Little Holland

Suddenly, yes? It is unlikely that you would call so modern New York , but once it was so.

In the south of present-day Manhattan, the Dutch settled in 1625. The place was called New Amsterdam , although it was infinitely far from the present in every sense.

The small patch of territory cleaned from the Indians served only as a cashier zone: the Dutch exchanged furs for the mirrors and daggers from the Indians and traded them in her homeland.

A little later, the enterprising Dutch bought the entire Manhattan from the Indians for a bag of beads, a few dull knives, blankets and a couple of crates of rum. For comparison, today hundreds of billions of dollars would not be enough to buy Manhattan.

After 40 years, the British arrived in New Amsterdam , and easily won the cashier from their European neighbors. They reached agreement with each other, but the British demanded to rename the place itself, otherwise they would not understand the metropolis. So the territory turned into New York.

What now?

By 1898, the borders of New York were finally settled. Today, it consists of five main parts, called Borough: Queens , Manhattan , Brooklyn , Bronx and Staten Island. And even if it is not the official capital of the United States, the financial - for sure. On Wall Street, the fate of millions of companies around the world is decided daily.

At the beginning of the 20th century, world educational, commercial and industrial centers were located here, and by the 30s, the city acquired its unique appearance: a huge anthill with the world's first skyscrapers. At the same time he survived the first great shock: during the Great Depression, the newspapers wrote that “rain from people jumping from the roof of the Empire State Building turned into a shower.” After World War II, New York also became the center of political life - it was here that the UN headquarters were built. The economic boom of the 80s and 90s, the dot-com era, September 11th ... This city seems to have seen absolutely everything. But he never stopped moving.

In order to become the present capital of the world, New York took about 400 years. Now, about 8,500,000 people live in New York; it is one of the largest migration centers. The white population here has long ceased to be a majority.

City infrastructure

To navigate in New York is difficult only at first glance. In most areas dominated by the so-called rectangular buildings. This is best seen in the example of Manhattan: along the island, from north to south, stretch the avenue (an analogue of avenues), and across - the streets, streets. The main artery of Manhattan, Fifth Avenue, divides it into two parts - east and west, and also sets the numbering of houses on the straights. The houses closest to Fifth Avenue will have number 1 on east or west street.

New York is the only city in the USA where the majority of the population use public transport more than a private car. New Yorkers have metro, taxis, buses, cable cars, airplanes, ferries and trains.

Due to the high density of the population and the crazy prices of real estate, the houses here are rising high, and inside they are divided into tiny rooms. The area of the apartment of a wealthy New Yorker rarely exceeds the area of Moscow one bedroom apartment. But on the square of the parks did not regret the place - they are really superb here, you can see the heritage of the British.

... and urban fads

• In New York, since the early 1990s, it has been officially allowed to walk topless, regardless of gender or age. Thank you for this, I must say to the feminists who gave the heat in the literal sense - the bras in the squares are still harnessing activists in the squares.
• And also in New York, the crime rate has been declining for almost 10 years. The police does not find an explanation for this, but nevertheless - a large metropolis with a huge number of migrants has become the safest zone of the United States. Rumor has it that criminals simply consider fishing in New York as a “zashkvar”: to find a weighty wallet in New York, you don’t have to be cool. No thieves romance.

If you do not have a single thing with the words "I love New York", then you just were not in New York! To solve this terrible misunderstanding will help American Butler - contact us at any time of the day or night.