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100-482: Paerdegat Basin came to its present form in the late 1920s. Before then, it was a freshwater-fed tidal creek known at various times as Bestevaar Kill, Bedford Creek, and Paerdegat Creek. It was much longer than the present-day basin, and had several branches. The basin adjoined Brooklyn's last patch of natural forest, which was demolished in 1940. The waterway was an important part of a failed plan to transform Jamaica Bay into an alternative port to New York Harbor . Such

200-528: A Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) facility at that location; the construction contract was awarded to the joint venture of Slattery Skanska / Gottlieb Skanska, which is a subsidiary of the global construction company Skanska. The facility serves as holding tank for the excess water, and whenever the Knapp Street plant can accept additional water, the water is pumped from the holding tank of the CSO facility back to

300-637: A corruption of a word for "beaver" in the Lenape language spoken by the Native Americans who lived in the area at the time of first European contact. The liquid "y" sound of English is spelled with a "j" in Dutch, the language of the first people to write about the area; the English retained this Dutch spelling, but, after repeated reading and speaking of "Jamaica", slowly replaced the liquid sound with

400-631: A decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground. At least 120 people were killed. Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance. It was one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history . In 1886,

500-574: A large seaport in Jamaica Bay. These plans were scrapped because there was not enough commercial traffic to justify the construction. Over the next two decades, commercial activity in New York City increased. New proposals for the Jamaica Bay seaport emerged in the 1900s. By 1905, the value of the city's manufacturing sector was assessed at $ 1.5 billion, a figure cited by supporters of the Jamaica Bay project. In 1910, developers unveiled

600-598: A plan had been entertained in the 1910s, but was ultimately unsuccessful. In 1927, the docklands project was revived when a connection to the Long Island Rail Road was announced. Planners wanted to create a spur of the Bay Ridge Branch south to Flatlands, with two branches to Canarsie and Mill Basin. A connection to Staten Island would be built via the planned Staten Island Tunnel , which would in turn allow freight to be delivered and shipped to

700-594: A plan to convert Jamaica Bay to a seaport district as part of the New York State Barge Canal project, which would connect Hudson River to the Great Lakes by way of a new canal in upstate New York . The new seaport would convert existing inland creeks into barge canals with lengths of up to 1.5 miles (2.4 km), and the 25 square miles (65 km ) area of the bay was to be dredged. An aggregate 4,200 acres (1,700 ha) of marshlands in

800-675: A plan to reinforce and rebuild NYC infrastructure in order to create a city better able to withstand future storms. Later that year, Mayor Bloomberg , together with the then Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell , announced the establishment of the Jamaica Bay Science and Resilience Institute , a multidisciplinary consortium of academic, governmental and community partners coordinated by the City University of New York . The Institute, subsequently renamed

900-468: A result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $ 19 billion. The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counter climate change and rising seas, with $ 15 billion in federal funding received through 2022 towards those resiliency efforts. In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the city was confirmed. With its population density and its extensive exposure to global travelers,

1000-485: A speech denying the request, which was paraphrased on the front page of the New York Daily News as "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD." The Municipal Assistance Corporation was formed and granted oversight authority over the city's finances. While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through that decade and into

1100-523: A variety of benthic invertebrates and macroalgae dominated by sea lettuce ( Ulva latuca ). These rich food resources attract a variety of fish, shorebirds, and waterfowl. In addition, two freshwater impoundments were created on Rulers Bar Hassock in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge ; the smaller 49 acres (0.20 km ) freshwater West Pond is kept as open water, and the larger 120 acres (0.49 km ) slightly brackish East Pond

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1200-477: A year, nearly twice the rate in 2001. As of 2003, marshland is being lost at the rate of approximately 40 acres (160,000 m ) per year. The reasons for this loss are still unclear, but one hypothesis is that the loss is the result of rising sea levels . To test this, in the hope of preventing further losses, the National Park Service plans to dredge a small area of the bay in order to build up

