New York County, New York: History and Information

Manhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, in the State of New York in the United States. The borough is coterminous with New York County, founded on November 1, 1683 as one of the state's original counties. The borough consists mostly of Manhattan Island, bounded by the East, Hudson, and Harlem Rivers, and also includes several small adjacent islands and Marble Hill, a small neighborhood on the mainland.

Etymology - Origin of New York County Name

King James II of England (1633-1701), who was Duke of York and Albany before he ascended the throne of England, Duke of York being his English title

Demographics:

New York County History

The county and city of New York are of the same extent, comprising the whole of New York, or Manhattan Island, about 14 1/2 miles long, varying from half a mile to two miles in width; area 21 3/4 square miles, or 13,920 acres. It is bounded on the north and east by Haerlem and East rivers, south and west by the Hudson, or by New York bay and the state of New Jersey. The legal subdivisions of the county and city are wards, 19 in number, of various extent, according to local convenience. Agreeably to the charter of New York, its jurisdiction extends to the lands under the adjoining waters as far as to low water mark on the opposite sides. The compact part of the city is at the southern part of the island, and covers about one-sixth part of its surface. Its latitude and longitude, reckoned from the City Hall, were determined in 1817, by order of the corporation, as follows: N. lat. 40 degrees, 42' 43"; W. long. from Greenwich, England, 73 Degrees, 59' 46", and E. long, from the city of Washington 3 Degrees 1' 13". (Historical Collections of the State of New York, Past and Present, Barber, John, Warner, Clark Albien & Co. 1851)

In 1524 the first European, an Italian named Di Verrazzano, explored the New York Harbor. Although Di Verrazzano was the first explorer to visit New York City, it is Dutch explorer Henry Hudson who is credited with bringing Europe to the "Big Apple."Hudson received funding from the Dutch East India Company to explore the world in 1609. Within the next 20 years, many Dutch settled in New York City and called it New Amsterdam. Many immigrants to the new world saw New York City as a place for religious freedom.

Geography: Land and Water

Central Park is visible in the center of this satellite image. Manhattan is bounded by the Hudson River to the west, the Harlem River to the north, and East River to the east. Manhattan Island is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and the East River to the east. To the north, the Harlem River divides Manhattan from The Bronx and the mainland United States. Several small islands are also part of the borough of Manhattan, including Randall's Island, Ward's Island, and Roosevelt Island in the East River, and Governors Island and Liberty Island to the south in New York Harbor. Manhattan Island is 22.7 square miles (58.8 km²) in area, 13.4 miles (21.6 km) long and 2.3 miles (3.7 km) wide, at its widest (near 14th Street). New York County as a whole covers a total area of 33.77 square miles (87.46 km²), of which 22.96 square miles (59.47 km²) are land and 10.81 square miles (28.00 km²) are water

Neighboring Counties

Education

Education in Manhattan is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. Public schools in the borough are operated by the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States. Charter schools include Success Academy Harlem 1 through 5, Success Academy Upper West, and Public Prep.

As of 2003, 52.3% of Manhattan residents over age 25 have a bachelor's degree, the fifth highest of all counties in the country. By 2005, about 60% of residents were college graduates and some 25% had earned advanced degrees, giving Manhattan one of the nation's densest concentrations of highly educated people.

Manhattan has various colleges and universities, including Columbia University (and its affiliate Barnard College), Cooper Union, Marymount Manhattan College, New York Institute of Technology, New York University (NYU), The Juilliard School, Pace University, Berkeley College, The New School, Yeshiva University, and a campus of Fordham University. Other schools include Bank Street College of Education, Boricua College, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Manhattan School of Music, Metropolitan College of New York, School of Visual Arts, Touro College and Union Theological Seminary. Several other private institutions maintain a Manhattan presence, among them St. John's University, The College of New Rochelle and Pratt Institute.

The City University of New York (CUNY), the municipal college system of New York City, is the largest urban university system in the United States, serving more than 226,000 degree students and a roughly equal number of adult, continuing and professional education students. A third of college graduates in New York City graduate from CUNY, with the institution enrolling about half of all college students in New York City. CUNY senior colleges located in Manhattan include: Baruch College, City College of New York, Hunter College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the CUNY Graduate Center (graduate studies and doctoral granting institution). The only CUNY community college located in Manhattan is the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

The State University of New York is represented by the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York State College of Optometry and Stony Brook University - Manhattan.

Manhattan is a world center for training and education in medicine and the life sciences. The city as a whole receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health among all US cities, the bulk of which goes to Manhattan's research institutions, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Weill Cornell Medical College and New York University School of Medicine.

New York State

New York Counties