New York City is the largest city in the entire United States with a population of over 8,870,000 residents contained within the five boroughs of New York City and a total of over 24,750,000 in the entire metropolitan area. Covering an area of 304.8 square miles, New York City is the most densely populated city in the United States. Known as the “City that never sleeps” and the “Big Apple”, New York City’s population speaks over 170 different languages and over 36% of its population was born outside of the United States.
With its natural harbor, New York City has great influence over the world’s commerce and finance as well as the arts and entertainment. Known as one of the three “command centers” for the world economy, New York City is a major player in finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts. In 2005, it was estimated that the gross domestic product of the New York City metropolitan area was around $1.952 trillion. Many large companies call New York City home including over 44 Fortune 500 companies. Home to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ, New York is home to the two largest stock exchanges in the world. Real estate is also another major player in New York’s economy with an estimated $804.2 billion worth of real estate within the city limits.
Besides major corporations, New York City also has a steady flow of cash coming in from the tourism and sports industries. Approximately 40 million visitors come to New York City each year. There are over 28,000 acres designated as parks within the city and there are also over 14 miles of public beaches. Some of the major tourist destinations in New York City are the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, Broadway, museums, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and Times Square (just to name a few). Besides attractions within the city, visitors will also be pleased by the number of choices they have when they want to eat. Because of the wide variety of people within the city, there is also a very wide variety of foods available for people to try. With New York’s 4,000 street food vendors, you don’t even need to go to a restaurant to enjoy things such as pizza, cheesecake, kebabs, hotdogs, and pretzels.
New York City is also home to some of the most influential sports teams in the world. The city has two major league baseball teams, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, which combined have won 28 world titles. The city is also home to two National Football League teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets, a NBA team, the New York Knicks, an NHL team, the New York Rangers, and a women’s basket ball team, the New York Liberty. Besides professional sports, New York hosts the New York City Marathon which is the largest in the world with over 37,866 finishers and the city has countless other people participating in street sports such as street hockey, football, and baseball all throughout the city.
