1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Manhattan
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Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of New York City, its economic and administrative center, and the citys historical birthplace. The borough is coextensive with New York County, founded on November 1,1683, Manhattan is often described as the cultural and financial capital of the world and hosts the United Nations Headquarters. Many multinational media conglomerates are based in the borough and it is historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626 for 60 guilders which equals US$1062 today. New York County is the United States second-smallest county by land area, on business days, the influx of commuters increases that number to over 3.9 million, or more than 170,000 people per square mile. Manhattan has the third-largest population of New York Citys five boroughs, after Brooklyn and Queens, the City of New York was founded at the southern tip of Manhattan, and the borough houses New York City Hall, the seat of the citys government. The name Manhattan derives from the word Manna-hata, as written in the 1609 logbook of Robert Juet, a 1610 map depicts the name as Manna-hata, twice, on both the west and east sides of the Mauritius River. The word Manhattan has been translated as island of hills from the Lenape language. The United States Postal Service prefers that mail addressed to Manhattan use New York, NY rather than Manhattan, the area that is now Manhattan was long inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. In 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano – sailing in service of King Francis I of France – was the first European to visit the area that would become New York City. It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, a permanent European presence in New Netherland began in 1624 with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625, construction was started on the citadel of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, later called New Amsterdam, the 1625 establishment of Fort Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan Island is recognized as the birth of New York City. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 to US$23, variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars, as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006, based on the price of silver, Straight Dope author Cecil Adams calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992. In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as the last Dutch Director General of the colony, New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2,1653. In 1664, the English conquered New Netherland and renamed it New York after the English Duke of York and Albany, the Dutch Republic regained it in August 1673 with a fleet of 21 ships, renaming the city New Orange. Manhattan was at the heart of the New York Campaign, a series of battles in the early American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was forced to abandon Manhattan after the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16,1776. The city, greatly damaged by the Great Fire of New York during the campaign, became the British political, British occupation lasted until November 25,1783, when George Washington returned to Manhattan, as the last British forces left the city
3.
The Bronx
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The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, within the U. S. state of New York. Since 1914, the Bronx has had the boundaries as Bronx County, a county of New York. The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a section in the west, closer to Manhattan. East and west street addresses are divided by Jerome Avenue—the continuation of Manhattans Fifth Avenue, the West Bronx was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. Bronx County was separated from New York County in 1914, about a quarter of the Bronxs area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the boroughs north and center. These open spaces are situated primarily on land reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north. The name Bronx originated with Jonas Bronck, who established the first settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639, the native Lenape were displaced after 1643 by settlers. This cultural mix has made the Bronx a wellspring of both Latin music and hip hop. The Bronx, particularly the South Bronx, saw a decline in population, livable housing, and the quality of life in the late 1960s. Since then the communities have shown significant redevelopment starting in the late 1980s before picking up pace from the 1990s until today, the Bronx was called Rananchqua by the native Siwanoy band of Lenape, while other Native Americans knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River, the origin of Jonas Bronck is contested. Some sources claim he was a Swedish born emigrant from Komstad, Norra Ljunga parish in Småland, Sweden, who arrived in New Netherland during the spring of 1639. Bronck became the first recorded European settler in the now known as the Bronx and built a farm named Emmanus close to what today is the corner of Willis Avenue. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland north of the Dutch settlement in Harlem. He eventually accumulated 500 acres between the Harlem River and the Aquahung, which known as Broncks River or the Bronx. Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Broncks Land, the American poet William Bronk was a descendant of Pieter Bronck, either Jonas Broncks son or his younger brother. More recent research indicates that Pieter was probably Jonas nephew or cousin, the Bronx is referred to with the definite article as The Bronx, both legally and colloquially. The region was named after the Bronx River and first appeared in the Annexed District of The Bronx created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County
4.
