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{{Infobox Military Person
{{otheruses4|the city}}
|name= '''Henry Allingham'''
{{redirect4|New York, New York|NYC}}
|image=[[Image:MP Simon Hughes meets WW1 veteran Henry Allingham.jpeg|300px]]
{{semiprotected|small=yes}}
|caption=[[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Simon Hughes]] meets Henry Allingham at the [[Imperial War Museum]] on 26 June 2006
{{featured article}}
|born = {{birth date|1896|6|6|df=yes}}
<!-- Don't add a particular image size to most images of this article, it will be reverted. The images need to be able to customize from personal preferences. -->
|birth_place = [[Clapton]], [[County of London]],<br/>[[England]]
{{Infobox Settlement
|died =
| name = City of New York
|death_place =
| native_name = <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
|branch= {{navy|United Kingdom}}<br/>{{air force|United Kingdom}}
| nickname = ''The [[Big Apple]], Gotham, The City That Never Sleeps, The Capital of The World (Novum [[Caput Mundi]]), The Empire City, The City So Nice They Named It Twice.''
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
| settlement_type =
|serviceyears= August 1915 &ndash; 16 April 1919
| motto =
|rank= Rigger Aero, [[Aircraftman|Aircraft Mechanic Second Class]]
| image_skyline = NYC Montage 7.jpg
|unit= [[Royal Naval Air Service]] Number 12 Squadron
| imagesize =
|commands=
| image_caption =
|battles= [[Battle of Jutland]]
| image_flag = Flag of New York City.svg
|awards= [[Freedom of the City]] of [[Eastbourne]]</br>[[Freedom of the Town]] of [[Saint-Omer]]</br>[[Légion d'honneur]]<br/>[[British War Medal]]<br/>[[Victory Medal (UK)|Victory Medal]]<br/>Gold Medal of Saint-Omer
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| image_seal = Seal of New York City.svg
|laterwork= [[Ford Motor Company]]
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| image_map = Map of New York Highlighting New York City.svg
| mapsize = 200px
| map_caption = Location in the state of [[New York (state)|New York]]
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| subdivision_type = [[List of countries|Country]]
| subdivision_name = [[United States]]
| subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[New York (state)|New York]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Borough (New York City)|Boroughs]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[The Bronx]]<br>[[Brooklyn]]<br>[[Manhattan]]<br>[[Queens]]<br>[[Staten Island]]
| government_foonotes =
| government_type =
| leader_title = [[Mayor of New York City|Mayor]]
| leader_name = [[Michael Bloomberg]] ([[Independent (politician)|I]])
| leader_title1 = <!-- for places with, say, both a mayor and a city manager -->
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| established_title = [[New Amsterdam|Settled]]
| established_date = 1624
| established_title2 = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
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| established_date3 = 1898
| area_magnitude = 1 E9
| unit_pref = Imperial
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 = 1214.4
| area_land_km2 = 789.4
| area_water_km2 = 428.8
| area_total_sq_mi = 468.9
| area_land_sq_mi = 304.8
| area_water_sq_mi = 165.6
| area_water_percent =
| area_urban_km2 = 8683.2
| area_urban_sq_mi = 3352.6
| area_metro_km2 = 17405
| area_metro_sq_mi = 6720
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| population_as_of = 2007
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite news|last=Topousis|first=Tom|url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03202008/news/regionalnews/big_apple_coming_to_its_census_102755.htm|title=Big Apple Coming to Its Census|work=New York Post|publisher=NYP Holdings|date=2008-03-20|accessdate=2008-06-13}}</ref>
| population_note =
| population_total = 8,274,527 ([[List of United States cities by population|1st U.S.]], [[List of cities proper by population|12th World]])
| population_density_km2 = 10482
| population_density_sq_mi = 27147
| population_metro = 18818536
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| population_blank1_title = [[Demonym]]
| population_blank1 = New Yorker
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| timezone = [[Eastern Time Zone (North America)|EST]]
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| elevation_footnotes = <!-- for references: use<ref></ref> tags -->
| elevation_m = 10
| elevation_ft = 33
| postal_code_type = <!-- enter ZIP code, Postcode, Post code, Postal code... -->
| postal_code =
| area_code = 212, 718, 917, 347, 646
| blank_name =
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| website = [http://www.nyc.gov/ www.nyc.gov]
| footnotes =
}}
}}


'''Henry William Allingham''' (born [[6 June]] [[1896]]) is, at age 112, a [[supercentenarian]] [[World War I]] veteran and [[United Kingdom|Britain's]] [[oldest people|oldest living man]]. He is the oldest ever surviving member of any [[British Armed Forces]] and the oldest [[surviving veterans of World War I|surviving veteran]] of the First World War. Allingham is the oldest ever English man and the second-oldest ever British man after [[Wales|Welshman]] [[John Evans (supercentenarian)|John Evans]]. On [[13 February]] [[2007]], he became the UK's second-oldest living person&mdash;he also holds the record for being [[Europe]]'s fifth-oldest living person and the oldest male. He is the joint second-oldest living man in the world,<ref name="GRG">{{cite web|url=http://www.grg.org/Adams/E.HTM|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grg.org%2FAdams%2FE.HTM&date=2007-12-01|title=Validated Living Supercentenarians|date=2007-11-29|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref> and is the oldest living white male. As of April [[2008]], he is validated as one of the 25 [[oldest people|oldest people in the world]], tied with American man [[George Francis (supercentenarian)|George Francis]], and, as of October 2008, he ranks among [[list of the verified oldest men|the 20 oldest men ever]] and [[List of British supercentenarians#Twenty oldest Britons ever|the 20 oldest Britons ever]].
'''New York City''' (officially '''The City of New York''') is the [[List of United States cities by population|largest city]] in the [[United States]], with its [[New York metropolitan area|metropolitan area]] ranking among the [[List of metropolitan areas by population|largest urban areas]] in the world. Founded as a commercial trading post by the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] in 1624, it served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790, and has been the nation's largest city since 1790. Located on one of the world's finest natural [[New York Harbor|harbors]], New York is one of the world's major centers of [[commerce]] and [[finance]]. New York also exerts global influence in [[Mass media|media]], [[education]], [[entertainment]], [[The arts|arts]], [[fashion]] and [[advertising]]. The city is also a major center for international affairs, hosting the headquarters of the [[United Nations]].


He is the last survivor of the [[Battle of Jutland]], the last surviving member of the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] (RNAS) and the last surviving founding member of the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/BritainsOldestWarVeteransMeetServiceChiefsAtTheMinistryOfDefence.htm
New York City comprises five [[Borough (New York City)|boroughs]]: [[The Bronx]], [[Brooklyn]], [[Manhattan]], [[Queens]], and [[Staten Island]]. With over 8.2 million residents within an area of {{convert|304.8|sqmi|km2|2|}},<ref name="NYC Land Estimate">{{cite web |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning |title=NYC Profile |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/lucds/nycprofile.pdf |accessdate=2008-05-22}}</ref><ref name="NYT Land Estimate">{{cite web |publisher=The New York Times |title=It’s Still a Big City, Just Not Quite So Big |first=Sam |last=Robers |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/nyregion/22shrink.html |accessdate=2008-05-22}}</ref> New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States.<ref>[[Union City, New Jersey]] is more densely populated but has a population of 63,930.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demographia.com/db-2000city50kdens.htm |title=2000 Census: US Municipalities Over 50,000: Ranked by 2000 Density |publisher=Demographia |accessdate=2007-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |title=Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Metropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 |url=http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metro_general/2006/CBSA-EST2006-01.csv |accessdate=2007-07-26}}</ref> The city also lies at the center of the heavily urbanized [[New York metropolitan area]], which, with an estimated 19,750,000 people over {{convert|6720|sqmi}} in three states, is the largest metropolitan area in the nation.<ref>Consists of two separate [[metropolitan statistical area]]s (MSA): the New York-Northern New Jersey Long Island MSA and the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA.</ref>
|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mod.uk%2FDefenceInternet%2FDefenceNews%2FHistoryAndHonour%2FBritainsOldestWarVeteransMeetServiceChiefsAtTheMinistryOfDefence.htm&date=2007-12-01|title=Britain's oldest war veterans meet Service chiefs at the Ministry of Defence|date=2007-07-11|archivedate=2007-12-02|publisher=Ministry of Defence}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rafa.org.uk/news-press.asp?id=130&start=0|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rafa.org.uk%2Fnews-press.asp%3Fid%3D130%26start%3D0&date=2007-12-01
|date=2007-09-17|archivedate=2007-12-02|publisher=Royal Air Forces Association|title=Brew for the Few Launch}}</ref>
Since [[2001]], he has become the face of the World War I veterans association and makes frequent public appearances to ensure that the horrors of World War I are not lost to modern generations.<ref name="scratchcard"/><ref name="sixty"/> Due to his [[longevity]] and his World War I service he is also the recipient of many honours and awards.<ref name="Omer"/><ref name="POB"/><ref name="thefleet"/>


