World Trade Center,[195] and the Bank of America Tower—the first skyscraper designed to attain a Platinum LEED Certification.[196][197] Architectural history A. T. Stewart in 1870, 9th Street, Manhattan Many tall buildings have setbacks on their facade due to the 1916 Zoning Resolution. This is exemplified at Park Avenue and 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The skyscraper, which has shaped Manhattan's distinctive skyline, has been closely associated with New York City's identity since the end of the 19th century. From 1890 to 1973, the title of world's tallest building resided continually in Manhattan (with a gap between 1894 and 1908, when the title was held by Philadelphia City Hall), with eight different buildings holding the title.[198] The New York World Building on Park Row, was the first to take the title in 1890, standing 309 feet (94 m) until 1955, when it was demolished to construct a new ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge.[199] The nearby Park Row Building, with its 29 stories standing 391 feet (119 m) high, became the world's tallest office building when it opened in 1899.[200] The 41-story Singer Building, constructed in 1908 as the headquarters of the eponymous sewing machine manufacturer, stood 612 feet (187 m) high until 1967, when it became the tallest building ever demolished.[201] The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, standing 700 feet (210 m) at the foot of Madison Avenue, wrested the title in 1909, with a tower reminiscent of St Mark's Campanile in Venice.[202] The Woolworth Building, and its distinctive Gothic architecture, took the title in 1913, topping off at 792 feet (241 m).[203] Structures such as the Equitable Building of 1915, which rises vertically forty stories from the sidewalk, prompted the passage of the 1916 Zoning Resolution, requiring new buildings to contain setbacks withdrawing progressively at a defined angle from the street as they rose, in order to preserve a view of the sky at street level.[204] The Roaring Twenties saw a race to the sky, with three separate buildings pursuing the world's tallest title in the span of a year. As the stock market soared in the days before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, two developers publicly competed for the crown.[205] At 927 feet (283 m), 40 Wall Street, completed in May 1930 in only eleven months as the headquarters of the Bank of Manhattan, seemed to have secured the title.[206] At Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street, auto executive Walter Chrysler and his architect William Van Alen developed plans to build the structure's trademark 185-foot (56 m) spire in secret, pushing the Chrysler Building to 1,046 feet (319 m) and making it the tallest in the world when it was completed in 1929.[207] Both buildings were soon surpassed with the May 1931 completion of the 102-story Empire State Building with its Art Deco tower reaching 1,250 feet (380 m) at the top of the building. The 203-foot (62 m) high pinnacle was later added bringing the total height of the building to 1,453 ft (443 m).[208][209] The former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were located in Lower Manhattan. At 1,368 and 1,362 feet (417 and 415 m), the 110-story buildings were the world's tallest from 1972 until they were surpassed by the construction of the Willis Tower in 1974 (formerly known as the Sears Tower, located in Chicago).[210] One World Trade Center, a replacement for the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, is currently the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.[211] In 1961, the Pennsylvania Railroad unveiled plans to tear down the old Penn Station and replace it with a new Madison Square Garden and office building complex. Organized protests were aimed at preserving the McKim, Mead & White-designed structure completed in 1910, widely considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of the architectural jewels of New York City.[212] Despite these efforts, demolition of the structure began in October 1963. The loss of Penn Station—called "an act of irresponsible public vandalism" by historian Lewis Mumford—led directly to the enactment in 1965 of a local law establishing the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which is responsible for preserving the "city's historic, aesthetic, and cultural heritage".[213] The historic preservation movement triggered by Penn Station's demise has been credited with the retention of some one million structures nationwide, including over 1,000 in New York City.[214] In 2017, a multibillion-dollar rebuilding plan was unveiled to restore the historic grandeur of Penn Station, in the process of upgrading the landmark's status as a critical transportation hub.[215] Parkland Parkland composes 17.8% of the borough, covering a total of 2,686 acres (10.87 km2). The 843-acre (3.41 km2) Central Park, the largest park comprising 30% of Manhattan's parkland, is bordered on the north by West 110th Street (Central Park North), on the west by Eighth Avenue (Central Park West), on the south by West 59th Street (Central Park South), and on the east by Fifth Avenue. Central Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, offers extensive walking tracks, two ice-skating rinks, a wildlife sanctuary, and several lawns and sporting areas, as well as 21 playgrounds and a 6-mile (9.7 km) road from which automobile traffic is banned.[216] While much of the park looks natural, it is almost entirely landscaped, and the construction of Central Park in the 1850s was one of the era's most massive public works projects, with some 20,000 workers crafting the topography to create the English-style pastoral landscape Olmsted and Vaux sought to create.[217] The remaining 70% of Manhattan's parkland includes 204 playgrounds, 251 Greenstreets, 371 basketball courts, and many other amenities.[218] The next-largest park in Manhattan is the Hudson River Park, stretches 4.5 miles (7.2 km) on the Hudson River and comprises 550 acres (220 ha).[219] Other major parks include:[220] Bowling Green Bryant Park City Hall Park DeWitt Clinton Park East River Greenway Fort Tryon Park Fort Washington Park Harlem River Park Holcombe Rucker Park Imagination Playground Inwood Hill Park Isham Park J. Hood Wright Park Jackie Robinson Park Madison Square Park Marcus Garvey Park Morningside Park Randall's Island Park Riverside Park Sara D. Roosevelt Park Seward Park St. Nicholas Park Stuyvesant Square The Battery The High Line Thomas Jefferson Park Tompkins Square Park Union Square Park Washington Square Park Economy Main article: Economy of New York City The New York Stock Exchange, by a significant margin the world's largest stock exchange per market capitalization of its listed companies,[221][222] at US$23.1 trillion as of April 2018.[223] Manhattan is the economic engine of New York City, with its 2.3 million workers in 2007 drawn from the entire New York metropolitan area accounting for almost two-thirds of all jobs in New York City.[224] In the first quarter of 2014, the average weekly wage in Manhattan (New York County) was $2,749, representing the highest total among large counties in the United States.[225] Manhattan's workforce is overwhelmingly focused on white collar professions, with manufacturing nearly extinct. Manhattan also has the highest per capita income of any county in the United States. In 2010, Manhattan's daytime population was swelling to 3.94 million, with commuters adding a net 1.48 million people to the population, along with visitors, tourists, and commuting students. The commuter influx of 1.61 million workers coming into Manhattan was the largest of any county or city in the country,[226] and was more than triple the 480,000 commuters who headed into second-ranked Washington, D.C.[227] Financial sector Main article: Wall Street Manhattan's most important economic sector lies in its role as the headquarters for the U.S. financial industry, metonymously known as Wall Street. The borough's securities industry, enumerating 163,400 jobs in August 2013, continues to form the largest segment of the city's financial sector and an important economic engine for Manhattan, accounting in 2012 for 5 percent of private sector jobs in New York City, 8.5 percent (US$3.8 billion) of the city's tax revenue, and 22 percent of the city's total wages, including an average salary of US$360,700.[228] Wall Street investment banking fees in 2012 totaled approximately US$40 billion,[229] while in 2013, senior New York City bank officers who manage risk and compliance functions earned as much as US$324,000 annually.[230] The Financial District of Lower Manhattan, seen from Brooklyn Lower Manhattan is home to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), at 11 Wall Street, and the NASDAQ, at 165 Broadway, representing the world's largest and second largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured both by overall share trading value and by total market capitalization of their listed companies in 2013.[19] The NYSE American (formerly the American Stock Exchange, AMEX), New York Board of Trade, and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) are also located downtown. In July 2013, NYSE Euronext, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange, took over the administration of the London interbank offered rate from the British Bankers Association.[231] Corporate sector New York City is home to the most corporate headquarters of any city in the United States, the overwhelming majority based in Manhattan.[232] Manhattan contained over 500 million square feet (46.5 million m2) of office space in 2018,[233] making it the largest office market in the United States,[234] while Midtown Manhattan, with 400 million square feet (37.2 million m2) in 2018,[233] is the largest central business district in the world.[235] New York City's role as the top global center for the advertising industry is metonymously reflected as "Madison Avenue". Tech and biotech Further information: Tech companies in Manhattan, Biotech companies in Manhattan, Silicon Alley, and Tech:NYC The Flatiron District is the center and birthplace of Silicon Alley[236] Silicon Alley, centered in Manhattan, has evolved into a metonym for the sphere encompassing the New York City metropolitan region's high tech industries,[237] including the Internet, new media, telecommunications, digital media, software development, biotechnology, game design, financial technology (fintech), and other fields within information technology that are supported by the area's entrepreneurship ecosystem and venture capital investments. As of 2014, New York City hosted 300,000 employees in the tech sector.