Riverside Drive (Manhattan)
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Riverside Drive is a scenic north-south thoroughfare in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The boulevard runs on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, generally parallel to the Hudson River from 72nd Street to near the George Washington Bridge at 181st Street. North of 96th Street, Riverside Drive is a divided boulevard. Some of the most coveted addresses in New York are located along its route, the first proposal to convert the riverside precipice into a park was contained in a pamphlet written by William R. Martin, a parks commissioner, in 1865. In 1866, a bill introduced into the Legislature by commissioner Andrew Green was approved, the first segment of park was acquired through condemnation in 1872, at the same time, Riverside Drive was being developed as a scenic parkway. Olmsted drew up the plan for the joint Riverside Park and Riverside Drive project, afterward, several architects started work on the project. Based on Central Park, the new project consisted of a tree-lined driveway curving around the valleys and rock outcroppings, primary construction of the project was completed in about 1910. In the 1930s, New York Central Railroads rail track north of 72nd Street was covered in a Robert Moses project called the West Side Improvement. The project, which was bigger than the Hoover Dam project, created the Henry Hudson Parkway and it was so skillfully done that many believe the park and road are set on a natural slope. Seemed to hang over Riverside Drive endlessly after each passage of a train carrying south to the slaughterhouses in downtown Manhattan carload after carload of cattle and pigs. In the 1980s Donald Trump, then owner of the 57 acres of land just south of Riverside Park that had been the Penn Central freight rail yard, the agreed-upon plan would expand Riverside Park by 23 acres. Riverside Drive, also included in the design, would be extended to the south as Riverside Boulevard, Riverside Drive starts at 72nd Street as a narrow parkway and a continuation of Riverside Boulevard, the latter stretches through Riverside Park South to 62nd Street. The viaduct between Tiemann Place and 135th Street is called the Riverside Drive Viaduct, as it is the most notable of the Riverside Drive viaducts, at its north end, Riverside Drive merges with the northbound lanes of the Henry Hudson Parkway. In 2005, the wall of Castle Village collapsed onto both Riverside Drive and the northbound lanes of the Henry Hudson Parkway. The wall was repaired and the roadway reopened in March 2008, Riverside Drive terminated at Grants Tomb in a cul-de-sac, prior to the construction of the Manhattan Valley viaduct, spanning 125th Street, completed in 1900. North of 158th Street the right of way which currently carries the name Riverside Drive was known as Boulevard Lafayette, the section exiting the parkway at the Dyckman Street exit and ending at Broadway is still known as Riverside Drive. The M5 New York City Bus route serves Riverside Drive from 72nd to 135th Streets, the Bx6 terminates at Riverside Drive and 158th Street. Riverside Park, part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, is a waterfront public park on a narrow 4 miles strip of land between the Hudson River and Riverside Drive
5.
Bruckner Expressway
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The Bruckner Expressway is a freeway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It carries Interstate 278 and I-95 from the Triborough Bridge to the end of the New England Thruway at the Pelham Parkway interchange. The highway follows a mostly northeast–southwest alignment through the portion of the borough. The expressway begins at the approach to the Triborough Bridge. It heads to the northeast as a highway, carrying the I-278 designation through the South Bronx. After 2 miles, the Bruckner Expressway meets the short Sheridan Expressway, here, the highway connects to the Bronx River Parkway at an interchange one block north of that roads official southern terminus. In the east half of the junction, located on the bank of Westchester Creek in Throggs Neck, the Bruckner Expressway intersects the Hutchinson River Parkway, I-295. I-295 proceeds southeast from the Bruckner Interchange as the Cross Bronx Expressway Extension, while the Hutchinson Parkway and I-678 head to the north and south, the Bruckner eventually makes a turn to the north as well, connecting with I-695 in the process. The Hutchinson and the Bruckner follow mostly parallel alignments to Pelham Bay Park, I-95 continues north from this point as the New England Thruway. The Bruckner Expressway opened in 1973, making it one of the last roads of the New York City Expressway system to be built. It is named in honor of former Bronx Borough President and Congressman, Henry Bruckner, unlike the Cross Bronx Expressway, which cut through the existing street grid, the Bruckner Expressway was built along the Bruckner Boulevard alignment. West of the Sheridan Expressway, Bruckner Boulevard is underneath the expressway, the entire route is in the New York City borough of The Bronx
6.
Broadway (Manhattan)
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Broadway /ˈbrɔːdweɪ/ is a road in the U. S. state of New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in New York City, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement, the name Broadway is the English language literal translation of the Dutch name, Brede weg. Broadway is known widely as the heart of the American theatre industry, Broadway was originally the Wickquasgeck Trail, carved into the brush of Manhattan by its Native American inhabitants. Wickquasgeck means birch-bark country in the Algonquian language and this trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the trail became the main road through the island from Nieuw Amsterdam at the southern tip. The Dutch explorer and entrepreneur David Pietersz. de Vries gives the first mention of it in his journal for the year 1642, the Dutch named the road Heerestraat. Although current street signs are simply labeled as Broadway, in a 1776 map of New York City, in the mid-eighteenth century, part of Broadway in what is now lower Manhattan was known as Great George Street. An 1897 City Map shows a segment of Broadway as Kingsbridge Road in the vicinity of what is now the George Washington Bridge. In the 18th century, Broadway ended at the town north of Wall Street, where traffic continued up the East Side of the island via Eastern Post Road. The western Bloomingdale Road would be widened and paved during the 19th century, on February 14,1899, the name Broadway was extended to the entire Broadway/Bloomingdale/Boulevard road. Broadway once was a street for its entire length. The present status, in which it runs one-way southbound south of Columbus Circle, on 6 June 1954, Seventh Avenue became southbound and Eighth Avenue became northbound south of Broadway. On 3 June 1962, Broadway became one-way south of Canal Street, with Trinity Place, northbound traffic on Broadway now needs to take Amsterdam Avenue to 73rd Street, make a sharp turn on the very narrow 73rd and then right turn on Broadway. Otherwise, and effectively, the traffic on Broadway has been diverted into Amsterdam Avenue. In August 2008, two lanes from 42nd to 35th Streets were taken out of service and converted to public plazas. Additionally, bike lanes were added on Broadway from 42nd Street down to Union Square, the city decided that the experiment was successful and decided to make the change permanent in February 2010. Additionally, portions of Broadway in the Madison Square and Union Square have been dramatically narrowed, Broadway runs the length of Manhattan Island, roughly parallel to the North River, from Bowling Green at the south to Inwood at the northern tip of the island. South of Columbus Circle, it is a southbound street
7.
Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
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Seventh Avenue – known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park – is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a street north of the park. Seventh Avenue originates in the West Village at Clarkson Street, where Varick Street becomes Seventh Avenue South and it is interrupted by Central Park from 59th to 110th Street. Artisans Gate is the 59th Street exit from Central Park to Seventh Avenue, north of Warriors Gate at the north end of the Park, the avenue carries traffic in both directions through Harlem, where it is called Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Addresses continue as if the street was continuous through Central Park, the road has two northern termini, an upper level terminates at the western end of the Macombs Dam Bridge, traveling over the Harlem River, where Jerome Avenue commences in the Bronx. A lower level continues a bit north and curves into the lower level of West 155th Street. Seventh Avenue was originally out in the Commissioners Plan of 1811. The southern terminus of Seventh Avenue was Eleventh Street in Greenwich Village through the part of the 20th Century. It was extended southward, as Seventh Avenue South, to link up with Varick Street in 1914, extension of the avenue allowed better vehicular connections between midtown Manhattan and the commercial district in what is now TriBeCa. It also permitted construction of the New York City Subway IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line which opened in 1918, the extension had been urged by civic groups to meet the commercial needs of Greenwich Village. A significant number of old buildings were marked for demolition in the extension, most of Seventh Avenue has carried traffic one-way southbound since June 6,1954. The portion north of Times Square carried two-way traffic until March 10,1957, Seventh Avenue is served by the 123 trains for most of its length, with N Q R W service between 42nd Street and Central Park South. The Seventh Avenue station also serves the B D E trains, north of the park, Powell Boulevard is served by the 155th Street station on the B D trains. It is also served by local buses. South of 14th Street Seventh Avenue is a thoroughfare in the West Village. The now defunct Saint Vincents Catholic Medical Center was a downtown hospital on Seventh Avenue. The first, temporary signs designating the section of Seventh Avenue as Fashion Avenue were dual-posted in 1972, Seventh Avenue intersects with Broadway and with 42nd Street at Times Square, with multiple buildings at the intersections. Notable buildings on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, from Central Park north through Harlem, include, state Office Building Hotel Theresa Seventh Avenue is frequently mentioned in films, plays and books
8.
Lenox Avenue (Manhattan)
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Lenox Avenue – also named Malcolm X Boulevard, both names are officially recognized – is the primary north–south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. This two-way street runs from Farmers Gate at Central Park North to 147th Street and its traffic is figuratively described as Harlems heartbeat by Langston Hughes in his poem Juke Box Love Song. The IRT Lenox Avenue Line runs under the length of the street. From 119th Street to 123rd Street, Lenox Avenue is part of the Mount Morris Park Historic District, originally a part of Sixth Avenue, it was renamed in late 1887 for philanthropist James Lenox. In 1987, it was co-named Malcolm X Boulevard, in honor of the civil rights leader. The avenue was the heart of Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s, the street brought together African Americans, Latinos, British West Indians, and Spaniards who developed relationships over common interests such as jazz and food. In 1932, Harlem was so firmly established as the capital of jazz. Jazz flourished and grew like it could have in no other time and you might have had 15 great clubs on one block, all going at once, said the trombonist and bandleader Wycliffe Gordon. Imagine going into a joint to check out Willie The Lion Smith, Lenox Avenue is thought by some to be one of the most important streets in the world for African American culture. The Savoy Ballroom was located between 140th and 141st Streets on Lenox Avenue, other historical venues of Lenox Avenue are Sylvias Restaurant, located between 126th and 127th, and the Lenox Lounge, located between 124th and 125th. The corner of Lenox Avenue and 125th Street is mentioned in the song When the Revolution Comes by The Last Poets on their self-titled album, small Talk at 125th and Lenox is an album by Gil Scott-Heron. Lenox Avenue Breakdown is an album by alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe. Columbia Records released the album in 1979, in The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin refers to Lenox Avenue simply as The Avenue. Lenox Avenue, Midnight, a poem by Langston Hughes, is set on Lenox Avenue. The avenue is mentioned in his Juke Box Love Song and Consider Me, the avenue is featured in the first verse of the original Irving Berlin lyrics of Puttin on the Ritz. The song refers to the fad of poor but flashily dressed black Harlemites parading up and down Lenox Avenue. In the title track of his debut record Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, Big L raps about 139th Street, there is a web series on YouTube called Lenox Avenue starring Al Thompson, who also created and produced the series. The street signs are heavily featured in the titles of the 2016 Netflix series Luke Cage
9.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
