New York (original) (raw)

New York

Alternate meaning: New York City

New York is a state in the northeastern United States and its U.S. postal abbreviation is NY.

History

See: History of New York

The Dutch were the first settlers in New York, establishing Fort Orange near Albany in 1624 and New Amsterdam on the island of Manhattan a year later. After the English took over in the 1660s, the colony was renamed New York, after the Duke of York.

In 1683, the government was reorganized into a pattern still followed, and the state was divided into twelve counties, each of which was subdivided into towns. Ten of those counties still exist (see below), but two (Cornwall and Dukes) were in territory purchased by the Duke of York from the Earl of Sterling, and are no longer within the territory of the State of New York, having been transferred by treaty to Massachusetts, Dukes in 1686 and Cornwall in 1692. (Cornwall County became a large portion of the State of Maine when that state was detached from Massachusetts in 1819; Dukes County is still a county in Massachusetts.) While the number of counties has been increased to 62, the pattern still remains that a town in New York State is a subdivision of a county, rather than an incorporated municipality as in most (but not all) other States.

New York was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.

Law and Government

See: List of New York Governors

As in all fifty states, the head of the executive branch of government is a Governor. The legislative branch is called the Legislature, and consists of a Senate and an Assembly. For many years, the two houses of the state legislature have been controlled by different political parties, making legislation and particularly budgeting difficult. Unlike most States, the New York electoral law permits electoral fusion, and New York ballots tend to have, in consequence, a larger number of parties on them, some being permanent minor parties that seek to influence the major parties and others being ephemeral parties formed to give major-party candidates an additional line on the ballot.

Geography

See: List of New York counties

It borders Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Canada (Quebec and Ontario), Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Atlantic Ocean. The state includes everything from skyscrapers in Manhattan to rivers, mountains, and lakes in upstate New York. Niagara Falls is one of the chief attractions. Three major islands form an important part of the state: Long Island, Manhattan Island, and Staten Island. The Hudson River flows through the eastern portion of the state.

Economy

New York is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in the United States. Its 1999 total gross state product was 755billion,secondonlyto[California](../../c/ca/california.html"California")inthenation.Its2000PerCapitaPersonalIncomewas755 billion, second only to [California](../../c/ca/california.html "California") in the nation. Its 2000 Per Capita Personal Income was 755billion,secondonlyto[California](../../c/ca/california.html"California")inthenation.Its2000PerCapitaPersonalIncomewas34,547, placing it 4th in the nation. New York's agricultural outputs are dairy products, cattle and other livestock, vegetables, nursery stock, and apples. Its industrial outputs are printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment, machinery, chemical products, and tourism.

Agriculture

New York State is an agricultural leader, ranking within the top five states for a number of products including dairy, apples, cherries, cabbage, potatoes, onions, maple syrup and many other products. The state has about a quarter of its land in farms and produced 3.4 billion dollars in agricultural products in 2001. The south shore of Lake Ontario provides the right mix of soils and microclimate for many apple, cherry, plum, pear and peach orchards. Apples are also grown in the Hudson Valley and near Lake Champlain. The south shore of Lake Erie and the southern Finger Lakes hillsides have many vinyards. The Finger Lakes area is famous for award-winning farm wineries.

New York was heavily glaciated in the Ice Age leaving much of the state with deep, fertile, though somewhat rocky soils. Row crops, including hay, corn (also known as maize), wheat, oats, barley, and soybeans. Particularly in the western part of the state, sweet corn, peas, carrots, squash, cucumbers and other vegetables are grown. The Hudson and Mohawk valleys are known for pumpkins and blueberries. The glaciers also left numerous swampy areas, which have been drained for the rich humus soils called muckland which is mostly used for onions, potatoes, celery and other vegetables. Dairy farms are present throughout much of the state. Cheese is a major product, often produced by Amish or Mennonite farm cheeseries. New York is rich in nectar producing plants and is a major honey producing state. The honeybees are also used for pollination of fruits and vegetables. Most commercial beekeepers are migratory, taking their hives to southern states for the winter. Most cities have Farmers' markets which are well supplied by local truck farmers.

Demographics

As of 2000, New York is the third largest state in population after California and Texas, with a population of 18,976,457.

Important Cities and Towns

Albany is the state capital, and New York City is by far the largest city.

