“ NEW YORK. The chief city of the State of New York, the commercial metropolis of the United States, the largest city of the Western Hemisphere, and after London the largest city in the world. It is situated at the mouth of the Hudson River, which enters the Atlantic Ocean through New York Bay, 205 miles in a direct line northeast of Washington, 715 miles east by south of Chicago, and 190 miles southwest of Boston; latitude of the City Hall, 40° 42′ N., longitude 74° W.
The climate, on the whole, is very healthful and enjoyable, but is subject to great extremes. ”

“ In the densely populated section, tenement houses having an average height of five or six stories, inadequately lighted and ventilated, and otherwise lacking in sanitary facilities, are the rule. Several large model tenement houses have recently been built, notably those of the City and Suburban Homes Company. The housing problem, therefore, is one of the most difficult with which the city has to deal, and presents phases almost unknown in other large centres of population. A radical tenement house law, which went into effect in 1902, is effecting a great improvement. ”

“ In the central part of the city, toward the southern end of the island, with Broadway as the main artery, are the largest banks and great commercial houses. Farther up is the retail shopping district, and above that are the homes of the well-to-do classes. Fifth Avenue, which but a few years ago was occupied solely by the homes of rich people, is becoming more and more a business thoroughfare as far as Fiftieth Street. ”

“ Few of the many Scandinavian immigrants to the United States have settled in New York. The large immigration from Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Poland consists almost wholly of Jews. Nearly one-fourth of the population of Manhattan are Jews. A large proportion of New York immigrants represent a class of unskilled laborers. The German immigrants, however, have always contained a large class of skilled artisans, who have participated in the more advanced industrial life of the city, and have contributed greatly to its social and artistic life. ”

“ To-day there are more than one hundred apartment hotels in Manhattan, each housing from 40 to 200 families, and many more are being built. One of the largest groups of apartment houses is that known as the Navarro, at Seventh Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street, built about sixteen years ago at a cost of $5,000,000. Another noted building of this type is the Dakota, at West Seventy-second Street, facing Central Park. One of the largest of the new apartment hotels is the Ansonia, at Seventy-fourth Street and Broadway, which covers a plot of land 200 × 400 feet, and is 16 stories high. ”

“ The salaries paid are the highest prevailing in any city of the world. There is a board of estimate and apportionment, consisting of the Mayor, Comptroller (elected by popular vote) , president of the board of aldermen, and the five borough presidents (the presidents of Manhattan and Brooklyn having two votes each) , which annually submits the budget to the board of aldermen. The board of aldermen cannot insert new items, increase the amount specified, or vary the stipulated terms and conditions; but there are certain items which it may reduce. ”

“ The administration of public charities is under a separate department governed by a commissioner, who appoints two deputies and other subordinate officers. New York City differs from other large American cities in that it grants large subsidies to private charitable institutions, the amount spent in this way exceeding that apportioned to public charities. ”

“ Among the Congregational churches is the Tabernacle, whose trustees, having sold the old church building at Broadway and Thirty-fourth Street, are now building at Broadway and Fifty-sixth Street. All Souls', at Fourth Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, is the oldest of the Unitarian churches, while the Divine Paternity, at Central Park West and Seventy-sixth Street, holds a similar position among the Universalist churches. There are 114 parishes of the Roman Catholic faith, the Cathedral of Saint Patrick, at Fifth Avenue and Fiftieth Street, being one of the finest church buildings of the city. ”

“ Beyond these immediate suburbs we come to a section of New Jersey embracing Elizabeth, the Oranges, Montclair, Morristown, Plainfield, and many other places which are mainly suburbs of New York, in addition to the two great manufacturing centres of Newark and Paterson, also the homes of great numbers of New York business men. These places have a total population of about half a million. On the northeast the cluster of towns largely inhabited by persons doing business in New York extends beyond the boundary line of Connecticut. ”

“ Among the more important organizations which give attention to charitable work are the United Hebrew Charities, Children's Aid Society, Saint Vincent de Paul Society, and the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. The conditions in the crowded sections of the city have been greatly improved by the work of Social Settlements and similar institutions, of which there are a large number, some denominational, others non-sectarian. Manhattan alone has some 25, the best known of which are University Settlement and the Educational Alliance. ”

“ In Manhattan alone, 41.5 per cent. of the total population was foreign born. New York has been always a strikingly cosmopolitan city. During the middle of the nineteenth century there was a very heavy German and Irish immigration to the city, but before the end of the century the immigration of these nationalities had greatly declined, and there had begun a heavy immigration from the south and east of Europe. ”

“ Sailors' Snug Harbor, a home for aged seamen, is on Staten Island. This institution derives an income of $250,000 from valuable Broadway real estate, with which it is endowed. The orphan asylums of New York are under private control. Private charity is active and thoroughly organized; and much has been done to correlate the different agencies by the Charity Organization Society of New York City. The society has a number of sub-committees in charge of the different districts into which the city is divided. The Brooklyn Bureau of Charities performs a similar function in that borough. ”

“ The avenues running north and south are generally 100 feet wide. The great artery of New York is Broadway, which unfortunately is only 80 feet wide in the business section of the city, its width being nearly doubled in its northern half. On the east side of the city along the avenues D, C, B, A, First, Second, and Third, counting west from the East River, and in an adjoining area to the south, are the great tenement house districts. ”

