164 Fun Facts About New York City

From which country was the Statue of Liberty a gift to the United States?

France: the statue, officially 'Liberty Enlightening the World', was proposed by Édouard de Laboulaye and paid for by French public subscription; its torch was shown at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.

Which two landscape architects are credited with designing New York City's Central Park?

Central Park was designed by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, whose 'Greensward Plan' won a design competition in 1858. Construction of the park began in 1857 and it was largely completed by 1876.

In what year was the Brooklyn Bridge officially opened to the public?

The iconic Brooklyn Bridge, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn across the East River, officially opened to the public on May 24, 1883. At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

The first regularly operated line of the New York City Subway system opened in which year?

The first regularly operated line of the New York City Subway, run by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), began service on October 27, 1904. It initially ran from City Hall to 145th Street in Manhattan.

Roughly how long did the Empire State Building take, from groundbreaking to opening day?

About 13 months: work began on March 17, 1930 and the Art Deco tower opened on May 1, 1931, though the Depression left it so empty it was nicknamed the 'Empty State Building'.

Which is the only New York City borough situated almost entirely on the North American mainland?

It borders Westchester County to the north, and is separated from Manhattan by the Harlem River.

What was the Midtown plaza now named for The New York Times called before the paper moved there in 1904?

Longacre Square was renamed Times Square in April 1904 when The New York Times moved into its new tower where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue; the Times Square subway station opened that October.

Roughly how many immigrants were processed at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954?

About 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954; its peak year was 1907, when more than a million arrivals were processed.

What symbolic height did One World Trade Center reach when its spire was completed in 2013?

1,776 feet, echoing the year of the Declaration of Independence; the spire was completed in May 2013, and the tower had passed the Empire State Building as the city's tallest in April 2012.

On which Wall Street building's balcony did Washington take his oath of office in 1789?

Federal Hall on Wall Street hosted Washington's inauguration on April 30, 1789, and the 1st United States Congress; the original building stood from 1703 until it was demolished in 1812.

Which of these is NOT one of New York City's boroughs?

Westchester is the county just north of the Bronx. Each of the five boroughs doubles as a county of New York State.

Which director of New Netherland is credited with buying Manhattan Island from the Lenape in 1626?

Peter Minuit, director of New Netherland, made the 1626 purchase; the deal is recorded in a letter by Pieter Schagen dated November 1626, the earliest surviving account of the transaction.

In what year did the modern city form through the consolidation of its five boroughs?

Consolidation took effect on January 1, 1898, joining Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx with Manhattan and making the city the second-largest in the world behind London.

Which borough has the largest population?

Brooklyn, with about 2.7 million residents in the 2020 census, is the most populous borough, ahead of Queens at 2.4 million.

Which borough has the smallest land area?

Manhattan covers about 23 square miles of land, the smallest of the five boroughs; Staten Island is about 58 square miles and Queens, the largest, about 109.

John J. Fitz Gerald popularized 'the Big Apple' in the 1920s while covering what beat?

Horse racing: Fitz Gerald wrote the 'Around the Big Apple' racing column for the New York Morning Telegraph after hearing stable hands use the term; the city revived the nickname in a 1970s tourism campaign.

How many stations does the NYC Subway operate, counting transfer-linked stations separately?

472 stations, counting transfer-linked stations separately, a total reached when the Second Avenue Subway opened in January 2017; that is more than any other system in the world.

Grand Central Terminal has how many platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world?

44 platforms serving 67 tracks on two levels, the most of any railroad station in the world; the terminal opened on February 2, 1913.

Which skyscraper's architect secretly assembled a spire inside its frame in 1929 to win a height race?

The Chrysler Building: architect William Van Alen had the spire secretly assembled inside the fire shaft and hoisted into place in about 90 minutes in October 1929, beating rival 40 Wall Street.

Wall Street is named for a wall Peter Stuyvesant built in 1653 to defend against whom?

English colonial troops: the 1653 palisade went up during the First Anglo-Dutch War, when New Amsterdam feared an attack from New England; the Dutch called the street Het Cingel, 'the Belt'.

The 1792 Buttonwood Agreement, signed by two dozen brokers, was the origin of what institution?

