New York City was briefly the U.S. capital from 1789 to 1790
The Dutch supposedly bought Manhattan from its Native
American inhabitants for about $40 worth of trinkets
Broadway, originating from Lower Manhattan at Bowling Green
and ending in Albany, is one of the world\'s longest
streets at 150 mi (241 km). The official name of this street is Highway 9.
Manhattan\'s downtown southern tip area is predominantly landfill.
The actual \"natural\" Manhattan makes up only 75% of
the total area in the downtown region.
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine will be the largest Gothic
cathedral in the world when it is completed. However, it
was originally (1892) begun as a Romanesque design and
converted later to Gothic (1911).
Central Park in the middle of Manhattan covers a larger area
than the principality of Monaco.
Staten Island residents voted to secede from the city in 1993, but
such a move would require state approval.
The Big Apple:
Rumor has it that the \"Big Apple\" is so named because during
the depression, many former financiers would travel from their suburban cottages in full suits in order to sell apples on the streets of New York. The rumor goes that several well-to-do families had to make ends-meet by selling apples and the charade became know to many as the \"Big Apple\" scam of New York. Since apples have always been a big part of the New York economy the name simply stuck and was eventually promoted by local government. --Truth or fiction? The Mediabridge staff is unsure, but it makes a good story.
Shelly Warwick reports \"The story I\'ve always heard as to how New York began to be called the Big Apple is that jazz musicians would refer to getting a job in New York as playing the Big Apple, and the term filtered into the general vocabulary.\"
Aubrey Starr confirms this report but adds that \"The Big Apple\" was the name of a jazz club. Jazz musicians used the name \"The Big Apple\" as synonymous with New York City because of the club\'s
popularity. Going to New York invariably meant playing a set at \"The Big Apple\".
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