1300-847: Is a saline to brackish , eutrophic (nutrient-rich) estuary covering about 25,000 acres (100 km ), with a mean depth of 13 feet (4.0 m), a semidiurnal tidal range averaging 4.9 ft (1.5 m), and a residence time of about three weeks. The bay communicates with Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean via Rockaway Inlet, a high current area that is 0.6 mi (0.97 km) wide at its narrowest point, with an average depth of 23 ft (7.0 m). Measurements taken during recent surveys in Jamaica Bay indicate average yearly ranges for temperature of 34 to 79 °F (1 to 26 °C), salinity of 20.5 to 26 parts per thousand, dissolved oxygen of 3.5 to 18.5 milligrams/liter, and pH of 6.8 to 9. Loadings of nutrients and organic matter into

1400-678: Is controlled to expose mudflats. Some of the islands in the bay have upland communities, including grasslands consisting of little bluestem ( Schizachyrium scoparium ), switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum ), and seaside goldenrod ( Solidago sempervirens ); scrub-shrub containing bayberry ( Myrica pensylvanica ), beach plum ( Prunus maritima ), sumac ( Rhus spp.), and poison ivy ( Toxicodendron radicans ); developing woodland consisting of hackberry ( Celtis occidentalis ), willow ( Salix spp.), black cherry ( Prunus serotina ), and tree-of-heaven ( Ailanthus altissima ); and beachgrass ( Ammophila breviligulata ) dune. Species introduced in

1500-468: Is one of the world's most populous megacities . The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States . As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in

1600-466: Is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west, through Rockaway Inlet , and is the westernmost of the coastal lagoons on the south shore of Long Island. Politically, it is primarily divided between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City , with a small part touching Nassau County . The bay contains numerous marshy islands. It

1700-614: The American South . During construction in Foley Square in the 1990s, the African Burying Ground was discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free. The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan of John Peter Zenger , who had been accused of seditious libel after criticizing colonial governor William Cosby , helped to establish freedom of

1800-807: The Atlantic port to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and the Great Lakes . Local politics became dominated by Tammany Hall , a political machine supported by Irish and German immigrants . In 1831, New York University was founded. Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, including William Cullen Bryant , Washington Irving , Herman Melville , Rufus Wilmot Griswold , John Keese , Nathaniel Parker Willis , and Edgar Allan Poe . Members of

1900-668: The Bill of Rights there. The Supreme Court held its first organizational sessions in New York in 1790. In 1790, for the first time, New York City surpassed Philadelphia as the nation's largest city. At the end of 1790, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia . During the 19th century, New York City's population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million. Under New York State's gradual emancipation act of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held in indentured servitude until their mid-to-late twenties. Together with slaves freed by their masters after

2000-726: The Caribbean . The attempt at a peaceful solution to the war took place at the Conference House on Staten Island between American delegates, including Benjamin Franklin , and British general Lord Howe on September 11, 1776. Shortly after the British occupation began, the Great Fire of New York destroyed nearly 500 buildings, about a quarter of the structures in the city, including Trinity Church . In January 1785,

2100-798: The Hudson River , which he named Río de San Antonio ('Saint Anthony's River'). In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for the Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company . He sailed up what the Dutch called North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange . Hudson claimed

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2200-721: The Lower Hudson Valley . The first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano . He claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême (New Angoulême ). A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes sailing for Emperor Charles V , arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of

2300-673: The New York City Board of Estimate approved a plan to build railroads on both sides of Paerdegat Basin, connecting the LIRR to Canarsie Pier to the east and to Floyd Bennett Field to the west. By that time, the city had spent $ 10 million, and the federal government $ 2 million, toward improving the bay for a proposed seaport district. Supporters of the new proposal included Mayor Jimmy Walker , President of Aldermen Fiorello La Guardia , City Comptroller Charles Berry, and Brooklyn's and Queens' borough presidents. New Jersey opposed

2400-484: The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation moved to convert much of the Jamaica Bay area into a city park. In 1949, the New York City Board of Estimate approved Moses's proposal, ending all plans for the seaport project. The only thing that was completed was the dredging of Paerdegat Basin to a 16-foot (4.9 m) depth. In the 1950s and 1960s, much of the city-owned land around the basin

2500-742: The New York City Fire Department and 71 law enforcement officers. The area was rebuilt with a new World Trade Center , the National September 11 Memorial and Museum , and other new buildings and infrastructure, including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub , the city's third-largest hub. The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and the seventh-tallest building in

