New York City, the capital of the United States is one of the largest cities in the world. The city has more than 8 million population therefore the most populous city and more than 600 languages are spoken here.
It’s also called the city that never sleeps due to its highly energetic, busy, and crazy culture here. This city has a 520-mile-long coastline which is longer than the coasts of Miami, Boston, LA, and San Francisco combined.
Moreover, New York City is one of those cities which are home to many big business tycoons. The highly populated city is however further divided into five boroughs Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island. Let’s know some more fun facts about New York.
New York City
People are coming from diverse backgrounds and traditions as immigrants over some time to this city, making it the most linguistically diverse place.
New York City is also a popular tourist destination for its arts, metropolitan museum, galleries, theatre, and dance, restaurants. Other tourist attractions are the empire state building, Brooklyn Bridge, and central park.
New York City has its nicknames, whether it be New Amsterdam or the Big Apple, there is a story behind the same.
The City is called Big Apple as first written by one of the famous sportswriters John J, Fits Gerald wrote a column about a horse ‘racing Around The Big Apple ‘when it came to light by a tourism campaign in 1970 and was given the name Big Apple.
New York was earlier called New Amsterdam because Dutch settlers were the first ones to arrive in that area around 1624. But, the British Empire took over and named the city in the Duke of York’s Honor.
The popular oysters in the 19th century were utilized to pave pearl street. Let’s know some of the amazing fun facts about New York.
There are many more facts about new York city which I am going to discuss further in my article. Some of the interesting fun facts about New York to talk about are as follows:
7 Fun Facts about New York
1)Empire State Building
Empire state building is the most prominent skyscraper which is a tourist spot for many tourists and home to many businesses having z-codes ode.
The 102 stories building is the 43rd tallest in the world and the 4th tallest across New York City.
The empire state building took one year and 45 days to build the building. The five states New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts can be seen from this spectacular skyscraper.
1.1 Fun Facts about New York Empire State Building:
- Couples who marry on Valentine’s Day each year, on the 80th floor become part of the empire state building wedding club.
- Thousands of men worked for the construction of the building out of which 5 men died.
- The Empire State Building is smacked by lightning 23 times a year.
2)The New York Public Library
The New York Public library is the 4th largest library in the world structured with marble. The opening of the New York public library was kind of grand, led by president William Harvard Taft. Initially, the library had 1 million books and today it has 50 million books and around 50.6 million items.
20,000 Windex bottles are used to clean libraries 355 miles of both building bookshelves.
Ever since 1987, The original Winnie the Pooh bear and friends kanga, piglet, and trigger have lived in the New York public library.
2.1 Fun Facts About New York Public Library:
- There are around 40000 restaurant menus available in the New York City library.
- The library lion statue which stands at the entrance doesn’t have any official name. During World war 2 in New York City, many of the valuable items were moved to a secret location.
- For taking up the book requests, pneumatic tubes are being used.
- The New York Public library required 6 times more marble than required to Construct the NYSE. It was the largest marble building in 1911, United States. Interestingly the library stores the hair lock as well from the hair of Wild Bill Hickok and Walt Whitman.
- There are mini doors that have a Balcony that Leads nowhere.
- If one remembers there was a scene in the movie Ghostbuster, where the ex-librarian refuses to leave his former employment place. Hilariously, adding up to one of the fun facts about New York City, this scene has been created in the Library many times.
3) New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange traces its origins to the Buttonwood Agreement signed by 24 stockbrokers on May 17, 1792, as a response to the first financial panic in the young nation. It set rules for how stocks could be traded and established set commissions. The Agreement aimed to promote public confidence in the markets and to ensure that deals were conducted between trusted parties.
In 1793, a group of brokers built the online Coffee House at the crossroads of Wall and Water streets, which became another place for trading for the Brokers. The popular building which is currently for the stock exchange was not built till 1903, after it got started it was the largest indoor space in the US.
Initially, the stock exchange was closed only he tourists but gradually after 9/11, it prohibited the public also from taking tours inside the building, affecting the trading in action. The only people allowed now are the brokers.
The visitors could only get around the finite and there is security outside. However, now most of the trading is being done online due to advanced technology rather than done on Wall street.
Until 2000, a fun fact about New York City was, the people at NYSE were running across the floor shouting out the number and exchanging signals. There was a lot of pressure due to that as all the trading is being done on the floor.
Nevertheless, now due to new advancements in technology most of the stock exchanges are running online, but NYSE is one of those few remaining that still has trading happening on the floor.
But now a model has been developed which follows both traditions of on-floor trading and the new age of electronic trading, thus making it all the more special.
3.1 Fun Facts About New York Stock Exchange:
- A document named the Buttonwood Agreement was first Signed under the Buttonwood Tree by the broker for the first time.
