New York City is a great place to visit. Without a doubt, WorldStrides does! New York City is one of our favorite cities in the United States. We looked into it and found 12 interesting things about it that you might not have known.
Interesting Facts About New York City
- New York City is home to a little more than 8 million people. That means that 1 in 38 people in the US live in the city.
- The most linguistically diverse place in the world is New York place, where people speak more than 800 different languages. Four out of ten homes speak a language other than English.
- People in New York loved oysters so much in the 1800s that the shells were used to build Pearl Street. They were also used to make lime for building the Trinity Church.
- In 1886, France gave the Statue of Liberty to the US as a gift to mark its 100th birthday. The figure was sent in 350 pieces in 214 crates, and it took 4 months to put it together on Ellis Island, where it now stands.
- The Federal Reserve Bank in New York City has the world’s biggest gold vault. The vault is 80 feet below the ground and holds $90 billion worth of gold.
- The New York Public Library is the second biggest library system in the country, after the Library of Congress. It has more than 50 million books and other items. The library is also the third biggest in the world.
- The United Nations’ main office was moved to New York City after World War II, in 1952.
- In 1895, the first pizzeria in the United States opened in New York City. An economist came up with the “Pizza Principle” because, since the 1960s, the price of a subway ride has been about the same as the price of a pizza piece.
- Brooklyn as a borough would be the fourth biggest city in the US by itself. Queens would also be fourth in the country.
- The New York Times is what Times Square is named for. Before the Times moved there in 1904, it was called Longacre Square.
- In 1789, New York City became the first capital of the United States.
- New York place has more Chinese people than any other place in the world. There are more Jews living there than in any other place outside of Israel.
