History

Before the Europeans arrived, the Lenape Indians lived on the island they called Mannahatta (island of many hills). In 1624, the Dutch founded the settlement of Nieuw Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan. In 1626, the Dutch governor Peter Minuit "purchased" the island from the Lenape — according to legend, for glass beads and tools worth 60 guilders (the story is simplified but part of the founding mythology).

British Rule & Revolution

In 1664, the British took over the city without a fight and renamed it New York (after the Duke of York). The city grew into the most important port of the British colonies. During the War of Independence (1775–1783), New York was a significant battlefield and occupation city. George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the USA in 1789 on Wall Street — the Federal Hall (now a museum, free admission) still stands there.

Immigration & Rise (19th Century)

In the 19th century, New York became the metropolis of immigration. Millions of Irish (after the Great Famine 1845–52), Italians, Germans, Eastern Europeans, and Jewish refugees arrived by ship — most first saw the Statue of Liberty (1886) and were registered at Ellis Island (1892–1954). Over 12 million people passed through Ellis Island — an estimated 40% of all modern Americans have an ancestor who arrived here.

The city grew upwards: the Brooklyn Bridge (1883), the first skyscraper (the Tower Building, 1889), and the Subway (1904) transformed New York into the most modern city in the world.

The Roaring Twenties & the Skyscrapers

The 1920s were New York's most glamorous decade: jazz exploded in Harlem (Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, Louis Armstrong at the Savoy Ballroom), the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston) brought a literary and artistic bloom, and the skyline soared. The Chrysler Building (1930, Art Deco, still the most beautiful skyscraper in the world) and the Empire State Building (1931, 381 meters, built in just 14 months!) defined the skyline we know today.

The Great Depression (1929–1939)

The stock market crash on Wall Street (October 29, 1929, "Black Tuesday") plunged the world into depression. In New York: mass unemployment, soup kitchens, Hoovervilles (homeless camps) in Central Park. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and city planner Robert Moses used New Deal funds to build bridges, parks, highways, and public facilities — many of which still stand today.

Post-War New York

After World War II, New York became the capital of the world: the United Nations (headquarters on the East River, 1952), Wall Street as a financial center, the Pop Art movement (Andy Warhol, Studio 54), and the era of great cultural institutions (Lincoln Center, MoMA expansion). At the same time, decline began: in the 1970s and 80s, New York was bankrupt, crime exploded (Times Square was a red-light district, the Bronx literally burned), and the city seemed lost. The resurgence under Mayor Rudy Giuliani (1990s, controversial zero-tolerance policy) and the subsequent boom under Michael Bloomberg transformed New York back into the safe, prosperous, overpriced global city of today.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airplanes. Two of them — American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 — flew into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. Within 102 minutes, both towers collapsed. 2,977 people died — the deadliest terrorist attacks in history.

September 11 changed New York and the world forever. The city experienced a collective trauma — and demonstrated a resilience that earned it the nickname "the city that refuses to give up." At the site of the Twin Towers now stand the 9/11 Memorial (the reflective pools), the 9/11 Museum, and the One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower, 541 meters) — as symbols of perseverance.

For visitors from abroad, the Memorial is a place of silence and respect. It is appropriate to remain quiet, refrain from taking selfies, and treat the site for what it is: a burial ground.