States of the US
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New York
New York State is located in the northeastern region of the United States. Ranges of the Appalachian Mountains cross much of the state. In the southeast, the Hudson Highlands skirt the New York metropolitan area and continue on the east side of the Hudson Valley, merging with the New England highlands. North of them are the Catskill Mountains, while the Adirondack Mountains occupy the northeastern part of the state. South of the Mohawk Valley, the Southern Tier, part of the Allegheny Plateau, extends across western New York as far as Lake Erie. Here are the Finger Lakes, formed from the meltwaters of Ice Age glaciers. Densely populated Long Island is formed from glacial moraine and a sandy outwash plain.
This page is about New York State. Click here for New York City.
Name
In 1664, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch Province of New Netherland was captured by the English. It was awarded by King Charles II to his brother James, Duke of York (the future King James II). Dutchman Peter Stuyvesant, governor general of New Amsterdam, the Province’s chief town, surrendered to Colonel Richard Nicolls on 27th August 1664. A few days later, Nicolls renamed the town New York in honour of the Duke. The Province was also renamed New York.
Climate
New York has a continental climate, sometimes becoming subtropical. It is affected by two air masses: a warm, humid one from the southwest and a cold, dry one from the northwest. Downstate New York (the Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island) has warm summers and cold, wet winters. Upstate New York, lying away from the moderating effect of the Atlantic Ocean, has longer and colder winters. Western New York receives heavy snowfall, especially during the early winter. Summers are cooler in the high Adirondacks, Catskills and the Southern Tier.
Economy
Apple orchards and vineyards abound in the fertile Finger Lakes region. Apples are also grown in the Hudson Valley and near Lake Champlain. Other fruit, such as grapes, plums, peaches, strawberries, cherries and vegetables, including onions, cabbages and potatoes (especially on eastern Long Island) are widely grown. Maple syrup and dairy products are also important.
New York’s manufactures are diverse and include food products, machinery, chemicals, paper, electrical equipment, computers, optical instruments and cameras. New York City is a financial and commercial centre of almost unrivalled international importance. Retail, publishing, communications, advertising and entertainment are among the city’s many businesses, and millions of tourists visit the metropolis each year.
Buffalo grew up as a port (especially of grain) and a centre of heavy industry, including steel and car manufacture. Since the 1950s, like other Rust Belt cities such as Pittsburgh and Cleveland, it suffered decline. It has recently revitalized its economy by switching to financial services, technology, biomedical engineering and education.
Facts about New York
Area 54,555 sq miles (141,300 sq km)
Highest point Mount Marcy 5344 ft (1629 m)
Population 19,571,216
Capital Albany (pop. 101,228)
Largest cities New York City, 8,258,035; Hempstead, 785,678; Brookhaven, 488,338; Islip, 336,822; Oyster Bay, 297,782; Buffalo, 274,678; North Hempstead, 235,781; Babylon, 217,046; Yonkers, 207,657; Rochester, 207,274; Huntington, 202,910
Nicknames Empire State
State bird Bluebird
State flower Rose
State tree Sugar maple
Consultant: Nicholas Harris
History of New York
before 16th century
New York is inhabited by tribes of Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans when the first Europeans arrive. The Algonquians, including the Mohegan, Lenni Lenape and Wappinger, live in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island; the Iroquois, including the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga and Seneca, live in central and western New York
1524
Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown, explores the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor; he names what is now called New York Bay the Bay of Santa Margherita, in honour of the King of France's sister
1540
French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, the site of present-day Albany
1609
Sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, English explorer Henry Hudson enters Upper New York Bay; the region is claimed by Hudson for the Dutch
1609
Northern New York is explored and claimed for France by French explorer Samuel de Champlain
1614
The Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen rebuild the French chateau, which they call Fort Nassau and establish a trading post there (although it is later abandoned because of flooding)
early 17th century
Dutch establish trading posts for the trade of furs from the Lenape, Iroquois and other native tribes
1621
Dutch West India Company found the colony of New Netherland in the Hudson Valley
1624
New Netherland becomes a province of the Dutch Republic; the first permanent Dutch settlement is established at Fort Orange near the abandoned Fort Nassau; the site is in present-day Albany
1626
Dutchman Peter Minuit purchases Manhattan Island from the Canarsie, a Lenape people, for 60 Dutch guilders and founds the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (now New York City)
1664
The English capture the colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and govern it as the Province of New York
1673
The city of New York is recaptured by the Dutch during the Third Anglo-Dutch War and renamed New Orange. It is returned to the English under the terms of the Treaty of Westminster a year later
1765
The Stamp Act, an Act of the British Parliament that imposes a direct tax on the Thirteen Colonies of British America, is passed. Deeply unpopular among colonists, they protest that there should be "No taxation without representation”. The Stamp Act Congress, held in New York City, is the first significant joint colonial response to a British measure
1776
The New York State Constitution is drawn up by a convention at White Plains
1776
The first major battle after the Declaration of Independence is fought in New York at the Battle of Long Island (Battle of Brooklyn). The victorious British occupy New York City, which becomes a haven for Loyalists and escaped slaves, who joined the British lines in exchange for freedom promised by the Crown
1788
New York accepts the Constitution of the United States at a convention in Poughkeepsie
1791
The eastern boundary of the state is established after Vermont becomes a separate state
1825
Erie Canal, linking Albany to Buffalo, is opened, allowing farm products to be imported from the Midwest, while manufactures are moved west. New York becomes a vital port and rapid commercial growth follows. Great Lakes port cities such as Buffalo and Rochester also grow and prosper. The new canal also allows people to migrate to territories west of the Appalachians
1827
Slavery is abolished in New York
1840s
Famine and revolution in Europe results in a wave of Irish and German immigrants, who arrive in New York City
1855
The first permanent immigration depot in New York is established in at Castle Garden in what is now Battery Park, at the tip of Lower Manhattan
1860s
Tammany Hall, a political pressure group, gains power under Boss William Tweed as the political "machine" (a party organization that commands enough votes to maintain political control of a city, county or state) of the Democratic Party in New York. It remains influential until the 1930s.
1892
Ellis Island is opened; it operates as an immigration centre until 1954
1929–31
Chrysler Buiding, 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building, all competing for the distinction of becoming the ”world's tallest building", are built in Manhattan, New York City
1959–73
Governorship of Nelson Rockefeller. He engages in massive building projects and carries out liberal policies on civil rights and abortion. He is also tough on crime, introducing strict drug laws and ordering New York State Police and national guard troops to restore order during the Attica Prison riots of 1971
1990s
New York City benefits from the nationwide fall of violent crime rates, the resurgence of the finance industry and the growth of the "Silicon Alley". Abandoned industrialized districts, such as the Meatpacking District and Chelsea (in Manhattan) and Williamsburg (in Brooklyn) are converted into attractive residential neighbourhoods.
2001
September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11: a series of four terrorist attacks are carried out by the militant Islamic extremists, al-Qaeda, using hijacked airliners. They successfully crash two of the planes into the World Trade Center in New York City. Both 110-storey towers collapse. The attacks in New York and elsewhere result in 2977 deaths and over 25,000 injuries. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in human history.
2009
"Miracle on the Hudson": US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 on a flight from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, strikes a flock of gees shortly after take-off, losing all engine power. Pilots Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glide the plane and ditch it in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people on board are rescued with only a few serious injuries
2012
Hurricane Sandy brings devastation and disruption to the state's shorelines, with severe flooding and high winds
2014
One World Trade Center, the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex and the tallest building in the United States, is opened on the site of the 9/11 attack
pics
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