==Biography==
Many of the city's neighborhoods and landmarks are known around the world. The [[Statue of Liberty]] greeted millions of [[Immigration to the United States|immigrants]] as they came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [[Wall Street]], in [[Lower Manhattan]], has been a dominant global financial center since [[World War II]] and is home to the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. The city has been home to several of the [[Skyscraper#History of tallest skyscrapers|tallest buildings in the world]], including the [[Empire State Building]] and the twin towers of the [[World Trade Center]].
===Pre-World War I===
Allingham was born in [[Clapton]], [[County of London]], England and his father died when Allingham was 14 months old. Brought up by his mother and grandparents, he attended a London County Council School before going to work as a trainee surgical instrument maker at [[St. Bartholomew's Hospital|Barts Hospital]]. He did not, however, find this job very interesting, and so left to work for a coachbuilder specialising in car bodies.<ref name="Omer">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/ptc/stomerln18.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20041120033218/http://www.raf.mod.uk/ptc/stomerln18.html|title=The Gold Medal of St Omer|date=2004-11-20|archivedate=2007-06-18}}</ref> Allingham remembers watching [[W. G. Grace]] playing cricket, around 1903-05,<ref name="Cricket">{{cite web|url=https://www.surreycricket.com/news/110-not-out-henry-allingham-supports-surrey,5598,NS.html|
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=https://www.surreycricket.com/news/110-not-out-henry-allingham-supports-surrey,5598,NS.html&date=2007-12-01|title=110 not out Henry Allingham supports Surrey|date=2007-05-27|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref> and also recalls seeing the [[City Imperial Volunteers]] return from the [[Second Boer War]].<ref name=Independent20071104>{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article3127348.ece|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article3127348.ece&date=2007-12-01|title=Remembrance: The old man and the boy, united by grief|work=[[Independent on Sunday]]|publisher=[[Independent News & Media]]|date=[[2007-11-04]]|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>


===World War I===
New York is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the [[Harlem Renaissance]] in literature and visual art, [[abstract expressionism]] (also known as the [[New York School]]) in painting, and [[Hip hop culture|hip hop]],<ref name = "Toop-RapAttack2">{{cite book |first=David |last=Toop |title=Rap Attack 2: African Rap to Global Hip Hop|publisher=Serpents Tail |year=1992 |isbn=1852422432}}</ref> [[punk rock|punk]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/american.html |accessdate=2007-10-06 |title=A timeline of the USA |first=Piero |last=Scaruffi}}</ref> [[salsa music|salsa]], and [[Tin Pan Alley]] in music. It is also the home of [[Broadway theatre|Broadway theater]].
[[Image:Henry Allingham in 1916.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Allingham in RNAS uniform in 1916]]
Allingham wanted to join the war effort in August 1914 as a [[despatch rider]], but his critically ill mother managed to persuade him to stay at home and look after her. After his mother died, however, Allingham enlisted with the RNAS. He became formally rated as an [[aircraftman|Air Mechanic Second Class]] on [[21 September]] [[1915]] and was posted to [[Chingford]] before completing his training at Sheerness. His RNAS serial number was RNAS F8317.<ref name="Omer"/>


After graduation, Allingham was drafted to the RNAS Air Station at [[Great Yarmouth]] where his job was aircraft maintenance. On [[13 April]] [[1916]], [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] inspected the Air Station and its aircraft. He was disappointed when the king turned and left just before he would have had a chance to speak to him. Allingham also worked in [[Bacton, Norfolk]], further up the coast, where night-flying was conducted.
In 2005, nearly 170 languages were spoken in the city and 36% of its population was [[Foreign born|born outside]] the United States.<ref name="languages in NYC">{{cite web |publisher=[[New York State Comptroller|New York State Office of the State Comptroller]] |title=Queens: Economic Development and the State of the Borough Economy |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt3-2007queens.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref><ref name="NYC immigration">{{cite web |title=The Newest New Yorkers: 2000 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=2005 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/nny_briefing_booklet.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> With its 24-hour [[New York City Subway|subway]] and constant bustling of traffic and people, New York is sometimes called "The City That Never Sleeps". Other nicknames include [[Gotham]] and the "[[Big Apple]]."<ref>[http://www.gothamcenter.org/faq.shtml Nicknames for Manhattan]</ref><ref>Irving's mocking ''Salmagundi Papers'', 1807, noted by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, ''Gotham: A History of New York to 1898'' (Oxford) 1999:xii.</ref>


Allingham was involved in supporting anti-submarine patrols. A typical patrol would last two to three days and would involve the manual labour of hoisting a seaplane in and out of the water by means of a deck-mounted [[derrick]].
== History ==
{{main|History of New York City}}
[[Image:Castelloplan.jpg|thumb|left|Lower Manhattan in 1660, when it was part of New Amsterdam. North is to the right]]


In the run-up to what has become known as the [[Battle of Jutland]], Allingham was ordered to join {{HMS|Kingfisher|1879|6}}. Onboard was a [[Sopwith Schneider]] [[seaplane]] that was used to look out for the German [[High Seas Fleet]]. Allingham's responsibilities included helping to launch the plane. Although the trawler was not directly involved in the battle (it shadowed the [[British Grand Fleet]] and then the High Seas Fleet), Allingham can still rightfully claim to be the last known survivor of that battle and can recall "seeing shells ricocheting across the sea."<ref name="portraits">{{cite web|url=http://www.portraits.co.uk/henrystory.html|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.portraits.co.uk/henrystory.html&date=2007-12-01|title=A portrait of Henry Allingham|date=2005-12|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>
The region was inhabited by about 5,000 [[Lenape]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] at the time of its European discovery in 1524<ref>[http://www.gothamcenter.org "Gotham Center for New York City History"] Timeline 1500 - 1700</ref> by [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]], an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown, who called it "Nouvelle Angoulême" ([[New Angoulême]]).<ref name="rodgers">{{cite book |title=New York: the World's Capital City, Its Development and Contributions to Progress |author=Rankin, Rebecca B., Cleveland Rodgers |publisher=Harper |year=1948}}</ref> European settlement began with the founding of a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[fur trade|fur trading]] settlement, later called "Nieuw Amsterdam" ([[New Amsterdam]]), on the southern tip of Manhattan in 1614. [[Dutch (ethnic group)|Dutch]] colonial Director-General [[Peter Minuit]] purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape in 1626 for a value of 60 guilders (legend, now disproved, says that Manhattan was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads).<ref>The message of the purchase, which was sent to Amsterdam, is present in the National Archive in The Hague.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Miller, Christopher L., George R. Hamell |date=September 1986 |title=A New Perspective on Indian-White Contact: Cultural Symbols and Colonial Trade |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=73 |issue=2 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8723%28198609%2973%3A2%3C311%3AANPOIC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A |accessdate=2007-03-21 |month=Sep |year=1986 |pages=311 |doi=10.2307/1908224}}</ref> In 1664, the English conquered the city and renamed it "New York" after the [[James II of England|English Duke of York and Albany]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Historical Atlas of New York City: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York City's History |author=Homberger, Eric |year=2005 |pages=p. 34 |publisher=Owl Books |isbn=0805078428}}</ref> At the end of the [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]] the Dutch gained control of [[Run (island)|Run]] (a much more valuable asset at the time) in exchange for the English controlling New Amsterdam (New York) in North America. By 1700, the Lenape population was diminished to 200.<ref>[http://www.gothamcenter.org "Gotham Center for New York City History"] Timeline 1700-1800</ref>


In September 1917, Allingham, by now an Air Mechanic First Class, was posted to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] to join [[No. 212 Squadron RAF|No. 12 Squadron]] (RNAS). This unit acted as a training squadron for other RNAS squadrons based on the Western Front. There is also some evidence that the squadron was involved in combat operations. When Allingham arrived at [[Petite-Synthe]], both the [[Royal Flying Corps]] (RFC) and the RNAS were involved in the [[Ypres]] offensive. Allingham also instrumented the very first reconnaissance aircraft camera during World War I.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
New York City grew in importance as a trading port while under [[British Empire|British rule]]. The city hosted the seminal [[John Peter Zenger]] trial in 1735, helping to establish the [[freedom of the press]] in North America. In 1754, [[Columbia University]] was founded under charter by [[George II of Great Britain]] as King's College in Lower Manhattan.<ref>{{cite book |title=An Historical Sketch of Columbia College, in the City of New York, 1754-1876 |author=Moore, Nathaniel Fish |year=1876 |pages=p. 8 |publisher=Columbia College}}</ref> The [[Stamp Act Congress]] met in New York in October of 1765.


On [[12 November]] [[1917]], he was posted to the Aircraft Depot at [[Dunkirk]], where he remained for the rest of the war, on aircraft repair and recovery duties. He recalls being bombed from the air and shelled from the land and sea.
The city emerged as the theater for a series of major battles known as the [[New York and New Jersey campaign|New York Campaign]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. After the [[Battle of Fort Washington]] in upper Manhattan in 1776 the city became the British military and political base of operations in North America until military occupation ended in 1783. The assembly of the [[Congress of the Confederation]] made New York City the national capital shortly thereafter; the [[Constitution of the United States]] was ratified and in 1789 the first [[President of the United States]], [[George Washington]], was inaugurated there; the first [[United States Congress]] assembled for the first time in 1789, and the [[United States Bill of Rights]] drafted; all at [[Federal Hall]] on Wall Street.<ref>{{cite web |title=The People's Vote: President George Washington's First Inaugural Speech (1789) |publisher=U.S. News and World Report |url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/documents/docpages/document_page11.htm |accessdate=2007-05-28}}</ref> By 1790, New York City had surpassed [[Philadelphia]] as the largest city in the United States.


