Broadway & Times Square
New York’s Broadway is the theater capital of the nation. It’s dramas, comedies ,musicals ,and reviews are seen all over the world .Radio City Hall ,with it’s famous shows and chorus line, is one of the city’s most popular attractions. New York City thoroughfare that traverses the length of Manhattan, near the middle of which are clustered the theatres that have long made it the foremost showcase of commercial stage entertainment in the United States. The term Broadway is virtually synonymous with American theatrical activity.
Broadway gained its name as the axis of an important theatre district in the mid-19th century, attracting impresarios with its central location and fashionable reputation. The number, size, and magnificence of the Broadway theatres grew with New York City's prosperity and power, and in the 1890s the brilliantly lighted street became known as "the Great White Way."
Impelled by growing U.S. wealth and cultural aspirations and unrivaled by other forms of popular entertainment, the theatres on Broadway increased in number from about 20 in 1900 to an all-time high of 80 in 1925. The record season of 1927-28 saw 280 new productions open there. Broadway's fortunes subsequently shifted with those of the nation, and by 1980 only 40 of its theatres remained (few of which were located on Broadway itself; rather, they were east or west of Broadway, generally between 41st and 53rd streets). However, since the 1980s major new stages have drawn theatre goers to Times Square, nearby venues on 42ndStreet, and elsewhere along the boulevard. Times Square itself was transformed in the 1990s from a seedy urban core to a brightly lit hub of tourism and high-powered corporate consumerism. See also Off-Broadway.
Times Square, like Wall Street and Fifth Avenue, is one of those New York addresses that is famous the world over. Its main claim to fame is the massive neon billboards which have led historians to argue that modern mass advertising was born here. Yet, Times Square is also the heart of New York’s theatre distings, 44 legitimate theatres- Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller were producing their best work- otherwise known as Broadway. It is a tradition for crowds to gather there on New Year's Eve to welcome the new year. As of that wasn’t enough, the Square is home to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Central Park
Largest and most important public park in Manhattan, New York City. It occupies an area of 840 acres (340 hectares) and extends between 59th and 110th streets (about 2.5 miles [4 km]) and between Fifth and Eighth avenues (about 0.5 miles [0.8 km]). It was one of the first American parks to be developed using landscape architecture techniques.
In the 1840s the increasing urbanization of Manhattan prompted the poet-editor William Cullen Bryant and the landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing to call for a new, large park to be built on the island. Their views gained widespread support, and in 1856 most of the park's present land was bought with about $5,000,000 that had been appropriated by the state legislature. The clearing of the site, which was begun in 1857, entailed the removal of a bone-boiling works, many scattered hovels and squalid farms, free-roaming livestock, and several open drains and sewers. A plan was devised by the architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux that would preserve and enhance the natural features of the terrain to provide a pastoral park for city dwellers; the plan was chosen from 33 submitted in competition for a $2,000 prize. During the park's ensuing construction millions of cartloads of dirt and topsoil were shifted to build the terrain, about 5,000,000 trees and shrubs were planted, a water-supply system was laid, and many bridges, arches, and roads were constructed.
The completed Central Park officially opened in 1876, and it is still one of the greatest achievements in artificial landscaping. The park's terrain and vegetation are highly varied and range from flat grassy swards, gentle slopes, and shady glens to steep, rocky ravines. The park affords interesting vistas and walks at nearly every point.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is in the park, facing Fifth Avenue. There are also a zoo, an ice-skating rink, three small lakes, an open-air theatre, a band shell, many athletic playing fields and children's playgrounds, several fountains, and hundreds of small monuments and plaques scattered through the area. There are also a police station, several blockhouses dating from. The park has numerous footpaths and bicycle paths, and several roadways traverse it. In terms of its size and beauty, Central Park is the envy of cities the world over. Race relations in America may be as bad as ever, but Central Park has come bouncing back. Before the construction of the park could start, the area had to be cleared of its inhabitants, most of whom were quite poor and either free African-Americans or immigrants of either German
. The roughly 1,600 working-class residents occupying the area at the time were evicted under the rule of eminent domain , as the original soil wasn't good enough to sustain the various trees, shrubs and the plants the Greensward Plan called for. When the park was officially completed in 1873, more than ten million cartloads of material, including soil and rocks which were to be removed from the area had been manually dug up, and transported out of the park. Also included were the more than four million trees, shrubs and plants representing the approximately 1,500 species which were to lay the foundation for today's park.
