City of New York (New York City)
From top left: Manhattan south of Rockefeller Center, the Brooklyn Bridge, United Nations Headquarters, Statue of Liberty, and Times Square
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Big Apple, Gotham, The City That Never Sleeps, The Capital of The World (Caput Mundi), The Empire City, The City So Nice They Named It Twice.
Location in the state of New York
Coordinates: 40°43′N 74°00′W / 40.717°N 74°W / 40.717; -74Coordinates: 40°43′N 74°00′W / 40.717°N 74°W / 40.717; -74
Country	United States
State	New York
Boroughs	The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island
Settled	1624
Government
- Mayor	Michael Bloomberg (I)
Area
- City	468.9 sq mi (1,214.4 km2)
- Land	304.8 sq mi (789.4 km2)
- Water	165.6 sq mi (428.8 km2)
- Urban	3,352.6 sq mi (8,683.2 km2)
- Metro	6,720 sq mi (17,405 km2)
Elevation	33 ft (10 m)
Population (July 1, 2007)[1]
- City	8,274,527
- Density	27,147/sq mi (10,482/km2)
- Urban	18,223,567
- Metro	18,815,988
- Demonym	New Yorker
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	212, 718, 917, 347, 646
Website	www.nyc.gov

The City of New York (most often called New York City) is the most populous city in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the world's most populous urban areas. It is a leading global city, exerting a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, and entertainment. The city is also an important center for international affairs, hosting the United Nations headquarters.

Located on the Atlantic coast of the Northeastern United States, the city consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. It is the most densely populated major city in the United States, with an estimated 8,274,527 people occupying just under 305 square miles (790 km²). The New York metropolitan area's population is also the nation's highest, estimated at 18,815,988 people over 6,720 square miles (17,400 km²).

New York is unique among American cities for its high use of and 24-hour availability of mass transit, and for the overall density and diversity of its population. In 2005, nearly 170 languages were spoken in the city and 36% of its population was born outside the United States. The city is sometimes referred to as "The City that Never Sleeps", while other nicknames include Gotham and the Big Apple.

New York was founded as a commercial trading post by the Dutch East India Company in 1624. The settlement was called New Amsterdam until 1664 when the colony came under British control. New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790, and has been the nation's largest city since 1790.

Today, the city has many landmarks and neighborhoods that are world famous. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wall Street, in Lower Manhattan, has been a dominant global financial center since World War II and is home to the New York Stock Exchange. The city has been home to several of the tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building and the twin towers of the former World Trade Center.

New York is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the Harlem Renaissance in literature and visual art, abstract expressionism (also known as the New York School) in painting, and hip hop, punk, salsa, disco and Tin Pan Alley in music.

Climate

New York City has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with four seasons and an average of 234 sunshine days a year. It's the northernmost major city in North America that features a humid subtropical climate using both the 0 °C and -3 °C isotherms as criteria, as none of its average monthly temperatures falls below freezing.

Summers are typically hot and humid with average high temperatures of 79–84 °F (26–29 °C) and lows of 63–69 °F (17–21 °C), however temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on average of 16 - 19 days each summer.

Winters are usually cold, but the city's coastal position keeps temperatures slightly milder than inland regions, with average high temperatures of 38–43 °F (3–6 °C) and lows of 26 - 32 °F (-3–0 °C), but temperatures could for few days be as low as 10 to 20°Fs (-12 to -6 °C) and for a few days be as high as 50s or 60s°F (~10–15 °C) during the winter. Spring and autumn are erratic, and could range from chilly to warm, although they are usually pleasantly mild with low humidity.

New York City receives 49.7 inches (1,260 mm) of precipitation annually, which is fairly spread throughout the year. Average winter snowfall is about 24.4 inches (62 cm), but this often varies considerably from year to year, and snow cover remains very short. Hurricanes and tropical storms are very rare in New York, but not unheard of.

[hide] Weather averages for New York City (Central Park)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °F (°C)	38 (3)	41 (5)	50 (10)	61 (16)	71 (22)	79 (26)	84 (29)	82 (28)	75 (24)	64 (18)	53 (12)	43 (6)	62 (17)
Average low °F (°C)	26 (-3)	28 (-2)	35 (2)	44 (7)	54 (12)	63 (17)	69 (21)	68 (20)	60 (16)	50 (10)	41 (5)	32 (0)	48 (9)
Precipitation inches (mm)	4.13 (104.9)	3.15 (80)	4.37 (111)	4.28 (108.7)	4.69 (119.1)	3.84 (97.5)	4.62 (117.3)	4.22 (107.2)	4.23 (107.4)	3.85 (97.8)	4.36 (110.7)	3.95 (100.3)	49.7 (1,262.4)

Environment

Main articles: Environmental issues in New York City and Food and water in New York City

Mass transit use in New York City is the highest in United States and gasoline consumption in the city is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s. New York City's high rate of transit use saved 1.8 billion gallons of oil in 2006; New York saves half of all the oil saved by transit nationwide. The city's population density, low automobile use and high transit utility make it among the most energy efficient cities in the United States. New York City's greenhouse gas emissions are 7.1 metric tons per person compared with the national average of 24.5. New Yorkers are collectively responsible for one percent of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions though comprising 2.7% of the nation's population. The average New Yorker consumes less than half the electricity used by a resident of San Francisco and nearly one-quarter the electricity consumed by a resident of Dallas.

In recent years the city has focused on reducing its environmental impact. Large amounts of concentrated pollution in New York City led to high incidence of asthma and other respiratory conditions among the city's residents. The city government is required to purchase only the most energy-efficient equipment for use in city offices and public housing. New York has the largest clean air diesel-hybrid and compressed natural gas bus fleet in the country, and some of the first hybrid taxis. The city government was a petitioner in the landmark Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency Supreme Court case forcing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants. The city is also a leader in the construction of energy-efficient green office buildings, including the Hearst Tower among others.

New York City is supplied with drinking water by the protected Catskill Mountains watershed. As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration process, New York is one of only four major cities in the United States with drinking water pure enough not to require purification by water treatment plants.

 - Woolworths Building one of the worlds First Skyscrapers

 - State Of Liberty

 - Midtown Manhattan

 - New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)