15 Interesting Facts About New York City

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, a few weeks ago, I offered to help my blog buddy, Tony, plan his latest trip to New York City. Since then, I’ve been doing a bit of research on the city that’s been my home for the past 11 years.

Here’s what I discovered:

• New York City was the capital of the United States from 1785-90.
• The first president of the United States, George Washington, was inaugurated at Federal Hall, 26 Wall Street, in 1789.
• Federal Hall, was the site of the first Capitol Building
• At just under 19,000,000 residents, New York City is one of the most populous cities in the U.S. with just under 19,000,000 people who live in five boroughs: Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.
• The Holland Tunnel, which connects New York to New Jersey, which was built in 1927, was one of the first ventilated tunnels in the world. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
• The New York City subway system is the largest mass transit system in the world. It has 468 stations and 842 miles of track.
• The New York City subway runs 24 hours a day.
• Musicians who perform in the subway go through a very competitive audition process.
• There are more than 4,000 food vendors in New York City.
• Central Park, which was opened initially in 1857, spreads 843 miles.
• 25 million people a year visit Central Park
• Times Square, formerly Longacre Square, was renamed in 1904 when the New York Times moved its headquarters to the Times Building.
• The first ball was dropped in Times Square on December 31, 1907.
• The Empire State Building is 102 stories. Including the spire, it is 1,454 feet tall.
• For 40 years, from 1931, the year it was completed, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world. It lost that designation with the construction of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1972.

How many of these facts are you aware of?