Belvedere Castle
Following the completion of the park, it quickly slipped into decline. One of the major reasons for this was the disinterest of Tammany Hall <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall>, the political machine and unified the five park-related departments then in existence, and gave Robert Moses ,
Lawns, unseeded, were expanses of bare earth, decorated with scraggly patches of grass and weeds, that became dust holes in dry weather and mud holes in wet…. The once beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild party the morning after. Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky….
In a single year, Moses managed to clean up not only Central Park, but also other parks in New York City; lawns and flowers were replanted, dead trees and bushes replaced, walls were sandblasted and bridges repaired. Major redesigning and construction was also carried out; for instance, the existing Croton Lower Reservoir was filled-in so the Great Lawn . Increasingly through the 1970s, the Park became a venue for events of unprecedented scale, including political rallies and demonstrations, festivals, and massive concerts.
Looking South West, Jan. 07'
At the time, the City of New York was in the throes of economic and social crisis. Residents were fleeing the City and moving to the suburbs. Morale was low and crime was high. The Parks Department, suffering from budget cuts and a lack of skilled management that rendered its workforce virtually ineffective, responded by opening the Park to any and all activities that would bring people into it-regardless of their impact and without adequate management oversight or maintenance follow-up. Some of these events became important milestones in the social history of the Park and the cultural history of the City. Many were positive experiences fondly remembered by the individuals who participated. But without essential management and enforcement of reasonable limitations, and combined with a total lack of park maintenance and repair, they also did an incredible amount of damage.
By the mid-1970s, New York’s fiscal and social crisis had contributed to the severe management neglect that transformed Central Park’s lawns and meadows into barren dustbowls, hastened the deterioration its infrastructure and architecture, and ushered in an era of vandalism, territorial use, and illicit activity.
Several citizen groups had emerged intent upon reclaiming the park by fundraising and organizing volunteer initiatives. One of these groups, the Central Park Community Fund, commissioned a study of the park’s management that concluded by calling for the establishment of a single position within the Parks Department responsible for overseeing the planning and management of Central Park, and for a board of guardians to provide citizen oversight. The Koch administration was receptive, and in 1979 Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis established the office of Central Park Administrator, appointing to the position the executive director of another citizen organization, the Central Park Task Force. The Central Park Conservancy was founded the following year to support the office and initiatives of the Administrator and to provide consistent leadership through a self-perpetuating, citizen-based board that would also include as ex-officio trustees the Parks Commissioner, Central Park Administrator, and mayoral appointees.
From Central Park South
Central Park 1980
The Park's transformation under the leadership of the Central Park Conservancy began with modest but highly significant first steps toward reclaiming the Park, addressing needs that could not be met within the existing structure and resources of the Parks Department. These included an initial focus on hiring interns and establishing a small restoration staff to reconstruct and repair unique rustic structures, undertake horticultural projects, and remove graffiti.
By the early 1980s the Conservancy was engaged in design efforts and long-term restoration planning, using a combination of its own staff and consultants. Through this work, the Conservancy provided the impetus and leadership for several early restoration projects funded by the City, while at the same time preparing a comprehensive plan for rebuilding the Park. With the completion of this plan in 1985, the Conservancy launched its first capital campaign. Through the campaign, the Conservancy assumed increasing responsibility for funding the comprehensive restoration of the Park, and full responsibility for designing, bidding, and supervising all capital projects in the Park.
The restoration of Central Park has been accompanied by a crucial transformation of its management. As the Conservancy rebuilt the Park beginning in the mid-1980s, it provided dedicated staff to maintain restored zones; and as citywide budget cuts in the early 1990s resulted in attrition of the Parks Department staff responsible for routine maintenance, the Conservancy began to hire staff to replace these workers. Management of the restored landscapes by the Conservancy’s "zone gardeners" proved so successful that core maintenance and operations staff were reorganized in 1996 and a zone-based system of management implemented throughout the Park. Consequently, every zone of the Park now has a specific individual accountable for its day-to-day maintenance. Zone gardeners supervise the volunteers assigned to them (who commit to a consistent work schedule), and are supported by specialized crews in areas of maintenance requiring specific expertise or equipment, or more effectively conducted on a parkwide basis. Today the Conservancy employs four out of five maintenance and operations staff in the Park, and effectively oversees the work of both the private and public employees under the authority of the Central Park Administrator (a publicly appointed position reporting to the Parks Commissioner) who is also the President of the Conservancy. As of 2007, the Conservancy had invested approximately $350 million in the restoration and management of the Park; the organization presently contributes approximately 85 percent of Central Park’s annual operating budget of over $25 million.
