The average New Yorker, conditioned to crowds, speed, Wall Street, even violent death, takes his city for granted. The visitor approaching the city sees spread before him one of the most congested habitations of men on earth, the lofty towers of Manhattan marking the apex of a vast jungle of structures in which men work, sleep, eat, play. Little more than three centuries has sufficed for the building of this gigantic city. The miracle of its upsurge since the turn of the present century makes it a dynamic expression of American civilization. In that sense New York is America.
Two events were of decisive importance in this development: the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and the creation, under State charter, of Greater New York in 1898. The former established the commercial supremacy of New York—a position thenceforth never threatened—over the rival ports of Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and made the city the great gateway for European immigration. The creation of Greater New York brought into the city's jurisdiction not only areas as densely settled as lower Brooklyn, but also forests, farms, and marshes—a huge area for further expansion.
Most New Yorkers do not own their own homes; they rent apartments, and move about almost as freely as tent-dwellers. Population shifts in recent years have made Brooklyn the most populous borough, with the Bronx rapidly rising to challenge that primacy. Manhattan—the commercial, industrial, financial, and amusement center—is decreasing in population.
The city is a cluster of ethnic groups. Definite foreign colonies exist, but the lines are constantly shifting; and with the passing of the years, especially since drastic restrictions have been imposed on immigration, many Old World customs have been lost. On the other hand, much that has come to be considered peculiarly American is the direct contribution of these latter-day citizens. The Negroes are in some ways the most American of all.
New York is one of the greatest centers of museums in the world. Among the best known are the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Washington Heights group, the Museum of Modern Art, and the New York Museum of Science and Industry.
New York City's contribution to the growth of the arts in America has been the provision of a market place and a critical audience for the artist's products. New York is the great center of the Nation's publishing industry. Relatively few of America's artists have been New Yorkers, but since the middle of the nineteenth century they have constantly sought out the book and music publishers, the periodicals, the newspapers, the stage, the art galleries, and the studios of Manhattan.
The city's tempo; its racy vernacular, its endless variety, its wilderness of brick and steel, and its tumultuous humanity have provided a rich reservoir for creative artists. The multitude and magnitude of its skyscrapers constitute New York City's one great contribution to architecture.
