As might be expected from a place as large and legendary as New York, the city's history weaves through the stories of countless groups of people, incorporating many cultures and identities into the mix that gradually became what it is today. Originally, the region was inhabited by about 5,000 Lenape Indians, who lived in a well organized and peaceful society. The first European to explore the area was the Florentine, Giovanni da Verrazano, who arrived at New York Bay in 1524. However, the first European to actually land and explore was Henry Hudson who claimed the area for the Dutch East India Company in 1609.

In 1610, the Dutch began trading gold for precious furs, a relationship that would grow until England started pressuring the Dutch to remember that the land was claimed for them. In 1621, the Dutch granted a charter to the Dutch West India Company, the goal being to monopolize Dutch trade in America and Africa. In 1623, the first settlers (Dutch emigrants) arrived in Manhattan to form what would become known as New Amsterdam. The first director-general of New Amsterdam was Peter Minuit who was in charge of purchasing the island from the natives, a deal he reputedly sealed with goods worth less than $30. (Probably the total was closer to $600, but it was a fraction of the island's worth in either case.)

The following years were turbulent with a succession of director-generals who were more concerned with furthering their interests than keeping peace or providing stability. Violence routinely broke out between the natives and settlers, and there were also problems between the English and the Dutch. These tensions eventually escalated into war. In 1664, Charles II of England gifted a large piece of land including New Amsterdam to his brother James Stuart, the Duke of York. The Duke sent his ships to the colony, where the governor of New Amsterdam was convinced by his advisors that they did not stand a chance and surrendered the city without a fight. The city became known as New York.

The Dutch gained control once more before finally giving up completely in 1674 after deciding that they could not continue to fight against both England and France. For nearly a century, the city continued to grow and develop under the English, but tensions began to escalate in the 1760s over taxes such as the Stamp Act and Townsend Act. New York followed Boston's lead by dumping tea into the Hudson River a year after the Boston Tea Party. With the beginning of the Revolutionary War, there was fighting in New York, but the British defeated the poorly trained Colonial militia, and occupied New York for most of the war.

In the early 19th century, New York's population grew from 65,000 in 1800 to 250,000 in 1820. Tensions flared in the city during the Civil War due to the disparity between the poor immigrant population and the rich affluence surrounding them. Rich men could pay $300 to avoid being drafted whereas the poor had no choice. However, the city survived these tensions and the rest of the century was a time of growth thanks to immigration. Millionaires row developed along Fifth Avenue with grand mansions, and the first skyscrapers were seen along Broadway.

By 1880, more than 1.1 million people were calling New York home, and the population boom led to a city comprised mostly of tenements. The city suffered the societal and cultural consequences of such living conditions. In 1897, the charter was approved for "Greater New York" to be formed. Despite opposition, the five boroughs of Manhattan (New York County), Borough of The Bronx, Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens (Queens County), and Staten Island (Richmond County) became Greater New York with a total of 359 square miles and a population of 3.1 million. New York became the world's second largest city, behind London. High-rises began to develop with the Flatiron Building, a triangular building, completed in 1902 (located at the intersection of 23rd and Broadway). The city's first high-rise was known for creating unusual wind patterns at ground-level and men would actually gather in the area to watch women's skirts being blown up by the wind. This became such a problem that policemen actually had to patrol the area with the well-known call of "23 skiddoo" to shoo the on-lookers away. (Or so the legend goes....)

The population explosion continued, reaching 7 million by 1930. This was largely due to the waves of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. It is actually estimated that more than half of the population of the US today are descended from people who entered the country through the NYC harbor. This continual influx of immigrants caused growth and challenged the city as the population increased in both size and diversity. Racial tension, drugs, and crime plagued New York and in the decades following WWII, the city began to lose its economic strength as businesses moved and politicians did nothing to change the city's policies. In the 1970s, NYC was actually close to bankruptcy, a disaster averted only with the influx of federal cash.

In recent years, the city has undergone some major changes, with a drop in crime and the transformation of such areas as Times Square from drug and crime ridden areas to tourist meccas. Under Mayor Guiliani, the city finally began to work towards major projects to augment its infrastructure.

The most defining event in the city's history was undoubtedly the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, which left the World Trade Center in ruins and the city and country shaken to the core. The city has recovered, however, and seems determined to build upon the foundation of the tragedy to improve the city's future.

Some random fun facts about NYC:

• NYC has 6,374.6 miles of streets
• Broadway's original name was the Wiechquaekeck Trail.
• The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is so long that the towers are a few inches out of parallel to adjust for the earth's curvature
• The Queens Museum of Art contains a panorama of NYC that is the world's largest architectural model, containing 895,000 individual structures at a scale of 1 inch = 100 feet
• Into the 1840s, thousands of hungry, wandering pigs served as Wall Street's sanitation system
• The tallest structure in 1664 was a two-story windmill
• The New York Stock Exchange began in 1972 with 24 brokers meeting under a buttonwood tree facing 68 Wall Street
• An average of 80 women go into labor on the subways each year.

Sources:

( http://www.lonelyplanet.com ) (Accessed June 25, 2004)

( http://www.nyc.gov ) (Accessed June 25, 2004)

( http://www.nycvisit.com ) (Accessed June 28, 2004)