[238][239] In 2015, Silicon Alley generated over US$7.3 billion in venture capital investment,[240] most based in Manhattan, as well as in Brooklyn, Queens, and elsewhere in the region. High technology startup companies and employment are growing in Manhattan and across New York City, bolstered by the city's emergence as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship,[240] social tolerance,[241] and environmental sustainability,[242][243] as well as New York's position as the leading Internet hub and telecommunications center in North America, including its vicinity to several transatlantic fiber optic trunk lines, the city's intellectual capital, and its extensive outdoor wireless connectivity.[244] Verizon Communications, headquartered at 140 West Street in Lower Manhattan, was at the final stages in 2014 of completing a US$3 billion fiberoptic telecommunications upgrade throughout New York City.[245] As of October 2014, New York City hosted 300,000 employees in the tech sector,[239] with a significant proportion in Manhattan. The technology sector has been expanding across Manhattan since 2010.[246] The biotechnology sector is also growing in Manhattan based upon the city's strength in academic scientific research and public and commercial financial support. By mid-2014, Accelerator, a biotech investment firm, had raised more than US$30 million from investors, including Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, for initial funding to create biotechnology startups at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, which encompasses more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m2) on East 29th Street and promotes collaboration among scientists and entrepreneurs at the center and with nearby academic, medical, and research institutions. The New York City Economic Development Corporation's Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative and venture capital partners, including Celgene, General Electric Ventures, and Eli Lilly, committed a minimum of US$100 million to help launch 15 to 20 ventures in life sciences and biotechnology.[247] In 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had announced his choice of Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to build a US$2 billion graduate school of applied sciences on Roosevelt Island, Manhattan, with the goal of transforming New York City into the world's premier technology capital.[248][249] Tourism Main article: Tourism in New York City Times Square is the hub of the Broadway theater district and a major cultural venue in Manhattan, it also has one of the highest annual attendance rates of any tourist attraction in the world, estimated at 50 million[35] Tourism is vital to Manhattan's economy, and the landmarks of Manhattan are the focus of New York City's tourists, enumerating an eighth consecutive annual record of approximately 62.8 million visitors in 2017.[34] According to The Broadway League, shows on Broadway sold approximately US$1.27 billion worth of tickets in the 2013–2014 season, an increase of 11.4% from US$1.139 billion in the 2012–2013 season; attendance in 2013–2014 stood at 12.21 million, representing a 5.5% increase from the 2012–2013 season's 11.57 million.[250] As of June 2016, Manhattan had nearly 91,500 hotel rooms, a 26% increase from 2010.[251] Real estate Real estate is a major force in Manhattan's economy, and indeed the city's, as the total value of all New York City property was assessed at US$914.8 billion for the 2015 fiscal year.[252] Manhattan has perennially been home to some of the nation's, as well as the world's, most valuable real estate, including the Time Warner Center, which had the highest-listed market value in the city in 2006 at US$1.1 billion,[253] to be subsequently surpassed in October 2014 by the Waldorf Astoria New York, which became the most expensive hotel ever sold after being purchased by the Anbang Insurance Group, based in China, for US$1.95 billion.[254] When 450 Park Avenue was sold on July 2, 2007, for US$510 million, about US$1,589 per square foot (US$17,104/m²), it broke the barely month-old record for an American office building of US$1,476 per square foot (US$15,887/m²) based on the sale of 660 Madison Avenue.[255] In 2014, Manhattan was home to six of the top ten zip codes in the United States by median housing price.[256] In 2019, the most expensive home sale ever in the United States occurred in Manhattan, at a selling price of US$238 million, for a 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park,[257] while Central Park Tower, topped out at 1,550 feet (472 m) in 2019, is the world's tallest residential building, followed globally in height by 111 West 57th Street and 432 Park Avenue, both also located in Midtown Manhattan. Manhattan had approximately 520 million square feet (48.1 million m²) of office space in 2013,[258] making it the largest office market in the United States.[259] Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in the nation based on office space,[260] while Lower Manhattan is the third-largest (after Chicago's Loop).[261][262] Media Main articles: Media in New York City and New Yorkers in journalism Manhattan has been described as the media capital of the world.[263][264] An integral component of this status is the significant array of media outlets and their journalists who report about international, American, business, entertainment, and New York metropolitan area-related matters from Manhattan. News The New York Times headquarters, 620 Eighth Avenue Manhattan is served by the major New York City daily news publications, including The New York Times, which has won the most Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and is considered the U.S. media's "newspaper of record";[265] the New York Daily News; and the New York Post, which are all headquartered in the borough. The nation's largest newspaper by circulation, The Wall Street Journal, is also based in Manhattan. Other daily newspapers include AM New York and The Villager. The New York Amsterdam News, based in Harlem, is one of the leading Black-owned weekly newspapers in the United States. The Village Voice, historically the largest alternative newspaper in the United States, announced in 2017 that it would cease publication of its print edition and convert to a fully digital venture.[266] Television, radio, film See also: List of films set in New York City and List of television shows set in New York City The television industry developed in Manhattan and is a significant employer in the borough's economy. The four major American broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, as well as Univision, are all headquartered in Manhattan, as are many cable channels, including CNN, MSNBC, MTV, Fox News, HBO, and Comedy Central. In 1971, WLIB became New York City's first Black-owned radio station and began broadcasts geared toward the African-American community in 1949. WQHT, also known as Hot 97, claims to be the premier hip-hop station in the United States. WNYC, comprising an AM and FM signal, has the largest public radio audience in the nation and is the most-listened to commercial or non-commercial radio station in Manhattan.[267] WBAI, with news and information programming, is one of the few socialist radio stations operating in the United States. The oldest public-access television cable TV channel in the United States is the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, founded in 1971, offers eclectic local programming that ranges from a jazz hour to discussion of labor issues to foreign language and religious programming.[268] NY1, Time Warner Cable's local news channel, is known for its beat coverage of City Hall and state politics. Education See also: Education in New York City, List of high schools in New York City, and List of colleges and universities in New York City Butler Library at Columbia University, with its notable architectural design[269] Education in Manhattan is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. Public schools in the borough are operated by the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States. Charter schools include Success Academy Harlem 1 through 5, Success Academy Upper West, and Public Prep. Some notable New York City public high schools are located in Manhattan, including Beacon High School, Stuyvesant High School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, High School of Fashion Industries, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, NYC Lab School, Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, Hunter College High School, and High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College. Bard High School Early College, a hybrid school created by Bard College, serves students from around the city. Many private preparatory schools are also situated in Manhattan, including the Upper East Side's Brearley School, Dalton School, Browning School, Spence School, Chapin School, Nightingale-Bamford School, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Hewitt School, Saint David's School, Loyola School, and Regis High School. The Upper West Side is home to the Collegiate School and Trinity School. The borough is also home to Manhattan Country School, Trevor Day School, and the United Nations International School. Stuyvesant High School, in Tribeca[270] Based on data from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey, 59.9% of Manhattan residents over age 25 have a bachelor's degree.[271] As of 2005, about 60% of residents were college graduates and some 25% had earned advanced degrees, giving Manhattan one of the nation's densest concentrations of highly educated people.