METS CITY

New York, officially named as the City of New York and often called New York City to distinguish it from the state of New York in which it is located, is the most populous city in the United States, and the second most populous in North America after Mexico City. The area which is now known as New York was originally inhabited by two very powerful Native American Indian tribes: the Algonquian of the Hudson Valley and Long Island area and the Iroquois of the Western area, as well as the Manahattans and Canarsies . These two groups were very powerful and were well organized both militarily and politically. Italian explorer Giovanni de Verrazano was the first European to discover the New York area in 1524, when he came upon the New York Bay; however, New York was not colonized until the arrival of Henry Hudson, an English Navigator, who claimed the area for the Netherlands in 1609. The first settlement was established in 1624 at Fort Orange. New York received it's name in 1665 after the English seized it from the Dutch and renamed it in honor of James, the Duke of York and brother of King Charles II. New York achieved statehood in 1788, as the 11th State in the United States of America. At the start of the American Revolutionary War, the city was the scene of important early fighting at the Battle of Brooklyn, suffered a great fire in which much of it burned, and fell into British control for the remainder of the war, not to be regained by the Americans until 1783. "Evacuation Day" was long celebrated in New York. During the 19th century, the city population boomed by an influx of a vast number of immigrants. In 1811, the city street grid was expanded to encompass all of Manhattan with a visionary development proposal called the Commissioner's Plan. By 1835, New York City overtook Philadelphia as the largest city in the United States. The September 11, 2001 attacks which also struck at Washington, D.C., affected New York the most, because of the attack on the World Trade Center and the thick, acrid smoke that continued to pour out of its ruins for a few months following the Twin Towers' fiery collapse. However, cleanup of Ground Zero was completed ahead of schedule, and the city has since rebounded and pushed forward new plans for the destroyed areas of the World Trade Center. The Freedom Tower, to be built on the site, is intended to be the world's highest skyscraper after its scheduled completion in 2008. New York City is also known affectionately as the "Big Apple" and recognized as one of several "world cities". Giving some credence to the city's self-designation as "capital of the world", the United Nations headquarters is located in New York. It is among the most densely populated places in the United States. Its population is more than eight million (2000 U.S. Census), and its land area is 831 km2 (320 square miles); hence the density is ca. 10,000/km². New York City is at the heart of the New York metropolitan area with a population of around 21 million, which itself is part of the so-called BosWash megalopolis extending from Boston to Washington, DC, a core economic region of the nation with a population of approximately 44 million people. New York City is also known as a center of world finance, trade, and economic activity. Taken alone, its Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) was $488.8 billion (US) in 2003, the largest of any city in the United States. Taken as a single state unto itself, New York City would qualify as having the 6th highest Gross State Product (GSP), exceeding that of Pennsylvania. Taken as a nation unto itself, New York City would qualify as having the 16th highest GDP in the world, exceeding that of Russia ($433 Billion), but less than that of Brazil ($493 Billion). Though this value has been as high as 10% of the GDP of the United States, in the last 10 years it has been around 4.5%, fluctuating only recently. The New York City metropolitan area is the only one in the United States with more than one team in each of the four major sports (with nine such teams in all). The teams are; National Football League (NFL)team, the New York Giants, who play at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, National Hockey League (NHL) team, the New York Islanders who play at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, there is also the New York Jets, another National Football League team, that also plays Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Other teams include the New York Mets, a Major League Baseball, that plays at Shea Stadium (1964-); the New York Knicks, a National Basketball Association team, that plays at Madison Square Garden; the New York Rangers, a National Hockey League team, that plays at Madison Square Garden; the New York Yankees, a Major League Baseball team, that plays at Yankee Stadium (1923-) and the New York Dragons, an Arena Football League team, that plays at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. In addition, the New Jersey Nets (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils (NHL) are based in the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The MetroStars (Major League Soccer) are based at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Queens is one of the five boroughs of New York City in the United States. It is coterminous with Queens County in the State of New York and is located on western Long Island. The current borough president is Democrat Helen Marshall. Queens is the home of the New York Mets baseball team, the US Open tennis tournament, and Aqueduct Racetrack. Just over the Queens line, in Nassau County, is Belmont Park Race Track, the home of the Belmont Stakes. It is also home to Queens College and Saint John's University, which is renowned for its men's basketball and men's soccer teams. New York City is a finalist to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, with plans to build many new sporting venues if chosen. The proposed Jets Stadium on the West Side would also be used for the Olympic track and field events, but the uncertainty as to whether that stadium will be built is a weakness in the New York City bid.