New York

New York (Part I)

New York is the largest city in the world & the biggest seaport. It is the money-center of the U. S.

New York is situated in north-east of the USA in the state of N. Y. Of the Empire State.

In companion with such ancient historical cities as Rome, London & Paris, New York is quite young. It was founded in 1613 by Dutch settlers. A Dutch-man Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island from the Indians for 24 dollars & a barrel of rum. The Americans say that this was the best business deal ever made in New York. In 1613 the Dutch had built only four small houses in Manhattan. New Amsterdam was the first name of the city. After the English had taken over the city in 1626, it was renamed New York after the Duke of York who was commander of the army.

During the War for Independence New York was an important political center & for 5 years from 1785 - till 1790, the capital of the USA. The population of New York numbers 10 million people, together with the population of it's suburbs it comes to 16 million people (1910). It is a multi-national city, the people that live in it, speak seventy-five different languages.

New York (Part II)

Manhattan is the name of an island which forms the heart of New York. The island is 13 miles long, 2 miles long & lies at the mouth of the Hudson River. The population of Manhattan is about two million people. Here is the heart of America's business & culture, the city of sky-scrapes, of Broadway, of Wall Street, which is the center of American money business. The street got it's name in the old day when one of the Dutch governors of Amsterdam built a wall across Manhattan to protect the colonist from the Indians. The wall was later broken down, but the name remained.

Harlem - the largest Negro ghetto is also in Manhattan. The houses are old & dirty, there are few schools & few hospitals. Very many Negroes are out of work because a colored person in the USA "is the last to be hired & the first to be fired". Like other capitalists cities New York is the city of deep social contrasts.