10 Quick Facts About New York City

New York City is one of the biggest American cities where an estimated 8.2 million people call their home. While there is no possible way to address everything that New York City has to offer to both visitors and residents, here are “10 Quick Facts about New York City” that you may or may not already know about this great US city of concrete mountains.

New York City has quite a colorful history that actually can trace back its original roots to the Lenape inhabitants prior to the arrival of Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524, however then the city had not been named “New York City”. Under Dutch rule in 1625, the city was named “New Amsterdam” and later renamed “New York” in 1664, after the English took control of the area. Interestingly, New York City experienced a major leap forward in 1898 after the city consolidated the “Five Boroughs” that once divided the landscape and the peoples living there.

Quick Fact: Number One

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New York City once served as the first capitol of the United States from September 13, 1788 to 1790.

Quick Fact: Number Two

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General George Washington was inaugurated at the Federal Hall on Wall Street on April 30, 1789 to become the first President of the United States.

Quick Fact: Number Three

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It is illegal to forage for food in New York City parks without having a permit.

Quick Fact: Number Four

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In 1853, the City of New York purchased 768 acres of land that once contained old sheds left behind by colonists, pig farms, quarries and swamps. This land was added to the land that the city had already owned to create an 843-acre city oasis that was named “Central Park”.