[272] Manhattan has various colleges and universities, including Columbia University (and its affiliate Barnard College), Cooper Union, Marymount Manhattan College, New York Institute of Technology, New York University (NYU), The Juilliard School, Pace University, Berkeley College, The New School, Yeshiva University, and a campus of Fordham University. Other schools include Bank Street College of Education, Boricua College, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Manhattan School of Music, Metropolitan College of New York, Parsons School of Design, School of Visual Arts, Touro College, and Union Theological Seminary. Several other private institutions maintain a Manhattan presence, among them Mercy College, St. John's University, The College of New Rochelle, The King's College, and Pratt Institute. Cornell Tech is developing on Roosevelt Island. New York Public Library Main Branch at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue The City University of New York (CUNY), the municipal college system of New York City, is the largest urban university system in the United States, serving more than 226,000 degree students and a roughly equal number of adult, continuing and professional education students.[273] A third of college graduates in New York City graduate from CUNY, with the institution enrolling about half of all college students in New York City. CUNY senior colleges located in Manhattan include: Baruch College, City College of New York, Hunter College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the CUNY Graduate Center (graduate studies and doctorate granting institution). The only CUNY community college located in Manhattan is the Borough of Manhattan Community College. The State University of New York is represented by the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York State College of Optometry, and Stony Brook University – Manhattan. Manhattan is a world center for training and education in medicine and the life sciences.[274] The city as a whole receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health among all U.S. cities,[275] the bulk of which goes to Manhattan's research institutions, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Weill Cornell Medical College, and New York University School of Medicine. Manhattan is served by the New York Public Library, which has the largest collection of any public library system in the country.[276] The five units of the Central Library—Mid-Manhattan Library, 53rd Street Library, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, and the Science, Industry and Business Library—are all located in Manhattan.[277] More than 35 other branch libraries are located in the borough.[278] Culture and contemporary life See also: Culture of New York City Further information: Broadway theatre, LGBT culture in New York City, List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City, Met Gala, Music of New York City, and New York Fashion Week Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts The scene at Manhattan's 2015 LGBT Pride March. The annual event rivals the sister São Paulo event as the world's largest pride parade, attracting tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June.[279][280] The Metropolitan Museum of Art Manhattan is the borough most closely associated with New York City by non-residents; regionally, residents within the New York City metropolitan area, including natives of New York City's boroughs outside Manhattan, will often describe a trip to Manhattan as "going to the City".[281] Journalist Walt Whitman characterized the streets of Manhattan as being traversed by "hurrying, feverish, electric crowds".[282] Manhattan has been the scene of many important American cultural movements. In 1912, about 20,000 workers, a quarter of them women, marched upon Washington Square Park to commemorate the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed 146 workers on March 25, 1911. Many of the women wore fitted tucked-front blouses like those manufactured by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, a clothing style that became the working woman's uniform and a symbol of women's liberation, reflecting the alliance of labor and suffrage movements.[283] The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s established the African-American literary canon in the United States and introduced writers Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. Manhattan's vibrant visual art scene in the 1950s and 1960s was a center of the American pop art movement, which gave birth to such giants as Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein. The downtown pop art movement of the late 1970s included artist Andy Warhol and clubs like Serendipity 3 and Studio 54, where he socialized. Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. Plays and musicals are staged in one of the 39 larger professional theatres with at least 500 seats, almost all in and around Times Square.[284] Off-Broadway theatres feature productions in venues with 100–500 seats.[285] Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, anchoring Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is home to 12 influential arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, and New York City Ballet, as well as the Vivian Beaumont Theater, the Juilliard School, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Alice Tully Hall. Performance artists displaying diverse skills are ubiquitous on the streets of Manhattan. Manhattan is also home to some of the most extensive art collections in the world, both contemporary and classical art, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Frick Collection, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum. The Upper East Side has many art galleries,[286][287] and the downtown neighborhood of Chelsea is known for its more than 200 art galleries that are home to modern art from both upcoming and established artists.[288][289] Many of the world's most lucrative art auctions are held in Manhattan.[290][291] Manhattan is the center of LGBT culture in New York City. The borough is widely acclaimed as the cradle of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, with its inception at the June 1969 Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan – widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement[97][292][293] and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States.[98][294] Multiple gay villages have developed, spanning the length of the borough from the Lower East Side, East Village, and Greenwich Village, through Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, uptown to Morningside Heights. The annual New York City Pride March (or gay pride parade) traverses southward down Fifth Avenue and ends at Greenwich Village; the Manhattan parade rivals the Sao Paulo Gay Pride Parade as the largest pride parade in the world, attracting tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June.[280][279] Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 was the largest international Pride celebration in history, produced by Heritage of Pride and enhanced through a partnership with the I ❤ NY program's LGBT division, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, with 150,000 participants and five million spectators attending in Manhattan alone.[295] Clockwise, from upper left: the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the world's largest parade;[296] the annual Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village; the annual Philippine Independence Day Parade; and the ticker-tape parade for the Apollo 11 astronauts The borough has a place in several American idioms. The phrase New York minute is meant to convey an extremely short time such as an instant,[297] sometimes in hyperbolic form, as in "perhaps faster than you would believe is possible," referring to the rapid pace of life in Manhattan.[298][299] The expression "melting pot" was first popularly coined to describe the densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the Lower East Side in Israel Zangwill's play The Melting Pot, which was an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set by Zangwill in New York City in 1908.[300] The iconic Flatiron Building is said to have been the source of the phrase "23 skidoo" or scram, from what cops would shout at men who tried to get glimpses of women's dresses being blown up by the winds created by the triangular building.[301] The "Big Apple" dates back to the 1920s, when a reporter heard the term used by New Orleans stablehands to refer to New York City's horse racetracks and named his racing column "Around The Big Apple". Jazz musicians adopted the term to refer to the city as the world's jazz capital, and a 1970s ad campaign by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau helped popularize the term.[302] Manhattan, Kansas, a city of 53,000 people,[303] was named by New York investors after the borough and is nicknamed the "little apple".[304] Manhattan is well known for its street parades, which celebrate a broad array of themes, including holidays, nationalities, human rights, and major league sports team championship victories. The majority of higher profile parades in New York City are held in Manhattan. The primary orientation of the annual street parades is typically from north to south, marching along major avenues. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the world's largest parade,[296] beginning alongside Central Park and processing southward to the flagship Macy's Herald Square store;[305] the parade is viewed on telecasts worldwide and draws millions of spectators in person.[296] Other notable parades including the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in March, the New York City Pride Parade in June, the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in October, and numerous parades commemorating the independence days of many nations. Ticker-tape parades celebrating championships won by sports teams as well as other heroic accomplishments march northward along the Canyon of Heroes on Broadway from Bowling Green to City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan. New York Fashion Week, held at various locations in Manhattan, is a high-profile semiannual event featuring models displaying the latest wardrobes created by prominent fashion designers worldwide in advance of these fashions proceeding to the retail marketplace. Sports Madison Square Garden is home to the Rangers and Knicks, and hosts some Liberty games The Skating Pond in Central Park, 1862 Manhattan is home to the NBA's New York Knicks and the NHL's New York Rangers, both of which play their home games at Madison Square Garden, the only major professional sports arena in the borough. The Garden was also home to the WNBA's New York Liberty through the 2017 season, but that team's primary home is now the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York. The New York Jets proposed a West Side Stadium for their home field, but the proposal was eventually defeated in June 2005, and they now play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.