92-855: Greenwich Street is a north–south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan . It extends from the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District at its northernmost end to its southern end at Battery Park . Greenwich Street runs through the Meatpacking District , the West Village , Hudson Square , and Tribeca . Main east–west streets crossed include, from north to south, Christopher Street , Houston Street , Canal Street , and Chambers Street . North of Canal Street, traffic travels northbound on Greenwich Street; south of Canal Street, it travels southbound. The earliest documentation of Greenwich Street came in
184-602: A boardinghouse on the street briefly between 1844 and 1845, but did not like the neighborhood, complaining of dirty streets and the noise made by clam-and-catfish vendors. Also on Greenwich Street in the mid-1800s was one of the many outlets of " Madame Restell " (Ann Lohman), who sold pills for abortion of unwanted pregnancies. The Greenwich Street location doubled as a lying-in facility for women who wanted to bear their child. In 1846, an angry mob, riled up by Restell's competitors and false claims of murder, descended on her Greenwich Street headquarters and attempted to evict her from
276-551: A car which the motors shuttled back and forth, was ready for testing by June 1868. Harvey filed for personal bankruptcy on Black Friday (1869) , resulting from the speculations of Jay Gould and James Fisk , but the company he set up went through several reorganizations and emerged in 1872 as the New York Elevated Railway Company , which utilized steam locomotives to pull cars on a single elevated track that ran up Greenwich and Ninth Avenue to 30th Street , where
368-596: A connection could be made at the terminal of the Hudson River Railroad . Eventually, this would become the IRT Ninth Avenue Line ; the elevated tracks were demolished in 1940. At the World Trade Center site , Greenwich Street once ran through a neighborhood called Radio Row , which specialized in selling radio parts. The neighborhood was demolished in 1962, when the area was condemned to make way for
460-612: A decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground. At least 120 people were killed. Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance. It was one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history . In 1886,
552-677: A director of the Erie Railroad, and Tweed arranged favorable legislation. In 1869, Tweed and Gould became the subjects of critical political cartoons by Thomas Nast . Gould was the chief bondsman in October 1871 when Tweed was held on $ 1 million bail. Tweed was eventually convicted of corruption and died in jail. Due to the struggle to keep Cornelius Vanderbilt from taking over their interests in railroad, Gould and James Fisk engaged in financial manipulations. In August 1869, Gould and Fisk conspired to begin to buy gold in an attempt to illegally corner
644-416: A nearby school with fifty cents and a sack of clothes. Gould's school principal was credited with getting him a job as a bookkeeper for a blacksmith. A year later, the blacksmith offered Gould a half-interest in the blacksmith shop, which he sold to his father during the early part of 1854. Gould devoted himself to private study, emphasizing surveying and mathematics. In 1854, he surveyed and created maps of
736-510: A part of the colony of New York . It became a center of slavery , with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730. Most were domestic slaves ; others were hired out as labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York's economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with the American South . During construction in Foley Square in
828-510: A reputation as a despotic leader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over the Dutch Reformed Church , and blocked other religious groups from establishing houses of worship. In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by Colonel Richard Nicolls , without bloodshed. The terms of the surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in
920-524: A result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $ 19 billion. The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counter climate change and rising seas, with $ 15 billion in federal funding received through 2022 towards those resiliency efforts. In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the city was confirmed. With its population density and its extensive exposure to global travelers,
1012-476: A speech denying the request, which was paraphrased on the front page of the New York Daily News as "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD." The Municipal Assistance Corporation was formed and granted oversight authority over the city's finances. While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through that decade and into
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#17328477017761104-461: A tradition for the area, as 150 years earlier "Vauxhall Gardens", which boasted a wax museum and fireworks and served afternoon teas, was put up by Samuel Fraunces , of Fraunces Tavern , near the present corner of Greenwich and Warren Streets. In 1824, painter Thomas Cole , who had arrived in the U.S. in 1818, maintained his residence in a garret on Greenwich Street, exhibiting his paintings in local shops. Poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe lived in
1196-522: A viable railroad that depended on shipments from farmers and ranchers. He immersed himself in every operational and financial detail of the Union Pacific system, building an encyclopedic knowledge of the network and acting decisively to shape its destiny. Biographer Maury Klein states that "he revised its financial structure, waged its competitive struggles, captained its political battles, revamped its administration, formulated its rate policies, and promoted
1288-476: Is a global center of finance and commerce , culture , technology , entertainment and media , academics and scientific output , the arts and fashion , and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations , international diplomacy . With an estimated population in 2023 of 8,258,035 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km ), the city is the most densely populated major city in