The New York Stock Exchange traces its origin to the Buttonwood Agreement of May 17, 1792, named for the buttonwood tree the 24 brokers are said to have met beneath at 68 Wall Street.

In 2006, which show overtook Cats to become the longest-running musical in Broadway history?

The Phantom of the Opera passed Cats on January 9, 2006 and finally closed in April 2023 after 13,981 performances.

Through the 2025 season, how many World Series titles had the Yankees won?

27 titles through 2025, the most of any MLB franchise, the last in 2009; the club began in 1903 as the Highlanders and took the Yankees name in 1913.

The Mets' blue and orange colors were chosen to honor which two departed National League teams?

Dodgers blue and Giants orange: both National League clubs left for California after the 1957 season, and the Mets arrived in 1962 to fill the gap.

Madison Square Garden sits directly on top of what?

Pennsylvania Station lies beneath the Garden; the arena opened in 1968 after the original 1910 station was demolished, an act that spurred the city's 1965 landmarks law.

The Rangers, founded in 1926 by promoter Tex Rickard, belong to which storied group of NHL teams?

The Original Six, the clubs that made up the NHL from 1942 to 1967; the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup, won with Mark Messier and Brian Leetch, ended a 54-year wait.

Nathan's Famous began in 1916 as a Coney Island stand selling hot dogs for how much?

A nickel, half the dime that rival Feltman's charged; Nathan Handwerker, a former Feltman's employee, opened the stand in 1916 with $300 in savings.

The High Line park was built on top of what?

A former freight rail spur of the New York Central Railroad carries the walkway, which was inspired by the Coulée verte in Paris.

How much does it cost to ride the Staten Island Ferry between St. George and Whitehall?

Nothing at all: the 50-cent fare was abolished in July 1997 under Mayor Giuliani, making the 25-minute crossing between St. George and Whitehall free.

The first Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop welcomed which year?

The first ball drop, on December 31, 1907, welcomed 1908; the drop was skipped on New Year's Eve 1942 and 1943 because of wartime lighting restrictions.

The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924 featured live animals borrowed from where?

Central Park Zoo lent the live animals for the 1924 parade; giant balloons replaced them in 1927, beginning with Felix the Cat.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is milled into lumber and donated to which organization?

Habitat for Humanity, which began receiving the milled lumber in 2007; the first tree, in 1931, was a 20-foot balsam fir put up by construction workers.

The 1969 Stonewall uprising, a turning point for gay rights, began at a bar in which neighborhood?

Greenwich Village: the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street was raided on June 28, 1969, and the site became the Stonewall National Monument in 2016.

Which singer, then 17, won one of the earliest Amateur Nights at Harlem's Apollo Theater in November 1934?

Ella Fitzgerald, 17, had planned to dance but sang 'Judy' and 'The Object of My Affection' instead, winning the $25 first prize on November 21, 1934.

What species is the 9/11 Memorial's 'Survivor Tree', pulled from the rubble still alive?

A Callery pear, recovered from the rubble in October 2001 and nursed back to health in a Bronx nursery before returning in 2010; it stands among more than 400 swamp white oaks planted around the reflecting pools.

Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral-ramped Guggenheim Museum opened in 1959 — how long after his death?

Six months: Wright died on April 9, 1959 and the museum opened on October 21, 1959; visitors take the elevator up and stroll down the helical ramp beneath a skylight.

Mayor La Guardia named the two marble lions outside the New York Public Library's main branch what?

Patience and Fortitude, qualities La Guardia thought New Yorkers would need to get through the Great Depression; the pair had earlier been nicknamed Leo Astor and Leo Lenox.

Katz's Delicatessen, founded in 1888, is the setting of a famous fake-orgasm scene in which 1989 film?

When Harry Met Sally... has Meg Ryan's fake orgasm at Katz's; the deli's wartime slogan, 'Send a salami to your boy in the army', dates from World War II.

Manhattan's Olmsted-and-Vaux park between 59th and 110th Streets covers about how many acres?

Central Park covers 843 acres, about 2.5 miles long by half a mile wide; with roughly 42 million visits a year it is the most visited urban park in the United States.

Despite its name, which New York City waterway is actually a tidal strait?

