Charging Bull

    Charging Bull, which is sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is a 3,200-kilogram (7,100 lb) bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica that stands in Bowling Green Park near Wall Street in Manhattan. Standing 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and measuring 16 feet (4.9 m) long,the oversize sculpture depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge.  

     The sculpture is both a popular tourist destination which draws thousands of people a day, as well as "one of the most iconic images of New York" and a "Wall Street icon" symbolizing "Wall Street" and the Financial District.

       Di Modica spent some $360,000 to create, cast, and install the sculpture following the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of the "strength and power of the American people". The sculpture was the artist's idea, not the city's. In an act of "guerrilla art",he trucked it to Lower Manhattan and on December 15, 1989, installed it beneath a 60-foot Christmas tree in the middle of Broad Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange as a Christmas gift to the people of New York. That day, crowds came to look at the bull, with hundreds stopping to admire and analyze the gift as Di Modica handed out copies of a flier about his artwork.

       The police seized the sculpture and placed it into an impound lot. The ensuing public outcry led the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to install it two blocks south of the Exchange in the plaza at Bowling Green with a ceremony on December 21,

1989. It faces up Broadway.

Woolworth Building

      The Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, designed by architect  Cass Gilbert and completed in 1913, is an early US skyscraper. The original site for the building was purchased by F. W. Woolworth and his real estate agent Edward J. Hogan by April 15, 1910, from the Trenor Luther Park Estate and other owners for $1.65 million.  By January 18, 1911, Woolworth and Hogan had acquired the final site for the project,  totaling $4.5 million. More than a century after the start of its construction, 

it remains, at 241.4 meters (792 ft), one of the one-hundred tallest buildings in the  United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City. It has been a National Historic Landmark since 1966,and a New York City landmark since 1983.

Bryant Park

      Bryant Park is a 9.603 acre (39,000 m²) privately managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan.Although technically the main building of the New York Public Library is located within the park, effectively it forms the park's functional eastern boundary, making Sixth Avenue the park's primary entrance. Although part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Bryant Park is  managed by a private not-for-profit corporation, the Bryant Park Corporation. 

      Bryant Park is built entirely over an underground structure which houses the New York Public Library's archives. In the 1980s, the park was closed to the public and excavated.The new library facilities were built below ground level and the park was restored above it.

Williamsburg Bridge

     The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. It once carried New York State Route 27A and was planned to carry Interstate 78, though these plans were aborted by the cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway and Bushwick Expressway.

      This is one of four toll-free crossings between Manhattan and Brooklyn or Queens.

George Washington Bridge

       The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey, in the United States. Interstate 95 (I-95) and U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) cross the river via the bridge. 

       The bridge, an integral conduit within the New York metropolitan area, has an upper level carrying four lanes in each direction and a lower level with three lanes in each direction, for a total of 14 lanes of travel. The speed limit on the bridge is 45 mph (72 km/h), though congestion often slows traffic, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. The bridge's upper level carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic. 

        The George Washington Bridge carries approximately 102 million vehicles per year, making it the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge.

                                                Designer:         Othmar Ammann, Cass Gilbert
                                                Total length      4,760 ft (1,450 m)
                                                Width              119 ft (36 m)
                                                Height              604 ft (184 m)

                                           

NoHo

    NoHo, for North of Houston Street is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Mercer Street to the west and the Bowery to the east, from East Ninth Street to East Houston Street. NoHo is primarily made up of loft apartments, which in turn makes it one of the most expensive and desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan. Its small size and central location also contributes to a high demand, again keeping prices high.

  

Astoria

    Astoria is a middle class and commercial neighborhood with a population of 154,000 in the northwestern corner of the New York City borough of Queens. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside,and Woodside (bordering at 50th Street).

     The area now known as Astoria was originally called Hallett's Cove, after its first landowner William Hallett, who settled there in 1659 with his wife, Elizabeth Fones. Beginning in the early 19th century, affluent New Yorkers constructed large residences around 12th and 14th streets, an area that later became known as Astoria Village (now Old Astoria). Hallett's Cove, founded in 1839 by fur merchant Stephen A. Halsey, was a noted recreational destination and resort for Manhattan's wealthy.