[306] While Manhattan does not currently have a professional baseball franchise, three of the four Major League Baseball teams to play in New York City played in Manhattan. The original New York Giants baseball team played in the various incarnations of the Polo Grounds at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue from their inception in 1883—except for 1889, when they split their time between Jersey City and Staten Island, and when they played in Hilltop Park in 1911—until they headed to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season.[307] The New York Yankees began their franchise as the Highlanders, named for Hilltop Park, where they played from their creation in 1903 until 1912. The team moved to the Polo Grounds with the 1913 season, where they were officially christened the New York Yankees, remaining there until they moved across the Harlem River in 1923 to Yankee Stadium.[308] The New York Mets played in the Polo Grounds in 1962 and 1963, their first two seasons, before Shea Stadium was completed in 1964.[309] After the Mets departed, the Polo Grounds was demolished in April 1964, replaced by public housing.[310][311] The first national college-level basketball championship, the National Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.[312] The New York Knicks started play in 1946 as one of the National Basketball Association's original teams, playing their first home games at the 69th Regiment Armory, before making Madison Square Garden their permanent home.[313] The New York Liberty of the WNBA shared the Garden with the Knicks from their creation in 1997 as one of the league's original eight teams through the 2017 season,[314] after which the team moved nearly all of its home schedule to White Plains in Westchester County.[315] Rucker Park in Harlem is a playground court, famed for its streetball style of play, where many NBA athletes have played in the summer league.[316] Although both of New York City's football teams play today across the Hudson River in MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, both teams started out playing in the Polo Grounds. The New York Giants played side-by-side with their baseball namesakes from the time they entered the National Football League in 1925, until crossing over to Yankee Stadium in 1956.[317] The New York Jets, originally known as the Titans of New York, started out in 1960 at the Polo Grounds, staying there for four seasons before joining the Mets in Queens at Shea Stadium in 1964.[318] The New York Rangers of the National Hockey League have played in the various locations of Madison Square Garden since the team's founding in the 1926–1927 season. The Rangers were predated by the New York Americans, who started play in the Garden the previous season, lasting until the team folded after the 1941–1942 NHL season, a season it played in the Garden as the Brooklyn Americans.[319] The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League played their home games at Downing Stadium for two seasons, starting in 1974. The playing pitch and facilities at Downing Stadium were in unsatisfactory condition, however, and as the team's popularity grew they too left for Yankee Stadium, and then Giants Stadium. The stadium was demolished in 2002 to make way for the $45 million, 4,754-seat Icahn Stadium, which includes an Olympic-standard 400-meter running track and, as part of Pelé's and the Cosmos' legacy, includes a FIFA-approved floodlit soccer stadium that hosts matches between the 48 youth teams of a Manhattan soccer club.[320][321] Government Main article: Government of New York City Manhattan Municipal Building Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, Manhattan has been governed by the New York City Charter, which has provided for a strong mayor–council system since its revision in 1989.[322] The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in Manhattan. The office of Borough President was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful administrative role derived from having a vote on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the city's budget and proposals for land use. In 1989, the Supreme Court of the United States declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional because Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island, the least populous borough, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.[323] Since 1990, the largely powerless Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations. Manhattan's current Borough President is Gale Brewer, elected as a Democrat in November 2013 with 82.9% of the vote.[324] Brewer replaced Scott Stringer, who went on to become New York City Comptroller. Cyrus Vance Jr., a Democrat, has been the District Attorney of New York County since 2010.[325] Manhattan has ten City Council members, the third largest contingent among the five boroughs. It also has twelve administrative districts, each served by a local Community Board. Community Boards are representative bodies that field complaints and serve as advocates for local residents. As the host of the United Nations, the borough is home to the world's largest international consular corps, comprising 105 consulates, consulates general and honorary consulates.[326] It is also the home of New York City Hall, the seat of New York City government housing the Mayor of New York City and the New York City Council. The mayor's staff and thirteen municipal agencies are located in the nearby Manhattan Municipal Building, completed in 1914, one of the largest governmental buildings in the world.[327] United States presidential election results for New York County, New York[328][329][330]  Politics See also: Community boards of Manhattan James Farley Post Office The Democratic Party holds most public offices. Registered Republicans are a minority in the borough, constituting 9.88% of the electorate as of April 2016. Registered Republicans are more than 20% of the electorate only in the neighborhoods of the Upper East Side and the Financial District as of 2016. Democrats accounted for 68.41% of those registered to vote, while 17.94% of voters were unaffiliated.[331][332] No Republican has won the presidential election in Manhattan since 1924, when Calvin Coolidge won a plurality of the New York County vote over Democrat John W. Davis, 41.20%–39.55%. Warren G. Harding was the most recent Republican presidential candidate to win a majority of the Manhattan vote, with 59.22% of the 1920 vote.[333] In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 82.1% of the vote in Manhattan and Republican George W. Bush received 16.7%.[334] The borough is the most important source of funding for presidential campaigns in the United States; in 2004, it was home to six of the top seven ZIP codes in the nation for political contributions.[335] The top ZIP code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the United States presidential election for all presidential candidates, including both Kerry and Bush during the 2004 election.[336] Representatives in the U.S. Congress In 2018, four Democrats represented Manhattan in the United States House of Representatives.[337] Nydia Velázquez (first elected in 1992) represents New York's 7th congressional district, which includes the Lower East Side and Alphabet City. The district also covers central and western Brooklyn and a small part of Queens.[337][338][339] Jerry Nadler (first elected in 1992) represents New York's 10th congressional district, which includes the West Side neighborhoods of Battery Park City, Chelsea, Chinatown, the Financial District, Greenwich Village, Hell's Kitchen, SoHo, Tribeca, and the Upper West Side. The district also covers southwestern Brooklyn.[337][340][341] Carolyn Maloney (first elected in 1992) represents New York's 12th congressional district, which includes the East Side neighborhoods of Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, Midtown Manhattan, Murray Hill, Roosevelt Island, Turtle Bay, Upper East Side, and most of the Lower East Side and the East Village. The district also covers western Queens.[337][342][343] Adriano Espaillat (first elected in 2016) represents New York's 13th congressional district, which includes the Upper Manhattan neighborhoods of East Harlem, Harlem, Inwood, Marble Hill, Washington Heights, and portions of Morningside Heights, as well as part of the northwest Bronx.[337][344][345] Federal offices The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Manhattan. The James Farley Post Office at 421 Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, between 31st Street and 33rd Street, is New York City's main post office.[346] Both the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit are located in Lower Manhattan's Foley Square, and the U.S. Attorney and other federal offices and agencies maintain locations in that area. Crime and public safety Main article: Crime in New York City A slum tour through the Five Points in an 1885 sketch Starting in the mid-19th century, the United States became a magnet for immigrants seeking to escape poverty in their home countries. After arriving in New York, many new arrivals ended up living in squalor in the slums of the Five Points neighborhood, an area between Broadway and the Bowery, northeast of New York City Hall. By the 1820s, the area was home to many gambling dens and brothels, and was known as a dangerous place to go. In 1842, Charles Dickens visited the area and was appalled at the horrendous living conditions he had seen.[347] The area was so notorious that it even caught the attention of Abraham Lincoln, who visited the area before his Cooper Union speech in 1860.[348] The predominantly Irish Five Points Gang was one of the country's first major organized crime entities. As Italian immigration grew in the early 20th century many joined ethnic gangs, including Al Capone, who got his start in crime with the Five Points Gang.