2600-590: The New York Department of Environmental Conservation . Jamaica Bay was also designated as one of three special natural waterfront areas by the New York City Department of City Planning . A comprehensive watershed management plan for the bay was completed in 1993 by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in order to better protect and restore habitats and improve water quality. Wetlands are regulated in New York under

2700-511: The Statue of Liberty , a gift from France , was dedicated in New York Harbor. The statue welcomed 14 million immigrants as they came to the U.S. via Ellis Island by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the United States and American ideals of liberty and peace. In 1898, the City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then a separate city),

2800-709: The Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village . They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights . Wayne R. Dynes , author of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality , wrote that drag queens were

2900-513: The combined sewer system at the basin's northern end. The area's sanitary sewer (from residential and industrial sources) is carried through the same system as the storm water. Typically, the full volume of that water is drained to the Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) located on Knapp Street. However, during periods of heavy rainfall, the Knapp Street plant does not have the capacity to treat

3000-612: The steamship General Slocum caught fire in the East River , killing 1,021 people. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire , the city's worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and major improvements in factory safety standards. New York's non-White population was 36,620 in 1890. New York City

3100-538: The 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national and international trading center , as well as by European immigration, respectively. The city adopted the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , which expanded the city street grid to encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal through central New York connected

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3200-705: The Continental Army at the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 eliminated the last American stronghold in Manhattan, causing George Washington and his forces to retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey , pursued by British forces. After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America. The city

3300-575: The County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens. The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. In 1904,

3400-640: The Duke of York (the future King James II and VII). The duke gave part of the colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley . On August 24, 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , Anthony Colve of the Dutch navy seized New York at the behest of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and rechristened it "New Orange" after William III , the Prince of Orange . The Dutch soon returned

3500-717: The Dutch West India Company had operated as a monopoly in New Netherland, on authority granted by the Dutch States General . In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth, the Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with the Dutch West Indies ). In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began his tenure as

3600-549: The Jamaica Bay and Breezy Point habitat complex: Breezy Point (B2 – very high biodiversity significance) and Fountain Avenue Landfill (B3 – high biodiversity significance). Jamaica Bay and Breezy Point have been designated as Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats by the New York State Department of State , and the bay up to the high tide line was designated as a Critical Environmental Area by

3700-519: The Jamaica Bay project, since it wanted to build the competing Port of Newark . There was enough federal money for both projects, though. However, Robert Moses , the New York City Parks Commissioner at the time, was critical of the seaport project. He instead proposed a series of parks and parkways around New York City, including Belt Parkway along the northern and western shores of Jamaica Bay. Under Moses's leadership,

3800-673: The New York Bight and the Hudson River and Raritan River estuaries, and to a diverse community of migratory birds and insects that use the Bay for refueling during transit between summer breeding and overwintering grounds. While the resident wildlife of Jamaica Bay are poorly studied, survey data indicate that Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways support seasonal or year-round populations of at least 325 bird species, more than 100 species of fish, and more than 80 butterfly species. Jamaica Bay

3900-405: The New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world , with a gross metropolitan product of over US$ 2.16 trillion. If the New York metropolitan area were its own country , it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world . Despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system , New York also leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion . The city is home to

4000-716: The Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. The New York Manumission Society worked for abolition and established the African Free School to educate Black children. It was not until 1827 that slavery was completely abolished in the state . Free Blacks struggled with discrimination and interracial abolitionist activism continued. New York City's population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 (10,886 of whom were Black and of which 518 were enslaved) to 312,710 by 1840 (16,358 of whom were Black). Also in

4100-463: The Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (SRIJB), is currently housed at Brooklyn College , but will be relocating to a permanent home at Floyd Bennett Field within the next 3 years.. Notes Sources New York City New York , often called New York City or NYC , is the most populous city in the United States , located at the southern tip of New York State on one of

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4200-482: The United States' entry into World War I , the project was abandoned. The plans were revived by 1927. At the time, the docklands were expected to gain a connection to the Long Island Rail Road . Planners wanted to create a spur of the Bay Ridge Branch south to Flatlands, with two branches to Canarsie and Mill Basin. A connection to Staten Island would be built via the planned Staten Island Tunnel , which would in turn allow freight to be delivered and shipped to