He transferred to the Royal Air Force when the RNAS and the RFC were merged on [[1 April]] [[1918]]. At that time he was ranked as a Rigger Aero, Aircraft Mechanic Second Class and was given a new service number: 208317. He is believed to be the last surviving founding member of the RAF.<ref name="Omer"/> Allingham returned to the Home Establishment in February 1919 and was formally discharged to the RAF Reserve on [[16 April]] [[1919]]. He then joined [[Ford Motor Company]], where he worked until his retirement.
[[Image:Mulberry Street NYC c1900 LOC 3g04637u edit.jpg|thumb|Mulberry Street, on Manhattan's [[Lower East Side]], circa 1900]]


===The inter-war period===
In the 19th century, the city was transformed by immigration and development. A visionary development proposal, the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]], expanded the city street grid to encompass all of Manhattan, and the 1819 opening of the [[Erie Canal]] connected the Atlantic port to the vast agricultural markets of the North American interior.<ref>{{cite book
Shortly after being discharged Henry Allingham married Dorothy Cater, whom he had met at Great Yarmouth. They moved to [[Eastbourne]] in 1960, where she died ten years later in 1970. The marriage lasted 51 years and produced two daughters, both of whom Allingham outlived. Henry now has six grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 13 great-great-grandchildren and one great-great-great-grandchild, all but one of whom live in the United States.<ref name="Argus">{{cite web|url=http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2006/4/22/210069.html|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2006/4/22/210069.html&date=2007-12-01|title=Great War veteran honoured|date=2006-04-22|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>
|author=Bridges, William |title=Map Of The City Of New York And Island Of Manhattan With Explanatory Remarks And References |date=1811}}; Lankevich (1998), pp. 67–68.</ref> Local politics fell under the domination of [[Tammany Hall]], a [[political machine]] supported by Irish immigrants.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fernando Wood: A Political Biography |author=Mushkat, Jerome Mushkat |publisher=Kent State University Press |year=1990 |pages=p. 36 |isbn=087338413X}}</ref> Public-minded members of the old merchant aristocracy lobbied for the establishment of [[Central Park]], which became the first landscaped park in an American city in 1857. A significant free-black population also existed in Manhattan, as well as in Brooklyn. Slaves had been held in New York through 1827, but during the 1830s New York became a center of interracial abolitionist activism in the North.


===World War II===
Anger at military conscription during the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865) led to the [[New York Draft Riots|Draft Riots of 1863]], one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863 |author=Cook, Adrian |year=1974 |pages=pp. 193-195}}</ref> In 1898, the modern City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then an independent city), the County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens.<ref>[http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/hist_info/100aniv.html The 100 Year Anniversary of the Consolidation of the 5 Boroughs into New York City], New York City. Accessed [[June 29]], [[2007]].</ref> The opening of the [[New York City Subway]] in 1904 helped bind the new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. However, this development did not come without a price. In 1904, the steamship [[General Slocum]] caught fire in the East River, killing 1,021 people on board. In 1911, the [[Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire]], the city's worst industrial disaster, took the lives of 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the [[International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union]] and major improvements in factory safety standards.<ref name="cornell1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/ |title=Cornell University Library: Triangle Factory Fire |publisher=Cornell University |accessdate=2007-03-12}}</ref>
During [[World War II|the Second World War]], Allingham was in a [[reserved occupation]] and worked on a number of different projects. The most significant of these was perhaps the effort to provide an effective counter-measure to the German magnetic [[naval mine|mine]]s. During his [[Christmas]] lunch in 1939 he was called away to help come up with a system that would neutralise the mines and open the port of [[Harwich]]. Nine days later, he had successfully completed the task.<ref name="Omer"/>


===After World War II===
[[Image:New York City Midtown from Rockefeller Center NIH.jpg|thumb|left|[[Midtown Manhattan]], New York City, from [[Rockefeller Center]], 1932]]
Since Denis Goodwin of the World War I Veterans' Association tracked him down in 2001, Allingham has taken a prominent role in telling his story so that later generations will not forget. The 2003 [[The Royal British Legion|Royal British Legion]] Poppy Appeal was launched on [[16 October]] [[2003]] by Henry Allingham and model [[Nell McAndrew]] aboard the [[cruiser]] {{HMS|Belfast|C35|6}}. He was quoted as saying "''They (the veterans) have given all they have got for the country ... I owe them ... we all owe them.''"<ref name="scratchcard">{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/16/npoppy16.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/16/ixhome.html |
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5TlxKydWY|title= War veteran launches Poppy Day scratchcard|org=The Telegraph Online|date=2003-10-16|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>


A ceremony at the [[Cenotaph]] in [[Whitehall|Whitehall, London]] on [[4 August]] [[2004]] marked the 90th anniversary of Britain's entry into the First World War. This was attended by three other World War I veterans as well as Allingham&mdash;they were [[Bill Stone|William Stone]], [[Fred Lloyd]] and [[John Oborne]]. Allingham also marched past the Cenotaph on [[Remembrance Sunday]] in 2005 and laid [[wreath]]s at memorials in [[Saint-Omer]] on [[Armistice Day]]. That was the last time that a World War I veteran marched past the Cenotaph and it marked the end of an era. The Remembrance Sunday in 2006 was the first time since the Cenotaph was erected that World War I veterans were absent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mediastorehouse.com/pictures_502812/WORLD-WAR-I-VETERANS-LAYING-WREATHS-AT-THE-CENOTAPH-FOR-THE-90TH-ANNIVERSARY-LONDON-BRITAIN---04-A.html
In the 1920s, New York City was a major destination for [[African American]]s during the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] from the American South. By 1916, New York City was home to the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The [[Harlem Renaissance]] flourished during the era of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], coincident with a larger economic boom that saw the skyline develop with the construction of competing [[skyscraper]]s. New York City became the most populous city in the world in 1948, overtaking [[London]], which had reigned for over a century. The difficult years of the [[Great Depression]] saw the election of reformer [[Fiorello H. LaGuardia|Fiorello LaGuardia]] as mayor and the fall of [[Tammany Hall]] after eighty years of political dominance.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Tiger – The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall |author=Allen, Oliver E. |publisher=Addison-Wesley Publishing Company |accessdate=2007-05-25 |chapter=Chapter 9: The Decline |date=1993}}</ref>
|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediastorehouse.com%2Fpictures_502812%2FWORLD-WAR-I-VETERANS-LAYING-WREATHS-AT-THE-CENOTAPH-FOR-THE-90TH-ANNIVERSARY-LONDON-BRITAIN---04-A.html&date=2007-12-01
|title=90th Anniversary at the Cenotaph|date=2004-08-04|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>


As the last surviving member of the RNAS, and the last living founder member of the RAF, Allingham was an honoured guest when the British Air Services Memorial was unveiled at Saint-Omer on [[11 September]] [[2004]]. The group of RAF technical trainees that joined him at this ceremony continue to visit Henry at his retirement home in Eastbourne, demonstrating the bond of respect that these men have for Mr. Allingham, made even more remarkable since almost 90 years separate these young trainees from him. During this time, Allingham was given the Gold Medal of Saint-Omer, which marked the award of the [[Freedom of the Town]].{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
Returning [[World War II]] veterans and [[Immigration|immigrants]] from Europe created a postwar economic boom and the development of huge housing tracts in eastern Queens. New York emerged from the war unscathed and the leading city of the world, with Wall Street leading America's ascendance as the world's dominant economic power, the [[United Nations headquarters]] (completed in 1950) emphasizing New York's political influence, and the rise of [[abstract expressionism]] in the city precipitating New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Center of the World - New York: A Documentary Film (Transcript) |author=Burns, Ric |publisher=PBS |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/filmmore/pt.html| accessdate=2006-07-20 |date=2003-08-22}}</ref> In the 1960s, New York suffered from economic problems, rising crime rates and racial tension, which reached a peak in the 1970s.


He was invited by the International Holographic Portrait Archive to have his holographic portrait taken in November 2005, an offer which was accepted. His image was recorded for posterity in December 2005. At the same time, an exhibition was being planned for London's floating naval museum on board HMS ''Belfast'', entitled the ''Ghosts of Jutland''. A copy of this portrait was donated to the museum and [[Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester|HRH The Duchess of Gloucester]] unveiled the portrait to mark the opening of the exhibition.<ref name="portraits"/>
[[Image:LOC Lower Manhattan New York City World Trade Center August 2001.jpg|thumb|The pre-9/11 skyline of [[Lower Manhattan]], August 2001]]


He was awarded the [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of his home town]] of Eastbourne by the mayor on [[21 April]] [[2006]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4931102.stm|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4931102.stm&date=2007-12-01| title=World War I veteran honoured by home town|date=2006-04-21|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref> He lived on his own until May 2006 when, one month before his 110th birthday and with failing eyesight, he moved to [[St Dunstan's]], a charity for blind ex-service personnel, at [[Ovingdean]], near [[Brighton]]. Aside from this, he is reportedly in good health with visitors remarking on his memory and voice.<ref name="Mail"/>
In the 1980s, resurgence in the financial industry improved the city's fiscal health. By the 1990s, racial tensions had calmed, crime rates dropped dramatically, and waves of new immigrants arrived from Asia and Latin America. Important new sectors, such as [[Silicon Alley]], emerged in the city's economy and New York's population reached an all-time high in the [[United States Census, 2000|2000 census]].
Allingham attended the [[1 July]] commemorations at the [[Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme|Thiepval Memorial to the Missing]] in 2006. He did not attend the 2006 [[Remembrance Day]] parade on [[11 November]] at the Cenotaph as he was in France at a wreath-laying ceremony and to receive the Freedom of The Town of Saint-Omer. He did, however, launch the Eastbourne Poppy Appeal before leaving for this trip.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=11672|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=11672&date=2007-12-01|title=Henry Allingham Helps Launch Poppies in Eastbourne|date=2006-11-02|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>


