Trabajando Un Bialy with a Shmear: Why I Love New York!

I live in New York City, and have lived here for 47 of my 50 years. I love it. There are lots of reasons, but, one day, standing on line for breakfast, a counterman yelled to the kitchen:

Trabajando un bialy with a shmear!

I love New York!

For those who don't understand the block quote:

"trabajando" is Spanish for "working"
a bialy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bialy which is sort of like a bagel
a shmear is cream cheese spread on a bagel, bialy, or even bread, I suppose!

Spanglish I hear every day, but Spanish/English/Yiddish in one sentence!

More on diversity later.

Some New York City history

The area that is New York City was originally inhabited by Indians of the Wappani en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wappinger or Wappinger (there is a town called Wappinger's Falls, north of NYC) and Lenapex en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wappinger tribes. The first European explorer to reach New York City harbor was Verrazzano (he's got a bridge named after him), but the first European to explore the area was Henry Hudson (he has a river named after him) and , he has a highway named after him as well: The West Side Highway!

OK, it's real name is the Henry Hudson Parkway, although that isn't the name any Manhattanite uses.

The first European town here was Nieuw Amsterdam, and it was Dutch; the English conquered the area in 1634 and renamed the city. NYC was the first capital of the USA (only from 1789 to 1790).

Some facts and figures about New York City
New York City is the most populous city in the USA, and has been for a long time, at least since the census began, in 1790 (when NYC had 33,131 people and Philadelphia had 28,522). In the 2000 census en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population, NYC had more people then the next two cities, combined:

New York: 8,310,212
Los Angeles: 3,834,340
Chicago: 2,836,658

it is also, by far, the most densely populated city in the USA, at 26,404 people per square mile. Despite the crowds, there are some parks in NYC, in fact, we have dozens www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/park_list/index.html].

New York City is composed of 5 boroughs. Somewhat confusingly, each borough is a county, but the names don't match:
Brooklyn = Kings County
Manhattan = New York County
Bronx = Bronx county
Staten Island = Richmond county
Queens = Queens county

One of my favorite things about New York City is how ethnically mixed it is. [Racially and ethnically en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_York_City#Racial_and_Ethnic_composition it is:
35.1% nonHispanic White
23.7% nonHispanic Black
12.1% Asian
27.4% Hispanic

but that's just the start!

Per that same site, Queens county is the only large county in the USA where median income is higher among Blacks than Whites; and it's the most ethnically diverse county.

We're diverse every which way, some are not so good: We have the most billionaires of any city in the USA; 72 of the Forbes 400 live in NYC, and the most poor people as well - 1.5 million New Yorkers are below the poverty line.

On the other hand - 52% of NYers are Catholic, 18% Jewish, 17% unaffiliated, and only 9% Protestant. That means that NYC has more Catholics than Rome or Dublin; more Jews than Jerusalem or Tel Aviv; and more Hispanics than San Juan. And, while we certainly don't have as many Chinese people as Beijing, or as many Filipinos as Manila, we do have just about as many people with Irish ancestry as Dublin does.

One thing I love to do is eat! And New York City has restaurants of every description. You can go to Gray's Papaya and get 2 very good hot dogs and a drink and get change from a $5 bill.....
Or you can go to Masa and spend $500 a person for some really, really good sushi (so I hear). We have cuisines from Afghan to Vietnamese; we have restaurants specializing in raw food (would that be Italian crudo, Japanese sashimi, French steak tartare, Korean yook hwe, or some other variety?).

Do you want Chinese? Which region? Should it be kosher? Would you like it delivered?
I don't know of any restaurants with food from Antarctica, but we have the other continents covered!

Japanese? Please specify, because New York has sushi parlors, ramen houses, and izakayas.

Indian? Again, which region? Vegetarian? Kosher?

Korean, French, Italian, Thai .... New York City has got 'em all!

More reasons to love NYC
New York City has the best mass transit system in the USA. The subway runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and, if you include commuters from the suburbs, there are 12 million rides taken on the average weekday.

While you are riding the bus, train, or subway, you might want to read something. Per wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_City_newspapers_and_magazines we have over 40 newspapers, and I know the list is missing some (they don't list any Indian papers, for instance, and I know there are several).

If you'd prefer a book, you can go to one of about 500 bookstores; there is even a book about NYC bookstores!

NYC has museums www.ny.com/museums/all.museums.html of all sizes and types.

Whether your ancestors came through Ellis Island or not, it's a great place to visit.

New York City has libraries! The NY Public Library includes many branch libraries, along with the research libraries, most famously the one at 42nd St.

New York City has flowers! There's the world famous New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and Queens has one too!

New York City has animals! We have zoos in all 5 boroughs, including the world famous Bronx zoo.

New York City has crime! But it's not so bad! Per this site gonyc.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm NYC is the 5th safest large city in the USA.

Summary of New York City Fuhgeddaboutit! You can't summarize NYC! Come visit, and see for yourself!