New York 100 Years Ago (give or take a decade)

The first European to enter New York Bay was probably the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (1524), for whom the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge spanning the harbor entrance is named. Later came Henry Hudson, and then in 1613 the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam was established on Manhattan Island, bought from the Indians by Peter Minuit, the Dutch governor, in 1626 for $24 worth of trinkets.

The capital of the colony of New Netherland, New Amsterdam was renamed New York after its capture by the English in 1664.

The town figured prominently in the American Revolution as the seat of the National Congress (1789-90) and the scene of Washington's inauguration as first President in 1789. It was the capital of New York State until 1797. During the 19th century the city's growth was accelerated by the construction of the Erie Canal (1825), by railroad development, and by a flood of immigration in the later years of the century which continued into the early 1900's. By 1898 the city had expanded to is present boundaries.

The earliest people known to have lived in the New York City area were tribes of the Algonquian family. These native Americans lived peacefully on the shores of New York Harbor and along the banks of the Hudson and East Rivers. They lived in small villages of bark huts and fished, hunted, raised crops and trapped animals. They traveled the area's waterways in study canoes.

The first European to enter New York Harbor was probably the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (for whom the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge spanning the harbor entrance is named), an Italian explorer employed by the king of France, Verrazano and his crew landed on Staten Island in 1524, while exploring the North American coast.

Other explorers visited the New York City region after Verranzano. But none of them reported seeing the island the Indians called Man-a-hat-ta (Island of the Hills). Finally, in 1609, Henry Hudson reached Manhattan and then sailed up the river that now bears his name. Hudson was an Englishman exploring for the Dutch, and so The Netherlands claimed the territory he had found.

In 1613, the Dutch trader and explorer Adriaen Block and his crew became the first Europeans to live on Manhattan Island. They built several huts and spent the winter near the southern tip of the island after their ship was destroyed by fire. They built a new ship and left the island in the spring of 1614.

In 1624, the Dutch West India Company, a trading and colonizing firm, sent the first settlers to Manhattan and established the first European settlement on the island.

In 1625, the settlers laid out a town and built a fort called Fort Amsterdam at the island's southern tip. The next year, the governor of the Dutch settlement, Peter Minuit, bought the island from the Indians for $24 worth of trinkets.

Soon after Fort Amsterdam was built, the entire settlement was named New Amsterdam. The colony prospered slowly at first because the governors sent by the Dutch were poor administrators. But in 1647, Peter Stuyvesant became governor, and under his administration the town began to prosper rapidly.

About 1,000 persons lived in New Amsterdam during the 1650's. Their houses stood along narrow dirt lanes. In 1653, they built a wall along the northern edge of town because they feared attacks by Indians or by white enemies. But the wall fell down within a few years. Later, the colonists laid out a road in its place. The road became known as Wall Street.

While New Amsterdam was being established on Manhattan, colonists were also arriving in what is now the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. Jonas Bronck of Denmark, after whom the Bronx was named, became the first settler in that area.

He set up a 500-acre (200 hectare) farm in 1641 and was soon followed by other settlers. Dutch and English colonists established several small villages in Brooklyn and Queens. Staten Island developed more slowly than the other areas because settlers there often had trouble with Indians.

The Netherlands and England fought three naval wars between 1652 and 1674. In 1664, English warships sailed into New York Harbor and forced Peter Stuyvesant to surrender New Amsterdam. The Dutch regained the colony and few years later but then gave it to England under the terms of a peace treaty. The English renamed the colony New York, after the Duke of York to whom the land had been granted by King Charles II.

New York grew quickly under English rule. By 1700 its population reached about 7,000 and buildings filled lower Manhattan. The town's first newspaper, the New-York Gazette appeared in 1725. King's College, now Columbia University, was founded in 1754.

New York played an important role in the American Colonies' fight for freedom from Great Britain. In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress met in New York to protest unfair taxes. In 1770, New Yorkers clashed with British soldiers, and one man was killed in the fighting. Soon after the Revolutionary War began in 1775, American forces took possession of the city. But the British regained New York after the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and held it until the war ended in 1783. In January 1785, New York became the temporary capital of the United States, and Congress met there until August 1790. George Washington was inaugurated in New York as the nation's first President in April 1789.

The town figured prominently in the American Revolution as the seat of the National Congress (1789-90) and the scene of Washington's inauguration as first President in 1789. It was the capital of New York State until 1797. During the 19th century the city's growth was accelerated by the construction of the Erie Canal (1825), by railroad development, and by a flood of immigration in the later years of the century which continued into the early 1900's. By 1898 the city had expanded to is present boundaries.

