New York City Overview

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Overview of the West Village

Even if you’re visiting New York for the first time, you’ve undoubtedly seen some version of this city before. Its images are ubiquitous—in movies and on television, in novels high- and low-brow, in songs, in classic photographs, and on the nightly news. You’ve probably watched enough Times Square ball drops and late-show lead-ins to anticipate its blaring horns, mega-watt neon lights, and skyscraper canyons—and, to be sure, New York will deliver them all. Perhaps you first fell in love with New York through Woody Allen movies—and imagine it to be full of neurotic writers and fledgling actors, who have affairs in Bohemian apartments and somehow can afford to eat out every night. While few live a lifestyle that glamorous, artists, intellectuals, and pseudo-intellectuals of every stripe do seem to gravitate here. Does your family tell stories of immigrant ancestors arriving at Ellis Island, penniless but hopeful? The 300 languages spoken on the city’s streets and its incomparable array of ethnic cuisines prove that New York is still a melting pot today. Perhaps you were raised on Eloise stories at bedtime, and you dream of luxuriating in plushly decorated hotel suites. New York certainly has no shortage of those to offer, though unless you’re here on an expense account, you’ll likely have to content yourself with a drink in a chic hotel bar. If, with some trepidation, you’re expecting the Gotham City of crime novels and the tabloid press—grimy and congested, dangerous and macabre—the extent to which New York has cleaned itself up in recent decades may surprise you, though a host of urban problems persist. On the other hand, if you’re expecting New York’s sidewalks to be as celebrity-packed as the pages of Us Weekly , you’ll probably be let down—but who knows who you might spot parading in SoHo? The truth is, each of these facets of New York life contains an element of truth, but what makes the city so intense is that it’s beyond any single cliché—and more than all of them put together. You could spend your whole life exploring New York and never exhaust its riches.

Facts And Figures

Mayor: Michael Bloomberg, re-elected to a third four-year term in 2009.
Population: 8.1 million, 18.7 million in the surrounding metropolitan area.
Land Area: 321 sq. mi.—the most densely populated region in North America.
Most Populated Borough: Brooklyn, with 2.5 million residents (Manhattan has 1.5 million).
Racial Mix: 45% white, 27% African American, 27% Latino, 10% Asian.
Tourists: 46.0 million visitors in 2007—83% domestic, 17% foreign.
Subway: 468 stations, 660 mi. of track, and 1.4 billion annual riders.
Licensed Yellow Cabs: 12,778.
Hotel Rooms: 71,000, with 85% occupancy on an average night.
New Restaurants Opened Yearly: About 250.
Acres Of Parkland: 28,000, 843 in Central Park.
Money Exchanged Annually On The Nyse: $5.5 trillion.
Gold Stored At The Federal Reserve Bank: $600 billion’s worth—in 27 lb. bars, locked 80 ft. underground by a 90-ton steel door.
Tallest Buildings: Empire State Building (1250 ft.), Chrysler Building (1046 ft.), American International Building (952 ft.).
Tallest Structure In 1664: A two-story windmill.

Essentials

Passport: Required by citizens of all foreign countries except Canada.
Visa: Required by citizens of most countries
Currency: US dollar (US$)
Sales Tax: 8.625 %; for hotel rooms, there is an additional 5 % hotel tax and $2 room fee per night
Tourism Office:www.iloveny.com
Drinking Age: 21
Phone Numbers: 911 for emergencies

When To Go

A visit to New York is worthwhile at any time of the year, though the time you choose will undoubtedly color your visit. Spring and fall are the most temperate seasons during which to visit; the city ...more

Neighborhoods

Featured Traveler Videos New York City videos powered by Tripfilms Splurge Smart: West Village Overview Other New York City Videos Harlem East Village Rainy Day on the Upper East Side SEE ...more

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