      The area was renamed after John Jacob Astor, then the wealthiest man in America with a net worth of over $40 million, in order to persuade him to invest just $2,000 in the neighborhood. He only invested $500, but the name stayed nonetheless, as a bitter battle over naming the village finally was won by Astor's supporters and friends.

     Attractions in Astoria include the Kaufman Astoria Studios' Museum of the Moving Image, Isamu Noguchi Museum, and Socrates Sculpture Park. Astoria Park, along the East River, is Astoria's largest park and also contains the largest of New York City's public pools which was also the former site of the 1936 and 1964 U.S.Olympic trials.

Morningside Heights

     Morningside Heights is a neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City and is chiefly known as the home of institutions such as Columbia University, Teachers College, Barnard College, the Manhattan School of Music, Bank Street College of Education, "Grant's Tomb", the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, the Riverside Church, the Broadway Presbyterian Church, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Interchurch Center and St. Luke's Hospital. Because of the number of educational institutions in the neighborhood, its nickname is the Academic Acropolis.

       Morningside Heights is part of the Upper West Side.However, it has been described as part of "Greater Harlem".Some claim the Upper West Side goes no farther north than 110th Street, but this is not the case.Morningside Heights is bounded by Morningside Park to the east,Harlem to the north, and Riverside Park to the west. The streets that form its boundaries are 110th Street on the south, Riverside Drive on the west, 125th Street on the north, and Morningside Drive to the east.The main thoroughfare is Broadway.

Upper West Side

      The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 116th Street. The Upper West Side is sometimes also considered by the real estate industry to include the neighborhood of Morningside Heights. Like the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side is an upscale, primarily residential area with many of its residents working in more commercial areas in Midtown and Lower Manhattan. It has the reputation of being home to New York City's cultural, intellectual hub with Columbia University located at the north end of the neighborhood, and artistic workers with Lincoln Center located at the south end, while the Upper East Side is traditionally perceived to be home to commercial and business types.

TriBeCa

       

       Tribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Its name is an acronym  from "Triangle Below Canal Street";the "triangle" – actually closer to a trapezoid, or a triangle with the peak cut off – is bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street. Tribeca is dominated by former industrial buildings that have been converted into residential buildings and lofts, similar to those of the neighboring SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the neighborhood was a center of the textile/cotton trade.

         During the late 1960s and '70s, abandoned and inexpensive Tribeca lofts became hot-spot residences for young artists and their families because of the seclusion of lower Manhattan and the vast living space.

       Tribeca is one of America's most fashionable and desirable neighborhoods and is known for its celebrity residents. In 2006 Forbes magazine ranked its 10013 zip code as New York City's most expensive. As of 2010, Tribeca was the safest neighborhood in New York City, according to NYPD and CompStat statistics. The neighborhood is home to the Tribeca Film Festival.

Greenwich Village

  Greenwich Village is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Broadway to the east, the Hudson River to the west, Houston Street to the south, and 14th Street to the north, and roughly centered around Washington Square and New York University. The neighborhoods surrounding it are the East Village and NoHo to the east, SoHo to the south, and Chelsea to the north.

    A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families. Greenwich Village, however, was known in the late 19th to mid 20th centuries as an artists' haven, the bohemian capital, and the East Coast birthplace of both the Beat and '60s counterculture movements. What provided the initial attractive character of the community eventually contributed to its gentrification and commercialization.The name of the village was Anglicized from the Dutch name Groenwijck, meaning "Green District",into Greenwich, a borough of London.

Chelsea

       Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) and Seventh Avenue – to the east, and the Hudson River and West Street to the west. To the north of Chelsea is the neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, also known as "Clinton," to the northeast is the Garment District, to the east are NoMad and the Flatiron District, to the southwest is the Meatpacking District and to the southeast is the West Village.