1380-467: Is an established safe haven for global investors. As of 2023 , New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has by a wide margin the highest U.S. city residential rents; and Fifth Avenue is the most expensive shopping street in the world. New York City is home by a significant margin to the highest number of billionaires , individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$ 30 million), and millionaires of any city in
1472-580: Is on Christopher Street just east of Greenwich Street. The World Trade Center PATH station ( NWK–WTC and HOB–WTC trains) is at Vesey and Greenwich Streets. The World Trade Center Transportation Hub , between Greenwich and Church Streets, connects the five stations at the World Trade Center site ( 2 , 3 , A , C , E , N , R , and W trains, as well as PATH trains). The combined station connects via
1564-404: Is sometimes confused, derive their names from the formerly independent Greenwich Village , a rural settlement that was subsumed by New York City as the city grew northward. "Greenwich" means "Green village", with the "wich" derived from Latin vicus through Old Saxon wick . Of the two roads, Greenwich Street was the shorter, more scenic and popular route to the village, but often flooded until
1656-598: Is the most populous city in the United States , located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors . The city comprises five boroughs , each coextensive with a respective county . The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area , the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area . New York
1748-837: The Atlantic port to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and the Great Lakes . Local politics became dominated by Tammany Hall , a political machine supported by Irish and German immigrants . In 1831, New York University was founded. Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, including William Cullen Bryant , Washington Irving , Herman Melville , Rufus Wilmot Griswold , John Keese , Nathaniel Parker Willis , and Edgar Allan Poe . Members of
1840-756: The Christopher Street–Sheridan Square (local), Houston Street (local), Canal Street (local), Franklin Street (local) and Chambers Street (express) stations on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ( 1 , 2 , and 3 trains); and the Chambers Street–World Trade Center station ( A , C , and E trains). The Christopher Street PATH train station ( HOB–33 , JSQ–33 , and JSQ–33 (via HOB) trains)
1932-569: The Construction of the World Trade Center . After the World Trade Center was destroyed in the September 11 attacks , the public supported rebuilding a street grid through the World Trade Center site. It was ultimately decided to rebuild Cortlandt , Fulton , and Greenwich Streets, which had been destroyed during the original World Trade Center's construction. Both Greenwich Street, originally called Greenwich Road, and Greenwich Avenue , with which it
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#17328477017762024-876: The Crown , with as many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation, the largest such community on the continent. When the British forces evacuated New York at the close of the war in 1783, they transported thousands of freedmen for resettlement in Nova Scotia , England, and the Caribbean . The attempt at a peaceful solution to the war took place at the Conference House on Staten Island between American delegates, including Benjamin Franklin , and British general Lord Howe on September 11, 1776. Shortly after
2116-612: The Dey Street Passageway with the Fulton Center ( 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , A , C , J , and Z trains). The uptown M11 and M55 operates on Greenwich Street north of Bethune Street and south of Morris Street, respectively. The following buses intersect with, but do not stop on, the street: Bibliography New York City New York , often called New York City or NYC ,
2208-595: The Gould business dynasty . He is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age . His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him one of the wealthiest men of the late nineteenth century. Gould was an unpopular figure during his life and remains controversial. Gould was born in Roxbury, New York , to Mary More (1798–1841) and John Burr Gould (1792–1866). His maternal grandfather, Alexander T. More,
2300-699: The New York City Fire Department and 71 law enforcement officers. The area was rebuilt with a new World Trade Center , the National September 11 Memorial and Museum , and other new buildings and infrastructure, including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub , the city's third-largest hub. The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and the seventh-tallest building in
2392-561: The North-West Mounted Police before they could return to the US. Canadian authorities put them in prison and refused them bail, which led to an international dispute between the United States and Canada. When he learned that they had been denied bail, Governor Horace Austin of Minnesota demanded their return, and he put the local militia on full readiness. Thousands of Minnesotans volunteered for an invasion of Canada. After negotiations,
2484-947: The Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company . He sailed up what the Dutch called North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange . Hudson claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and called Nieuw-Nederland (' New Netherland '). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City
2576-718: The Rutland and Washington Railroad , during the Panic of 1857 . Gould purchased stock for 10 cents on the dollar, which left him in control of the company. He engaged in more speculation on railroad stocks in New York City throughout the Civil War , and he was appointed manager of the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad in 1863. The Erie Railroad encountered financial troubles in the 1850s, despite receiving loans from financiers Cornelius Vanderbilt and Daniel Drew . It entered receivership in 1859 and
2668-561: The Statue of Liberty , a gift from France , was dedicated in New York Harbor. The statue welcomed 14 million immigrants as they came to the U.S. via Ellis Island by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the United States and American ideals of liberty and peace. In 1898, the City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then a separate city),