[349] The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily and spread to the East Coast of the United States during the late 19th century following waves of Sicilian and Southern Italian emigration. Lucky Luciano established Cosa Nostra in Manhattan, forming alliances with other criminal enterprises, including the Jewish mob, led by Meyer Lansky, the leading Jewish gangster of that period.[350] From 1920–1933, Prohibition helped create a thriving black market in liquor, upon which the Mafia was quick to capitalize.[350] As in the whole of New York City, Manhattan experienced a sharp increase in crime during the 1960s and 1970s.[351] Since 1990, crime in Manhattan has plummeted in all categories tracked by the CompStat profile. A borough that saw 503 murders in 1990 has seen a drop of nearly 88% to 62 in 2008 and has continued to decline since then. Robbery and burglary are down by more than 80% during the period, and auto theft has been reduced by more than 93%. In the seven major crime categories tracked by the system, overall crime has declined by more than 75% since 1990, and year-to-date statistics through May 2009 show continuing declines.[352] Based on 2005 data, New York City has the lowest crime rate among the ten largest cities in the United States.[353] Housing During Manhattan's early history, wood construction and poor access to water supplies left the city vulnerable to fires. In 1776, shortly after the Continental Army evacuated Manhattan and left it to the British, a massive fire broke out destroying one-third of the city and some 500 houses.[354] Tenement houses in 1936 The rise of immigration near the turn of the 20th century left major portions of Manhattan, especially the Lower East Side, densely packed with recent arrivals, crammed into unhealthy and unsanitary housing. Tenements were usually five stories high, constructed on the then-typical 25 by 100 feet (7.6 by 30.5 m) lots, with "cockroach landlords" exploiting the new immigrants.[355][356] By 1929, stricter fire codes and the increased use of elevators in residential buildings, were the impetus behind a new housing code that effectively ended the tenement as a form of new construction, though many tenement buildings survive today on the East Side of the borough.[356] Conversely, there were also areas with luxury apartment developments, the first of which was the Dakota on the Upper West Side.[357] At the time of its construction, London Terrace in Chelsea was the largest apartment building in the world Manhattan offers a wide array of public and private housing options. There were 852,575 housing units in 2013[29] at an average density of 37,345 per square mile (14,419/km²). As of 2003, only 20.3% of Manhattan residents lived in owner-occupied housing, the second-lowest rate of all counties in the nation, behind the Bronx.[358] Although the city of New York has the highest average cost for rent in the United States, it simultaneously hosts a higher average of income per capita. Because of this, rent is a lower percentage of annual income than in several other American cities.[359] Manhattan's real estate market for luxury housing continues to be among the most expensive in the world,[360] and Manhattan residential property continues to have the highest sale price per square foot in the United States.[21] Manhattan's apartments cost $1,773 per square foot ($19,080/m2), compared to San Francisco housing at $1,185 per square foot ($12,760/m2), Boston housing at $751 per square foot ($8,080/m2), and Los Angeles housing at $451 per square foot ($4,850/m2).[361] Infrastructure Transportation See also: Transportation in New York City Public transportation Grand Central Terminal is a National Historic Landmark. Ferries departing Battery Park City and helicopters flying above Manhattan The Staten Island Ferry, seen from the Battery, crosses Upper New York Bay, providing free public transportation between Staten Island and Manhattan. Manhattan is unique in the U.S. for intense use of public transportation and lack of private car ownership. While 88% of Americans nationwide drive to their jobs, with only 5% using public transport, mass transit is the dominant form of travel for residents of Manhattan, with 72% of borough residents using public transport to get to work, while only 18% drove.[362][363] According to the 2000 United States Census, 77.5% of Manhattan households do not own a car.[364] In 2008, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a congestion pricing system to regulate entering Manhattan south of 60th Street. The state legislature rejected the proposal in June 2008.[365] The New York City Subway, the largest subway system in the world by number of stations, is the primary means of travel within the city, linking every borough except Staten Island. There are 151 subway stations in Manhattan, out of the 472 stations.[366] A second subway, the PATH system, connects six stations in Manhattan to northern New Jersey. Passengers pay fares with pay-per-ride MetroCards, which are valid on all city buses and subways, as well as on PATH trains.[367][368] There are 7-day and 30-day MetroCards that allow unlimited trips on all subways (except PATH) and MTA bus routes (except for express buses).[369] The PATH QuickCard is being phased out, having been replaced by the SmartLink. The MTA is testing "smart card" payment systems to replace the MetroCard.[370] Commuter rail services operating to and from Manhattan are the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), which connects Manhattan and other New York City boroughs to Long Island; the Metro-North Railroad, which connects Manhattan to Upstate New York and Southwestern Connecticut; and NJ Transit trains, which run to various points in New Jersey. The US$11.1 billion East Side Access project, which will bring LIRR trains to Grand Central Terminal, is under construction and is scheduled to open in 2022; this project will create a new train tunnel beneath the East River, connecting the East Side of Manhattan with Long Island City, Queens.[371][372] Four multi-billion-dollar projects were completed in the mid-2010s: the $1.4 billion Fulton Center in November 2014,[373] the $2.4 billion 7 Subway Extension in September 2015,[374] the $4 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub in March 2016,[375][376] and Phase 1 of the $4.5 billion Second Avenue Subway in January 2017.[377][378] MTA New York City Transit offers a wide variety of local buses within Manhattan under the brand New York City Bus. An extensive network of express bus routes serves commuters and other travelers heading into Manhattan.[379] The bus system served 784 million passengers citywide in 2011, placing the bus system's ridership as the highest in the nation, and more than double the ridership of the second-place Los Angeles system.[380] The Roosevelt Island Tramway, one of two commuter cable car systems in North America, whisks commuters between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan in less than five minutes, and has been serving the island since 1978. (The other system in North America is the Portland Aerial Tram.)[381][382] The Staten Island Ferry, which runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, annually carries over 21 million passengers on the 5.2-mile (8.4 km) run between Manhattan and Staten Island. Each weekday, five vessels transport about 65,000 passengers on 109 boat trips.[383][384] The ferry has been fare-free since 1997, when the then-50-cent fare was eliminated.[385] In February 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city government would begin NYC Ferry to extend ferry transportation to traditionally underserved communities in the city.[386][387] The first routes of NYC Ferry opened in 2017.[388][389] All of the system's routes have termini in Manhattan, and the Lower East Side and Soundview routes also have intermediate stops on the East River.[390] The metro region's commuter rail lines converge at Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, on the west and east sides of Midtown Manhattan, respectively. They are the two busiest rail stations in the United States. About one-third of users of mass transit and two-thirds of railway passengers in the country live in New York and its suburbs.[391] Amtrak provides inter-city passenger rail service from Penn Station to Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.; Upstate New York and New England; cross-Canadian border service to Toronto and Montreal; and destinations in the Southern and Midwestern United States. Major highways  I-78  I-95  I-278  I-478  I-495  US 9  NY 9A  NY 495 Taxis Main article: Taxicabs of New York City New York's iconic yellow taxicabs, which number 13,087 city-wide and must have the requisite medallion authorizing the pick up of street hails, are ubiquitous in the borough.[392] Various private vehicle for hire companies provide significant competition for taxicab drivers in Manhattan.[393] Bicycles Main article: Cycling in New York City Manhattan also has tens of thousands of bicycle commuters. Streets and roads The Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground and the Manhattan Bridge beyond it, are two of the three bridges that connect Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn over the East River. Eighth Avenue, looking northward ("Uptown"), in the rain; most streets and avenues in Manhattan's grid plan incorporate a one-way traffic configuration Tourists looking westward at sunset to observe the July 12, 2016 Manhattanhenge See also: List of numbered streets in Manhattan and List of eponymous streets in New York City The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 called for twelve numbered avenues running north and south roughly parallel to the shore of the Hudson River, each 100 feet (30 m) wide, with First Avenue on the east side and Twelfth Avenue on the west side. There are several intermittent avenues east of First Avenue, including four additional lettered avenues running from Avenue A eastward to Avenue D in an area now known as Alphabet City in Manhattan's East Village. The numbered streets in Manhattan run east-west, and are generally 60 feet (18 m) wide, with about 200 feet (61 m) between each pair of streets. With each combined street and block adding up to about 260 feet (79 m), there are almost exactly 20 blocks per mile. The typical block in Manhattan is 250 by 600 feet (76 by 183 m). According to the original Commissioner's Plan, there were 155 numbered crosstown streets,[394] but later the grid was extended up to the northernmost corner of Manhattan, where the last numbered street is 220th Street. Moreover, the numbering system continues even in The Bronx, north of Manhattan, despite the fact that the grid plan is not as regular in that borough, whose last numbered street is 263rd Street.