On [[18 April]] [[2007]], Allingham visited Wilnecote High School in [[Tamworth]] to answer students' questions about World War I after they wrote to veterans asking them about their experiences. In October 2007, he was honoured at the [[Pride of Britain Awards]].<ref name="POB">{{Cite web|url=http://www.st-dunstans.org.uk/pages/news_item.asp?i_ToolbarID=1&i_PageID=1138|
The city was one of the sites of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], when nearly 3,000 people died in the destruction of the [[World Trade Center]]. The [[Freedom Tower]] will be built on the site and is scheduled for completion in 2013.
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5TlxWo1fC|title=Pride of Britain is awarded to Henry Allingham |archivedate=2007-12-01|publisher=St. Dunstan's}}</ref>


Between his 110th and 111th birthdays, Allingham made over 60 public appearances, including a visit to [[The Oval]] on [[5 June]] [[2007]] (the day before his 111th birthday), where he was wheeled around the boundary in front of the spectators. <ref name="sixty">{{cite web|url=http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2363444.html?menu=news.quirkies.heartwarmers|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2363444.html?menu=news.quirkies.heartwarmers&date=2007-12-01 |title=Britain's oldest man - 111 today|date=2007-06-06|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>
== Geography ==
{{main|Geography of New York City|Geography of New York Harbor}}
[[Image:Aster newyorkcity lrg.jpg|thumb|left|Satellite image showing the core of the [[New York metropolitan area]]. Over 10 million people live in the imaged area]]


On his 111th birthday, a Royal Marines band serenaded Allingham on board the Victory before he returned with friends and relatives to the Queen's Hotel on Portsmouth seafront for afternoon tea. Asked how it felt, Allingham replied, "I'm pleased to be seeing another tomorrow. It's just the same as it was as at any age, it's no different. I'm happy to be alive and I'm looking forward to the celebrations. I never imagined I'd get to 111."<ref name="Mail">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=460294&in_page_id=1770|
New York City is located in the [[Northeastern United States]], in southeastern [[New York State]], approximately halfway between [[Washington, D.C.]] and [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]].<ref>Washington, DC is {{convert|228|mi|km|0}} driving distance from New York City, and Boston is {{convert|217|mi|km|0}} driving distance from New York. - [http://maps.google.com/ Google Maps]</ref> The location at the mouth of the [[Hudson River]], which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the [[Atlantic Ocean]], has helped the city grow in significance as a trading city. Much of New York is built on the three islands of Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island, making land scarce and encouraging a high population density.
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5TlxYn7z4|title=Aged 111, Britain's oldest birthday boy just 'pleased to see another tomorrow'|archivedate=2007-12-01|publisher=''[[The Daily Mail]]'', 6 June 2007}}</ref>


Allingham celebrated his 112th birthday with members of his family at [[RAF Cranwell]], being the guest of honour at a luncheon at the [[RAF College Cranwell|College]]. During the day the [[Battle of Britain Memorial Flight]] performed a flypast which was followed by an acrobatic display from two [[Grob G 115|Tutor]] aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7439117.stm |title=Britain's oldest man reaches 112 |accessdate=2008-06-08 |date=2008-06-06 |publisher=BBC }}</ref> In June 2008, at his personal request, Allingham was taken on a personal guided tour of the [[Eurofighter Typhoon]] aircraft at [[BAE Systems]] in [[Warton]], [[Lancashire]], as part of the National Veterans' Day celebrations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7479315.stm |title=Oldest veteran visits Eurofighter| accessdate=2008-07-01 |date=2008-06-28 |publisher=BBC }}</ref>
The Hudson River flows through the [[Hudson Valley]] into [[New York Bay]]. Between New York City and [[Troy, New York]], the river is an [[estuary]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/fc.1.estuaries.html |title=Information about the Hudson River estuary}}</ref> The Hudson separates the city from [[New Jersey]]. The [[East River]], actually a tidal strait, flows from [[Long Island Sound]] and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The [[Harlem River]], another tidal strait between the East and Hudson Rivers, separates Manhattan from the Bronx.


For a number of years calls had been growing to give the last remaining veteran of World War I a [[state funeral]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1664649,00.html|
The city's land has been altered considerably by human intervention, with substantial [[land reclamation]] along the waterfronts since Dutch colonial times. Reclamation is most notable in [[Lower Manhattan]], with developments such as [[Battery Park City, Manhattan|Battery Park City]] in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="gillespie-p71">{{cite book |author=Gillespie, Angus K. |year=1999 |title=Twin Towers: The Life of New York City's World Trade Center |publisher=Rutgers University Press |pages=p. 71}}</ref> Some of the natural variations in topography have been evened out, particularly in Manhattan.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lopate , Phillip |title=Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan |publisher=Anchor Press |year=2004 |isbn=0385497148}}</ref>
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1664649,00.html&date=2007-12-01|title=Calls grow to grant last Great War veteran a state funeral|author=David Smith|date=2005-11-12|archivedate=2007-12-01|org=The Guardian Online}}</ref> The calls culminated with action and [[Her Majesty's Government]] approved on 27 June 2006 a National Memorial Service at [[Westminster Abbey]] to take place after the death of the last known World War I veteran.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/NationToCommemoratePassingOfFirstWorldWarGeneration.htm|
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/NationToCommemoratePassingOfFirstWorldWarGeneration.htm&date=2007-12-01||title=Nation to commemorate passing of First World War generation|first=|last= |archivedate=2007-12-01 |date=2006-06-27 |publisher=Ministry of Defence}}</ref> Allingham has often said that he tries not to think about the prospect, but has also been quoted as saying "''I don't mind - as long as it's not me''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2007/4/14/234749.html|
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2007/4/14/234749.html&date=2007-12-01|title=Last surviving officer of the Great War dies at 107|org=The Northern Echo|date=2007-04-14|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref> In [[Harry Patch|Harry Patch's]] book ''The Last Fighting Tommy'', the author claims that Allingham plans to leave his body to medical science.<ref>{{cite book|last =Patch|first =Harry|coauthors =[[Richard van Emden]]|title =The Last Fighting Tommy|publisher =[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]|date =2007-08-06|pages =256|isbn =0747591156|page=204}}</ref>


On [[23 September]] [[2008]], Allingham launched a book about his life co-written with Denis Goodwin, with an event at the [[RAF Club]] in London.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7632416.stm|title=Oldest man writes his life story |date=2008-09-23|publisher=[[BBC News]]|accessdate=2008-09-25}}</ref>
The city's land area is estimated at {{convert|304.8|sqmi|km2|2|}}.<ref name="NYC Land Estimate" /><ref name="NYT Land Estimate" /> New York City's total area is {{convert|468.9|sqmi|km2|1|}}. {{convert|159.88|sqmi|km2|2|}} of this is water and {{convert|321|sqmi|km2|0|}} is land. The highest point in the city is [[Todt Hill]] on Staten Island, which at 409.8 feet (124.9 m) above sea level is the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of [[Maine]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Staten Island: Isle of the Bay, NY |author=Lundrigan, Margaret |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2004 |ID=ISBN 0738524433 |pages=p. 10}}</ref> The summit of the ridge is largely covered in woodlands as part of the [[Staten Island Greenbelt]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Outside Magazine's Urban Adventure New York City |author=Howard, David |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2002 |isbn=0393322122 |pages=p. 35}}</ref>


=== Climate ===
==Longevity==
Allingham overtook [[George Frederick Ives]] as the longest lived member of the British Armed Forces on [[1 November]] [[2007]]. He is therefore the longest lived British World War I veteran to-date and there are only four other British veterans still alive that could challenge this record&mdash;[[Claude Choules]], [[Sydney Lucas]], Harry Patch and William Stone. In addition to this record he is currently the oldest [[Surviving veterans of World War I|living veteran of World War I]]. He would have to live to 115 years and 157 days to overtake the record for the longest lived member of any armed force in any conflict; this record is held by [[Emiliano Mercado del Toro]] of [[Puerto Rico]], who also served in World War I.<ref name="GRG"/>
New York City has a [[humid subtropical climate]] according to the [[Köppen climate classification]], because the coldest month's (January) average temperature is 29°F (-1.5°C) at JFK Airport. January averages 32°F (0°C) in Central Park.


Allingham has been the oldest living man in England for several years. Official Guinness World Record recognition came in January 2007.<ref>{{cite press release | title = Florence Emily Baldwin takes the title as the new Oldest Woman in the UK | publisher = Guinness World Records | date = [[2007-02-15]] | url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/mediazone/pdfs/news/070215_Oldest_Woman_in_the_UK_dies.pdf |
Summers are typically hot and humid with average high temperatures of 83°F (28°C) and lows of 68°F (20°C). Temperatures of 90°F (32°C) or higher occur on average 18-25 days each summer,<ref name="NYC climate" />. However, temperatures below 0°F (-18°C) or above 100°F (38°C) are extremely uncommon, occurring every 5 or 6 years on average.
archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/mediazone/pdfs/news/070215_Oldest_Woman_in_the_UK_dies.pdf&date=2007-12-01 | archivedate = 2007-12-01|format=PDF}}</ref> On [[13 February]] [[2007]] he became the UK's second-oldest living person behind [[Florrie Baldwin]]. Since the death of French [[supercentenarian]] [[Maurice Floquet]] on [[10 November]] [[2006]], Allingham is the oldest validated living man in Europe. On 8 February 2007, with the death of 110-year-old [[Antonio Pierro]], he became the oldest known living veteran of World War I as well as the third-oldest living man in the world. The death of Japanese man Sukesaburo Nakanishi on [[22 August]] [[2007]] meant that Allingham shares the position of second-oldest man in the world with [[George Francis (supercentenarian)|George Francis]], an American man also born on [[6 June]] [[1896]]. The only older man is Japan's [[Tomoji Tanabe]], born on [[18 September]] [[1895]].<ref name="GRG"/> Allingham famously credits "''cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women&mdash;and a good sense of humour''" for his longevity.<ref name="Argus"/>
Winters are cold but the city's coastal position keeps temperatures slightly milder than inland regions, with high temperatures of slightly above freezing and lows of slightly below freezing.<ref name="NYC climate">{{cite web |title=The Climate of New York |publisher=New York State Climate Office |url=http://nysc.eas.cornell.edu/climate_of_ny.html |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> Spring and autumn are erratic, and can range from cool to hot, although they are usually pleasantly mild with low humidity. New York City has on average 234 sunny days, 132 cloudy days, and 96 days with precipitation.<ref name="NYC climate">{{cite web |title=Weatherbase |publisher=New York State Climate Office |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=330527&refer==&units=metric |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref>