Manhattan, the smallest borough in area, covers 34 square miles (88 square kilometers). It occupies a long, narrow island bordered by the Hudson River on the west, the East River on the east, the Harlem River on the north and northeast, and Upper New York Bay (the mouth of the Hudson) on the south.

The Bronx lies across the Harlem River from Manhattan and covers 55 square miles (143 square kilometers). It extends north along the Hudson River and east along hte East River. It is the only borough not separated from upstate New York by water.

Queens, the largest borough in area, occupies 126 square miles (326 square kilometers) on the northwest corner of Long Island. The East River separates Queens from the Bronx to the north and from Manhattan to the west.

Brooklyn covers 89 square miles(231 square kilometers) on the southwest tip of Long Island. It lies south and southwest of Queens and southeast of Manhattan across the East River.

Staten Island occupies a 65-square mile (168 square kilometer) island in Upper and Lower New York bays. It lies west of Brooklyn and southwest of Manhattan.

The state of New Jersey is directly west of New York City. It lies across two waterways, Arthur Kill and Kill Van Kull, form Staten Island; across Upper New York Bay from Brooklyn; and across the Hudson River from Manhattan and the Bronx.

Each of New York City's boroughs has a large population, important businesses and industries, and many fine educational and cultural institutions. Within the five boroughs are more than 100 neighborhoods, such as Manhattan's Chinatown, Greenwich Village, and Harlem

Lower Manhattan

At the southern tip of the island is the part of the city that was once New Amsterdam. Some streets there predate the American Revolution by more than 100 years. One of the town's oldest streets, Broadway, begins here and extends 16 miles (26 km) through Manhattan and the Bronx to the town of Yonkers. From Yonkers it continues northward as the Albany Post Road, to become the longest continuous street in the world. Although the skyscrapers of the Wall Street and City Hall area have replaced most of its historic landmarks, a few reminders of its early days are still standing. One is Fraunces Tavern at Pearl and Broad streets, where George Washington bade farewell to his officers after the American Revolution. Others are St. Paul's Church, which Washington attended during his first year as President, and Trinity Church, with its graveyard where Alexander Hamilton is buried. Here also is the Subtreasury Building, on the site of Federal Hall, the nation's first Capitol.

At the very tip of Manhattan is the old Battery Park, the scene of Stamp Act riots during the 1770's. The 110-story towers of the World Trade Center, once the city's tallest structures stood near the Hudson River to the north, before the fateful day on 11th September 2001. Across the island on the East River is the Fulton Fish Market, the largest wholesale fish market on the Atlantic Coast. Somewhat farther north, midway between the rivers, are City Hall and City Hall Park, the city's equivalent of a village green. On the steps of City Hall distinguished visitors are welcomed to the city by the mayor, after being driven up Broadway in the traditional ticker tape parade. Around Foley Square in the City Hall district are the Municipal Building, the Federal Court House, the New York Supreme, Criminal, and Civil courts, and other municipal, state, and federal buildings.

As the island widens and extends northward, it separates into the East and West sides. East Side neighborhoods are bordered by the East River and West Side neighborhoods by the Hudson River.

Lower East Side

Extending from the Brooklyn Bridge in lower Manhattan to 14th Street and from the East River to Broadway is the Lower East Side. The district early developed as a slum, and by the mid-19th century it was famous as a haven for immigrants. Since that time it has been the slum home of successive waves of German, Irish, Italian, eastern European, Chinese, and Jewish immigrants. Although vast areas of the Lower East Side have been transformed by modern housing projects, many of the older slums remain. Here are found the Jewish quarter, home of the once-famous Yiddish Art Theatre; Little Italy, noted for such religious street festivals as that of St. Gen-naro; Chinatown, with its restaurants and curio shops; and the Bowery, home of the down-and-out, with its missions, soup kitchens, and cheap hotels. In recent years, the part of the Lower East Side north of Houston Street has come to be called the East Village.

At Second Avenue and Tenth Street are the district's oldest landmarks, the grave of Peter Stuyvesant and St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie Church, which was originally built in 1660 as a chapel on Stuyvesant's farm.

Greenwich Village

Straggling up the West Side and dipping occasionally into the East Side from Houston Street to 14th Street is Greenwich Village, famous in the 1920's as a mecca for artists and writers. Still noted for its bohemian citizens, its outdoor art show, and its gay night life, the village is a maze of crooked streets and small old houses. Famous village streets include MacDougal Alley, a quiet lane lined with artists' studios converted from 18th-century carriage houses; MacDougal Street, with its night clubs and coffeehouses; and Eighth Street, the main shopping center of the Village. At the foot of Fifth Avenue, which runs northward through Manhattan and is the dividing line between the East and West sides of the island, is the Washington Arch, 86 feet (26.2 meters) high. Designed by Stanford White, it commemorates George Washington's first inauguration. The arch stands in a small park called Washington Square.