[395] Fifteen crosstown streets were designated as 100 feet (30 m) wide, including 34th, 42nd, 57th and 125th Streets,[396] which became some of the borough's most significant transportation and shopping venues. Broadway is the most notable of many exceptions to the grid, starting at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan and continuing north into the Bronx at Manhattan's northern tip. In much of Midtown Manhattan, Broadway runs at a diagonal to the grid, creating major named intersections at Union Square (Park Avenue South/Fourth Avenue and 14th Street), Madison Square (Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street), Herald Square (Sixth Avenue and 34th Street), Times Square (Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street), and Columbus Circle (Eighth Avenue/Central Park West and 59th Street). "Crosstown traffic" refers primarily to vehicular traffic between Manhattan's East Side and West Side. The trip is notoriously frustrating for drivers because of heavy congestion on narrow local streets laid out by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, absence of express roads other than the Trans-Manhattan Expressway at the far north end of Manhattan Island; and restricted to very limited crosstown automobile travel within Central Park. Proposals in the mid-1900s to build express roads through the city's densest neighborhoods, namely the Mid-Manhattan Expressway and Lower Manhattan Expressway, did not go forward. Unlike the rest of the United States, New York State prohibits right or left turns on red in cities with a population greater than one million, to reduce traffic collisions and increase pedestrian safety. In New York City, therefore, all turns at red lights are illegal unless a sign permitting such maneuvers is present, significantly shaping traffic patterns in Manhattan.[397] Another 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).[398] On separate occasions in late May and early July, 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.[398][399] A similar phenomenon occurs with the sunrise in January and December. The FDR Drive and Harlem River Drive, both designed by controversial New York master planner Robert Moses,[400] comprise a single, long limited-access parkway skirting the east side of Manhattan along the East River and Harlem River south of Dyckman Street. The Henry Hudson Parkway is the corresponding parkway on the West Side north of 57th Street. River crossings Ferry service departing Battery Park City towards New Jersey, see from Paulus Hook Being primarily an island, Manhattan is linked to New York City's outer boroughs by numerous bridges, of various sizes. Manhattan has fixed highway connections with New Jersey to its west by way of the George Washington Bridge, the Holland Tunnel, and the Lincoln Tunnel, and to three of the four other New York City boroughs—the Bronx to the northeast, and Brooklyn and Queens (both on Long Island) to the east and south. Its only direct connection with the fifth New York City borough, Staten Island, is the Staten Island Ferry across New York Harbor, which is free of charge. The ferry terminal is located near Battery Park at Manhattan's southern tip. It is also possible to travel on land to Staten Island by way of Brooklyn, via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The George Washington Bridge, the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge,[401][402] connects Washington Heights, in Upper Manhattan, to Bergen County, in New Jersey. There are numerous bridges to the Bronx across the Harlem River, and five (listed north to south)—the Triborough (known officially as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), Ed Koch Queensboro (also known as the 59th Street Bridge), Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges—that cross the East River to connect Manhattan to Long Island. Several tunnels also link Manhattan Island to New York City's outer boroughs and New Jersey. The Lincoln Tunnel, which carries 120,000 vehicles a day under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan, is the busiest vehicular tunnel in the world.[403] The tunnel was built instead of a bridge to allow unfettered passage of large passenger and cargo ships that sail through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River to Manhattan's piers. The Holland Tunnel, connecting Lower Manhattan to Jersey City, New Jersey, was the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel.[404] The Queens–Midtown Tunnel, built to relieve congestion on the bridges connecting Manhattan with Queens and Brooklyn, was the largest non-federal project in its time when it was completed in 1940;[405] President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first person to drive through it.[406] The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel runs underneath Battery Park and connects the Financial District at the southern tip of Manhattan to Red Hook in Brooklyn. Several ferry services operate between New Jersey and Manhattan.[407] These ferries mainly serve midtown (at W. 39th St.), Battery Park City (WFC at Brookfield Place), and Wall Street (Pier 11). Heliports Manhattan has three public heliports: the East 34th Street Heliport (also known as the Atlantic Metroport) at East 34th Street, owned by New York City and run by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC); the Port Authority Downtown Manhattan/Wall Street Heliport, owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and run by the NYCEDC; and the West 30th Street Heliport, a privately owned heliport that is owned by the Hudson River Park Trust.[408] US Helicopter offered regularly scheduled helicopter service connecting the Downtown Manhattan Heliport with John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, before going out of business in 2009.[409] Utilities Gas and electric service is provided by Consolidated Edison to all of Manhattan. Con Edison's electric business traces its roots back to Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Illuminating Company, the first investor-owned electric utility. The company started service on September 4, 1882, using one generator to provide 110 volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers with 800 light bulbs, in a one-square-mile area of Lower Manhattan from his Pearl Street Station.[410] Con Edison operates the world's largest district steam system, which consists of 105 miles (169 km) of steam pipes, providing steam for heating, hot water, and air conditioning[411] by some 1,800 Manhattan customers.[412] Cable service is provided by Time Warner Cable and telephone service is provided by Verizon Communications, although AT&T is available as well. Manhattan witnessed the doubling of the natural gas supply delivered to the borough when a new gas pipeline opened on November 1, 2013.[413] The New York City Department of Sanitation is responsible for garbage removal.[414] The bulk of the city's trash ultimately is disposed at mega-dumps in Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio (via transfer stations in New Jersey, Brooklyn and Queens) since the 2001 closure of the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island.[415] A small amount of trash processed at transfer sites in New Jersey is sometimes incinerated at waste-to-energy facilities. Like New York City, New Jersey and much of Greater New York relies on exporting its trash to far-flung areas. New York City has the largest clean-air diesel-hybrid and compressed natural gas bus fleet, which also operates in Manhattan, in the country. It also has some of the first hybrid taxis, most of which operate in Manhattan.[416] Health care Main article: List of hospitals in New York City § Manhattan There are many hospitals in Manhattan, including two of the 25 largest in the United States (as of 2017):[417] Bellevue Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital Lower Manhattan Hospital Metropolitan Hospital Center Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital Mount Sinai Hospital NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem NYU Langone Medical Center Water purity and availability Main articles: Food and water in New York City and New York City water supply system New York City is supplied with drinking water by the protected Catskill Mountains watershed.[418] As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration system, New York is one of only four major cities in the United States the majority of whose drinking water is pure enough not to require purification by water treatment plants.[419] The Croton Watershed north of the city is undergoing construction of a US$3.2 billion water purification plant to augment New York City's water supply by an estimated 290 million gallons daily, representing a greater than 20% addition to the city's current availability of water.[420] Manhattan, surrounded by two brackish rivers, had a limited supply of fresh water. To satisfy its growing population, the City of New York acquired land in adjacent Westchester County and constructed the old Croton Aqueduct system there, which went into service in 1842 and was superseded by the new Croton Aqueduct, which opened in 1890. This, however, was interrupted in 2008 for the ongoing construction of a US$3.2 billion water purification plant that can supply an estimated 290 million gallons daily when completed, representing an almost 20% addition to the city's availability of water, with this addition going to Manhattan and the Bronx.[421] Water comes to Manhattan through the tunnels 1 and 2, completed in 1917 and 1935, and in future through Tunnel No. 3, begun in 1970.[422] Address algorithm Main article: Manhattan address algorithm The address algorithm of Manhattan refers to the formulas used to estimate the closest east–west cross street for building numbers on north–south avenues. It is commonly noted in telephone directories, New York City travel guides, and MTA Manhattan bus maps. See also Turtle Bay is a neighborhood in New York City, on the east side of Midtown Manhattan. It extends from roughly 43rd Street to 53rd Streets, and eastward from Lexington Avenue to the East River's western branch (facing Roosevelt Island).