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🇺🇸 North America & Caribbean · metro 14.2M

New York

New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States. It is located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs—Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. New York is a global center of finance and commerce, culture, technology, entertainment and media, the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy. New York City is known for its fast pace and continuous urban energy. An estimated 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world.

Typical weather

1981–present
JFMAMJJASOND
springsummerautumnwinter
coldcool warmhot
JFMAMJJASOND
Come for everything else New York does a lot well. The weather is not on the list.

City Rhythm

measured
Eat well at 2 a.m.
14% of food & drink open past midnight
Work all day from a café
80 h open per week
Run Sunday's errands
96% of shops open on Sundays
Find breakfast before 8
26% open before 8 a.m.

Opening hours, by kind of place

median across mapped venues
Food & drink24,215 places mapped
10:30–22:00
0006121824
14%
open past midnight
93%
open on Sundays
80h
open per week
4%
open 24/7
Shops & errands7,790 places mapped
07:00–22:00
0006121824
2%
open past midnight
96%
open on Sundays
104h
open per week
24%
open 24/7

Vital absurdities

measured · the Anti-Awards

Same time system

by rhythm

What to do each season

4
Dec-Feb

winter

chilly and damp; openmeteo mean −2.3 to 0.8 °C (Wikipedia January mean 0.7 °C; temps usually drop to −12 °C several times per winter, but can reach 16 °C for days); average winter snowfall ~29 in; the Atlantic and Appalachians moderate the cold

  • the cold season — the subway and the indoor cultural economy (Broadway, museums) carry the city; the lowest tourist density outside the holidays
  • the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Times Square New Year's Eve (the global NYE broadcast image)
Mar-May

spring

unpredictable but mildening; openmeteo mean 3.0-14.8 °C; 'spring … can range from cool to warm, although usually mild with low humidity'

  • the cherry blossoms and the Central Park spring; the comfortable walking window before the summer humidity
Jun-Aug

summer

hot and humid; openmeteo mean 20.2-23.7 °C (Jul mean 25.3 °C; 17 days/yr ≥32 °C, occasionally ≥38 °C); the urban heat island adds ~5.3 °C to nighttime temperatures

  • the oppressive heat — the 'New York minute' indoor/underground pace; rooftop and waterfront bars carry the season
  • the summer concert and outdoor-festival season (Central Park SummerStage, Shakespeare in the Park)
Sep-Nov

autumn

mild and the comfortable window; openmeteo mean 6.2-19.1 °C; 'autumn … usually mild with low humidity'; the fall foliage in Central Park

  • the high season — the U.S. Open tennis (Aug-Sep), Fashion Week (Sep), the Broadway fall season, and the most pleasant weather

What it is known for

Times Square / Broadway (the Theater District)🚇the subway (472 stations, 24/7; busiest in the Western Hemisphere)the skyline / skyscrapers (6,455 high-rises)🌳Central Parkthe Statue of Liberty / Ellis Islandthe Empire State Building🚇Wall Street / the global financial capital (the largest metro economy)the five boroughsthe United Nations headquarters🚇'the city that never sleeps' / 24-hour subwaymulticulturalism (800 languages; ~5.9M foreign-born)hip-hop / Broadway / the Harlem Renaissance (birthplace)New York-style pizza, bagels and delisMadison Avenue (advertising) / Fashion Avenue'New York minute' (the fast pace)

Important moments in a year

12-31

Times Square NYE

  • the Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop — the global NYE broadcast image
  • one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections
wikipedia:Tourism
February and September

New York Fashion Week

  • New York Fashion Week — a high-profile semiannual event setting the tone for the global fashion industry
wikipedia:Cuisine
first Monday of May

Met Gala

  • the Met Gala — often described as 'Fashion's Biggest Night'
wikipedia:Cuisine
Aug-Sep

Us Open Tennis

  • the U.S. Open tennis Grand Slam
wikipedia:Sports

On the record

source-tracked
nature

New York City has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and is the northernmost major city on the North American continent with this categorization.

wikipedia:Climate
nature

Nighttime temperatures are 9.5 °F (5.3 °C) degrees higher for the average city resident due to the urban heat island effect, caused by paved streets and tall buildings.

wikipedia:Climate
movement

The New York City Subway is one of the largest rapid transit systems in the world … with 472 stations. Nearly all of New York's subway system is open 24 hours a day. It is the busiest metropolitan rail transit system in the Western Hemisphere, with 1.70 billion passenger rides in 2019.

wikipedia:Transportation
movement

54.6% of New Yorkers commuted to work in 2005 using mass transit. This is in contrast to the rest of the country, where 91% of commuters travel in automobiles to their workplace.

wikipedia:Transportation
social

An estimated 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world.

wikipedia:lead
everyday

Greater New York is the world's largest metropolitan economy, with a gross metropolitan product estimated at US$2.16 trillion in 2022.

wikipedia:Economy
social

The city is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the Harlem Renaissance … and hip-hop, punk, hardcore, salsa, freestyle, Tin Pan Alley, and certain forms of jazz in music.

wikipedia:Culture
social

A record 66.6 million tourists visited New York City in 2019, bringing in $47.4 billion in tourism revenue.

wikipedia:Tourism
history

As of 2019, New York City had 6,455 high-rise buildings, the third most in the world after Hong Kong and Seoul.

wikipedia:Architecture
everyday

Manhattan's population density is 70,450.8 inhabitants per square mile, the highest of any county in the United States.

wikipedia:Demographics
social

New York City has been described as the cultural capital of the world.

wikipedia:Culture
From the review desk · coming soon
What Cities Let You Do

The method behind this atlas — 196 pp. Not published yet.