Islands and the City More people live in New York City than any other city in the United States Its population is about 8 5 million Most of the city is on islands in the harbor where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Hudson River These islands used to be covered in forest Today a patch of that forest is at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx Some of its trees are 200 years old NYC Notes New York City has a nickname the Big Apple A sportswriter in the 1920s used the nickname in some New York Morning Telegraph articles and it stuck New York City is on about 50 islands including Staten Island Manhattan Island and part of Long Island 4
American Indians called the Lenape fished and hunted on the islands They greeted Giovanni da Verrazzano 1485 1528 an Italian explorer when he sailed into the harbor Later Henry Hudson 1565 1611 came He was English but sailed for the Dutch He sailed his ship The Half Moon up the Hudson River Many ships still come and go from this harbor Henry Hudson was searching for a route to China He didn't find one Instead the Dutch began trading with the American Indians 5
New York City used to be a small trading town on the tip of Manhattan Island In 1898 56 cities and towns voted to join together to make one large city They became the five boroughs or parts of New York City Passaic Bergen Long Island Sound Westchester Bronx River East River Essex New Jersey Hudson Hudson Manhattan Union Upper Bay Brooklyn Queens New York Nassau Middlesex Staten Island Lower Bay Jamaica Bay The boroughs of New York City are Manhattan on Manhattan Island Brooklyn on Long Island Queens on Long Island The Bronx on the mainland and Staten Island Atlantic Ocean 6
Manhattan is the smallest borough It has the tallest buildings and the most hotels and offices Every day almost four million people pour onto the island They work in Manhattan but live somewhere else Manhattan is the business and government center of New York City In the 1920s many African-American writers and musicians moved to Harlem a neighborhood in Manhattan Many African-American stars began by performing at Harlem’s Apollo Theater 7