[4][5][6][7][8] The neighborhood is the site of the headquarters of the United Nations and the Chrysler Building. The Tudor City apartment complex is to the south of Turtle Bay.[9] Turtle Bay is named after a former cove of the East River. The neighborhood was originally settled as a Dutch farm in the 17th century, and was subsequently developed with tenements, power plants, and slaughterhouses in the 19th century. These industrial structures were largely demolished in the 1940s and 1950s to make way for the United Nations headquarters. Today, Turtle Bay contains multiple missions and consulates to the nearby United Nations headquarters. Turtle Bay is part of Manhattan Community District 6, and its primary ZIP Codes are 10017 and 10022.[1] It is patrolled by the 17th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Contents 1 History 1.1 Colonial days 1.2 Late 19th century 1.3 20th and 21st centuries 2 Demographics 3 Community 3.1 Turtle Bay Association 3.2 Economy 3.3 Diplomatic missions 4 Architectural landmarks 5 Police and crime 6 Fire safety 7 Health 8 Post offices and ZIP Codes 9 Education 9.1 Schools 9.2 Libraries 10 Transportation 11 In popular culture 12 References 13 External links History Colonial days Turtle Bay, a cove of the East River, was between what is now 45th and 48th Streets and was fed by a stream that ran from the present-day intersection of Second Avenue and 48th Street. It was probably named after the turtles found in the area. Historical records from the 17th century described an abundance of turtles nearby, with local residents partaking in a "turtle feast".[10]: 5  There is also a possibility that it may have received its name in the 17th century its resemblance in shape to that of a knife, deutal being Dutch for "knife".[4] The Turtle Bay neighborhood was originally a 40-acre (16 ha) land grant given to two Englishmen by the Dutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam in 1639 and named "Turtle Bay Farm". The farm extended roughly from what is now 40th to 49th Streets and from Third Avenue to the river.[10]: 5  By 1712, "Turtle Bay" was frequently used in property documents for the area.[10]: 5  Turtle Bay in 1853 On a knoll overlooking the cove, near 41st Street, the farmhouse was purchased as a summer retreat by Francis Bayard,[11] and in the early 19th century remained the summer villa of Francis Bayard Winthrop.[12] Turtle Creek, or DeVoor's Mill Creek as it was known, emptied into the cove at what is now 47th Street.[13] To the south lay Kip's Bay farm; to the north, on a bluff, stood James Beekman's "Mount Pleasant", the first of a series of houses and villas with water views stretching away up the shoreline. After the street grid system was initiated in Manhattan, the hilly landscape of the Turtle Bay Farm was graded to create cross-streets and the land was subdivided for residential development. Late 19th century An army enrollment office was established at Third Avenue and 46th Street, after the first Draft Act was passed during the American Civil War. On July 13, 1863, an angry mob burned the office to the ground and proceeded to riot through the surrounding neighborhood, destroying entire blocks. The New York Draft Riots continued for three days before army troops managed to contain the mob, which had burned and looted much of the city. The cove was filled in after the Civil War, serving as a valuable shelter from the often harsh weather on the river, and became a thriving site for shipbuilding.[4] After the war ended, the formerly pastoral neighborhood was developed with brownstones. By 1868 the bay had been entirely filled in by commercial overdevelopment, packed with breweries, gasworks, slaughterhouses, cattle pens, coal yards, and railroad piers.[14] By the early 20th century, Turtle Bay was "a riverside back yard" for the city, as the WPA Guide to New York City (1939) described it: "huge industrial enterprises—breweries, laundries, abattoirs, power plants—along the water front face squalid tenements not far away from new apartment dwellings attracted to the section by its river view and its central position. The numerous plants shower this district with the heaviest sootfall in the city—150 tons to the square mile annually".[15] The huge Waterside Station, a power plant operated by the Consolidated Edison Company, producing 367,000 kilowatts of electricity in its coal-fired plant, marked the southern boundary of the neighborhood.[16] There were also 18 acres (73,000 m2) of slaughterhouses along First Avenue. With an infusion of poor immigrants having had come in the later part of the 19th century, and the opening of the elevated train lines along Second and Third Avenues, the neighborhood went into decay with crumbling tenement buildings. 20th and 21st centuries Tudor City is at Turtle Bay's southern edge. Many tenements were restored in the 1920s, and a large communal garden was established. Charlotte Hunnewell Sorchan saw promise in the run-down rowhouses of Turtle Bay. In 1918 she purchased twenty houses on 48th and 49th Streets between Second and Third Avenues; within two years she had renovated the enclave called Turtle Bay Gardens.[17] An area between First and Second Avenues, and 41st and 43rd Streets was known as "Goat Hill"—goats and squatters ruled the area—and later renamed "Prospect Hill". Prospect Hill developed into a shanty Irish community known as "Corcoran's Roost", founded by Jimmy Corcoran, in the 1850s, and later became known as a community with a high rate of violent crime and a haven for waterfront thieves such as the Rag Gang, during the late 19th century.[18][19] From 1927 to 1932, the 2,800-unit Tudor City was built on this site,[20] which was in 1988 named a historic district.[21] The clearing of the slaughterhouses for the construction of the UN headquarters in 1948, largely completed by 1952, and the removal of the elevated trains opened the neighborhood up for high-rise office buildings and condominiums.[9] Concurrent with the UN headquarters' construction, the Ralph Bunche Park staircase was constructed, connecting Tudor City to the rest of Turtle Bay.[22] Until the Third Avenue El was demolished in 1956, it was characterized by a blighted stretch of sooty darkness that had separated the neighborhood from Midtown Manhattan. The United Nations Headquarters is located in Turtle Bay; pictured is the United Nations Secretariat Building. After the UN headquarters' expansion plan was originally announced in 2000, it was opposed by some Turtle Bay residents over concerns about the loss of the current Robert Moses Playground in order to build a long-sought new UN building on the site. In October 2011, city and state officials announced an agreement in which the UN would be allowed to build the tower adjacent to the existing campus on the current playground.[23] In exchange, the United Nations would allow the construction of an esplanade along the East River that would complete the East River Greenway, a waterfront pedestrian and bicycle pathway.[24] While host nation authorities have agreed to the provisions of the plan, it needs the approval of the United Nations in order to be implemented. The plan is similar in concept to an earlier proposal that had been announced in 2000 but did not move forward.[25] Demographics For census purposes, the New York City government classifies Turtle Bay as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called Turtle Bay-East Midtown.[26] Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Turtle Bay-East Midtown was 51,231, a change of 1,494 (2.9%) from the 49,737 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 410.95 acres (166.31 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 124.7 inhabitants per acre (79,800/sq mi; 30,800/km2).[27] The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 77.1% (39,475) White, 2.1% (1,071) African American, 0% (23) Native American, 13% (6,655) Asian, 0% (21) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (184) from other races, and 1.6% (845) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.8% (2,957) of the population.[3] The entirety of Community District 6, which comprises Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town, had 53,120 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 84.8 years.[28]: 2, 20  This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[29]: 53 (PDF p. 84) [30] Most inhabitants are adults: a plurality (45%) are between the ages of 25–44, while 22% are between 45–64, and 13% are 65 or older. The ratio of youth and college-aged residents was lower, at 7% and 12% respectively.[28]: 2  As of 2017, the median household income in Community District 6 was $112,383,[31] though the median income in Turtle Bay individually was $135,360[2] In 2018, an estimated 10% of Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in twenty-five residents (4%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 42% in Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.[28]: 7  Community To the north of Turtle Bay is Sutton Place, to the west is Midtown, and to the south are Tudor City and Murray Hill.[32] Turtle Bay Association The Turtle Bay Association, a neighborhood non-profit 501(c)3 organization, was founded in 1957[33] by James Amster[34] to protest, successfully, the widening of East 49th Street.[9] It now serves as an advocate for residents of Turtle Bay, and maintains the neighborhood's quality of life. The Association's efforts have resulted in more park and landscaping development, creating the neighborhood's tree-lined and relatively quiet atmosphere. Economy The German mission to the United Nations Fujitsu operates an office at 733 Third Avenue.[35] Avianca operates a New York-area sales office in Suite 2525 at 122 East 42nd Street.[36] Ethiopian Airlines operates a sales office at 336 East 45th Street.[37] Delta Air Lines operates a ticketing office in the 2 Grand Central Tower.[38] As of 1975, Trans World Airlines was headquartered in Turtle Bay.[39] Diplomatic missions Missions to the United States in Turtle Bay include:[8] Consulate-General of the Bahamas[40] Consulate-General of Germany[41] Consulate-General of Israel in New York[42] Consulate-General of Jamaica[43] Consulate-General of Luxembourg[44] Consulate-General of Nicaragua[45] Consulate-General of Saudi Arabia[46] Consulate-General of Singapore[47] Consulate-General of Ukraine[48] Consulate-General of the United Kingdom[49] Numerous missions to the United Nations are in Turtle Bay, close to the UN.