The East River is a tidal strait linking Upper New York Bay to Long Island Sound, and its current reverses direction with the tide.

In 2018 New York corrected the official spelling of which crossing's name by adding a second 'z'?

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge: the one-z misspelling had stood since it opened in 1964, when its 4,260-foot center span was the longest of any suspension bridge on Earth.

How did the Charging Bull sculpture first arrive on Wall Street in December 1989?

Police hauled the 7,100-pound bronze away; days later it was reinstalled at Bowling Green, where it still stands.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's gold vault, the world's largest known, lies how far below street level?

80 feet below street level and 50 feet below sea level, resting on Manhattan bedrock; nearly all the gold belongs to foreign central banks, more than Fort Knox holds.

Who won the November 2025 election for mayor of New York City?

Zohran Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman born in Kampala, Uganda, won the November 4, 2025 general election after taking the Democratic primary that June.

Which three-term New York mayor took a $1 salary and banned smoking in bars and restaurants in 2003?

Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P., served from 2002 to 2013; dozens of cities and states copied the smoking ban.

The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and '30s was originally known by what name?

The label came from Alain Locke's 1925 anthology The New Negro; Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston were among its stars.

What was the city's biggest airfield commonly called before being renamed for Kennedy in 1963?

Idlewild Airport, after the golf course on its site; it opened in 1948 as New York International and was renamed for Kennedy on December 24, 1963, a month and two days after the assassination.

Milton Glaser created the 'I ❤ NY' logo in 1976 on what terms?

Pro bono: Glaser took no fee, expecting the campaign to last a couple of months; his original sketch entered MoMA's collection, and the letters are set in American Typewriter.

John Lennon was murdered in December 1980 outside which Upper West Side apartment building, his home?

The Dakota, at 1 West 72nd Street, was completed in 1884 for Singer sewing-machine magnate Edward Clark; Lennon was shot at its entrance on December 8, 1980.

The Tribeca firehouse used as the Ghostbusters' headquarters sits at No. 14 on which street?

14 North Moore Street, at Varick, has housed Hook & Ladder Company 8 since the firehouse was built in 1903; it also served as headquarters in Ghostbusters II in 1989.

Which explorer, in 1524, was the first European to sail into New York Harbor?

Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine sailing for France, entered the harbor in April 1524, 85 years before Hudson; the bridge linking Staten Island and Brooklyn carries his name.

Roughly how many languages are spoken in New York City, making it the world's most linguistically diverse city?

About 800 languages, the most of any city in the world; roughly 3 million New Yorkers, more than a third of residents, were born abroad.

In what year was New Amsterdam chartered as a city?

1653: New Amsterdam received its municipal charter on February 2 that year, the same year a wooden palisade went up along what became Wall Street.

Between which years was New York City the national capital of the United States?

1785 to 1790: Congress moved to New York in January 1785 under the Articles of Confederation, and the city stayed the first capital under the Constitution until the government left for Philadelphia in 1790.

Which Portuguese captain, sailing for Spain, charted the mouth of the Hudson in 1525?

Estêvão Gomes, sailing for Charles V of Spain in 1525, named the river Río de San Antonio; Spanish maps later labelled the region Tierra de Esteban Gómez.

Henry Hudson sailed into New York Harbor in 1609 on behalf of which trading enterprise?

The Dutch East India Company hired Hudson to find a northern passage to Asia; he sailed the Halve Maen (Half Moon) up the river that bears his name in September 1609.

Who was the first non-Native inhabitant of what became New York City, arriving in 1613-14?

Juan Rodriguez, a merchant of African and Portuguese descent from Santo Domingo, was left on Manhattan by a Dutch ship in 1613 and traded pelts with the Lenape for the Dutch.

Where did the Dutch establish their first permanent settlement near New York Harbor in 1624?

Governors Island, then called Noten Eylant, hosted the first Dutch West India Company settlers in 1624 before the colony moved to the southern tip of Manhattan the next year.

Peter Minuit is said to have bought Manhattan for goods valued at how many guilders?

60 guilders, the value Pieter Schagen's 1626 letter put on the trade goods; the figure was popularized in the 19th century as the legendary $24.

