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New York is famous worldwide for its vibrant atmosphere, massive skyscrapers, and an enviable list of tourist attractions. But there’s so much more to discover about this thrilling city!
New York has a long and interesting past– so the city is associated with an array of picturesque and wonderful tales.
Did you know that New York’s initial name was New Amsterdam? And that New Yorkers are the top consumers of hot dogs across the country. Yes!
There’s a whole heap of mind-blowing and cool New York facts that’ll absolutely love to discover. So keep on reading the post for the entire list of the 50 + most fascinating facts about New York City.
What Is New York City Known For
Vibrant and exciting, New York City is known for being a cosmopolitan destination filled with towering skyscrapers, award-winning restaurants, and world-famous attractions like the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and the Empire State Building.
Thanks to its glorious array of tourist attractions and fabulous sights, it's no surprise that New York City is the most visited place in the United States, attracting around 10 million visitors every year.
NYC also spoils travelers with a generous collection of accommodations options that suit any style or preference — from 5-star hotels pampered with stellar amenities to family-friendly vacation rentals.
Whether your focus is sightseeing as much as possible or indulging in some time to yourself, you’re sure to find the perfect place to stay in New York City.
Here's a finely curated list of the 5 best New York City hotels that excel in aesthetics, service, location, and value for money. The best park? You can book them all at the best prices through CuddlyNest.
NYC Fact Sheet
Population
8.468 million (2021)
Location
Southeastern New York state, in the northeastern section of the USA.
Area
300.46 square miles
Nicknames
"Big Apple", "The City", "The City That Never Sleeps"
51 Interesting Facts About New York
Facts About New York History
Fact 1: New York was once called "New Amsterdam". Around 1626, Dutch residents who were living in what is currently New York City referred to the region as New Amsterdam.
Fact 2: The city was named New York after King Charles II conquered the area, and gifted the city to his brother the Duke of York, who renamed it "New York."
Fact 3: New York's famous nickname "Big Apple" originated in the 1920s. At that time, sports journalist John J. Fitz Gerald wrote a column for the New York Morning Telegraph about the many popular horse races that happened in and around New York. He referred to the substantial prizes to be won as “the big apple,” symbolizing the biggest and best one can achieve.
Fact 4: The Bronx borough of NYC was named after the first person who ever settled there: the Swedish Jonas Bronck. His farmlands were called "Bronck's Land," and people eventually started calling it the Bronx, for short.
Fact 5: New York City is the most populous city in the United States, with around 8.5 million residents
Fact 6: More than 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world!
Fact 7: In total, about 2,702,957 New York residents speak Spanish, making it the second most spoken language in NYC after English.
Fact 8: NYC is home to the highest Jewish population outside of Israel, the highest Hispanic population of any US city, the highest Chinese population outside of Asia, and the highest Puerto Rican population in the world.
Fact 9: New York City is home to more billionaires than anywhere else in the world. Forbes listed New York City with the most billionaires at 107 people, followed by Beijing with 83 billionaires.
Facts About New York Geography & Physical Features
Fact 10: New York is the only state that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes.
Fact 11: New York City is divided into five boroughs Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, and the best-known of all, Manhattan.
Fact 12: Manhattan is the best-known borough in New York. This is where you will find most of the city's top attractions, such as the Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square, the Chrysler Building, and more.
Fact 13: If Brooklyn was its own city, instead of a borough of New York City, it would be the fourth largest city in the United States.
Fact 14: The Lowline, located on Manhattan's West Side, is the world's first underground park.
Fact 15: New York City has more coastline than Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston combined
Fact 16: The narrowest house in NYC is in the West Village. The house is located at 75 1/2 Bedford Street and is just over 9 feet wide.
Fact 17: In 1780, winter was so intense in New York City that New York harbor froze over. As a result, people could walk from Manhattan to Staten Island on ice.
Fact 18: The New York City Subway opened in 1904 and is considered the eighth oldest subway in the world. The NYC subway system is also the world's most extensive metro system with 424 stations.
Fact 19: New York is a paradise for birdwatching — 275 of the 800 North American bird species that are known have been sighted at Central Park
Fact 20: Designed in 1853, Central Park was the first landscaped park in the United States.
Fact 21: The Central Park Mall is a scenic walkway that runs right in the middle of the park. It's also the only straight path in the entire park leading up to Bethesda Terrace.
Fact 22: Credited in 532 movies, Central Park is the most filmed location in the world.
Fact 23: The New York Public Library (NYPL) is the second-largest library system in the US and the third-largest library in the world.