2760-683: The Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village . They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights . Wayne R. Dynes , author of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality , wrote that drag queens were
2852-540: The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis , which acquired a bottleneck in east–west railroad traffic at St. Louis but, after Gould died, the government brought an antitrust suit to eliminate the bottleneck control. Gould was extensively criticized during his lifetime, on the basis that he was a trader rather than a builder of businesses, and of being unscrupulous, although more recent appraisal has suggested that his business ethics were not unusual for
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2944-537: The Ulster County, New York , area. In 1856, he published History of Delaware County, and Border Wars of New York, which he had spent several years writing. While engaged in surveying, he started a side activity financing operators making wood ash , which is used with tannin in leather making . In 1856, Gould entered a partnership with Zadock Pratt to create a tanning business in Pennsylvania, in an area that
3036-586: The steamship General Slocum caught fire in the East River , killing 1,021 people. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire , the city's worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and major improvements in factory safety standards. New York's non-White population was 36,620 in 1890. New York City
3128-474: The waterfronts since Dutch colonial times; reclamation is most prominent in Lower Manhattan, with developments such as Battery Park City in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the natural relief in topography has been evened out, especially in Manhattan. Jay Gould Jason Gould ( / ɡ uː l d / ; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded
3220-473: The 1790s, when it ran parallel to the Hudson River . At that time it was called 'Road to Greenwich', as it was the only continuous road from Lower Manhattan to Greenwich Village other than Broadway . By the late 18th century, lower Greenwich Street had become part of one of the most fashionable residential neighborhoods in the city, lined with four-story Federal-style mansions, although upper Greenwich street
3312-535: The 1990s, the African Burying Ground was discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free. The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan of John Peter Zenger , who had been accused of seditious libel after criticizing colonial governor William Cosby , helped to establish freedom of the press in North America . In 1754, Columbia University
3404-525: The 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national and international trading center , as well as by European immigration, respectively. The city adopted the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , which expanded the city street grid to encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal through central New York connected
3496-490: The 19th century, when landfill moved the river's edge farther away. The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line runs under Greenwich Street from Vesey Street south to its end. The Cortlandt Street and Rector Street stations ( 1 train) serve it directly. Other New York City Subway stations serve Greenwich Street from nearby. These include (from north to south) the 14th Street–Eighth Avenue station ( A , C , E , and L trains);
3588-671: The British occupation began, the Great Fire of New York destroyed nearly 500 buildings, about a quarter of the structures in the city, including Trinity Church . In January 1785, the assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York City the national capital. New York was the last capital of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation and the first capital under the Constitution of
3680-518: The Bronx , and Staten Island . Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District, Manhattan , New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. As of 2022 , the New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world , with a gross metropolitan product of over US$ 2.16 trillion. If
3772-562: The Canadian authorities released the men on bail. Gordon-Gordon was eventually ordered to be deported, but committed suicide before the order could be carried out. After being forced out of the Erie Railroad, Gould started to build up a system of railroads in the Midwest and West. He took control of the Union Pacific in 1873, after its stock had been depressed by the Panic of 1873 , and he built
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3864-558: The County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens. The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. In 1904,
3956-585: The Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with the Dutch West Indies ). In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began his tenure as the last Director-General of New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000. Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order; however, he earned
4048-529: The Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit , as charged by the Dutch West India Company , purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie , a small Lenape band, for "the value of 60 guilders " (about $ 900 in 2018). A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan was purchased for $ 24 worth of glass beads. Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly. To attract settlers,
4140-597: The Dutch instituted the patroon system in 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen ( patroons , or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded land, local political autonomy, and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success. Since 1621, the Dutch West India Company had operated as a monopoly in New Netherland, on authority granted by the Dutch States General . In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth,
4232-420: The Native Americans and epidemics brought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between 1660 and 1670. By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200. New York experienced several yellow fever epidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone. In the early 18th century, New York grew in importance as a trading port while as