    The neighborhood is primarily residential, with a mix of tenements, apartment blocks, city housing projects, townhouses and renovated rowhouses, and its many retail businesses reflect the ethnic and social diversity of the population. The western part of Chelsea has become a center of the New York art world, with many art galleries located in both new buildings and rehabilitated warehouses.

SoHo

       SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores. The area's history is an archetypal example of inner-city regeneration and gentrification, encompassing socio-economic, cultural, political and architectural developments.

       Almost all of SoHo is included in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, which was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1973, extended in 2010, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978.It consists of 26 blocks and approximately 500 buildings, many of them incorporating cast iron architectural elements. Many side streets in the district are paved with Belgian blocks.

     The name "SoHo" refers to the area being SOuth of HOuston (Street)", and was also a reference to the London district of Soho.

Grand Central Terminal

   

 Grand Central Terminal (GCT) is a commuter railroad terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States.Built by and named for the New York Central Railroad in the heyday of American long-distance passenger rail travel, it is the largest such facility in the world by number of platforms with 44 serving 67 tracks along them. They are on two levels, both below ground, with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower, though the total number of tracks along platforms  and in rail yards exceeds 100. The terminal covers an area of  48 acres (19 ha).

      

     The terminal serves commuters traveling on the Metro-North Railroad to Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess  counties in New York State, and Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut. Until 1991 the terminal served Amtrak, which moved to nearby Pennsylvania Station upon completion of the Empire Connection.

   

     Although the terminal has been properly called “Grand Central Terminal” since 1913, many people continue to refer to it wrongly as “Grand Central Station,” the name of the previous rail station on the same site, and of the U.S. Post Office station next door, which is not part of the terminal. It is also sometimes used to refer to the Grand Central– 42nd Street subway station, which serves the terminal. It has been described as "the world's loveliest station". According to the travel magazine Travel + Leisure in its October 2011 survey, Grand Central Terminal is "the world's number six most visited tourist attraction", bringing in approximately 21,600,000 visitors annually.The enduring appeal of the station is thought to be related to its monumental spaces and meticulously crafted detail.

Bronx Zoo

          The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the world's largest metropolitan zoo, with some 6,000 animals representing about 650 species from around the world. The zoo comprises 265 acres (107 ha) of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows. The Bronx Zoo is part of an integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 

           Fordham University owned the land which became the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden. Fordham sold it to the City of New York for only $1,000 under the condition that the lands be used for a zoo and garden; this was in order to create a natural buffer between the university grounds and the urban expansion that was nearing. In the 1880s, New York  State set aside the land for future development as parks. In 1895, New York State chartered the New York Zoological Society (later renamed to Wildlife Conservation Society) for the purpose of founding a zoo.

         The zoo (originally called the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) opened its doors to the public on November 8, 1899, featuring 843 animals in 22 exhibits. The first zoo director was William Temple Hornaday. 

         In November 2006, the Zoo opened up brand-new eco-friendly restrooms outside the Bronx River Gate. According to the Clivus multrum company, which built the composting toilets chosen by the Zoo, these facilities will serve 500,000 people and save 1,000,000 U.S. gallons (3,800,000 l) of water a year. In March 2007, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Fordham University Graduate School of Education announced they would offer a joint program leading to a Master of Science degree in education and New York State initial teacher certification in adolescent science education. The program began in 2008, and is the first joint degree program of its kind.

42nd Street

            42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district (and, at times, the red-light district) near that intersection. The street has held a special place in New Yorkers' imaginations since at least the turn of the 20th century, and is the site of some of New York's best known buildings, including (east to west) the United Nations, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.The corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, at the southeast corner of Times Square, was the eastern terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States, which was conceived and mapped in 1913.

          In the early 1990s, city government encouraged a clean-up of the Times Square area. In 1990, the city government took over six of the historic theaters on the block of  42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. In 1993, the Walt Disney Corporation bought the New Amsterdam Theater, which it renovated a few years later. Since the mid-1990s, the block has again become home to legitimate theaters and mainstream movie theaters, along with shops, restaurants and attractions that draw millions to the city every year. This area is now co-signed as "New 42nd St" to signify this change.