[8][50] They include: Albania Andorra Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Australia Azerbaijan The Bahamas[40] Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Canada Chad Chile Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Costa Rica Croatia Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Finland France The Gambia Georgia Germany Greece Grenada Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Republic of Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan[51] Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Marshall Islands Mauritius Mexico Federated States of Micronesia[52] Monaco Morocco Mozambique Nauru[53] New Zealand Nicaragua North Korea Saudi Arabia[46] Tonga Turkey United States Vietnam[54] Architectural landmarks Several sites in Turtle Bay have been designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) as official city landmarks and/or are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[55][56][57]: 345  These include several institutional headquarters. In the southern section of Turtle Bay, between 42nd and 43rd Streets east of Second Avenue, the Ford Foundation Building and its lobby interior are designated as city landmarks.[57]: 340 [58] One block north is the former Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (now the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations) at 304 East 44th Street is designated as a New York City landmark.[57]: 345 [59] The headquarters of the Japan Society at 333 East 47th Street has also been designated as a city landmark.[57]: 344 [60] Several apartments and houses in Turtle Bay have also been designated as landmarks. The Beaux-Arts Apartments, a pair of artists' residential apartments across the street from each other at 307 and 310 East 44th Street, are city landmarks.[57]: 343 [61] The Panhellenic Tower apartment hotel near First Avenue and 49th Street is also a city landmark.[57]: 345 [62] A portion of the Tudor City Historic District, a city and NRHP district, extends into Turtle Bay.[57]: 340, 343 [63][56] Individual houses designated as city landmarks include the Paul Rudolph Penthouse and Apartments at 23 Beekman Place;[57]: 345 [64] the Lescaze House at 211 East 48th Street,[57]: 349 [65] also listed on the NRHP;[56] the Morris B. Sanders Studio & Apartment at 219 East 49th Street;[57]: 348 [66] the Rockefeller Guest House at 242 East 52nd Street;[57]: 348 [67] and 312 and 314 East 53rd Street.[57]: 347  The Turtle Bay Gardens Historic District, a city and NRHP district, consists of twenty rowhouses on 48th and 49th Streets between Second and Third Avenues.[10][68] There are some other historical sites in Turtle Bay as well. The first-floor interior of the Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza hotel is also a city landmark, though not any other portions of the interior or exterior.[69] Amster Yard, a courtyard at 211-215 East 49th Street designed by James Amster, is also a city landmark.[70] Police and crime 303 East 51st Street apartment building under construction Turtle Bay and Murray Hill are patrolled by the 17th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 167 East 51st Street.[71] The 17th Precinct and neighboring 13th Precinct ranked 57th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. The high per-capita crime rate is attributed to the precincts' high number of property crimes.[72] As of 2018, with a non-fatal assault rate of 35 per 100,000 people, Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 180 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.[28]: 8  The 17th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 80.7% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported no murders, 13 rapes, 63 robberies, 91 felony assaults, 80 burglaries, 748 grand larcenies, and 26 grand larcenies auto in 2018.[73] Fire safety Turtle Bay is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Co. 8/Ladder Co. 2/Battalion 8, located at 165 East 51st Street.[74][75] Health As of 2018, preterm births and births to teenage mothers in Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town are lower than the city average. In Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town, there were 78 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 1.5 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide), though the teenage birth rate was based on a small sample size.[28]: 11  Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town have a low population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 3%, less than the citywide rate of 12%, though this was based on a small sample size.[28]: 14  The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town is 0.0102 milligrams per cubic metre (1.02×10−8 oz/cu ft), more than the city average.[28]: 9  Twelve percent of Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town residents are smokers, which is less than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[28]: 13  In Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town, 10% of residents are obese, 5% are diabetic, and 18% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.[28]: 16  In addition, 7% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[28]: 12  Ninety-one percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 90% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," more than the city's average of 78%.[28]: 13  For every supermarket in Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town, there are 7 bodegas.[28]: 10  Beth Israel Medical Center is located in Stuyvesant Town. In addition, the Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU Langone Medical Center are located in Kips Bay.[76][77] Post offices and ZIP Codes Turtle Bay is located in two primary ZIP Codes. The area south of 49th Street is part of 10017 and the area north of 49th Street is part of 10022.[78] The United States Postal Service operates two post offices near Turtle Bay: Grand Central Station – 450 Lexington Avenue[79] FDR Station – 909 Third Avenue[80] Education Former P.S. 135, now condominiums Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town generally have a higher rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018. A majority of residents age 25 and older (82%) have a college education or higher, while 3% have less than a high school education and 15% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 64% of Manhattan residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.[28]: 6  The percentage of Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town students excelling in math rose from 61% in 2000 to 80% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 66% to 68% during the same time period.[81] Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town, 8% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, less than the citywide average of 20%.[29]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [28]: 6  Additionally, 91% of high school students in Turtle Bay and Stuyvesant Town graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.[28]: 6  Schools The New York City Department of Education does not operate any public schools in Turtle Bay.[82] Students in grades PK-5 are zoned to PS 59 Beekman Hill International in Lenox Hill[83] and students in grades 6-8 are zoned to IS 104 Simon Baruch School in Gramercy Park.[84] Formerly, P.S. 135 operated inside Turtle Bay. The structure now contains condominiums and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[85] There are no zoned high schools in New York City. However, the Art and Design High School, a vocational school, serves grades 9-12.[86] Libraries The New York Public Library (NYPL) operates two branches near Turtle Bay: The 58th Street branch is located at 127 East 58th Street. The branch opened in a Carnegie library building in 1907 and moved to its current two-story space in 1969.[87] The Grand Central branch is located at 135 East 46th Street. The two-story library opened in 2008.[88] Transportation A bus on Third Avenue The closest New York City Subway stations are at the western border of the neighborhood, at Lexington Avenue/51st–53rd Streets (4, ​6, <6>​, E, and ​M trains) and Grand Central–42nd Street (4, ​5, ​6, <6>​, 7, <7>​​, and S trains); the latter has a connection to the Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal.[89] Local New York City Bus lines include M15, M15 SBS, M42, M50, M101, M102 and M103.[90] The only major thoroughfare is the FDR Drive, at the neighborhood's eastern border. The Queens Midtown Tunnel (I-495) and Queensboro Bridge (NY 25) are located just south and north, respectively, of the neighborhood.[91] In popular culture Turtle Bay is the setting for a considerable portion of the Kurt Vonnegut science fiction novel Slapstick, as well as the location of the (fictional) painter Dan Gregory's mansion (in the brownstones of 48th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues) in his novel Bluebeard. The animated series The Venture Bros.'s pilot episode is entitled "The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay" and takes place largely at the UN headquarters. Turtle Bay is the location of a vacant lot in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, where the Tower takes the form of The Rose. Later, the lot is revealed to be the site of 1 Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza. In the song "Stars and The Moon" from the musical revue Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown, a rich suitor promises to buy the singer a "townhouse in Turtle Bay." Turtle Bay, and specifically Beekman Place, is home to the fictional character "Mame Dennis" in the novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis, as well as in the Broadway play, musical and the films based on it. Turtle Bay is the home of the fictional lawyer Stone Barrington in a series of novels by Stuart Woods. Turtle Bay is the location of the "old willow tree" that is "long-suffering and much-climbed, held together by strings of wire but beloved of those who know it" that E.B. White writes "symbolizes the city" in his essay "Here is New York".
  • Type: Photograph
  • Subject: New York
  • Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
  • Year of Production: 1940

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