==War medals and awards==
The annual precipitation, which is fairly distributed throughout the year, is around 46 inches (1,180 mm). The average winter snowfall is around 25 inches (63.5 cm), but this often varies considerably from year to year. Thunderstorms, sometimes severe, are common during the summer months.
Henry Allingham has four medals, two of which are [[World War I - Medal Abbreviations|medals from World War I]]. In the image above, the necklace medal is the Gold Medal of Saint-Omer, which was awarded to Allingham on [[4 August]] [[2004]] when he was given the Freedom of the Town of Saint-Omer.<ref name="Omer"/> The lowermost medal is France's highest military award, the [[Légion d'honneur]], which was awarded to Allingham in 2003. The remaining two medals are [[British campaign medals#World War 1|British Campaign Medals]] from World War I. The leftmost chest medal is the [[British War Medal]] and on its right is the [[Victory Medal (UK)|Victory Medal]]; those two medals are colloquially known as '[[Mutt and Jeff]]'. The two pictured medals are actually replacement medals supplied by the [[Ministry of Defence (UK)|Ministry of Defence]] after discovering at a recent [[Cenotaph#The Cenotaph.2C London|cenotaph]] parade that Allingham's original campaign medals were destroyed during [[the Blitz]] of the Second World War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navynews.co.uk/articles/2005/0503/0005032905.asp|title=Navy medals office replaces Allingham's campaign medals|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050828075114/http://www.navynews.co.uk/articles/2005/0503/0005032905.asp| date=2005-03-29|archivedate=2007-12-01}}</ref>


As well as the aforementioned decorations, Allingham has won several awards and honorary memberships. Examples include the Pride of Britain award,<ref name="POB"/> and being made an honorary member of the Fleet Air Arm Association.<ref name="thefleet">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4314000.stm|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F1%2Fhi%2Fengland%2Fsouthern_counties%2F4314000.stm&date=2007-12-01
Though not usually associated with [[Tropical cyclone|hurricanes]], New York City is susceptible to them, notably the [[1821 Norfolk and Long Island hurricane]], which flooded southern Manhattan, and the [[New England Hurricane of 1938]], which brushed the eastern end of the city. The city's long-term climate patterns have been affected by the [[Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation]], a 70-year-long warming and cooling cycle in the Atlantic that influences the frequency and severity of coastal storms in the region.<ref>{{cite web |author=Riley, Mary Elizabeth |title=Assessing the Impact of Interannual Climate Variability on New York City's Reservoir System |year=2006 |publisher=Cornell University Graduate School for Atmospheric Science |url=http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2623/1/MER+Thesis-new.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref>
|title=World War I veterans receives new honour|date=2005-10-06|archivedate=2007-12-02|publisher=BBC Online}}</ref>


==See also==
{{Infobox Weather
|metric_first=<!--Entering Yes will display metric first. Leave blank for imperial-->
|single_line=Yes <!--Entering Yes will display metric and imperial units on same line.-->
|location=New York (Central Park)
|Jan_Hi_°F = 38 | Jan_REC_Hi_°F = 72
|Feb_Hi_°F = 41 | Feb_REC_Hi_°F = 75
|Mar_Hi_°F = 50 | Mar_REC_Hi_°F = 86
|Apr_Hi_°F = 61 | Apr_REC_Hi_°F = 96
|May_Hi_°F = 71 | May_REC_Hi_°F = 99
|Jun_Hi_°F = 79 | Jun_REC_Hi_°F = 101
|Jul_Hi_°F = 84 | Jul_REC_Hi_°F = 106
|Aug_Hi_°F = 82 | Aug_REC_Hi_°F = 104
|Sep_Hi_°F = 75 | Sep_REC_Hi_°F = 102
|Oct_Hi_°F = 64 | Oct_REC_Hi_°F = 94
|Nov_Hi_°F = 53 | Nov_REC_Hi_°F = 84
|Dec_Hi_°F = 43 | Dec_REC_Hi_°F = 75
|Year_Hi_°F = | Year_REC_Hi_°F =
|Jan_Lo_°F = 26 | Jan_REC_Lo_°F = -6
|Feb_Lo_°F = 28 | Feb_REC_Lo_°F = -15
|Mar_Lo_°F = 35 | Mar_REC_Lo_°F = 3
|Apr_Lo_°F = 44 | Apr_REC_Lo_°F = 12
|May_Lo_°F = 54 | May_REC_Lo_°F = 32
|Jun_Lo_°F = 63 | Jun_REC_Lo_°F = 44
|Jul_Lo_°F = 69 | Jul_REC_Lo_°F = 52
|Aug_Lo_°F = 68 | Aug_REC_Lo_°F = 50
|Sep_Lo_°F = 60 | Sep_REC_Lo_°F = 39
|Oct_Lo_°F = 50 | Oct_REC_Lo_°F = 28
|Nov_Lo_°F = 41 | Nov_REC_Lo_°F = 7
|Dec_Lo_°F = 32 | Dec_REC_Lo_°F = -13
|Year_Lo_°F = | Year_REC_Lo_°F =
|Jan_Precip_inch = 4.13
|Feb_Precip_inch = 3.15
|Mar_Precip_inch = 4.37
|Apr_Precip_inch = 4.28
|May_Precip_inch = 4.69
|Jun_Precip_inch = 3.84
|Jul_Precip_inch = 4.62
|Aug_Precip_inch = 4.22
|Sep_Precip_inch = 4.23
|Oct_Precip_inch = 3.85
|Nov_Precip_inch = 4.36
|Dec_Precip_inch = 3.95
|Year_Precip_inch =
|source=<ref name= >{{cite web
|url=http://www.erh.noaa.gov/okx/climate_cms.html |from=yest_bottomnav_undeclared |title=Average Weather for New York, NY - Temperature and Precipitation |accessmonthday=August 12 |accessyear=2008 |publisher=NOAA/National Weather Service |language=English}}</ref>
|accessdate=
}}


* [[List of living supercentenarians]]
=== Environment ===
* [[List of British supercentenarians]]
{{main|Environmental issues in New York City|Food and water in New York City}}
* [[List of the verified oldest men]]
Mass transit use in New York City is the highest in United States and gasoline consumption in the city is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s.<ref name="NYC energy consumption">{{cite book |first=Ben |last=Jervey |title=The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City |isbn=0762738359 |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |year=2006}}</ref> New York City's high rate of transit use saved 1.8 billion gallons of oil in 2006; New York saves half of all the oil saved by transit nationwide.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Better Way to Go: Meeting America's 21st Century Transportation Challenges with Modern Public Transit |publisher=U.S. Public Interest Research Group |date=March 2008 |url=http://www.uspirg.org/uploads/2q/fV/2qfVu2ZrflTk-TnRQEDdDw/A-Better-Way-to-Go-vUSPIRG.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-04-23}}</ref> The city's population density, low automobile use and high transit utility make it among the most energy efficient cities in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |author=Owen, David |title=Green Manhattan |publisher=The New Yorker |date=[[October 18]] [[2004]]}}</ref> New York City's greenhouse gas emissions are 7.1 [[metric ton]]s per person compared with the national average of 24.5.<ref name="NYC emissions"/> New Yorkers are collectively responsible for one percent of the nation's total [[greenhouse gas]] emissions<ref name="NYC emissions">{{cite web |title=Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions |publisher=New York City Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability |date=April 2007 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/ccp_report041007.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref> though comprising 2.7% of the nation's population. The average New Yorker consumes less than half the electricity used by a resident of San Francisco and nearly one-quarter the electricity consumed by a resident of [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/challenge/faq.shtml |title=Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases |publisher=[[PlaNYC]]/The City of New York |date=[[2006-12-06]] |accessdate=2006-12-13}}</ref>
* [[Longevity]]
* [[Oldest people]]
* [[Supercentenarian]]
* [[Surviving veterans of World War I]]