- The tree in itself became an influencing factor for the name of the agreement but also it served The tree in itself became an influencing factor for the name of the agreement but alit served as an official trading spot for the brokers.
4) The Central Park
Central Park is one of the largest, most beautiful, and essential parts of New York City. This place is the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, Central Park is one of the most photographed and most visited tourist spots. It is also considered the most Filmed play by many filmmakers.
The bedrock visible is formed by the Glaciers. Nearly, 42 million people visit Central Park every year out of which 14% are first-time visitors.
Central Park is a habitat for many insects and many unusual types of species have been discovered at this place.
In 2002, one of the fascinating facts about New York City was that new species of centipedes was discovered in decomposing leaves, and later in 2017, flies were discovered in duck droppings.
It is also an alluring attraction to animal lovers. Also, there are there can be many North American bird species found here, thus a good place to watch the bird activities.
The park is a most filmed location across the United States and it is very unusual for one to find a film Crew on a random visit which adds up to yet another exciting fun fact about New York City.
4.1 Fun Facts About New York Central Park:
- The central park mall is one of the top-not catch fun facts about New York. It is the only straight path in the park that was built to socialize to show off their fancy activities.
- There are around 10000 benches across the central park which can be owned by individuals for various purposes like weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
- One can design the benches according to their own choice, Although there is a certain amount of cash one has to pay for this which starts from $10000.
- Various sports activities are practiced throughout the year by the people in New York City. Some of the most popular of them are running and Cycling.
- While we talk about the seasons, summers one can rent a rowboat, and winterers ice-skating, and snowshoers are some activities followed by New Yorkers.
- The park has a bro bronze statue of Alice in wonderland surrounded by her friends which is specially designed by children to climb on it over the years hence bringing children closer to fictional characters.
- There are around 18000 trees throughout the park.
5) Hot Dog Day
Americans celebrate the third Wednesday in July, Hot dog day as July is considered the fast-food treat in July. It takes 6.1 bites to consume the average of them. In the United States, the average number of hot dogs consumed in as second is 818.
A fun fact about New York City is that it is the only city that consumes hot dogs more than any city, there are various options one can have a hotdog (steamed, fried, deep-fried, and microwaved) but nearly 63% of Americans prefer it to be grilled.
Hot dog stands are the common characteristics of New York City, but getting a license to run the carrot can be an extremely difficult process.
5.1 Fun Facts about New York Hot Dog Day:
- The most profitable license one can get is to park outside the metropolitan museum.
- Hot Dog stand owners get a profit of approximately $100,000 per year due to long hours of traffic. To get a Hot dog Stand permit outside Central park, the cost would be $289,000 for one year.
- Hot dog-eating contests still happen. Coney island in New York, Brooklyn, and Hot dogs go hand in hand.
- One should only use tongs to cook them, using a fork may loss of moisture, and the juices may run out.
- The most popular topping is mustard followed by onions, chili, cauterant, and ketchup. In 1895 the first Pizzeria in New York City was opened up which is one of our favorite fun facts about New York City
- The Pizza Principle: It states that the cost of one pizza slice would be equal to the subway ride in New York City, further if the price of the subway fare goes up then parallelly the price of pizza will also go up.
6) New York Harbor and the Brooklyn Bridge
New York harbor plays a very important role in the regional economy and transportation network.
It surrounds Manhattan, Brooklyn, state Island and some parts of New Jersey. The largest island in New York Harbor is the governor’s island. On A global scale, the Harbor has supported the industries of trade and commerce.
The parks have a collection of almost 24 parks which help the public to understand the shared history, thus providing special opportunities to learn and explore.
There are several public programs organized by the harbor conservancy to make the visitor experience memorable
Due to shipping activity, industrial development, and urbanization, there has been a major effect on the quality of water. This has been a continuous process but a gradual change has been noticed in the 20th century and 21st centuries.
During the 1780, American Revolution when there was hard winter, the New York harbor froze completely.
Construction Of the Brooklyn Bridge took 14 years and cost $ 15 million. Nearly 600 workers, worked on the construction of the bridge. One of the boroughs – Brooklyn is the fourth largest city in the entire US.
Designing this masterpiece, ended up with tragedies. Nearly 20 workers died while constructing the bridge, others fell off the bridge and numerous workers were paralyzed.
Nearly 1,00,0000 vehicles are crossing every day and adding 2600 bikes to everyday traffic. Firstly the name given to the bridge was New York and Brooklyn bridge, then they called it the East river bridge, and finally the name Brooklyn bridge.
Several vaults were built inside the bridge for maintenance purposes. Later, it was decided by several New Yorkers that it is the perfect place to store the wine. The vaults became the storage place for wines few companies also rented the place. The prices were between $500 to $5000 just for storage purposes.
