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New York’s Cityscape

Cityscape | Economy

New York's distinctive cityscape owes much historically to two factors: the unusually deep and protected harbor of New York Bay and the city's concentration of people and cultures in a small land area 304 square miles (787 square kilometers). Geographically New York is less an urban epicenter, or central city surrounded by concentric suburban rings, than an archipelago, or gathering of islands, on the Atlantic coast. Each of the boroughs is or is on an island, with the exception of the Bronx, which is itself surrounded by water on three sides.

At every level New York teems with activity. On 6,000 miles (9,700 kilometers) of city streets, more than 11,000 taxicabs circulate. Above street level seven of the world's 22 tallest buildings create self-contained cities in the sky notably the Empire State Building, the Citibank Center, and the Art Deco-style Chrysler Building.

Below ground is another city: 134 miles (216 kilometers) of subway routes, 10 miles (16 kilometers) of auto tunnels, 65,000 miles (105,000 kilometers) of electrical wires, 7,800 miles (12,600 kilometers) of gas mains, 20 million miles (32 million kilometers) of telephone wires, and 50 miles (80 kilometers) of steam mains not to mention the separate underground villages of Rockefeller Center and Grand Central and Pennsylvania stations .