==References==
In recent years the city has focused on reducing its environmental impact. Large amounts of concentrated pollution in New York City lead to high incidence of [[asthma]] and other respiratory conditions among the city's residents.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Urban Asthma and the Neighbourhood Environment in New York City |author=Coburn, Jason, Jeffrey Osleeb, Michael Porter |journal=Health & Place |date=June 2006 |volume=12(2) |pages=pp. 167–179 |pmid=16338632}}</ref> The city government is required to purchase only the most energy-efficient equipment for use in city offices and public housing.<ref>{{cite news |author=DePalma, Anthony |title=It Never Sleeps, but It's Learned to Douse the Lights |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[December 11]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/nyregion/11efficiency.html |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> New York has the largest clean air diesel-[[hybrid vehicle|hybrid]] and [[compressed natural gas]] bus fleet in the country, and some of the first hybrid taxis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mta.info/nyct/bus/centennial/page2.htm |title=A Century of Buses in New York City |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |accessdate=2006-11-17}} See also {{cite press release |url=http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/releases/pr2005-07-01a.asp |title=New York City's Yellow Cabs Go Green |publisher=Sierra Club |date=[[July 1]], [[2005]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The city government was a petitioner in the landmark [[Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency]] Supreme Court case forcing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants. The city is also a leader in the construction of energy-efficient [[green building|green office buildings]], including the [[Hearst Tower (New York City)|Hearst Tower]] among others.<ref name="greenbuilding">{{cite news |title=7 World Trade Center and Hearst Building: New York's Test Cases for Environmentally Aware Office Towers |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[April 16]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/arts/design/16gree.html |accessdate=2006-07-19 |author=Pogrebin, Robin}}</ref>
{{reflist|2}}


==External links==
New York City is supplied with drinking water by the protected [[Catskill Mountains]] [[Drainage basin|watershed]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/maplevels.html |title=Current Reservoir Levels |publisher=New York City Department of Environmental Protection |accessdate=2007-06-04}}</ref> As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration process, New York is one of only four major cities in the United States with drinking water pure enough not to require purification by [[water treatment]] plants.<ref>{{cite news |title=City's Drinking Water Feared Endangered; $10B Cost Seen |publisher=The New York Sun |date=[[August 6]], [[2008]] |url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/citys-drinking-water-feared-endangered-10b-cost/83288/ |accessdate=2008-08-09 |author=Lustgarten, Abrahm}}</ref>
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbVgzXoZbA BBC video on youtube about Henry Allingham attending a WWII reunion]

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6569687.stm Distinguished visitor brings WWI to life]
== Cityscape ==
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/4613587.stm BBC News report on Henry Allingham]
[[Image:New York Midtown Skyline at night - Jan 2006.jpg|thumb|center|800px|View of the [[Midtown Manhattan]] skyline from the [[Empire State Building]]]]
* [http://www.raf.mod.uk/ptc/stomerln18.html British Air Services Memorial at Saint-Omer]

* [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16978425&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=ciggies--whisky---wild-women--name_page.html ''Mirror'' article: Secret of long life by WWI vet, 109]
=== Architecture ===
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/5044206.stm Fly-past for Britain's oldest man]
{{main|Architecture in New York City}}
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5098174.stm Britain's oldest veteran recalls WWI]
The building form most closely associated with New York City is the [[skyscraper]], that saw New York buildings shift from the low-scale European tradition to the vertical rise of business districts. As of August 2008, New York City has 5694 highrise buildings, with 48 completed skyscrapers over 200 m, more than any other city in the world.<ref>[http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/ Cities with most buildings and highest skyscrapers] skyscraperpage.com</ref> Surrounded mostly by water, the city's residential density and high real estate values in commercial districts saw the city amass the largest collection of individual, free-standing office and [[tower block|residential towers]] in the world.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Emporis |title=About New York City |url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=newyorkcity-ny-usa |accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref>
* [http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wisdencricketer/content/story/250862.html Cricket's oldest fan]

* [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=i-knew-some-men-would-crack&method=full&objectid=18079237&siteid=94762-name_page.html Allingham's views on the poppy debate]
[[Image:Greenpoint Houses.JPG|thumb|19th-century [[brownstone]] rowhouses in Brooklyn]]
* [http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/generalnews/display.var.1265006.0.europes_oldest_man_joins_pupils_for_podcast.php Report on Henry Allingham speaking at Hazelwick School on March 16, 2007]

* [http://www.hazelwick.w-sussex.sch.uk/podcast/main/Henry_Allingham_1.mp3 MP3 of Henry Allingham speaking at Hazelwick School on March 16, 2007]
New York has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles. These include the [[Woolworth Building]] (1913), an early [[Gothic Revival architecture|gothic revival]] skyscraper built with massively scaled gothic detailing able to be read from street level several hundred feet below. The [[1916 Zoning Resolution]] required [[Setback (architecture)|setback]] in new buildings, and restricted towers to a percentage of the lot size, to allow sunlight to reach the streets below.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Metropolitan Dimension of Early Zoning: Revisiting the 1916 New York City Ordinance |author=Fischler, Raphael |journal=Journal of the American Planning Association |volume=64(2) |year=1998}}</ref> The [[Art Deco]] design of the [[Chrysler Building]] (1930), with its tapered top and steel spire, reflected the zoning requirements. The building is considered by many historians and architects to be New York's finest building, with its distinctive ornamentation such as replicas at the corners of the 61st floor of the 1928 Chrysler eagle hood ornaments and V-shaped lighting inserts capped by a steel spire at the tower's crown.<ref>{{cite web |title=Favorites! 100 Experts Pick Their top 10 New York Towers |publisher=The Skyscraper Museum |date=[[January 22]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/FAVORITES/fav_exhibits.htm# |accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref> A highly influential example of the [[international style (architecture)|international style]] in the United States is the [[Seagram Building]] (1957), distinctive for its facade using visible bronze-toned I-beams to evoke the building's structure. The [[Condé Nast Building]] (2000) is an important example of [[Sustainable design|green design]] in American skyscrapers.<ref name="greenbuilding" />
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6569687.stm BBC News report about Henry Allingham's visit to a school in Tamworth on April 18, 2007]

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6727225.stm BBC news article about Henry Allingham's birthday celebrations on June 6, 2007]
The character of New York's large residential districts is often defined by the elegant [[brownstone]] [[Terraced house|rowhouses]], [[townhouse]]s, and shabby [[Apartment building|tenements]] that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930.<ref>{{cite book |title=History of Housing in New York City: Dwelling Type and Change in the American Metropolis |author=Plunz, Richar A. |chapter=Chapters 3 [Rich and Poor] & 4 [Beyond the Tenement] |year=1990 |publisher=Columbia University Press |id=ISBN 0231062974}}</ref> Stone and brick became the city's building materials of choice after the construction of wood-frame houses was limited in the aftermath of the [[Great Fire of New York|Great Fire of 1835]].<ref name="lankevich-p82">Lankevich (1998), pp. 82–83; {{cite book |title=New York: Old & New: Its Story, Streets, and Landmarks |author=Wilson, Rufus Rockwell |year=1902 |publisher=J.B. Lippincott |pages=p. 354}}</ref> Unlike Paris, which for centuries was built from its own limestone bedrock, New York has always drawn its building stone from a far-flung network of quarries and its stone buildings have a variety of textures and hues.<ref>{{cite book |author=B. Diamonstein–Spielvoegel, Barbaralee |title=The Landmarks of New York |publisher=Monacelli Press |year=2005 |id=ISBN 1580931545}} See also {{cite book |author=Whyte, William H. |title=The WPA Guide to New York City |year=1939 |publisher=New Press |id=ISBN 1565843215}}</ref> A distinctive feature of many of the city's buildings is the presence of wooden roof-mounted [[water tower]]s. In the 1800s, the city required their installation on buildings higher than six stories to prevent the need for excessively high water pressures at lower elevations, which could burst municipal water pipes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wondering About Water Towers |author=Elliot, Debbie |publisher=National Public Radio |date=[[2006-12-02]] |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6567297 |accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref> [[Garden city movement|Garden apartments]] became popular during the 1920s in outlying areas, including [[Jackson Heights, Queens|Jackson Heights]] in Queens, which became more accessible with expansion of the subway.<ref>{{cite book |title=722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and how They Transformed New York |author=Hood, Clifton |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2004 |pages=pp. 175–177}}</ref>
<div style="clear:both"></div>