4324-405: The New York metropolitan area were its own country , it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world . Despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system , New York also leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion . The city is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq . New York City
4416-578: The Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. The New York Manumission Society worked for abolition and established the African Free School to educate Black children. It was not until 1827 that slavery was completely abolished in the state . Free Blacks struggled with discrimination and interracial abolitionist activism continued. New York City's population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 (10,886 of whom were Black and of which 518 were enslaved) to 312,710 by 1840 (16,358 of whom were Black). Also in
4508-415: The United States . As the U.S. capital, New York City hosted the inauguration of the first President, George Washington , and the first Congress , at Federal Hall on Wall Street . Congress drafted the Bill of Rights there. The Supreme Court held its first organizational sessions in New York in 1790. In 1790, for the first time, New York City surpassed Philadelphia as the nation's largest city. At
4600-436: The United States . As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world. New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists around 1624. The settlement
4692-416: The United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles , the nation's second-most populous city. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities . The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to
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#17328477017764784-432: The area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême (New Angoulême ). A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes sailing for Emperor Charles V , arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of the Hudson River , which he named Río de San Antonio ('Saint Anthony's River'). In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for
4876-493: The beginning of the 1990s. By the mid-1990s, crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification , and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. New York City's population exceeded 8 million for the first time in the 2000 United States census ; further records were set in 2010 , and 2020 U.S. censuses. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley , emerged in
4968-534: The business elite lobbied for the establishment of Central Park , which in 1857 became the first landscaped park in an American city. The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing over a quarter of the city's population. Extensive immigration from the German provinces meant that Germans comprised another 25% of New York's population by 1860. Democratic Party candidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing
5060-589: The case went to trial in March 1873. In court, Gordon-Gordon gave the names of the Europeans whom he claimed to represent, and was granted bail while the references were checked. He immediately fled to Canada , where he convinced authorities that the charges were false. Having failed to convince Canadian authorities to hand over Gordon-Gordon, Gould attempted to kidnap him, with the help of his associates, and future members of Congress, Loren Fletcher , John Gilfillan , and Eugene McLanahan Wilson . The group did capture Gordon-Gordon, but they were stopped and arrested by
5152-510: The city from New Jersey. The East River—a tidal strait —flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River , another tidal strait between the East and Hudson rivers, separates most of Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River , which flows through the Bronx and Westchester County , is the only entirely freshwater river in the city. The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along
5244-439: The city rapidly replaced Wuhan , China as the global epicenter of the pandemic during the early phase, straining the city's healthcare infrastructure. Through March 2023, New York City recorded more than 80,000 deaths from COVID-19-related complications. New York City is situated in the northeastern United States , in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston . Its location at
5336-447: The city's economy. The advent of Y2K was celebrated with fanfare in Times Square . New York City suffered the bulk of the economic damage and largest loss of human life in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks . Two of the four airliners hijacked that day were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the deaths of 2,753 people, including 343 first responders from
5428-615: The city's ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called on the aldermen to declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on. Anger at new military conscription laws during the American Civil War (1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to the Draft Riots of 1863 , whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class. The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York's elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers after fierce competition for
5520-535: The city; 40 policemen restored order. Restell, who was wealthy from her business, was arrested a number of times, but was able to buy her way out of trouble, and eventually built a mansion at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street . In 1867, engineer Charles T. Harvey managed to get permission from the New York State Legislature to build a short stretch of elevated track as an experiment on Greenwich Street north of Battery Place. The half-mile single-track set-up, which had two stationary engines at each end, attached by cables to
5612-456: The colony and allowed for religious freedom. In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda after the Second Anglo-Dutch War , the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is now Suriname , which they had gained from the English, and in return the English kept New Amsterdam. The settlement was promptly renamed "New York" after the Duke of York (the future King James II and VII). The duke gave part of