Fact 24: NYPL is home to more than 56 million items, including books and unusual objects, including a lock of Walt Whitman's hair, Charlotte Bronte's writing desk, and a P.L. Travers umbrella.
Fact 25: At the time it was completed, in 1883, the 3,460-foot Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
Fact 26: NYC's iconic Brooklyn Bridge was also the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world.
Fact 27: Brooklyn Bridge is 11 years older than London's Tower Bridge.
Fact 28: During construction, the bridge was known as the Great East River Bridge or Great East River Suspension Bridge.
Fact 29: Standing at 1,250 feet tall, the Empire State Building is currently the 4th tallest building in New York City, the 6th tallest in the United States, and the 43rd tallest tower in the world.
Fact 30: The Empire State Building was actually constructed during a race to create the world's tallest building.
Fact 31: The Statue of Liberty was given as a birthday gift from France to the United States on July 4, 1884.
Fact 32: The Statue of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel, the French civil engineer who designed the Eiffel Tower.
Fact 33: The statue's seven rays in the crown represent the Earth’s seven seas.
Fact 34: The Grand Central Information Booth Clock at Grand Central Station is estimated to be worth as much as $20 million.
Fact 35: The phrase “meet me at the clock” refers to Grand Central Station's Booth Clock only and is understood by every New Yorker.
Fact 36: There is a "whispering gallery" in the dining area of the Grand Central Terminal. In this gallery, people can stand on the opposite corners of the tiled wall and whisper their messages to each other.
Fact 37:The iconic Empire State Building has its own zip code: 10118.
Fact 38: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the largest art museum in the United States and also one of the most visited art museums in the world.
Facts About New York Culture & Lifestyle
Fact 39: The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) is home to the world's oldest surviving piano.
Fact 40: The New York Stock Exchange, located on Wall Street, is the largest stock exchange in the world.
Fact 41: The United Nations headquarters was established in New York City in 1952 after World War II.
Fact 42: According to an NYC law, farting at church can be seen as a disturbance or a disruption: “when he or she makes unreasonable noise or disturbance while at a lawfully assembled religious service, funeral, burial or memorial service, or within one hundred feet thereof, with intent to cause annoyance or alarm or recklessly creating a risk thereof."
Fact 43: Somewhere in New York City is a safe box deposit containing Albert Einstein's brain and eyeballs. Thomas Harvey, a doctor at Princeton Hospital, performed an illegal autopsy on Einstein and kept the physicist's brain and eyeballs.
Fact 44: New York City's Federal Reserve Bank has the largest gold storage in the world. The vault is 80 feet below street level and contains 7,000 tons of gold bars worth $90 billion.
Fact 45: According to the Michelin Guide (2008) there are about 23,000 restaurants in New York City, with a total of 54 Michelin stars.
Fact 46: According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, New Yorkers are the top consumers of hot dogs across the country.
Fact 47: In fact, there are hot dog stands in almost every corner of NYC. However, owning a hot dog stand in the city is extremely expensive, and permit to do so for a year can cost you anywhere from $700 to over $200,000 depending on where you choose to set up shop.
Fact 48: Fraunces Tavern, dating back to 1762, is considered to be the oldest restaurant in New York City.
Fact 49: Eggs Benedict, a famous American breakfast or brunch dish, was invented in NYC.
Fact 50: In the early 19th century, Oysters were so popular in New York that the shells were used to pave Pearl Street.
Fact 51: Located in the Little Italy section of Manhattan and inaugurated in 1905, Lombardi's is said to be the first pizzeria in the United States.
Fact 52: New Yorkers have noted that when the price of a subway ride goes up, pizza does too. They call it “the pizza principle.”
New York Facts for Kids
These facts work well for school projects. Short, specific, easy to remember.
New York City has five boroughs. Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Each borough functions like its own city. If Brooklyn were separate, it would rank as the fourth largest city in the United States. More than 8 million people live across the five boroughs combined.
Central Park is bigger than Monaco. The park covers 843 acres in the middle of Manhattan. That beats the entire country of Monaco. More than 40 million people visit each year. It has its own police precinct: the 22nd Precinct, dedicated exclusively to the park.
New York City was the first US capital. George Washington was inaugurated at Federal Hall in Manhattan on April 30, 1789. The city served as the national capital for five years before the government moved to Philadelphia and then Washington.
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France. France gave the statue in 1884 to mark the friendship between the two countries. It arrived in pieces, was reassembled in New York Harbor, and was officially dedicated on October 28, 1886. Its full name: Liberty Enlightening the World.
Times Square is named after a newspaper. It was called Longacre Square until 1904, when The New York Times moved its headquarters there. The city renamed it. The ball drop on New Year's Eve has run every year since 1907, except during World War II blackouts.