=== Boroughs ===
{{main|Borough (New York City)|Neighborhoods of New York City}}
New York City is composed of five [[Borough (New York City)|boroughs]], an unusual form of government.<ref>{{cite book |title=Regionalism and realism: A Study of Government in the New York Metropolitan Area |author=Benjamin, Gerald, Richard P. Nathan |year=1990 |publisher=[[Brookings Institute]] |pages=p. 59}}</ref> Each borough is coextensive with a respective [[county]] of [[New York State]] as shown below. Throughout the boroughs there are hundreds of distinct [[:Category:Neighborhoods in New York City|neighborhoods]], many with a definable history and character to call their own. If the boroughs were each independent cities, four of the boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx) would be among the ten most populous cities in the United States.
* '''[[The Bronx]]''' (Bronx County: Pop. 1,373,659)<ref name="census" /> is New York City's northernmost borough, the site of [[Yankee Stadium]], home of the [[New York Yankees]], and home to the largest [[Housing cooperative|cooperatively owned housing]] complex in the United States, [[Co-op City, Bronx|Co-op City]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Frazier, Ian |title=Utopia, the Bronx |publisher=The New Yorker |date=[[June 26]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/06/26/060626fa_fact_frazier |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> Except for a small piece of Manhattan known as [[Marble Hill, Manhattan|Marble Hill]], the Bronx is the only section of the city that is part of the United States mainland. It is home to the [[Bronx Zoo]], the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, which spans 265&nbsp;acres (107.2&nbsp;[[hectare|ha]]) and is home to over 6,000 animals.<ref>{{cite book |title=New York City Museum Guide |author=Ward, Candace |publisher=Dover Publications |year=2000 |id=ISBN 0486410005 |pages=p. 72}}</ref> The Bronx is the birthplace of [[Rapping|rap]] and [[hip hop culture]].<ref name = "Toop-RapAttack2"/>
[[Image:5 Boroughs Labels New York City Map Julius Schorzman.png|thumb|right|The five boroughs: '''<span style="color:#2a3d94">Manhattan</span>''', '''<span style="color:#f4cc0b">Brooklyn</span>''', '''<span style="color:#ef7b2c">Queens</span>''', '''<span style="color:#dc382c">The Bronx</span>''', '''<span style="color:#8a3687">Staten Island</span>''']]
* '''[[Brooklyn]]''' (Kings County: Pop. 2,528,050)<ref name="census">{{cite web |publisher=[[New York Post]] |title=Big Apple Coming to Its Census |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03202008/news/regionalnews/big_apple_coming_to_its_census_102755.htm |accessdate=2008-03-20}}</ref> is the city's most populous borough and was an independent city until 1898. Brooklyn is known for its cultural, social and ethnic diversity, an independent art scene, [[List of Brooklyn, New York neighborhoods|distinct neighborhoods]] and a unique architectural heritage. It is also the only borough outside of Manhattan with a distinct downtown area. The borough features a long beachfront and [[Coney Island]], established in the 1870s as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the country.<ref>{{cite book |title=Coney Island: The People's Playground |author=Immerso, Michael |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2002 |pages=p. 3 |id=ISBN 0813531381}}</ref>
* '''[[Manhattan]]''' (New York County: Pop. 1,620,867)<ref name="census" /> is the most densely populated borough and home to most of the city's [[skyscraper]]s, as well as [[Central Park]]. The borough is the financial center of the city and contains the headquarters of many major corporations, the [[United Nations]], as well as a number of important universities, and many cultural attractions, including numerous museums, the [[Broadway theatre]] district, [[Greenwich Village]], and [[Madison Square Garden]]. Manhattan is loosely divided into [[Lower Manhattan|Lower]], [[Midtown Manhattan|Midtown]], and [[Upper Manhattan|Uptown]] regions. Uptown Manhattan is divided by Central Park into the [[Upper East Side]] and the [[Upper West Side]], and above the park is [[Harlem]].
* '''[[Queens]]''' (Queens County: Pop. 2,270,338)<ref name="census" /> is geographically the largest borough and the most ethnically diverse county in the United States,<ref name="queensdiverse">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/nyregion/04fourth.html |author=O'Donnell, Michelle |title=In Queens, It's the Glorious 4th, and 6th, and 16th, and 25th... |publisher=New York Times|date=[[July 4]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> and may overtake Brooklyn as the city's most populous borough due to its growth. Historically a collection of small towns and villages founded by the Dutch, today the borough is largely residential and middle class. It is the only large county in the United States where the median income among black [[African Americans]], approximately $52,000 a year, is higher than that of [[White American]]s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Black Incomes Surpass Whites in Queens |author=Roberts, Sam |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[January 10]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/nyregion/01census.html?ref=nyregion |accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> Queens is the site of [[Shea Stadium]], the home of the [[New York Mets]], and annually hosts the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Additionally, it is home to New York City's two major airports, [[LaGuardia Airport]] and [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]].
* '''[[Staten Island]]''' (Richmond County: Pop. 481,613)<ref name="census" /> is the most suburban in character of the five boroughs. Staten Island is connected to Brooklyn by the [[Verrazano-Narrows Bridge]] and to Manhattan via the free [[Staten Island Ferry]]. The Staten Island Ferry is one of the most popular tourist attractions in New York City as it provides unsurpassed views of the [[Statue of Liberty]], [[Ellis Island]], and lower Manhattan. Located in central Staten Island, the 25 km² Greenbelt has some {{convert|35|mi|km}} of walking trails and one of the last undisturbed forests in the city. Designated in 1984 to protect the island's natural lands, the Greenbelt encompasses seven city parks. The F.D.R. Boardwalk along South Beach is two and one-half miles long, which is the fourth largest in the world.

== Culture and contemporary life ==
{{main|Culture of New York City}}
[[Image:MET entrance.jpg|thumb|The [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] is one of the largest museums in the world]]

"Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather", the writer [[Tom Wolfe]] has said of New York City.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Speeches: Tom Christopher Exhibit Opening |publisher=Consulate General of the United States: Frankfurt, Germany |date=[[May 9]], [[2007]] |url=http://frankfurt.usconsulate.gov/frankfurt/speech05092007.html |accessdate=2007-05-25}}</ref> Numerous major American cultural movements began in the city, such as the [[Harlem Renaissance]], which established the African-American literary canon in the United States. The city was a center of [[jazz]] in the 1940s, [[abstract expressionism]] in the 1950s and the birthplace of [[Hip hop culture|hip hop]] in the 1970s. The city's [[Punk subculture|punk]] and [[Hardcore punk|hardcore]] scenes were influential in the 1970s and 1980s, and the city has long had a flourishing scene for [[Jewish American literature]]. Prominent [[indie rock]] bands coming out of New York in recent years include [[The Strokes]], [[Interpol (band)|Interpol]], [[The Bravery]], [[Scissor Sisters]], and [[They Might Be Giants]].

=== Entertainment and performing arts ===
{{main|Music of New York City}}
[[Image:Metropolitan Opera auditorium.jpg|thumb|left|The auditorium of the [[Metropolitan Opera House]] at [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]]]]

The city is also important in the American film industry. ''[[Manhatta]]'' (1920), an early [[avant-garde]] film, was filmed in the city.<ref>{{cite video |people=Bruce Posner |title=Picturing a Metropolis: New York City Unveiled |medium=DVD |publisher=Unseen Cinema |date=2005}}</ref> Today, New York City is the second largest center for the film industry in the United States. The city has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations and more than 500 art galleries of all sizes.<ref name="NYC arts">{{cite web |title=Creative New York |publisher=Center for an Urban Future |date=December 2005 |url=http://www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/CREATIVE_NEW_YORK.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-06-19}}</ref> The city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the [[National Endowment for the Arts]].<ref name="NYC arts" /> Wealthy industrialists in the 19th century built a network of major cultural institutions, such as the famed [[Carnegie Hall]] and [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], that would become internationally established. The advent of electric lighting led to elaborate theatre productions, and in the 1880s New York City theaters on [[Broadway (New York City)|Broadway]] and along 42nd Street began showcasing a new stage form that came to be known as the [[musical theatre|Broadway musical]].

Strongly influenced by the city's immigrants, productions such as those of [[Edward Harrigan|Harrigan and Hart]], [[George M. Cohan]] and others used song in narratives that often reflected themes of hope and ambition. Today these productions are a mainstay of the New York theatre scene. The city's 39 largest theatres (with more than 500 seats) are collectively known as "[[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]," after the [[Broadway (New York City)|major thoroughfare]] that crosses the [[Times Square]] theatre district.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040606-9999-1a6tony.html |title=2 plays + 9 nominations=good odds for locals |publisher=San Diego Union-Tribune |author=Welsh, Anne Marie |date=[[June 6]], [[2004]] |accessdate=2007-06-08}}</ref> This area is sometimes referred to as The Main Stem, [[Broadway (New York City)#Great White Way|The Great White Way]] or The Realto.

The [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]], which includes [[Jazz at Lincoln Center]], the [[Metropolitan Opera]], the [[New York City Opera]], the [[New York Philharmonic]], the [[New York City Ballet]], the [[Vivian Beaumont Theatre]], the [[Juilliard School]] and [[Alice Tully Hall]], is the largest performing arts center in the United States. [[Central Park SummerStage]] presents performances of free plays and music in Central Park and 1,200 free concerts, dance, and theater events across all five boroughs in the summer months.<ref>{{cite web |title=Summerstage: Our Mission |url=http://www.summerstage.org/index.aspx?lobid=854 |publisher=Summerstage.org |accessdate=2007-05-31}}</ref>

New York City is considered by many to be the heart of [[stand-up comedy]] in the United States.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-up_comedy</ref><ref>[http://www.tarabrodin.com/company.php tara brodin | company<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

=== Tourism ===
{{main|Tourism in New York City}}
{{see also|List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City}}
[[Tourism in New York City|Tourism]] is important to New York City, with about 40 million foreign and American tourists visiting each year.<ref>{{cite web |title=NYC Statistics |publisher=NYC & Company |url=http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=57 |accessdate=2006-08-03}}</ref> Major destinations include the [[Empire State Building]], [[Ellis Island]], Broadway theatre productions, museums such as the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], and other tourist attractions including [[Central Park]], [[Washington Square Park, New York|Washington Square Park]], [[Rockefeller Center]], [[Times Square]], the [[Bronx Zoo]], [[New York Botanical Garden]], luxury shopping along [[Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)|Fifth]] and [[Madison Avenue (Manhattan)|Madison Avenues]], and events such as the [[New York's Village Halloween Parade|Halloween Parade]] in [[Greenwich Village]], the [[Tribeca Film Festival]], and free performances in Central Park at Summerstage. The Statue of Liberty is a major tourist attraction and one of the most recognizable icons of the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nymag.com/listings/attraction/statue_of_liberty/ |title=Statue of Liberty |publisher=New York Magazine |accessdate=2006-06-20}}</ref> Many of the city's ethnic enclaves, such as [[Jackson Heights, Queens|Jackson Heights]], [[Flushing, Queens|Flushing]], and [[Brighton Beach]] are major shopping destinations for first and second generation Americans up and down the East Coast.