All across the world, the bridge has been the longest bridge for nearly 20 years. The bridge is older than New York city’s famous Tower Bridge. Most people guess that Tower Bridge is the oldest but that is not the case.
6.1 Fun Facts about New York Harbor and Brooklyn Bridge:
- To prove that the bridge was a safer place to cross for New Yorkers, 21 huge elephants were made to cross the bridge first.
- Until 1911, one had to pay a certain amount to cross the Bridge; 1 cent to cross the bridge by foot, 5 cents to cross the bridge with a horse and rider, and 10 cents to be paid to cross the bridge with a horse and tiger.
- If animals are there alone one has to pay for them as well – 2 cents for a sheep or hog and 5 cents for a cow. However, from 1911 onwards, crossing the bridge was free for pedestrians and vehicles, unlike other bridges for which the toll has become more expensive.
- The biggest event in New York City at that time was the opening of the Brooklyn bridge which was held on May 24, 1883.
7). Grand Central Terminal
Grand central terminal in New York City is the largest station in the world, which is not only a station but also has a tennis court and a gold chandelier as well.
Every single day over 750000 people go through the terminal. However, if we talk about holidays this number goes up to 1000,000 where 55% are male and 45% are female. On average nearly 7500 people cross the corner every hour.
The grand central terminal is very popular because it has been promoted in numerous movies because of its originality in presenting the transportation scenes in New York City.
The terminal is the most famous building in the United States. The building is the fourth most popular in New York City and the 13th most popular in the entire country.
It took nearly 10 years to build the station, The construction started in the early 20th century 1903, and was completed in the year 1913.
The famous phrase ‘meet me at the Clock’ refers to the Grand Central Information Clock, which is why the phrase is well understood by every new yorker lining up another fun fact about New York City.
Every Year holiday fair happens at Vanderbilt Hall starting in, mid-November and continues through Christmas Eve.
The fair has a lot of toys, paintings, soaps, and many other types of goods and other well-crafted goods in the shops all around.
Many public and private events are hosted at the lavish Vanderbilt hall. One of the high-end restaurants in New York is known for its wonderful interior and 300 bottles of wine.
The terminal has a well-equipped library for New Yorkers who are keen on reading and there are more than 65 stores spread across the terminal.
The stations are stairless as all the platforms can be reached by the lifts. The terminal is owned by a private company known as mid-town TDR Ventures.
The total area occupied by the Grand Central Terminal is 48 acres and the cost of constructing it is $2 billion.
7.1 Fun Facts about New York Grand Central Terminal:
- The terminal has a whispering gallery according to which one can whisper a secret to their partners by standing on one corner of the wall and the partner will hear you from the other side.
- At times, it is also called Grand Central 42nd street which is the name of the Subway. The supervisor of the terminal is a station master who supervises 160 people.
- There is an art School on the seventh floor of the terminal and one of the advisors lived in the studio which is above the terminal.
- The home was so high up that to service the lights the electrician had to pass through the ceiling to reach the place above the concourse ceiling
- Tar of Cigarettes was found in the ceiling when cleaning was done rather than soot and fumes.
8. Some Fun Facts About New York City
All of these above fun facts about New York City are true but there are a few which look unreal.
- In the Yellow taxi cab in traffic, the drivers honk their horns, but in, reality, until and unless it’s an emergency they are required not to honk their horns.
- The big city of five boroughs has a famous landmark named Times square was named after the New York Times newspaper and earlier it was called Long Acre Square.
- New York City has a very famous underground park called low line which is located on the lower east side of New York City.
- The unique fact about this underground park is that it would have access to natural sunlight as well which would come through reflectors and fiber optics.
- One of the Interesting fun facts about New York City is that the Federal Reserve Bank has the largest gold storage thus, it is the largest reservoir of Gold in the world.
- Trinity Church has played an important role in the entire history of New York City and is considered for respectful new beginnings.
Conclusion
New York City has always been one of the most famous tourist attractions due to some of the fun facts about New York mentioned above and the many attractive tourist spots.
New York City has the largest Chinese Population and New Yorkers drink 7 times more coffee than people in the US. The subway stations in the US have wi-fi connectivity.
Whether one has seen New York City’s light or not, chances are we have heard a lot about the Big Apple. We have seen it in movies, read magazines, and if you haven’t been — you know someone who has explored this amazing place along with fun facts about New York City.
New York City has been called a mind skyscraper, a cosmopolitan lifestyle, and the very famous yellow taxis. You might think you’ve heard it all before, but here are a few things you didn’t read in that magazine. Surely, this is one of those cities that cannot be left unexplored.
Also, check out “Interesting Facts About Statue of Liberty” & “Best Things to do in Queens“.
Fun Things to do in Staten Island.
Last Updated on March 22, 2023 by Susanta Biswas