“ The clubs of New York number more than 200. The oldest and most conservative of the non-political clubs is the Union, at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-first Street, organized in 1836. The Union League Club, at Thirty-ninth Street and Fifth Avenue, is the largest political club. The most important club of artists and literary men is the Century Association, organized in 1847, which possesses a beautiful building in West Forty-third Street. ”

“ The Brooklyn water supply is obtained from small local streams, ponds, and wells. There is a large reservoir in the eastern part of the Borough of Brooklyn and a small one near the entrance to Prospect Park. The daily consumption in this borough is about 100,000,000 gallons.
Finance. The budget of New York is considerably more than three times that of any other American city, and greater than that of any other city in the world. ”

“ As the continental climate extends to the Atlantic coast of North America, the temperatures of New York City depend, to an important extent, upon the meteorological conditions of the interior regions. The humidity due to the proximity of the sea tends to increase the discomfort both of oppressively hot and severely cold days. ”

“ The new building for the Public Library, a vast structure of white marble, 366 feet long and 246 feet wide, is upon the site of the old reservoir at Fifth Avenue, between Fortieth and Forty-second streets. Its estimated cost is about $5,000,000. It has shelving capacity for 1,250,000 volumes. The first circulating library dates from 1880. There are now sixteen circulating libraries and reading rooms, which form a part of the general system, the New York Public Library, the New York Free Circulating Library, and other libraries having been consolidated in 1901. ”

“ All officers in the department except two, one of whom is the city chamberlain, or treasurer, are appointed by the Comptroller.
Population. Greater New York has about twice the population of any other American city, and is exceeded only by London among the cities of the world. This has come about almost wholly in the nineteenth century, during which time the city grew at a rate never equaled. In the colonial period New York ranked below Boston and Philadelphia. ”

“ In 1900, 66.70 per cent. of the population of Manhattan and the Bronx lived in dwellings containing twenty-one or more persons, while in Brooklyn the corresponding percentage was only 25.70 per cent. In Chicago it was 16.63. The density per acre in the Borough of Manhattan was 129.2. The region of greatest density is the lower East Side, where in the Eighth Assembly District, covering 98 acres of area, there was in 1900 a population of 735.9 to the acre. ”

“ The relative rank of the city is much lower in respect to the principal exports of the country. It exports less than one-half of the animal products, less than one-fourth of the breadstuffs, corn, wheat, flour, etc., the shipments of the latter class having decreased in recent years, and only about one-tenth of the cotton. It exports a large part of the copper and most of the machinery. ”

“ Gifts came in so rapidly from citizens that the Legislature authorized the building of a fire-proof structure in Central Park at a cost of $500,000. This was formally opened in 1880. During the last twenty-five years a collection of art objects of every description, to the value of several million dollars, has been gathered, chiefly by gifts from public-spirited citizens. There are paintings, statuary, porcelains, ivories, tapestries, musical instruments, and Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities. In 1902 a handsome entrance wing facing on Fifth Avenue was finished. ”

“ New York has hardly a rival in the variety of its highly finished manufactured articles. The sugar and molasses refining industry is confined mainly to Brooklyn. There are also in Brooklyn extensive foundries and machine shops, and establishments for the roasting and grinding of coffee and spices. ”

“ According to the census of 1900, the principal foreign countries represented in the immigration to New York City in order of prominence were Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Bohemia, Hungary and Austria, Poland, England, Scotland, and Wales. ”

“ The American Museum of Natural History, on Central Park West, contains vast collections of stuffed animals, birds, reptiles, fishes, shells, and fossils. The main lecture hall will seat 1000 persons. Museums of great interest are maintained also by the Historical Society, Columbia University, and the Lenox Library, the last named having a fine picture gallery. ”

“ Many interests are provided for through local government, the five boroughs being divided into 25 local improvement districts. In each borough a president is elected, in whom important powers are vested. The borough presidents control such matters as the grading and paving of streets, sewers, public baths, etc., and the presidents of Queens and Richmond have control also of street-cleaning. ”

“ The total seating capacity of New York's places of amusement has been estimated at over 80,000. The Harlem section also has several fine theatres, among which are the Harlem Opera House, near Seventh Avenue on 125th Street, and the West End Theatre, on 125th Street west of Manhattan Avenue. ”

“ Theatres, Clubs, Hotels. New York has about 40 theatres, in addition to almost as many more variety houses and concert halls. The largest is the Metropolitan Opera House, opened in 1883, which occupies the block bounded by Broadway, Seventh Avenue, Thirty-ninth and Fortieth streets. It seats 3200 persons. Among the largest and most luxurious of the theatres, most of which are on or near Broadway, are the Broadway, at Forty-first Street ”

“ His plan was to take a section running across the island from river to river. A strip of land was finally appropriated for a public park, but running north and south instead of east and west. Work was begun in 1857. Central Park is now one of the most beautiful pleasure-grounds in the world. It contains 840 acres. About 400 acres are wooded, this area including specimens of nearly every tree and shrub that can be made to grow here. There are nine miles of drives, with thirty miles of foot-paths and other roads ”

“ July is almost invariably a little warmer than the other summer months. The temperature of the hottest day ranges from 90° to 99°, and the mercury sometimes falls to zero or even below. The annual precipitation is from 36 to 42 inches, the amount of snow being from 20 to 30 inches. ”