Which colonel led the English troops to whom Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam in 1664?

Colonel Richard Nicolls led the fleet that took New Amsterdam on September 8, 1664 without bloodshed and became the first English governor of New York, renamed for the Duke of York.

Under the 1667 Treaty of Breda, the Dutch kept which colony while England kept New Amsterdam?

Suriname, which the Dutch had taken from the English in 1667; the Treaty of Breda ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War with each side keeping its conquests.

What did the Dutch briefly rename New York after seizing it back in 1673?

New Orange, honouring William III, Prince of Orange; the Dutch held the city from August 1673 until the Treaty of Westminster returned it to England in November 1674.

Which was the largest engagement of the American Revolutionary War, fought within modern Brooklyn?

The Battle of Long Island, on August 27, 1776, was the war's largest engagement by troops involved; Washington's army escaped across the East River to Manhattan two nights later.

In what year did the last British troops evacuate New York City?

1783: the last British troops sailed on November 25, 1783, and Washington rode into the city that afternoon; Evacuation Day was a major civic holiday for a century.

Roughly how many buildings did the Great Fire of New York destroy at the start of the British occupation in 1776?

Nearly 500 buildings burned on September 21, 1776, about a quarter of the city, including Trinity Church; the fire broke out days after the British occupied Manhattan.

Which waterway, completed in 1825, linked New York's port to the interior via the Hudson and Great Lakes?

The Erie Canal, opened in October 1825, ran 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, linking the Hudson to Lake Erie and cementing the city's rise as the nation's trading hub.

Which mayor proposed in 1861 that New York secede and become an independent 'free city'?

Fernando Wood proposed in January 1861 that the city secede as the 'Free City of Tri-Insula' to protect its lucrative cotton trade with the South.

By 1860, Irish immigrants made up roughly what share of New York's population?

Over a quarter: the 1860 census counted more than 200,000 Irish-born residents in a city of about 814,000, most of them arrivals after the Great Famine.

How many garment workers died in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire?

146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, died on March 25, 1911; the fire spurred the growth of the ILGWU and new safety standards.

In what year was the United Nations headquarters in New York completed?

1952: the General Assembly Building opened that October, completing the Turtle Bay complex whose Secretariat tower had been finished in 1950 on land bought with an $8.5 million Rockefeller gift.

Which president denied New York federal aid in 1975, prompting a famous 'DROP DEAD' headline?

Gerald Ford: on October 29, 1975 he vowed to veto any bailout, and the next day's Daily News ran 'FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD'; he signed federal loans that December.

Occupy Wall Street began at which Financial District location in September 2011?

Zuccotti Park, a privately owned plaza on Broadway, was occupied from September 17, 2011 until police cleared it on November 15; the protests spread the Occupy movement worldwide.

Hurricane Sandy caused the NYSE's first two-day weather closure since which event?

The Great Blizzard of 1888: Sandy shut the exchange on October 29 and 30, 2012, its first two-day weather closure since that storm; Sandy killed at least 43 people in the city.

Which is the only entirely freshwater waterway in New York City?

The Bronx River, which rises in Westchester and runs 23 miles to the East River, is the city's only freshwater river; the East and Harlem 'rivers' are tidal straits.

What is the highest natural point in New York City?

Todt Hill on Staten Island rises 409.8 feet above sea level, the highest natural point in the five boroughs; its name comes from the Dutch for 'dead hill'.

Roughly how many acres does the Bronx Zoo, the world's largest metropolitan zoo, cover?

265 acres in Bronx Park, among the largest metropolitan zoos in the world; it opened in November 1899 and is run by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

What is the largest municipal green space in New York City?

Pelham Bay Park covers 2,772 acres in the Bronx, more than three times the size of Central Park, and includes Orchard Beach.

What was New York City's population at the 2020 census, its highest ever?

A majority of residents lived in Brooklyn or Queens.

Which metro area overtook New York as the world's most populous in 1955?

Greater Tokyo: New York had been the world's most populous urban area since about 1925, when it passed London, until Tokyo overtook it in 1955.

Which borough has the largest Tibetan population outside Asia?

