New York (3)
New York has always been the gateway to the USA. But it is more than just a door; it is also a window through which the life of the whole nation may be observed. New York is a city of striking social contrasts.
New York includes five boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Richmond.
Manhattan is the smallest in size and it is not the largest in population' although the majority spend a considerable part of the day in this center of business life. Here are Broadway, Wall Street and the Stock Exchange. This is the heart and source of American policy.
Harlem is also in Manhattan. Thick walls separate this "Black Bottom" with 450 000 coloured people from the white population.
In the bay stands the bronze Statue of Liberty given to the United States by France as a present in 1886. A new American Museum is opened at the base of the Statue.
The Bronx is a more residential rather than industrial part of the city. The well-known Zoo and Botanic Gardens are in the Bronx.
Queens is both a residential and industrial area. New York's two biggest airports are both there.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard is the largest naval shipbuilding center in the world. Brooklyn has more people than any other part of the city- about 3.000.000. It is mostly a district of middle-class people. Richmond is the borough of piers and warehouses. Its population is only 200.000.
What makes New York? First of all, it is a great seaport, the greatest in the USA. It is also a great financial center, where "money-making" is the main law of life. New York is the leading textile center of the country and its clothes industry. It has a considerable printing industry and many book-shops. There are a lot of Art Galleries, among them rich Henry Frick collections, and many impressive art museums. For a long time New York specialized in giving visitors a good time at its restaurants, night clubs, sporting arenas, and therefore has a large hotel industry. It is the main publishing, advertising and radio center with Columbia and New York universities and various city colleges.
Among the inhabitants of New York one can meet people of almost all nations. The population of New York numbers about 16 million. The citizens speak seventy-five different languages.