4300-545: The acquisition of a right-of-way for a proposed LIRR branch to Paerdegat Basin . The railroad would connect to the New York Connecting Railroad , which would then connect to the national railroad system at large. Dredging Paerdegat Basin was a key part of the plan, as it would allow easier access for ships headed to Canarsie. As part of the updated proposal, two artificial islands for shipping operations would be built in Jamaica Bay. In January 1931,

4400-622: The arts and fashion , and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations , international diplomacy . With an estimated population in 2023 of 8,258,035 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km ), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles , the nation's second-most populous city. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City

4500-659: The assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York City the national capital. New York was the last capital of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation and the first capital under the Constitution of the United States . As the U.S. capital, New York City hosted the inauguration of the first President, George Washington , and the first Congress , at Federal Hall on Wall Street . Congress drafted

4600-672: The bay by 3,000 pounds per day by 2014. The majority of land and water within this complex is owned by the United States federal government, and the city of New York. Most of Jamaica Bay proper and portions of the uplands and barrier beach are part of the Gateway National Recreation Area 's Jamaica Bay Unit. Administered by the National Park Service, the Jamaica Bay Unit includes the 9,100 acres (37 km ) of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge , as well as Breezy Point Tip, Fort Tilden , Jacob Riis Park and Floyd Bennett Field . There are two state parks at Jamaica Bay, Shirley Chisholm , and Bayswater Point . There are several city parks within

4700-444: The bay complex, including Marine Park , Spring Creek Park and Rockaway Community Park , and numerous smaller parcels of city-owned land such as Tribute Park and Sunset Cove at Broad Channel. Portions of the wetlands and uplands are part of JFK Airport, owned by the city of New York and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey . Occasionally the airport becomes a route of migration of some wildlife species disrupting

4800-572: The bay from sewage treatment plants and runoff result in phytoplankton blooms and high suspended-solid concentrations which, in turn, result in turbid water and low bottom dissolved oxygen concentrations. Jamaica Bay is in the southern portion of the New York metropolitan area , and the uplands around the bay, as well as much of the Rockaway barrier beach, are dominated by urban residential, commercial, and industrial development. The bay itself has been disturbed by dredging , filling, and development. About 49 square kilometres (19 sq mi) of

4900-411: The bay would be converted to land that could be built upon, while residential communities would be built on Long Island for port workers. Railroads would be built to collect cargo from piers, and a canal would extend northward across Long Island to the Long Island Sound . The project began in 1911, despite doubts about the feasibility of the project. Some engineers believed that shifting sand dunes and

5000-493: The beginning of the 1990s. By the mid-1990s, crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification , and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. New York City's population exceeded 8 million for the first time in the 2000 United States census ; further records were set in 2010 , and 2020 U.S. censuses. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley , emerged in

5100-534: The business elite lobbied for the establishment of Central Park , which in 1857 became the first landscaped park in an American city. The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing over a quarter of the city's population. Extensive immigration from the German provinces meant that Germans comprised another 25% of New York's population by 1860. Democratic Party candidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing

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5200-510: The city from New Jersey. The East River—a tidal strait —flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River , another tidal strait between the East and Hudson rivers, separates most of Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River , which flows through the Bronx and Westchester County , is the only entirely freshwater river in the city. The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along

5300-514: The city in force in October 2012, causing billions of dollars of damage, and inundating coastal regions, including Jamaica Bay, with a storm surge estimated at close to 2.5 meters. The impact of Hurricane Sandy revealed the vulnerability of the city's coastal infrastructure to storm surges, and with projections suggesting that the frequency of such storms is likely to increase over the coming century, New York City released "A Stronger, More Resilient New York" in June 2013, an extensive report outlining

5400-439: The city rapidly replaced Wuhan , China as the global epicenter of the pandemic during the early phase, straining the city's healthcare infrastructure. Through March 2023, New York City recorded more than 80,000 deaths from COVID-19-related complications. New York City is situated in the northeastern United States , in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston . Its location at

5500-447: The city's economy. The advent of Y2K was celebrated with fanfare in Times Square . New York City suffered the bulk of the economic damage and largest loss of human life in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks . Two of the four airliners hijacked that day were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the deaths of 2,753 people, including 343 first responders from