Queens: Jackson Heights holds the largest Tibetan community outside Asia, in a borough where nearly half of residents were born abroad.

How many billionaires called New York City home in 2024, more than any other city?

110 billionaires in 2024, more than any other city, Michael Bloomberg among them; the city levies a local income tax of roughly 3 to 4 percent on residents.

How many floors does the Empire State Building have?

102 floors: the open-air deck on the 86th floor and the enclosed observatory on the 102nd are its two public lookouts, with the roof at 1,250 feet.

How many times was the Empire State Building's design changed to ensure it would be the world's tallest?

Fifteen revisions, as architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon kept pushing the height past the Chrysler Building; it held the world's-tallest title until the World Trade Center's North Tower topped out in 1970.

What stood on the Empire State Building's site from 1893?

The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel: the Waldorf opened on the site in 1893, joined by the Astoria in 1897; both were demolished in 1929, and the hotel reopened on Park Avenue in 1931.

Which 1933 film began the Empire State Building's screen career of over 250 appearances?

King Kong, released in March 1933, had the giant ape scale the two-year-old tower; a new indoor observatory opened on the 80th floor in 2019.

Which engineer built the Statue of Liberty's metal framework?

Gustave Eiffel, whose firm engineered the iron pylon and armature inside the copper skin; Bartholdi designed the figure and Richard Morris Hunt the pedestal.

On what date was the Statue of Liberty dedicated?

October 28, 1886: President Grover Cleveland presided over the dedication on Bedloe's Island; the tablet's Roman numerals, JULY IV MDCCLXXVI, mark the Declaration of Independence.

What lies at the Statue of Liberty's feet, partly hidden by her robe?

A broken chain and shackle lie at her feet as she strides forward, symbolizing liberation from oppression; Édouard de Laboulaye, who proposed the statue, was a prominent abolitionist.

Which publisher's newspaper drive raised money to finish the Statue of Liberty's pedestal?

Joseph Pulitzer's New York World raised more than $100,000 in 1885, mostly in gifts of a dollar or less, printing every donor's name; the pedestal was finished in April 1886.

In what year was public access to the Statue of Liberty's torch closed?

1916: the torch was closed after the Black Tom munitions explosion of July 30, 1916 damaged the arm; the crown reopened to visitors in 2009.

Where was the statue's torch-bearing arm displayed from 1876 to 1882?

Madison Square Park: after the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the arm stood in the park from 1876 to 1882 to drum up pedestal donations, with visitors climbing to the torch balcony.

The Brooklyn Bridge was the first suspension bridge to use cables made of what?

Steel wire: its four main cables, each about 15.75 inches thick, were spun from galvanized steel wire, a first for a suspension bridge; after a supplier sold defective wire, extra strands were added.

Who relayed the bedridden chief engineer's instructions and oversaw much of the Brooklyn Bridge's construction?

Emily Warren Roebling was the wife of chief engineer Washington Roebling, whose father John A. Roebling designed the bridge.

How much did the subway's first riders pay in fare on opening day, October 27, 1904?

5 cents, a fare that held until it doubled to a dime in 1948; more than 150,000 passengers rode on opening day.

Who built the first demonstration underground transit line in New York, opened in 1870?

Alfred Ely Beach, editor of Scientific American, secretly built a one-block pneumatic tube under Broadway that opened in February 1870; the first real subway followed in 1904.

In what year did the city buy the two private subway systems, the IRT and BMT?

1940: the city took over the BMT on June 1 and the IRT on June 12 that year, unifying them with its own IND, which had opened its first line in 1932.

How many subway services do NOT pass through Manhattan?

Three: the G train between Queens and Brooklyn, plus the Franklin Avenue and Rockaway Park shuttles, never enter Manhattan.

Grand Central Madison, opened in 2023, brought which railroad into the terminal?

The Long Island Rail Road: the East Side Access project built the eight-track, 16-acre Grand Central Madison beneath the Metro-North tracks, opening on January 25, 2023.

Times Square is the eastern terminus of which route, the first road across the US for cars?

The Lincoln Highway, dedicated in 1913 as the first coast-to-coast road for automobiles, ran from Times Square to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.

Duffy Square, the northern triangle of Times Square, honours a chaplain of which regiment?