The subway never sleeps. New York's subway has 472 stations across 230+ miles of routes. It runs 24 hours, 365 days a year. No closures. That makes it one of the only major subway systems in the world with round-the-clock service.
New York City By The Numbers
The scale of New York is clearest in numbers.
800+ languages are spoken here. No city on earth has more linguistic diversity. Neighborhoods shift language block by block: Mandarin in Flushing, Spanish in Washington Heights, Bengali in Jackson Heights.
7,000 tonnes of gold stored in the Federal Reserve Bank vault on Wall Street, five floors below street level. More gold than anywhere else in the world. The vault holds reserves for the US and dozens of foreign governments.
6,000+ high-rise buildings in New York City. More than any other US city. The zoning rules that created the stepped-back skyline shape were designed specifically to let sunlight reach street level.
20,000+ restaurants. New York has more Michelin stars than Paris. More restaurant options per square mile than almost any city on earth.
3 million+ foreign-born residents. The highest of any city in the world. More than 36% of New Yorkers were born outside the US. Staten Island is the only borough where a majority were born in America.
1 in 21 New Yorkers is a millionaire. The city has more millionaires than any other city on earth. Manhattan's Upper East Side has more billionaires per block than anywhere else on the planet. New York City hotels on CuddlyNest from $89/night.
Frequently Asked Questions About New York
10 Fun Facts About New York City
1) New York City was the first capital of the United States in 1789. 2) Over 800 languages are spoken here, more than any city on earth. 3) The Federal Reserve vault holds 7,000 tonnes of gold, the world's largest concentration. 4) Central Park at 843 acres is larger than the country of Monaco. 5) The subway has 472 stations and never closes. 6) Brooklyn alone would rank as the fourth largest US city. 7) Times Square was renamed from Longacre Square when The New York Times moved there in 1904. 8) Since the 1960s, a pizza slice and a subway ride have cost roughly the same price. 9) Washington Square Park has 17,000 bodies beneath it from a yellow fever epidemic in the 1700s. 10) A 16-year-old illegally drove a subway train for three hours in 1993 before anyone noticed. Brooklyn hotels on CuddlyNest from $79/night.
20 Interesting New York Facts for Students
1) Dutch colonists settled here and called it New Amsterdam. 2) The English renamed it New York in 1664 after the Duke of York. 3) The Statue of Liberty was built in France, shipped in pieces, and assembled on-site. 4) Broadway was originally a Native American trail called the Wikashek Trail. 5) The Empire State Building has its own ZIP code: 10118. 6) New York has over 100 museums, more than any other American city. 7) The Brooklyn Bridge, opened in 1883, was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time. 8) To prove the bridge was safe, 21 elephants, 17 camels, and a rooster crossed it in its first two years. 9) New York City has the largest LGBTQIA+ population in the United States. 10) The New York Public Library holds over 55 million items. 11) New York pizza: thin crust, wide slices, designed to fold in half. 12) Manhattanhenge happens twice a year when the sunset aligns with Manhattan's east-west streets. 13) Grand Central Terminal has a whispering gallery where whispers travel along the arched ceiling. 14) New York City has six UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 15) The "I Love New York" logo was designed in 1977 by Milton Glaser, donated to the state for free. 16) New York hosted the Winter Olympics twice: 1932 and 1980, both in Lake Placid. 17) The Bronx is the only New York City borough on the US mainland. 18) The city produces more honey per hive than almost anywhere in the country. 19) New York's public library system has 92 branches across the boroughs. 20) More than 60 million tourists visited New York City per year before the pandemic. Manhattan hotels on CuddlyNest from $99/night.
What does "I Love New York" mean?
The "I ❤ NY" design was created in 1977 by graphic designer Milton Glaser. New York City was in financial crisis at the time: crime had spiked, tourism had collapsed, and the city nearly went bankrupt in 1975. The state government commissioned an advertising campaign to bring visitors back. Glaser sketched the logo on a scrap of paper in the back of a taxi and donated it to New York State for free. The heart replaced the word "love," making it readable across languages. The design became the most copied logo format in history, spawning thousands of "I ❤ [city]" variations worldwide. New York State has owned the trademark since the 1970s.
What is New York City most known for?
New York City is known internationally for its skyline, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, and Wall Street. It is the financial capital of the world, the global center of the art market, and home to Broadway. New York is also known for specific food: thin-crust pizza, bagels with lox, Jewish deli sandwiches, dim sum in Flushing. The city attracts 60+ million tourists per year and ranks consistently among the top three most visited cities in the world.
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