New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east.
- ABBREVIATION: NY
- NICKNAME: The Empire State
- POPULATION: 19,651,127 (2013 est.)
- CAPITAL: Albany
- STATE BIRD: Bluebird
- STATE FLOWER: Rose
- AREA: 54,556 sq. mi.
- TIME ZONE: Eastern
- ENTERED UNION: July 26, 1788
- ALTITUDE: High, 5,344 ft. Mount Marcy
- CLIMATE: Cool winters, hot summers in south; cold winters with heavy snow, short summers in north and west. Moderate rainfall.
This state, George Washington predicted, would become the “seat of empire”. The center of an industrial empire it has certainly become. The most populous state in the union, New York is second in the number of manufacturing establishments-over 16,500-beaten only by California. New York produces over $60 billion worth of goods each year. Over 94% of New York manufacturers are small business companies, adding several hundred-thousand jobs to the workforce.
Cutting through the fertile Mohawk Valley, The Erie Canal in 1825 linked the Great lakes with the vast harbor of New York City by way of the Hudson River. Thus New York City in the middle of the 19th Century became the outlet for beef, wheat, and corn to the Midwest. To the farmers of that rapidly developing region the city shipped their products as well as products of foreign countries.
The harbor of New York City remains a major bulwark of the state’s economy. Considered one of the largest natural harbors in the world, the NYC harbor, by tonnage, is the third busiest harbor in America. In 2010, 4,811 ships entered the harbor, carrying over 32.2 million metric tons of cargo valued at more than $170 Billion. The city itself is not only the cultural, financial, and communications center of the nation, it is an industrial center as well.
FUN FACTS:
- New York is the only state that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes.
- The Finger Lakes, a series of glacially carved lakes in upstate New York, bear the names of various Native American tribes, including the Seneca, Cayuga, and Canandaigua. The region is second only to California in the production of grapes.
- Adirondack State Park is the largest state park in the country. It is almost as big as Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and the Olympic National Parks combined.
- The first capital of the United States was New York City. In 1789 George Washington took his oath as president on the balcony at Federal Hall
- The first railroad in America linked Albany and Schenectady running a distance of 11 miles.
- Gennaro Lombardi was the owner of the first pizzeria in the United States. It opened in New York City in 1895.