The 69th New York Infantry, the 'Fighting 69th', whose chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy served in World War I; his statue was dedicated in 1937, and the TKTS discount booth opened there in June 1973.

Longacre Square was named after which London street?

Long Acre, the Covent Garden street that was the centre of London's coachbuilding trade, just as Longacre Square was the hub of New York's horse and carriage business.

Roughly how many visitors does Times Square draw each year?

About 50 million visitors a year, with roughly 330,000 people passing through daily, making it one of the most visited places on Earth.

What was the Flatiron originally called?

The Fuller Building, after the George A. Fuller construction company that built it; Daniel Burnham designed the 22-story triangle, opened in 1902.

How tall is the Chrysler Building?

1,046 feet to the tip of its spire, with 77 floors, making it the world's tallest steel-framed brick building.

For how long was the Chrysler Building the world's tallest after its 1930 completion?

Eleven months: it was the world's tallest from May 1930 until the Empire State Building opened in May 1931; at 319 metres it was also the first supertall skyscraper.

Which architect designed One World Trade Center?

David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who took over from master-planner Daniel Libeskind; the tower stands roughly on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center.

MoMA opened to the public on November 7, 1929, how many days after the Wall Street Crash?

Nine days after Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929; MoMA first occupied six rooms in the Heckscher Building at 730 Fifth Avenue.

Which of these women was NOT among MoMA's three founders in 1929?

Peggy Guggenheim: MoMA was founded by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quinn Sullivan, the 'daring ladies'; it moved to West 53rd Street in 1939.

How many visitors did the Metropolitan Museum of Art draw in fiscal year 2025?

It was the most-visited museum in the United States.

The American Museum of Natural History complex comprises how many interconnected buildings?

They house 45 permanent exhibition halls and about 32 million specimens.

How many runners competed in the first New York City Marathon in 1970?

127 runners started the 1970 race, a set of loops around Central Park, and only 55 finished; Gary Muhrcke won in 2:31:38.

Before 2020, which was the only year the NYC Marathon was cancelled since its 1970 start?

2012: Hurricane Sandy struck days before the race, and the city cancelled it on November 2, 2012 amid criticism over diverting resources from storm recovery.

In what year did the first Mickey Mouse balloon float in the Macy's parade?

1934, when Walt Disney helped design the first Mickey balloon; the parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 because rubber and helium were needed for the war.

Which network began televising the Macy's parade nationally in 1953?

The wartime suspension meant the 100th parade did not come until 2026.

The Unisphere, sketched on an airplane in 1960, was the symbol of which event?

The 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows: Gilmore D. Clarke sketched the 140-foot steel globe aboard an airplane in 1960, and U.S. Steel built it.

Who is the Holland Tunnel named after?

Its initial chief engineer, Clifford Milburn Holland, who died in October 1924, shortly before the two tubes met under the Hudson; the tunnel opened in November 1927.

The George Washington Bridge is the world's only suspension bridge with how many vehicle lanes?

It carried over 104 million vehicles in 2019, the most of any motor bridge.

How many lanes of Interstate 278 does the double-deck Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge carry?

13 lanes: seven on the upper level and six on the lower, after a seventh bus/HOV lane was added to the upper deck in 2017.

The Roosevelt Island cable car, opened in 1976, was the first of what in the US?

A commuter aerial tramway, the first in the United States; it crosses the East River from 59th Street and Second Avenue in cabins carrying up to 110 passengers.

What did Studio 54 open as in 1927?

The Gallo Opera House, built by impresario Fortune Gallo in 1927; it later served as a CBS studio before Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opened the nightclub in 1977.

What did the letters CBGB stand for?

Country, Bluegrass, Blues: Hilly Kristal opened the Bowery club in December 1973 hoping to book those genres, but it became the cradle of punk for the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads.

At which Harlem intersection did the Cotton Club operate from 1923 to 1936?

142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, where Duke Ellington's orchestra was the house band from 1927; the club moved to Broadway and 48th Street in 1936 and closed in 1940.

The Apollo Theater on 125th Street was originally called what?

Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre, a whites-only burlesque house opened in 1914; it reopened as the Apollo in 1934 and has about 1,500 seats across three levels.