Manhattan
More than 30 million tourists visit New York annually, but most of these rarely see much beyond the 22.6 square miles (58.5 square km) of Manhattan island, the smallest city borough. Divided by 12 north-south avenues and crossed by 220 east-west streets, Manhattan is easily understood and infinitely alluring. It is the original New York, boasts the world's largest collection of skyscrapers, and is overloaded with cultural institutions and places of enduring interest. Even to residents of the other boroughs, Manhattan is "the city, the administrative, business, and financial centre of the metropolis and the basis of their renown. In no other part of New York are there such stark contrasts between rich and poor. The high-rise elegance of Park Avenue and the Upper East Side rapidly gives way to the teeming streets of Harlem to the north and to the crowded bohemian existence of the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village to the south. This cruel modern dichotomy echoes the 19th-century city, where industrial millionaires lived in luxury in Fifth Avenue mansions (now largely converted into cultural centres) far from the immigrant masses on the Lower East Side (whose sufferings the Tenement Museum now honours).
Within this formidable historical imbalance, Manhattan is really composed of neighborhoods that offer peaceful havens to contented residents. Many areas of the island are world famous, among them such ethnic enclaves as Chinatown, Yorkville, Little Italy, and Spanish and Black Harlem. In the streets snaking north from the ancient Dutch Battery, twisting lanes remind walkers that Manhattan was a trade centre before Boston, Philadelphia, or Williamsburg existed. Wall Street, the financial centre of the globe, was originally a Dutch fortification (1653) against feared British or Native American attacks that never came. The jumble of pre-Revolutionary streets continues up to Houston Street, where the grid pattern becomes dominant and continuesup the island. Soho (short for "south of Houston") covers much of the old immigrant East Side and now has been matched by a Noho neighbourhood. To the west is Henry James's Washington Square and beyond that Greenwich Village, formerly a haven for artists but today home to the affluent and professional classes. Chelsea and Gramercy Park offer diverse attractions before one reaches Times Square, the "Crossroads of the World, recently transformed from a sleazy strip to a centre of tourism. At Columbus Circle visitors may enter Central Park, some 840 acres (340 hectares) of greenery created by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the mid-19th century to serve as the "lungs of the city and defended with vigour against all commercial encroachment. The Upper West Side is filled with brownstone blocks and high-rise apartments and is home ground to the liberal, Democratic Party politics long identified with the modern city. East Harlem is Hispanic, as is Washington Heights, but the two are separated by Black Harlem and the academic bastion of Columbia University on Morningside Heights. At the far north of the island-where Manhattan actually spills into the Bronx-Irish influence predominates. Only in the few blocks of Marble Hill is Manhattan part of the mainland United States.
No area of New York demonstrates change and dynamism as fully as Manhattan. Millions enterit daily to seek their fortunes, and additional millions come to marvel at their efforts. It is Manhattan that they label a "great place, but I wouldn't want to live there. More than half of the buildings in the world with 50 or more floors are located there, but its storied past can be partly recaptured by visiting South Street Seaport, riding the Staten Island Ferry, or walking through its distinctive neighborhoods. Manhattan means Tammany Hall, the archetype of the political machine, as well as the reformers that overthrew the "Tiger. It is supremely cosmopolitan, boasting the world's best restaurants and a myriad of cultural institutions, yet folksy enough to have block parties. Manhattan's variety and pace make New York the number one tourist city in America.
.Wallstreet
Street in the southern section of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City, which has been the location of some of the chief financial institutions of the United States. The street is narrow and short and extends only about seven blocks from Broadway to the East River. It was named for an earthen wall built by Dutch settlers in 1653 to repel an expected English invasion. Even before the American Civil War the street was recognized as the financial capital of the nation. The Wall Street, or financial, district contains the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, investment banks, government and municipal securities dealers, trust companies, the Federal Reserve Bank, many headquarters of utilities and insurance companies, and the International Cotton, Coffee, Sugar, Cocoa, and Commodity Exchanges. The district is the headquarters of many of the country's brokerage firms.