5600-615: The city's ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called on the aldermen to declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on. Anger at new military conscription laws during the American Civil War (1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to the Draft Riots of 1863 , whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class. The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York's elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers after fierce competition for

5700-417: The development of large housing tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County , with Wall Street leading America's place as the world's dominant economic power. The United Nations headquarters was completed in 1952, solidifying New York's global geopolitical influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitated New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world. In 1969,

5800-418: The early 18th century, New York grew in importance as a trading port while as a part of the colony of New York . It became a center of slavery , with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730. Most were domestic slaves ; others were hired out as labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York's economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with

5900-419: The early 20th century. The marshlands are also fast diminishing. Within Jamaica Bay, 1,290 acres (520 ha) of marshland disappeared between 1924 and 1974, of which 780 acres (320 ha) was due to land filling and dredging. Another 526 acres (213 ha) disappeared in 1974–1994, and 220 acres (89 ha) was lost during 1994–1999. By 2007, the bay was losing wetlands at a rate of 33 acres (13 ha)

6000-411: The flooding in nearly all of these cases. In an effort to reduce the amount of nitrogen being discharged into Jamaica Bay, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection announced the installation of enhanced treatment measures. An innovative technology, called the Ammonia Recovery Process , is now being designed by ThermoEnergy Corporation , which will further reduce nitrogen discharges from

6100-461: The former territory of New Netherland , including the city of New Amsterdam , when the Kingdom of England seized it from Dutch control. In the pre-Columbian era , the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by Algonquians , including the Lenape . Their homeland, known as Lenapehoking , included the present-day areas of Staten Island , Manhattan , the Bronx , the western portion of Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens ), and

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6200-419: The full volume of the water, so untreated water is forced to flow out into Paerdegat Basin. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is working to mitigate the environmental impact of the overflow on the ecosystem. At the same time, the DEP is working with the Parks Department to repair the saltwater wetland area which lines the east and west shores of the basin. NYC Parks and NYCDEP are building

6300-430: The ground. The salt marshes of Jamaica Bay offer prime habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife . Most of the waters and marshes have been protected since 1972 as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area . Though much improved, pollution is still a problem, and after once enjoying a worldwide reputation for oysters and supporting a vigorous fishing industry the area has been closed to shellfishing since

6400-435: The growth of sea lettuce, smothering other plants. The excess energy may also cause smooth cordgrass to reallocate energy from its roots to its shoots, making it harder for marsh soil to hold together. The loss of marshlands has also contributed to flooding in communities surrounding the bay. In 2020 alone, surrounding neighborhoods were flooded 15 times; dredging, the loss of marshland, and global sea-level rise contributed to

6500-520: The hard "j" of the English pronunciation of the name today. (In the Caribbean, the aboriginal Arawaks named their island Xaymaca , "land of wood and water", and the "x" spelling in Spanish was in time transformed to the hard "j" of the modern English name, "Jamaica".) The location of Jamaica Bay, combined with its rich food resources, make it an important habitat for both plants and animals. This geographic location also provides valuable feeding habitat to marine and estuarine species migrating between

6600-612: The historic and now-defunct Floyd Bennett Field on the western side. The center of the bay is dominated by subtidal open water and extensive low-lying islands with areas of salt marsh, intertidal flats, and uplands important for colonial nesting waterbirds. The average mean low tide exposes 350 acres (1.4 km ) of mudflat , 940 acres (3.8 km ) of low salt marsh dominated by low marsh cordgrass ( Spartina alterniflora ), and 520 acres (2.1 km ) of high marsh dominated by high marsh cordgrass ( Spartina patens ). The extensive intertidal areas are rich in food resources, including

6700-410: The ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan's skyscrapers. The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay . Between New York City and Troy, New York , the river is an estuary . The Hudson River separates

6800-448: The island to England under the Treaty of Westminster of November 1674. Several intertribal wars among the Native Americans and epidemics brought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between 1660 and 1670. By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200. New York experienced several yellow fever epidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone. In

6900-599: The last Director-General of New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000. Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order; however, he earned a reputation as a despotic leader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over the Dutch Reformed Church , and blocked other religious groups from establishing houses of worship. In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by Colonel Richard Nicolls , without bloodshed. The terms of