Mid town Area

North of 14th Street the streets of Manhattan are laid out systematically, with the long avenues running north and south and the short cross-town streets, numbered to 228, running east and west between the rivers. The small area between 23d Street and 59th Street, known as the Midtown area, is the heart of Manhattan's business, shopping, and entertainment district.

Here, on Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, is the Empire State Building. For many years the world's tallest building, it has 102 stories and rises 1,250 feet (381 meters) above the street. A few blocks farther north and east stands another great skyscraper, the 1,048-foot (319.4-meter) Chrysler Building. Along Broadway through the West 40's and 50's are the theaters that have made the street famous. Just east of them, between Fifth Avenue and the west side of the Avenue of the Americas (more commonly called Sixth Avenue) from 48th Street to 52d Street, is Rockefeller Center. This complex of buildings houses radio and television studios, numerous international firms, and the largest indoor theater in the world, Radio City Music Hall. From 34th Street to 59th Street along Fifth Avenue are some of the city's most elegant department stores and shops.

Among the most remarkable of the newer skyscrapers are those along Park Avenue, once a fashionable residential street, now more and more given over to skyscraper office buildings. These include the Pan Am Building, the world's largest privately owned office building, 808 feet (246.3 meters) high; the Lever Brothers Building, first to use all-glass walls; and the Seagram Building, with walls made of bronze.

This area also contains one of New York City's great medical complexes, combining hospitals, medical schools, research institutes, and doctors' and nurses' residences. This is the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center, which extends for nine blocks along the East River from 23d Street to 34th Street.

Along the East River in the mid-40's are the great United Nations buildings, with the green-glass Secretariat Building towering over the General Assembly Building, the Conference Building, and the Library.

At 59th Street, Central Park begins, becoming the new dividing line between East Side and West Side up to 110th Street.

Upper East Side

East of Central Park from 59th Street through the 90's is the Upper East Side, containing some of Manhattan's most luxurious apartment buildings and town houses. Along the East River, extending from 63d Street to 71st Street, is another of the city's great hospital and medical-research complexes. It includes New York Hospital, the Cornell University Medical College and School of Nursing, Rockefeller University, and the Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases. Above the hospital complex, in the exclusive residential district overlooking the East River in the 80's, is Gracie Mansion. The mayor of New York has his residence in this white frame colonial mansion overlooking the small Carl Shurz Park.

West Side

Near the southwestern corner of Central Park at Columbus Circle is the New York Coliseum, one of the world's largest convention and exhibition halls, with some 300,000 square feet (28,000 sq meters) of exhibition space. In the West 60's is the city's modern cultural center, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Included in the center are Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic orchestra; the New York State Theater; the Metropolitan Opera House; the Vivian Beaumont Theater; the Julliard School; Alice Tully Hall; a library and museum; and Damrosch Park. Also in the Lincoln Center area is a campus of Fordham University.

Harlem

Above 110th Street on the West Side and above 96th Street on the East Side lies Harlem, which extends north to about 155th Street, east to the East and Harlem rivers, and west to within a few blocks of the Hudson River. The part of Harlem east of Fifth Avenue is known as Spanish Harlem. Harlem, home of most of Manhattan's 380,000 blacks and 185,000 Puerto Ricans, is the result of more than a century of racial segregation in housing. It has its wealthy residential section and its appalling slums, but in recent years large slum areas have been replaced with enormous housing projects dotted with parks and playgrounds.

Upper West Side

West of Harlem at 123d Street on Riverside Drive is one of New York's best-known landmarks, Grant's Tomb, a large Neoclassic mausoleum enclosing the tombs of President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife. Riverside Drive is a broad avenue bordering the park that extends along much of the Hudson River from 72d Street to almost the northern tip of Manhattan. At 116th Street west of Harlem, in the Morningside Heights section, are Columbia University and its women's division, Barnard College. Other educational institutions in this area are the Bank Street College of Education, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and the Union Theological Seminary. Also in this area are two of New York's most celebrated churches: the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the largest church building in America, with a seating capacity of 15,000; and the interdenominational and interracial Riverside Church, built by the Rockefeller family.

North of 141st Street in the Washington Heights section is the Grange, built by Alexander Hamilton as a country home. On 160th Street is the Morris-Jumel Mansion, once occupied by Aaron Burr. Both houses are now maintained as museums. A cluster of museums built around a central court at 155th Street includes the American Geographical Society, the Museum of the American Indian, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among others. Ten blocks farther north is another of New York's great medical centers, the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical

And as we all know, didn't she make it.

April 14th 2012 will be the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, and her disastrous maiden voyage. Read more about it here: Titanic's 100 Year Anniversary