The Hotel Chelsea was originally built in 1883-84 as what?

A housing cooperative, one of the city's first, designed by Philip Hubert; it became a hotel in 1905 and was home to Dylan Thomas, Arthur Miller and Patti Smith.

Which Qatari firm bought the Plaza Hotel in 2018?

Katara Hospitality paid about $600 million for the Plaza in 2018; Henry Janeway Hardenbergh designed the French Renaissance-style hotel, which opened in 1907.

What nickname does the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights carry?

St. John the Unfinished: work began in 1892, and more than a century later the cathedral remained only about two-thirds complete, one of the largest church buildings in the world.

Who designed St. Patrick's Cathedral, the largest Gothic Revival Catholic cathedral in North America?

James Renwick Jr., who also designed the Smithsonian Castle; construction began in 1858, the cathedral opened in 1879, and its twin spires were finished in 1888.

Columbia University was founded in 1754 under what name?

King's College, chartered by George II in 1754; it was renamed Columbia College in 1784 after the Revolution.

Gracie Mansion, the mayor's residence, was built in what year?

1799: merchant Archibald Gracie built the country house, which the city acquired in 1896; it overlooks Hell Gate from Carl Schurz Park and became the mayor's residence in 1942.

New York's seat of municipal government, built 1803-1812, holds what national distinction?

Thirteen agencies are based instead in the nearby Municipal Building.

The bagel originated in the Jewish communities of which country?

Poland: bagels are first recorded in the Jewish community of Kraków in 1610; the dough is briefly boiled before baking.

What are the three ingredients of a classic New York egg cream?

Milk, carbonated water and flavoured syrup, typically chocolate or vanilla; despite the name it contains neither eggs nor cream.

At what Bronx address did DJ Kool Herc host the 1973 party marketed as the birth of hip-hop?

1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where Kool Herc's sister Cindy Campbell threw a back-to-school party in the building's rec room on August 11, 1973.

The Bronx is named after Jonas Bronck, a settler documented as born in which country?

Sweden: parish records place his birth around 1600 in Komstad, Småland; he arrived in New Netherland in spring 1639 and farmed land north of the Harlem River.

What is Brooklyn's official Dutch motto?

Een Draght Mackt Maght, old Dutch for 'unity makes strength', appears on the borough seal beside a young woman holding fasces; Belgium's national motto is the same phrase in modern spelling.

Harlem takes its name from a city in which country?

The Netherlands: Nieuw Haarlem, named for the Dutch city of Haarlem, was formally organised as a village by Peter Stuyvesant in 1658.

Broadway follows the route of what?

Lenape settlements included Sapohanikan and Nechtanc.

How many blocks did the Great Fire of 1835 cover?

17 blocks and some 674 buildings burned on December 16-17, 1835 in the Lower Manhattan financial district; damage of about $20 million bankrupted most of the city's fire insurers.

Which lasting change did the Great Blizzard of 1888 push New York City to make?

Move telegraph and power lines underground: the March 1888 storm toppled poles and wires across Manhattan, and the city ordered utilities buried, which also spurred planning for an underground subway.

On what dates did the 1977 New York City blackout occur?

July 13-14, 1977: lightning strikes knocked out Con Edison's system for about 25 hours, and the night brought citywide looting and arson, unlike the 1965 and 2003 regional blackouts.

On which floors of the Asch Building was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory?

The 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the Asch Building at Washington Place and Greene Street; renamed the Brown Building, it became part of New York University.

In what year was the Tammany Society incorporated?

1789: the Society of St. Tammany, founded in 1786, was incorporated on May 12, 1789, and grew into the Democratic Party's dominant machine in the city under bosses like William M. Tweed.

Robert Moses reshaped New York for over 40 years despite never doing what?

Being elected to any office: Moses lost his only race, for governor in 1934, yet held up to a dozen appointed posts at once, including Parks Commissioner and Triborough Bridge Authority chairman.

What did Mayor La Guardia read to children over WNYC radio during a 1945 newspaper strike?

The comics: during a July 1945 newspaper deliverers' strike, La Guardia read the Sunday funnies, Dick Tracy among them, over WNYC so children would not miss them.