7000-545: The local population as a representative of the Dutch colonists. A permanent European presence near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making New York the 12th-oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States , with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island . In 1625, construction was started on a citadel and Fort Amsterdam , later called Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island. The colony of New Amsterdam extended from

7100-419: The most populous urbanized area in the world in the early 1920s, overtaking London . The metropolitan area surpassed 10 million in the early 1930s, becoming the first megacity . The Great Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance. Returning World War II veterans created a post-war economic boom and

7200-556: The mouth of the Hudson River , which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean , has helped the city grow in significance as a trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island. During the Wisconsin glaciation , 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet . The erosive forward movement of

7300-496: The only " transgender folks around" during the June 1969 Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality. In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates. Growing fiscal deficits in 1975 led the city to appeal to the federal government for financial aid; President Gerald Ford gave

7400-413: The original 65 square kilometres (25 sq mi) of wetlands in the bay have been filled in, mostly around the perimeter of the bay. Extensive areas of the bay have been dredged for navigation channels and to provide fill for the airports and other construction projects. This includes John F. Kennedy International Airport (commonly known as JFK Airport) on the northeastern side of the bay, as well as

7500-416: The plans for rail service to the rest of Brooklyn went unrealized. The only thing that was completed was the dredging of Paerdegat Basin to a 16-foot (4.9 m) depth. In the 1950s and 1960s, much of the city-owned land around the basin was sold off to private developers. The neighborhoods of Georgetown and Bergen Beach were built near its banks. The waterway is polluted due to the overflow location of

7600-545: The plant to be treated, preventing the raw untreated sewage from flowing into the Basin. The CSO facility was completed in August 2011. 40°37′38″N 73°54′28″W  /  40.6271°N 73.9077°W  / 40.6271; -73.9077 Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay ) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island , in the U.S. state of New York . The estuary

7700-675: The press in North America . In 1754, Columbia University was founded. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765, as the Sons of Liberty organization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there. The Battle of Long Island , the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War , was fought in August 1776 within modern-day Brooklyn. A British rout of

7800-549: The refuge to attract wildlife include autumn olive ( Elaeagnus umbellata ), Japanese black pine ( Pinus thunbergii ), and Japanese barberry ( Berberis thunbergii ). Some modifications to Jamaica Bay were conducted in the early 20th century as a result of a never-realized plan to develop Jamaica Bay as a seaport. As early as 1886, the U.S. Engineering Department (a part of the Army Corps of Engineers ) had created plans to dredge Rockaway Inlet in preparation for constructing

7900-539: The region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and called Nieuw-Nederland (' New Netherland '). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City was Juan Rodriguez , a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for pelts and trading with

8000-485: The rest of the continental United States. By 1928, the Barren Island Airport was being constructed on the bay's west shore, and advocates for the seaport project were pushing the city to construct the docklands simultaneously. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey offered to build the new railroad link for $ 2 million and lease it to the city. In 1930, the city approved of a report recommending

8100-399: The rest of the continental United States. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey offered to build the new railroad link for $ 2 million and lease it to the city. In January 1931, the New York City Board of Estimate approved a plan to build railroads on both sides of Paerdegat Basin, connecting the LIRR to Canarsie Pier to the east and to Floyd Bennett Field to the west. However,

8200-436: The soil in about 1 acre (4,000 m ) of marsh. Opponents are concerned that the dredging may be harmful, perhaps leading to greater loss of marshland than the area saved. Other scientists suggest that the 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) of nitrogen pouring into the bay every day, 92 percent from four sewage treatment plants ringing the bay, may be partly to blame. They hypothesize that the high levels of nitrogen may stimulate

8300-611: The southern tip of Manhattan to modern-day Wall Street , where a 12-foot (3.7 m) wooden stockade was built in 1653 to protect against Native American and English raids. In 1626, the Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit , as charged by the Dutch West India Company , purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie , a small Lenape band, for "the value of 60 guilders " (about $ 900 in 2018). A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan

8400-551: The state's Freshwater Wetlands Act of 1975 and Tidal Wetlands Act of 1977. These statutes are in addition to federal regulation under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 , Section 404 of the Clean Water Act , and various Executive Orders . In 2012, the City of New York and the National Park Service signed an agreement to jointly manage Jamaica Bay and restore its parkland and greenspaces. Hurricane Sandy hit