Its major cities and towns are:

Education

Colleges and Universities

Alfred University

• Audrey Cohen College

• Bank Street College of Education

• Bard College

• Barnard College

• Boricua College

• Canisius College

• Cazenovia College

• City University of New York System

• Baruch College

• Brooklyn College

• City College

• College of Staten Island

• Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York

• Hunter College

• John Jay College

• Lehman College

• Medgar Evers College

• Queens College

• York College

• Clarkson University

• Colgate University

• College of Aeronautics

• College of Mount St. Vincent

• College of New Rochelle

• College of Saint Rose

• Columbia University

• Concordia College, Bronxville

• The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

• Cornell University

• Daemen College

• Dominican College

• Dowling College

• D�Youville College

• Elmira College

• Excelsior College

• Five Towns College

• Fordham University

• Hamilton College

• Hartwick College

• Hilbert College

• Hobart and William Smith Colleges

• Hofstra University

• Houghton College

• Iona College

• Ithaca College

• The Jewish Theological Seminary of America

• The Juilliard School

• Keuka College

• Le Moyne College

• Laboratory Institute of Merchandising

• Long Island University

• Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

• Long Island University Brentwood Campus

• Long Island University Brooklyn Campus

• Long Island University C.W. Post Campus

• Long Island University Rockland Graduate Campus

• Southampton College

• Long Island University Westchester Campus

• Manhattan College

• Manhattan School of Music

• Manhattanville College

• Marist College

• Marymount College

• Marymount Manhattan College

• Medaille College

• Mercy College

• Molloy College

• Monroe College

• Mount Saint Mary College

• Nazareth College

• New School University

• New York College of Podiatric Medicine

• New York Institute of Technology

• New York Medical College

• New York University

• Niagara University

• Pace University

• Parsons School of Design

• Paul Smith's College

• Polytechnic University of New York

• Pratt Institute

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

• Roberts Wesleyan College

• Rochester Institute of Technology

• The Rockefeller University

• The Sage Colleges

• Sarah Lawrence College

• St. Bonaventure University

• Saint Francis College

• St. John Fisher College

• St. John's University

• St. Joseph's College

• St. Lawrence University

• St. Thomas Aquinas College

• Sarah Lawrence College

• School of Visual Arts

• Siena College

• Skidmore College

• State University of New York System

  • Alfred State College
  • State University of New York Albany
  • State University of New York Binghamton
  • State University of New York Buffalo
  • State University of New York Stony Brook
  • State University of New York Brockport
  • State University of New York Buffalo (Buffalo State College)
  • State University of New York Cortland
  • State University of New York Fredonia
  • State University of New York Geneseo
  • State University of New York New Paltz
  • State University of New York Old Westbury
  • State University of New York Oneonta
  • State University of New York Oswego
  • State University of New York Plattsburgh
  • State University of New York Potsdam
  • State University of New York Purchase
  • State University of New York Cobleskill
  • State University of New York Morrisville
  • State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
  • State University of New York Farmingdale
  • State University of New York Empire State College
  • Fashion Institute of Technology
  • State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn
  • State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse
  • State University of New York Institute of Technology
  • Maritime College State University of New York

• Syracuse University

• Teachers College, Columbia University

• Touro College

  • Touro University International

• Unification Theological Seminary

• Union College

• Union Theological Seminary

• United States Merchant Marine Academy

• United States Military Academy (West Point)

• University of Rochester

• Utica College of Syracuse University

• Vassar College

• Wagner College

• Webb Institute

• Wells College

• Yeshiva University

Professional Sports Teams

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National Football League

• Buffalo Bills

• The following teams play in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but are usually considered New York teams

  • New York Jets
  • New York Giants

• New York Knicks, National Basketball Association

• New York Liberty, Women's National Basketball Association

• New York Power, Women's United Soccer Association

• National Hockey League

• Buffalo Sabres

• New York Rangers

• New York Islanders

• Major League Baseball

• New York Mets

• New York Yankees

• Major League Lacrosse

• Long Island Lizards

• Rochester Rattlers

• Minor League Baseball teams

  • Brooklyn Cyclones
  • Staten Island Yankees
  • Binghamton Mets
  • Buffalo Bisons
  • Jamestown Jammers
  • Batavia Muckdogs
  • Rochester Red Wings
  • Auburn Doubledays
  • Syracuse SkyChiefs
  • Oneonta Tigers
  • Tri-Valley ValleyCats
  • Hudson Valley Renegades

• Major League Soccer

  • MetroStars (Based in East Rutherford, New Jersey)

Miscellanea

USS New York was named in honor of this state.

External Links

• Avenues, streets of Manhattan
• " class="external">http://www.state.ny.us/