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New York
For most of us, the word vacation conjures up (想象，推想) images of lounging (躺) on a Caribbean beach or touring the picturesque terrain of some European country. An urban center (like New York City) bustling with(熙来攘往)people, traffic and skyscrapers might not immediately come to mind. However, large cities often offer tourists an incredible variety of sights and activities. The City, as New York City is often referred to, is home to world-renowned museums and restaurants, exciting attractions, an array of entertainment and unbeatable shopping. If you are anything like the 29 million American travelers that visit "the Big Apple" annually, your next vacation spot just may be New York City.
As a travel destination, New York has something to offer almost every visitor. Though tourism has dropped since September 11, 2001, there are still lots of reasons to visit what many consider the greatest city in the world.
City Overview
New York City (NYC) is located on the Eastern Atlantic coast of the United States. It rests at the mouth of the Hudson River. The city is often referred to as a "city of islands" . Greater NYC is made up of five distinct areas called boroughs(纽约行政区). These boroughs include Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx. The boroughs are separated from each other by various bodies of water and are connected by subways, bridges and tunnels.
In terms of the geography of NYC, it is best to imagine the Greater New York area as a main center island (Manhattan) surrounded by outer islands (the other boroughs): Queens is located just east of Manhattan; Brooklyn is situated to the southeast of Manhattan; Staten Island is located southwest of Manhattan and the Bronx is located north of Manhattan.
Only Manhattan and Staten Island are on their own land masses. The Bronx is the only borough that is attached to the New York State mainland.
When people refer to New York City, they are usually talking about Manhattan. Most of NYC's main attractions are located in this borough and the majority of visitors spend most of their vacation here.
Manhattan
Manhattan is located between the Hudson River on the west side and the East River on the east side. The island is 22.7 square miles (58.8 square kilometers), 13.4 miles (21.6 kilometers) long and 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) wide at its widest point. Manhattan can be roughly divided into four quadrants(四分之一圆，扇形体): the East Side, the West Side, Uptown and Downtown. The best way to understand how the geography of Manhattan is organized is in terms of the city's street layout.
Whether walking or using public transportation, New York is a pretty simple city to navigate. This is because the city, for the most part, is a grid of intersecting avenues and streets. A street map of Manhattan looks very much like a sheet of graph paper.
The avenues run North and South, beginning with 1st Avenue on the East Side and spanning westward all the way to 12th Avenue. Streets run East and West, beginning with 1st street downtown and going as far as 220th Street at the northern tip of uptown Manhattan. Locations north of 14th Street are generally considered Uptown and anything lying below 14th Street is considered Downtown. The East Side is separated from the West Side by Central Park (from 59th Street to 110th Street) and by Broadway, the street below 59th Street.
It's important to remember that the distance between avenues is generally much larger than the distance between streets (roughly 3 times as long). So, walking east to west from 1st Avenue to 3rd Avenue, for example, will be roughly 3 times farther than walking south to north from 1st Street to 3rd Street.
When in New York, it is common to hear people shout out addresses that sound like a list of numbers. For example, let's say you want to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's located at 82nd Street and 5th Avenue. If you were to hop in a taxi, you could simply say, "82nd and 5th" and the driver would know exactly where to go. That's because when New Yorkers give addresses, they most often just say the street number and then the avenue number. Do not reverse the order of the numbers, though. The first number is where your destination is located and the second number is the nearest cross-street. When getting addresses in New York, it is always helpful to ask for the nearest cross-street.
A Short History of the Big Apple
No discussion about New York would be complete without asking why New York is referred to as "the Big Apple". Like many things about New York, you'll probably get a different answer depending on who you ask. According to the Museum of the City of New York , it is believed that in the 1920s, a sportswriter overheard stable (马房) hands in New Orleans refer to New York City's racetracks (赛马场) as "the Big Apple". The phrase was most widely used by jazz musicians during the 1930s and 40s. They adopted the term to refer to New York City, and especially Harlem, as the jazz capital of the world.
The Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano may have been the first European to explore the New York region in 1524. More than 80 years later, Englishman Henry Hudson sailed up the river that now bears his name. But it was Dutch settlements that truly started the city. In 1624, the town of New Amsterdam was established on lower Manhattan. Two years later, according to local legend, Dutchman Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the local Native Americans for 60 guilders (about $24) worth of goods.
Few people realize that New York was briefly the US capital from 1789 to 1790 and was the capital of New York State until 1797. By 1790, it was the largest US city. In 1825, the opening of the Erie Canal, which linked New York with the Great Lakes, led to continued expansion. A charter was adopted in 1898 incorporating all five boroughs into Greater New York.
New York has always been and remains a city of immigrants. Patterns of immigration are integral to the city's history and landscape. Immigration, mainly from Europe, swelled the city's population in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After World War II, many African-Americans from the South, Puerto Ricans, and Latin Americans migrated to the city as well. Because of the variety of immigrant groups, both historically and currently, New York is often referred to as a true "melting pot".
Attractions of the City
Few New York sites are as awe-inspiring as Statue of Liberty . A century ago, Lady Liberty held up her torch to welcome immigrants to America. Today, you can climb 354-steps to look out from her crown to see both the New York and New Jersey coasts.
New Yorkers call Times Square , the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street the "Crossroads of the World". It is the most recognized intersection on earth-millions of people see it on television every New Year's Eve. Some people say it's the best place in New York to people-watch. At night, the illuminated signs in Times Square make an amazing light show.
Empire State Building was built in 1931, this skyscraper was the tallest in the world for half a century. You'll get a great view of the city from the art deco tower's observation deck.
Who would have thought that a city filled with people, traffic and skyscrapers, could offer visitors such an incredible natural oasis(绿洲，避风港) as Central Park? The park is full of rolling meadows, trees, water bodies and stone bridges. It's all free. Sunbathe on Sheep's Meadow, stroll through the Shakespeare Garden, play softball on the Great Lawn or climb up to Summit Rock, the highest point in the park.
If you see only one museum in New York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) should be the one. The museum houses over two million works of art ranging from Egyptian to Medieval to 20th Century. Make sure to plan ahead and get a free map of the museum inside-this makes it easier to navigate the Met's meandering galleries.
You can't miss the 188 nations' flags flying high above First Avenue in front of the headquarters of United Nations . Tours take you through the Security Council and General Assembly Halls.
1. What is said about the New York City?