Wall Street is a worldwide symbol of high finance and investment and, as such, has entered modern mythology. To 19th-century Populists, Wall Street was a symbol of the rapacious robber barons who exploited farmers and labourers . In prosperous times Wall Street has symbolized the route to quick riches. After the devastating stock market crash of 1929, Wall Street seemed the bastion of financial manipulators able to destabilize national economies.
Empire State Building
Interior of the entrance lobby
The Empire State Building rises to 1,250 feet
The Torre Latino americana ) and the Palace of Culture and Science , North Carolina , is also thought to be the basis of the tower, due to the similar design by the same architectural firm, Shreve, Lamb and Harmon , completed in 1928.
The PPL Building <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPL_Building>, headquarters for PPL - formerly Pennsylvania Power and Light located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA is another structure with great similarity. Local legend says that architects and construction personnel for the Empire State Building visited Allentown to view the PPL Building , Brazil , the social elite of New York.
The Empire State Building was designed by Gregory Johnson and his architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shreve%2C_Lamb_and_Harmon>, which produced the building drawings in just two weeks, possibly using its earlier design for the Carew Tower , and as a result much of its office space went unrented. In its first year of operation, the observation deck took in over a million dollars, as much as its owners made in rent that year. The lack of renters led New Yorkers to deride the building as the "Empty State Building. The building would not become profitable until 1950.
The building's distinctive art deco , due to the powerful updrafts caused by the size of the building itself. The T-shaped mooring devices remain in place, and a large broadcast antenna was added to the top of the spire in 1952.
At 9:49 a.m. on Saturday July 28 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_28>, 1945 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945>, a B-25 Mitchell , 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006>, daredevil Jeb Corliss <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeb_Corliss>, who was one of the stuntmen , 1930 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930>. In less than a year, the Chrysler Building was surpassed in height by the Empire State Building <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building>. Van Alen's satisfaction was later muted by Walter Chrysler <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Chrysler>'s refusal to pay his fee.[citation needed] , with the remaining one-quarter of ownership
Greenwich Village
Residential section of Lower Manhattan, New York City, U.S. It is bounded by 14th Street, Houston Street, Broadway, and the Hudson River waterfront. A village settlement during colonial times, it became in successive stages an exclusive residential area, a tenement district, and, after 1910, a rendezvous for nonconformist writers, artists, students, bohemians, and intellectuals. By the 1980s high-rise apartments had turned much of it into afashionable neighbourhood, and many of its former residents had moved to the East Village (Lower East Side) and SoHo (the area south of Houston Street). Greenwich Village long was characterized by narrow, crooked streets, old houses, foreign restaurants, quaint shops, and offbeat night clubs. Washington Square, in its centre, is dominated by Washington Arch (1895)and New York University buildings.
Greenwich Village was once the center of New York’s Bohemian life.Today it is alivr with people playing, performing and just enjoying life
Brooklyn
One of the five boroughs of New York City (q.v.), southwestern Long Island, southeastern New York, U.S., coextensive with Kings county. It is separated from Manhattan by the East River and is bordered by the Upper and Lower New York bays (west), the Atlantic Ocean (south), and the borough of Queens (north and east). Brooklyn is connected to Manhattan by three bridges (one of which is the Brooklyn Bridge), one vehicular tunnel, and several rapid-transit tubes; to Queens and Long Island by parkways; and to Staten Island by the 4,260-foot (1,298-metre) Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (completed 1964; see photograph).The first settlement in the area by Dutch farmers in 1636 was soon followed by other settlements in Flatlands, Wallabout , the Ferry, Gravesend, and, in 1645, Breuckelen -also spelled Breucklyn, Breuckland , Brucklyn, Broucklyn, Brookland, and Brookline (the present spelling became fixed about the close of the 18th century). Later settlements included New Utrecht (1650), Flatbush (1651), Bushwick, and Williamsburg (1660). The American Revolutionary Battle of Long Island was fought in Brooklyn on Aug. 27, 1776, with remnants of the American army retreating to Brooklyn Heights overlooking the East River. In 1816 the most populous section of Brooklyn was incorporated as a village and in 1834 as a city. In 1855 Williamsburg and Bushwick were annexed to it; other communities were absorbed until the city of Brooklyn became conterminous with Kings county (created 1683). Brooklyn became a borough of New York City on Jan. 1, 1898.