8500-559: The surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in the colony and allowed for religious freedom. In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda after the Second Anglo-Dutch War , the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is now Suriname , which they had gained from the English, and in return the English kept New Amsterdam. The settlement was promptly renamed "New York" after

8600-428: The tides in Jamaica Bay might make it impossible to construct the seaport district. The next year, developers began dredging within Jamaica Bay in order to make it navigable for the large vessels that were supposed to use the bay. Significant progress on the dredging had been completed by 1918, and the city allowed the construction of several piers. However, only one pier was built near Barren Island . The pier, which

8700-594: The traffic. Small areas in the upland buffer around the bay and on the Rockaway Peninsula remain in private residential or commercial ownership. Jamaica Bay has been designated and mapped as an otherwise protected beach unit pursuant to the federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act , prohibiting incompatible federal financial assistance or flood insurance within the unit. The New York State Natural Heritage Program , in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy , recognizes two Priority Sites for Biodiversity within

8800-597: The world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m), a reference to the year of U.S. independence . The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide. New York City

8900-584: The world's largest natural harbors . The city comprises five boroughs , each coextensive with a respective county . The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area , the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area . New York is a global center of finance and commerce , culture , technology , entertainment and media , academics and scientific output ,

9000-493: The world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq . New York City is an established safe haven for global investors. As of 2023 , New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has by a wide margin the highest U.S. city residential rents; and Fifth Avenue is the most expensive shopping street in

9100-525: The world. New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists around 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York , before being permanently renamed New York in November 1674. New York City

9200-402: The world. New York City is home by a significant margin to the highest number of billionaires , individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$ 30 million), and millionaires of any city in the world. In 1664, New York was named in honor of the Duke of York (later King James II of England ). James's elder brother, King Charles II , appointed the Duke as proprietor of

9300-566: Was heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. Sandy's impacts included flooding that led to the days-long shutdown of the subway system and flooding of all East River subway tunnels and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except the Lincoln Tunnel . The New York Stock Exchange closed for two days due to weather for the first time since the Great Blizzard of 1888 . At least 43 people died in New York City as

9400-535: Was a haven for Loyalist refugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom promised by the Crown , with as many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation, the largest such community on the continent. When the British forces evacuated New York at the close of the war in 1783, they transported thousands of freedmen for resettlement in Nova Scotia , England, and

9500-539: Was a prime destination in the early 20th century for Blacks during the Great Migration from the American South, and by 1916, New York City had the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The Harlem Renaissance of literary and cultural life flourished during the era of Prohibition . The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height. New York City became

9600-477: Was known as Grassy Bay as late as the 1940s. Jamaica Bay is located adjacent to the confluence of the New York Bight and New York Bay, and is at the turning point of the primarily east-west oriented coastline of southern New England and Long Island and the north-south oriented coastline of the mid- Atlantic coast. The name derives from the nearby town of Jamaica , which in turn derives from Yameco ,

9700-415: Was purchased for $ 24 worth of glass beads. Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly. To attract settlers, the Dutch instituted the patroon system in 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen ( patroons , or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded land, local political autonomy, and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success. Since 1621,

9800-831: Was sold off to private developers. On March 1, 1962, American Airlines Flight 1 , a Boeing 707 , crashed on takeoff from JFK Airport after its rudder jammed. It crashed into Pumpkin Patch Channel , a remote area of marshland on Jamaica Bay that is part of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. All 95 people on board were killed, including 87 passengers and 8 crew members. On November 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 , an Airbus A300 , crashed after takeoff from JFK Airport after its vertical stabilizer separated in-flight and landed in Jamaica Bay. The aircraft crashed into Belle Harbor, Queens . All 260 people on board were killed, as well as five more people on

9900-469: Was the U.S. capital from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs : Manhattan , Brooklyn , Queens , the Bronx , and Staten Island . Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District, Manhattan , New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. As of 2022 ,

10000-424: Was to receive landfill for the other proposed piers, stretched 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast and was 700 feet (210 m) wide. A total of six such piers were planned for this area. In June 1918, a 447-foot-long (136 m) municipally owned pier was opened at Mill Basin . At the time, there were proposals to fill in 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) between Mill and Barren Islands so 14 more piers could be built. With

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