New York city is the most popular tourist destination in the United States. Visitors are drawn to the city’s numerous landmarks, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center Site, and Central Park. New York is perhaps the leading city in the world for art, fashion, diplomacy, finance, theater, dance, and food. One of the easiest ways to get a feel for this vibrant, multicultural city is to look at the five boroughs that make up the city.
Manhattan is probably the most well-known of the five city boroughs. Here is where you’ll find the many skyscrapers that define the New York skyline. It is the financial center of New York and is home to the United Nations, several universities, and the world headquarters of many major corporations, including the major television and cable networks. Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and a variety of museums and galleries are housed here. Central Park, Madison Square Garden, Greenwich Village, Times Square, and Broadway are all located in Manhattan as is the famous Harlem neighborhood. Manhattan is also home to a number of five star New York hotels, world-famous restaurants, and some of the best shopping and nightlife in the world.
The Bronx is the only borough that is not on an island. If it were an individual city, the Bronx would be one of the ten most populous US cities (along with Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens). However, this borough has managed to preserve extensive parkland. The Bronx Zoo is the largest US metropolitan zoo. It houses over 6000 animals on 265 acres. The New York Yankees call the Bronx home. The Bronx is also the recognized birthplace hip hop culture and rap music.
The most populous borough is Brooklyn, which remained an independent city until 1898. As a former city, Brooklyn maintains its own downtown area and an independent art scene from the rest of New York. This borough is known for its diversity, social, ethnic, and cultural. Brooklyn is the home of New York’s famous brownstone architecture and its various neighborhoods are also distinct. Here you’ll find extensive beachfront, including Coney Island, which is one of the oldest amusement parks in the country.
The largest borough by size is Queens, which also holds the distinction of the most ethnically diverse county in the US. Queens was originaly a collection of Dutch-founded villages and towns. Today it is mostly middle class and residential in nature. It is the home of the New York Mets and the US Open tennis tournament. Both of New York’s major airports, JFK and LaGuardia, are located in Queens.
Staten Island is a more suburban and rural borough. In 1984 the Greenbelt was designated to protect the island’s natural environments. It includes seven individual parks, an undisturbed forest, and around 35 miles of walking trails. The Staten Island Ferry provides stunning views of lower Manhattan, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty, making it one of the most popular New York attractions. The ferry is free and is the only way of reaching Staten Island from Manhattan.