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#17328477017765704-442: The colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley . On August 24, 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , Anthony Colve of the Dutch navy seized New York at the behest of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and rechristened it "New Orange" after William III , the Prince of Orange . The Dutch soon returned the island to England under the Treaty of Westminster of November 1674. Several intertribal wars among
5796-417: The development of large housing tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County , with Wall Street leading America's place as the world's dominant economic power. The United Nations headquarters was completed in 1952, solidifying New York's global geopolitical influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitated New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world. In 1969,
5888-426: The development of resources along its lines." By 1879, Gould had gained control of two important Western railroads, including the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Denver and Rio Grande Railway . He controlled 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of railway, about one-ninth of the rail network in the United States at that time. He obtained a controlling interest in the Western Union telegraph company and, after 1881, in
5980-430: The elevated railways in New York City, and he had a controlling interest in 15 percent of the country's railway tracks by 1882. The railroads were making profits and could set their own rates, so his wealth increased dramatically. Gould withdrew from management of the Union Pacific in 1883, amid political controversy over its debts to the federal government, but he realized a large profit for himself. In 1889, he organized
6072-406: The end of 1790, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia . During the 19th century, New York City's population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million. Under New York State's gradual emancipation act of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held in indentured servitude until their mid-to-late twenties. Together with slaves freed by their masters after
6164-457: The founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island . In 1625, construction was started on a citadel and Fort Amsterdam , later called Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island. The colony of New Amsterdam extended from the southern tip of Manhattan to modern-day Wall Street , where a 12-foot (3.7 m) wooden stockade was built in 1653 to protect against Native American and English raids. In 1626,
6256-410: The ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan's skyscrapers. The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay . Between New York City and Troy, New York , the river is an estuary . The Hudson River separates
6348-401: The large Gouldsboro Lake. In the winter, ice was harvested and stored in large ice houses on the lakeside. He had a railroad line installed next to the lake and he supplied New York City with ice during the summer months. The Gouldsboro Tannery became a disputed property after Leupp's death. Leupp's brother-in-law, David W. Lee, was also a partner in Leupp and Gould, and he took armed control of
6440-434: The last American stronghold in Manhattan, causing George Washington and his forces to retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey , pursued by British forces. After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America. The city was a haven for Loyalist refugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom promised by
6532-474: The market . Gould used contacts with President Ulysses S. Grant 's brother-in-law, Abel Corbin , to influence the president and his Secretary General, Horace Porter . These speculations culminated in the financial panic of Black Friday on September 24, 1869, when the greenback (cash) premium over face value of a gold double eagle fell from 62 percent to 35 percent. Gould made a small profit from that operation by hedging against his own attempted corner as it
6624-419: The most populous urbanized area in the world in the early 1920s, overtaking London . The metropolitan area surpassed 10 million in the early 1930s, becoming the first megacity . The Great Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance. Returning World War II veterans created a post-war economic boom and
6716-473: The most venerable financial institutions on Wall Street . In 1873, Gould attempted to take control of the Erie Railroad by recruiting foreign investments from Lord Gordon-Gordon , supposedly a cousin of the wealthy Campbell clan , who was buying land for immigrants. He bribed Gordon-Gordon with a million dollars in stock, but Gordon-Gordon was an impostor and cashed the stock immediately. Gould sued him and
6808-544: The mouth of the Hudson River , which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean , has helped the city grow in significance as a trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island. During the Wisconsin glaciation , 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet . The erosive forward movement of
6900-492: The only " transgender folks around" during the June 1969 Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality. In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates. Growing fiscal deficits in 1975 led the city to appeal to the federal government for financial aid; President Gerald Ford gave
6992-585: The street, not far from where dairy products arrived daily at the freight railroad terminals. By 1882, a steam generation plant of the New York Steam Company was at Greenwich and Dey Streets. In the early 19th century, circus impresario John Bill Ricketts opened his New Amphitheatre on Greenwich streets, designed by Joseph-François Mangin , where sell-out crowds watched his "Equestrian Circus", which featured "clowns, tightrope walkers, tumblers, acrobatic riders, mounted Indians and fireworks." This continued
7084-494: The tannery. He believed that Gould had cheated the Leupp and Lee families during the collapse of the business. Gould eventually took physical possession, but he was later forced to sell his shares in the company to Lee's brother. In 1859, Gould began speculative investing by buying stock in small railways. His father-in-law, Daniel S. Miller, introduced him to the railroad industry by suggesting that Gould help him save his investment in