Ed Koch was the city's second Jewish mayor after whom?

Abraham Beame, mayor from 1974 to 1977, was the city's first Jewish mayor; Koch followed in 1978 and greeted passers-by with 'How'm I doin'?'

What is the maximum speed of the Coney Island Cyclone?

60 mph: the wooden coaster opened on June 26, 1927, stands 85 feet tall and was declared a city landmark in 1988.

How tall is Coney Island's Wonder Wheel, built in 1920?

150 feet: the Wonder Wheel opened on Memorial Day 1920 and was named a city landmark in 1989; some of its 24 cabins slide along rails between hub and rim.

At which Coney Island corner is Nathan's hot dog eating contest held each July 4?

Surf and Stillwell Avenues, where Nathan Handwerker opened his stand in 1916; Joey Chestnut set the contest record of 76 hot dogs and buns there in 2021.

What is the capacity of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world's largest tennis stadium?

23,771 seats, the largest tennis stadium in the world; it opened in 1997 and gained a retractable roof in 2016.

The Yankee Stadium that opened in 2009 sits on the former site of what?

Macombs Dam Park, whose ballfields were rebuilt on the roof of a parking garage; the new stadium sits one block north of the original 1923 stadium's site.

Radio City Music Hall's site was originally intended for what?

A Metropolitan Opera house: John D. Rockefeller Jr. leased the land for the opera's new home, but the plans collapsed after the 1929 crash, and the hall opened on December 27, 1932.

Which orchestra was Carnegie Hall's last resident company before moving to Lincoln Center in 1962?

The New York Philharmonic, resident at Carnegie Hall from its 1891 opening until moving to Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center in 1962; the hall was saved from demolition in 1960.

How many of Rockefeller Center's buildings are original Art Deco structures?

The whole complex now has 19 commercial buildings over 22 acres.

Which two boroughs are NOT served by the New York Public Library system?

Brooklyn and Queens: the Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library are separate systems, while the NYPL serves Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island.

How many acres is Prospect Park in Brooklyn?

526 acres: Olmsted and Vaux laid out Prospect Park after Central Park, and it opened in 1867 around the 90-acre Long Meadow.

What colour are New York's 'boro taxis', introduced in 2013 for the outer boroughs?

Apple green, chosen to stand apart from yellow cabs; the 2013 program let them take street hails in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan but not in the Manhattan core or at the airports.

In what year did the Central Park Conservancy first sign a contract to manage the park?

1998: the Conservancy, founded in 1980, signed its first management contract with the city that year; the Parks Department kept ownership of the park.

Who designed the Lincoln Tunnel?

Ole Singstad, the Norwegian-born engineer who had finished the Holland Tunnel after Clifford Holland's death; the Lincoln Tunnel's first tube opened in December 1937, linking Weehawken, New Jersey with Midtown.

How long is the Staten Island Ferry's route through New York Harbor?

5.2 miles between Whitehall in Manhattan and St. George on Staten Island, a trip of about 25 minutes that passes the Statue of Liberty.

Which two tidal straits separate Staten Island from New Jersey?

The Arthur Kill on the west and the Kill Van Kull on the north, 'kill' being Dutch for a channel; Staten Island's Richmond County was one of New York's 12 original counties of 1683.

Before it hosted the 1939 World's Fair, the site of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park was used as what?

A dumping ground for ashes, the 'valley of ashes' of The Great Gatsby; Robert Moses had the Corona dump cleared for the 1939 fair, creating an 897-acre park.

Which architect designed the marble Washington Square Arch, completed in 1892?

Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White designed it in Tuckahoe marble, modelled on Rome's Arch of Titus and 77 feet tall, to mark the centennial of Washington's inauguration.

The Washington Square Arch marks the southern end of which famous Manhattan thoroughfare?

Fifth Avenue begins at the arch; a temporary plaster-and-wood arch had been raised over the avenue in 1889 for the inauguration centennial, funded by William Rhinelander Stewart and his friends.

In which year was the New York Botanical Garden established in Bronx Park?

1891, when the state chartered it after botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton campaigned for a garden to rival Kew; its 250 acres hold more than a million living plants and the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.