30 September: New York City

On 30 September 1898, the city of New York as we know it today was established when it merged with the then separate city of Brooklyn.

1. New York began as a Dutch trading post in 1624 - they called it New Amsterdam. When the British took over in 1664 they called it New York because King Charles II of England had given the land to his brother, the Duke of York. The Borough of Queens was also named for royalty, probably Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705), Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, while the Dutch influence remains with Brooklyn, which derives from Breuckelen, the Dutch word for marshland. Manhattan comes from Manna-hata, a Native American word for "island of many hills". The Bronx was named for a Swedish man called Jonas Bronck, who was the first European settler in the area and built a farm there. People visiting the farm were said to be going to the Bronck's. Staten Island derives from "Staaten Eylandt", the name given to it by Henry Hudson, "Staaten" being the German word for states.
2. It's frequently referred to as "The Big Apple". No-one is sure exactly why, but it's not because there was a famous brothel there run by a woman named Eve. More likely it came from a 1909 book in which author Edward S. Martin says that people in Kansas see it as a greedy city - a big apple which gets more than its fair share of sap. In the 1920s the term became popular thanks to a sports writer called John J. Fitz Gerald writing about a trip to "the Big Apple."
3. New York is associated with being big and full of people. In 2016 the population was estimated at 8,537,673 living in an area of 302.6 square miles (784 km2), making it the most populous and most densely populated city in the USA and has been since 1790. It has a bigger population than 39 of the 50 states; and if the state of Texas was as densely populated you could fit the entire population of the world in there. 1 in 38 of Americans live in New York City. Brooklyn and Queens on their own would be competing for the title of fourth most populated city. It's also the most linguistically diverse city in the world with 800 different languages spoken.
4. You wouldn't expect a place like this to have much in the way of animal life, but you'd be wrong. The parks in particular are home to lots of wildlife. Perhaps when you remember that Central Park alone is actually bigger in area than the two smallest countries in the world (Vatican City and Monaco) it seems believable. 15,152 forms of life have been found in the New York Subway system (though we are probably talking insects and bacteria, mostly). The city actually has the highest concentration of peregrine falcons in the world, because these birds like nesting in high places, so what better place than the roof of a skyscraper?
5. Talking of skyscrapers, there is a 550 foot skyscraper in New York City with no windows. It was built to withstand the fallout of a nuclear blast for up to 2 weeks.
6. There was one day in New York where no violent crimes were reported throughout the day. This was November 28, 2012.
7. On the subject of crime, you may not believe it, but honking a car horn is illegal in the city - but it doesn't stop people doing it. Conversely, it's not illegal for a woman to walk the streets topless. Farting in church is considered a misdemeanour and there is a law stating that the penalty for jumping off a building in New York is death, though with most buildings there that's a law of nature! Pinball was a crime until 1978, because it was deemed to be a game of chance - until Roger Sharpe testified that it was a game of skill by playing the game in court and scoring exactly what he said he was shooting for, thus proving it was a game of skill. Finally, up until the second world war, the only date when people could move house was May 1st.
8. The Waldorf Astoria hotel has a "secret" train station underneath it. It's called Track 61, and is said to have been built for US president Franklin D Roosevelt, who wanted to be able to get in and out of the hotel without being seen, in order to hide the fact that he had polio. FDR's presidential car is still down there. It may have served other more recent presidents, too - George W Bush, is said to have had “a train kept permanently idling on Track 61 in case he had to escape quickly”. Rumour has it, it is still in use today.
9. From 2018, New York City will be the home of the world's first underground park. It is being built in a disused trolley terminal dating back to 1908, using solar technology whereby sunlight will be reflected off a huge mirror into the underground space. It will be called The Lowline.
10. New York City's coastline is 520 miles long. That's longer than the coastlines of Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco put together.

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