7176-592: The time. Anarcho-capitalist economist Murray Rothbard claimed that Gould's business practices were unfairly maligned, because he was supposedly one of the only railroad financiers who consistently undermined the railroad cartels' proposed rate fixing by starting new railroad lines, thus driving rates down for consumers. Gould was a member of West Presbyterian Church at 31 West 42nd Street. It later merged with Park Presbyterian to form West-Park Presbyterian . He married Helen Day Miller (1838–1889) in 1863 and they had six children. Together with his son George, Gould
7268-518: The world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m), a reference to the year of U.S. independence . The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide. New York City
7360-551: The world. In 1664, New York was named in honor of the Duke of York (later King James II of England ). James's elder brother, King Charles II , appointed the Duke as proprietor of the former territory of New Netherland , including the city of New Amsterdam , when the Kingdom of England seized it from Dutch control. In the pre-Columbian era , the area of present-day New York City
7452-422: Was Juan Rodriguez , a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for pelts and trading with the local population as a representative of the Dutch colonists. A permanent European presence near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making New York the 12th-oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States , with
7544-552: Was heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. Sandy's impacts included flooding that led to the days-long shutdown of the subway system and flooding of all East River subway tunnels and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except the Lincoln Tunnel . The New York Stock Exchange closed for two days due to weather for the first time since the Great Blizzard of 1888 . At least 43 people died in New York City as
7636-540: Was a businessman, and his great-grandfather, John More, was a Scottish immigrant who founded the town of Moresville, New York . Gould, however, grew up in poverty and had to work at his family's small dairy farm. Gould studied at the Hobart Academy in Hobart, New York , paying his way by bookkeeping. As a young boy, he decided that he wanted nothing to do with farming, his father's occupation, so his father dropped him off at
7728-655: Was a founding member of American Yacht Club . He owned the steam yacht Atalanta (1883) . In 1880, he purchased the Gothic Revival mansion Lyndhurst (sometimes spelled "Lindhurst"), to use as a country house. On December 2, 1892, Gould died of tuberculosis , then referred to as consumption, and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York . For tax purposes, his fortune was conservatively estimated at $ 72 million (equivalent to $ 2.44 billion in 2024 ), which he willed in its entirety to his family. At
7820-581: Was a prime destination in the early 20th century for Blacks during the Great Migration from the American South, and by 1916, New York City had the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The Harlem Renaissance of literary and cultural life flourished during the era of Prohibition . The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height. New York City became
7912-410: Was about to collapse, but lost it in subsequent lawsuits. The gold corner established Gould's reputation in the press as an all-powerful figure who could drive the market up and down at will. Favored by Tweed Ring judges, the conspiratorial partners escaped prosecution, but the months of economic turmoil that rocked the nation following the failed corner proved ruinous to farmers and bankrupted some of
8004-771: Was founded. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765, as the Sons of Liberty organization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there. The Battle of Long Island , the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War , was fought in August 1776 within modern-day Brooklyn. A British rout of the Continental Army at the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 eliminated
8096-457: Was home to artisans, shopkeepers and an enclave of free blacks. Greenwich Street still maintained its status as a choice address in 1820, but by the 1850s, the wealthy residents had fled uptown, and private residences on the street became unusual. Hotel owner Amos Eno left once he was "surrounded by immigrant boarding houses," according to his daughter. In 1873, the Butter and Cheese Exchange opened on
8188-521: Was inhabited by Algonquians , including the Lenape . Their homeland, known as Lenapehoking , included the present-day areas of Staten Island , Manhattan , the Bronx , the western portion of Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens ), and the Lower Hudson Valley . The first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano . He claimed
8280-502: Was later named Gouldsboro . He eventually bought out Pratt, who retired. In 1856, Gould entered a partnership with Charles Mortimer Leupp, a son-in-law of Gideon Lee and one of the leading leather merchants in the United States. The partnership was successful, until the Panic of 1857 . Leupp lost all his money in that financial crisis, but Gould took advantage of the depreciation in property value and bought up former partnership properties. Gould also started an ice harvesting industry on
8372-468: Was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York , before being permanently renamed New York in November 1674. New York City was the U.S. capital from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs : Manhattan , Brooklyn , Queens ,
8464-671: Was reorganized as the Erie Railway. Gould, Drew, and James Fisk engaged in stock manipulations, known as the Erie War , and Drew, Fisk, and Vanderbilt lost control of the Erie in the summer of 1868, while Gould became its president. During the same period, Gould and Fisk became involved with Tammany Hall , the Democratic Party political machine that largely ran New York City at the time. They made its "boss", notorious William M. "Boss" Tweed ,
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