Brooklyn is both residential and industrial and also handles a vast amount of oceangoing traffic.It is a western terminus of the Long Island Rail Road. There are many educational institutions, including Pratt Institute (1887) and branches of the Polytechnic University, the City University of New York, the State University of New York, and Long Island University. Several colonial churches (including Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, where Henry Ward Beecher preached), Coney Island, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Arboretum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Children's Museum are in the borough. Famed native sons include composer George Gershwin, lyricist Ira Gershwin, filmmaker Woody Allen, and writers Arthur Miller and Norman Mailer. Area 71 square miles (184 square km). Pop. (1990) 2,300,664.
Tourism
The rose garden at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Botanical_Garden>.
Southern Brooklyn was once the premier resort destination for New York City. Coney Island and dined at high-class restaurants and seaside hotels. No trip to Sheepshead Bay would be complete without a stop at the docks and then dinner at Lundy's Restaurant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lundy%27s_Restaurant>. The introduction of the subway made
Coney Island a vacation destination for the masses, and it evolved into one of America's first amusement grounds. The Cyclone rollercoaster, built in 1927, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1920 Wonder Wheel and other rides are still operational at Astroland <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroland>. Coney Island went into decline in the 1950s, but is undergoing a renaissance. The annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade (1834-1884), mother of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt; Margaret Sanger , Walton <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_High_School_%28New_York_City%29>, Clinton <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWitt_Clinton_High_School>, and the Grace H. Dodge Vocational & Technical H.S. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grace_H._Dodge_Vocational_%26_Technical_H.S.&action=edit>. Parochial (Catholic-linked) high schools include St. Raymond High School for Boys <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Raymond_High_School_for_Boys>, All Hallows High School <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Hallows_High_School>, Cardinal Hayes <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Hayes_High_School>, Cardinal Spellman High School <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Spellman_High_School>, Fordham Preparatory School <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordham_Preparatory_School>, Academy of Mount Saint Ursula, Aquinas High School <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aquinas_High_School_%28New_York_City%29&action=edit>, Preston <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_High_School_%28New_York_City%29>, St. Catharines Academy <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._Catharines_Academy&action=edit>, and Mount Saint Michael <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Saint_Michael_Academy>. The Bronx is home to three of New York City's most elite private schools: Fieldston <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_Culture_Fieldston_School>, Horace Mann <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann_School_%28New_York_City%29>, and Riverdale Country School <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverdale_Country_School>.
Starting in the 1990s New York City began closing large, public high schools in The Bronx and replacing them with small high schools. Cited reasons for the changes include poor graduation rates and concerns about safety. Schools that have been closed or reduced in size include James Monroe, Taft <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft_High_School_%28New_York_City%29>, Theodore Roosevelt <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt_High_School_%28New_York_City%29>, Adlai Stevenson, Christopher Columbus <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus_High_School_%28Bronx%2C_New_York%29>, Morris, and South Bronx High Schools. More recently the City has started phasing out large middle schools, also replacing them with smaller schools.
Several colleges and universities are located in The Bronx. Fordham University (occupying the former University Heights Campus of New York University <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_University>), Hostos Community College <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostos_Community_College>, and Lehman College , located in Jamaica, and La Guardia Airport <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Guardia_Airport>, in Flushing <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Heights%2C_Queens%2C_New_York>. Queens is increasingly attracting film studios - a return of an industry that had departed decades earlier - notably the Kaufman Studios in Astoria and the Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, where a number of notable television shows are made.
The Queens Museum of Art , the 1964 New York World's Fair , home of the New York Mets .
Several large companies have their headquarters in Queens, including Bulova <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulova>, Glacéau , in the north-central part of the borough, is a major commercial hub for Chinese American , New York-Penn League who made it to the big leagues: Jason Anderson <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Anderson>, Andy Phillips <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Phillips>, Melky Cabr era, Brandon Claussen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Claussen>, Wily Mo Pena <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wily_Mo_Pena>, Robinson Cano <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Cano>, Chien-Ming Wang <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Ming_Wang>, Brad Halsey <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Halsey>, John-Ford Griffin , the developer of St. George, brought the team to Staten Island where they played in a stadium near the site of the current-day Staten Island Yankees stadium and the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Wagner College coached the Wagner College Basketball team the "Seahawks". Terry Crowley