There were a total of 30 families who settled where the city of New York with its almost nine million inhabitants now towers into the sky. It didn’t make it to the capital of the USA, but it has long been the secret capital of the world.
These first 30 families came by ship from Europe in 1624 to land in what is now New York Bay. Since they were mostly Dutch, they called the settlement Nieuw Amsterdam. The first immigrants made a living from the fur trade and agriculture, for which African slaves were soon used.
The Duke of York
But the Dutch era was not to last long, because in 1664 the Duke of York and his troops conquered the Dutch settlement, declared it British and modestly named it after himself: New York.
© Bild: mauritius images / Memento/Memento/mauritius images
We are talking about Manhattan, the island that forms the center of the city. The reason why there are so many high-rise buildings here is that the population has increased explosively since the early 19th century due to immigration, but the area of the island cannot be expanded. It was a good thing that the city stands on a layer of rock that can withstand the weight of the colossal buildings. The Empire State Building alone weighs around 330,000 tons.
Exactly where the center of the Big Apple is today, millions of years ago there was a mountain range whose extremely hard rock remains form the foundation of New York. It is perfect for the many skyscrapers.
The first high-rise building was built in 1902, when Vienna was still building four stories. It has 21 stories and is called the Fuller Building, but is nicknamed the “Flat Iron” because it looks like an iron. An early skyscraper is the 77-story Chrysler Building, built in 1930 in the Art Deco style and currently for sale as a result of the bankruptcy of its Tyrolean co-owner René Benko.
The city of records
New York is the city of records. Everything is higher, bigger, louder, more spectacular and richer. Nowhere else are there so many millionaires, but also so many homeless people; The uniform and therefore easily memorable road network that runs through the city measures 10,000 km, but with Central Park – one of the largest parks in the world – has a unique green lung.
© Image: APA/AFP/JOHANNES EISELE
“The Big Apple” has the best universities, doctors and hospitals, but because the pandemic has been trivialized for a long time, 20,000 people have died from the coronavirus in New York City alone.
Finally, the city “that never sleeps” slept and play on Broadway had to be stopped. The largest theater street in the world is home to hundreds of stages where plays and musicals such as “Anatevka”, “Cabaret” and “Cats” were premiered and from here went around the world.
Broadway is also dominated by records: “Phantom of the Opera” had 14,000 performances in 35 years. Later Hollywood stars such as Groucho Marx, Katharine Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly and Robert Redford were discovered for the film on Broadway. Away from Broadway are the no less important Carnegie Hall, the Radio City Music Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House, called the “Met”.
Grace Kelly
© Bild: UPI/UPI/APA/DPA/UPI
On December 8, 1980, there was an assassination attempt in Central Park that caused horror all over the world: Ex-Beatle John Lennon wanted to enter the Dakota Building, where he lived, with his wife Yoko Ono around 10:50 p.m. when a spiritual attack occurred confused assassin shot him. Lennon died shortly afterwards at Roosevelt General Hospital.
John Lennon
© Image: APA/AFP
Das World Trade Center
“The Dakota”, built around 1880, is one of the most exclusive residential buildings in Manhattan, but at seven floors it is rather small by local standards. Most skyscrapers were only built from the 1920s onwards, with each new building having to exceed the height of the last one built. In 1931, when the 450 meter high Empire State Building opened, people thought they had reached the absolute maximum. In fact, the 102-story building giant remained at the top of the skyline until it was dwarfed by the first tower of the World Trade Center in 1972. After 9/11, the “Empire” was New York’s tallest building again. Until it was surpassed again in 2014 by the now 541 meter high One World Trade Center.
Speaking of which: The attacks of September 11, 2001 were the most serious terrorist disaster in American history, with 3,000 deaths and 6,000 injuries.
Terrorist attack: September 11, 2001
© Bild: REUTERS/Sean Adair
But New Yorkers remained loyal to their city back then. When Woody Allen was asked after 9/11 if he would leave Manhattan now, he said: “Never! I would rather be hit by a rocket than live in the country.”
Trump and his tower
New York’s most behaviorally suspicious resident is probably former President Donald Trump, whose 58-story Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue is the 102nd largest skyscraper in the world.
The prominent location determines the purchase and rental prices in Manhattan. The most expensive penthouse to date is located in Central Park and changed hands this week for $238 million. It is 1,600 m2 and is located on the 131st floor.
© Image: EPA/SARAH YENESEL
And without a doubt in a skyscraper. Buildings with around 50 floors or more are considered such. There are 6,000 high-rise buildings in New York, around 600 of which are skyscrapers.
Incidentally, the Dutch who invaded Nieuw Amsterdam in 1624 were not the first to settle here, as 15,000 Algonquin Indians were already living in the region when they arrived. According to legend, they sold the island of Manna-Hatta (= Hilly Island, now Manhattan) to the Dutch for glass beads, furs and spices worth $24. Disputes and bloody battles with the “wild” natives, as the Indians were called by the Europeans, soon became the order of the day.
Major fire in the city
The United States of America came into being with the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, whose symbol is the Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor. At 93 meters, it is one of the tallest statues in the world.
In the year of independence, the biggest fire in New York’s history broke out after a fire broke out in the “Fighting Cocks” tavern on September 21, 1776 and spread rapidly. While residents ran for their lives, almost a quarter of the city burned down. Since then, New York has been the best-protected metropolis in the world: 11,000 women and men from the professional fire brigade are ready for action.
But still the capital
In short, from 1788 to 1790, New York was still the capital of the USA. It was there that George Washington was sworn in as the first president.
A small personal note on the side: Another highlight in the history of this city was when Frank Sinatra sang “New York, New York” for the first time in 1977.
2024-01-28 04:02:10
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