New York's food culture, influenced by the city's immigrants and large number of dining patrons, is diverse. Jewish and Italian immigrants have made the city famous for [[bagel]]s, [[Cheesecake#American|cheesecake]], and [[New York-style pizza]]. Some 4,000 mobile food vendors licensed by the city, many immigrant-owned, have made Middle Eastern foods such as [[falafel]]s and [[kebab]]s standbys of contemporary New York street food, although hot dogs and pretzels are still the main street fare.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kebabs on the Night Shift |first=Jennifer |last=Bleyer |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[May 14]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/nyregion/thecity/14vend.html|accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The city is also home to many of the finest [[haute cuisine]] restaurants in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Michelin Takes on the City, Giving Some a Bad Taste |first=Glenn |last=Collins |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[November 3]], [[2005]] |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30911F83D5A0C708CDDA80994DD404482 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

[[Image:Central Park DSCF2447.JPG|thumb|[[Central Park]] is the most visited city park in the United States<ref name = "TPL.org-CFCPE">{{cite web |title=City Park Facts |publisher=The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20531&folder_id=3208 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>]]

New York City has over {{convert|28000|acre|ha}} of municipal parkland and 14 miles (22 km) of public beaches.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/99a/pr042-99.html |title=Mayor Giuliani Announces Amount of Parkland in New York City has Passed 28,000-acre Mark |date=[[February 3]], [[1999]] |publisher=New York City Mayor's Office |accessdate=2007-06-06}}; {{cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_beaches.html |title=Beaches |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> This parkland is augmented by thousands of acres of [[Gateway National Recreation Area]], part of the [[List of areas in the United States National Park System|National Park system]], that lie within city boundaries. The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, the only wildlife refuge in the National Park System, alone is over {{convert|9000|acre|ha}} of marsh islands and water taking up most of [[Jamaica Bay]] and included. Manhattan's [[Central Park]], designed by [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]], is the most visited city park in the United States with 30 million visitors each year — 10 million more than [[Lincoln Park (Chicago)|Lincoln Park]] in Chicago, which is 2nd.<ref name = "TPL.org-CFCPE"/> [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] in Brooklyn, also designed by Olmsted and Vaux, has a 90&nbsp;acre (36&nbsp;[[hectare]]) meadow.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prospectpark.org/general/main.cfm?target=home |title=General Information |publisher=Prospect Park Alliance |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> [[Flushing Meadows–Corona Park]] in Queens, the city's third largest, was the setting for the [[1939 New York World's Fair|1939 World's Fair]] and [[1964 New York World's Fair|1964 World's Fair]].

=== Media ===
{{main|Media in New York City}}
[[Image:NYC subway riders with their newspapers.jpg|thumb|New York's use of mass transit gives the city a large newspaper readership base<ref>{{cite news |title=Since Riders had no Subways, Commuter Papers Struggled, Too |author=Ivry, Sara |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[December 26]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/26/business/media/26commute.html |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>]]

New York is a global center for the television, advertising, music, newspaper and book publishing industries and is also the largest media market in North America (followed by [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], [[Chicago]], and [[Toronto]]).<ref>{{cite press release |title=Tampa Bay 12th largest media market now |publisher=Tampa Bay Partnership |date=[[August 26]], [[2006]] |url=http://tampabay.org/press.asp?rls_id=991& |accessdate=2007-05-31}}</ref> Some of the city's media conglomerates include [[Time Warner]], the [[News Corporation]], the [[Hearst Corporation]], and [[Viacom]]. Seven of the world's top eight global [[advertising agency]] networks are headquartered in New York.<ref>[http://adage.com/datacenter/datapopup.php?article_id=116384 Top 10 Consolidated Agency Networks: Ranked by 2006 Worldwide Network Revenue], ''[[Advertising Age]]'' Agency Report 2007 Index ([[April 25]], [[2007]]). Retrieved on [[June 8]], [[2007]].</ref> Three of the "[[Music industry|Big Four]]" record labels are also based in the city, as well as in Los Angeles. One-third of all American [[independent film]]s are produced in New York.<ref name="NYC Media">{{cite web |title=Request for Expressions of Interest |publisher=The Governors Island Preservation & Education Corporation |date=2005 |url=http://www.govisland.com/PDFs/RFEI/RFEI.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in the city<ref name="NYC Media" /> and the book-publishing industry employs about 25,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Media and Entertainment |publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation |url=http://www.nycedc.com/Web/NYCBusinessClimate/IndustryOverviews/MediaEntertainment/MediaEntertainment.htm |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

Two of the three national daily newspapers in the United States are New York papers: ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[The New York Times]]''. Major tabloid newspapers in the city include ''[[Daily News (New York)|The New York Daily News]]'' and ''[[New York Post|The New York Post]]'', founded in 1801 by [[Alexander Hamilton]]. The city also has a major ethnic press, with 270 newspapers and magazines published in more than 40 languages.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ethnic Press Booms In New York City |publisher=Editor & Publisher |date=[[July 10]], [[2002]] |url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1538594 |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> ''[[El Diario La Prensa]]'' is New York's largest Spanish-language daily and the oldest in the nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=e4526a43cc213775795cc84762fce768 |title=el diario/La Prensa: The Nation's Oldest Spanish-Language Daily |date=[[July 27]] [[2005]] |publisher=New America Media |accessdate=2007-06-09}}</ref> ''[[New York Amsterdam News|The New York Amsterdam News]]'', published in Harlem, is a prominent African American newspaper. ''[[The Village Voice]]'' is the largest [[alternative newspaper]].

[[Image:Rockefeller Center (2006).JPG|thumb|left|[[Rockefeller Center]] is home to NBC Studios]]

The television industry developed in New York and is a significant employer in the city's economy. The four major American broadcast networks, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], [[CBS]], [[Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX]] and [[NBC]], are all headquartered in New York. Many cable channels are based in the city as well, including [[MTV]], [[Fox News Channel|Fox News]], [[HBO]] and [[Comedy Central]]. In 2005, there were more than 100 television shows taped in New York City.<ref>{{cite press release |title=2005 is banner year for production in New York |publisher=The City of New York Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting |date=[[December 28]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/010106_2005_banner_year.shtml |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

New York is also a major center for non-commercial media. The oldest [[public-access television]] channel in the United States is the [[Manhattan Neighborhood Network]], founded in 1971.<ref>[http://www.mnn.org/en/community-celebrates-public-access-tvs-35th-annive Community Celebrates Public Access TV's 35th Anniversary], [[Manhattan Neighborhood Network]] press release dated [[August 6]], [[2006]]. Accessed [[April 28]], [[2007]]. "Public access TV was created in the 1970s to allow ordinary members of the public to make and air their own TV shows—and thereby exercise their free speech. It was first launched in the U.S. in Manhattan July 1st 1971, on the Teleprompter and Sterling Cable systems, now Time Warner Cable."</ref> [[WNET]] is the city's major public television station and a primary provider of national [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] programming. [[WNYC]], a public radio station owned by the city until 1997, has the largest public radio audience in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Radio Research Consortium |title=Top 30 Public Radio Subscribers: Spring 2006 Arbitron |date=[[August 28]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.rrconline.org/reports/pdf/Sp06%20eRanks.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-11-17}}</ref> The City of New York operates a public broadcast service, [[nyctv]], that produces several original Emmy Award-winning shows covering music and culture in city neighborhoods, as well as city government.

=== Accent ===
The New York City area has a distinctive regional speech pattern called the [[New York dialect]], alternatively known as Brooklynese or New Yorkese. It is often considered to be one of the most recognizable accents within [[American English]].<ref>Newman, Michael (2005) "New York Talk" in ''American Voices'' Walt Wolfram and Ben Ward (eds). p.82-87 Blackwell ISBN 1-4051-2109-2</ref> The classic version of this dialect is centered on middle and working class people of [[European American]] descent, and the influx of non-European immigrants in recent decades has led to changes in this distinctive dialect.<ref name=NYT19930214/>

The traditional New York area accent is [[rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic]], so that the sound {{IPA|[ɹ]}} does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant; hence the pronunciation of the city as "New Yawk."<ref name=NYT19930214/> There is no {{IPA|[ɹ]}} in words like ''park'' {{IPA|[pɔːk]}} (with vowel raised due to the low-back chain shift), ''butter'' {{IPA|[bʌɾə]}}, or ''here'' {{IPA|[hiə]}}. In another feature called the low back chain shift, the {{IPA|[ɔ]}} vowel sound of words like ''talk'', ''law'', ''cross'', and ''coffee'' and the often homophonous {{IPA|[ɔr]}} in ''core'' and ''more'' are tensed and usually raised more than in [[General American]].

In the most old-fashioned and extreme versions of the New York dialect, the vowel sounds of words like "girl" and of words like "oil" both become a diphthong {{IPA|[ɜɪ]}}. This is often misperceived by speakers of other accents as a reversal of the ''er'' and ''oy'' sounds, so that ''girl'' is pronounced "goil" and ''oil'' is pronounced "erl"; this leads to the caricature of New Yorkers saying things like "Joizey" (Jersey), "Toidy-Toid Street" (33rd St.) and "terlet" (toilet).<ref name=NYT19930214/> The character [[Archie Bunker]] from the 1970s [[situation comedy|sitcom]] ''[[All in the Family]]'' was a good example of a speaker who had this feature. This particular speech pattern is no longer very prevalent.<ref name=NYT19930214>Sontag, Deborah. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0D61438F937A25751C0A965958260 "Oy Gevalt! New Yawkese An Endangered Dialect?"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[February 14]], [[1993]]. Accessed [[July 8]], [[2007]].</ref>

=== Sports ===
{{main|Sports in New York City}}
[[Image:100 1971 edited.JPG|thumb| [[Yankee Stadium]] is home to the [[New York Yankees]]]]

New York City has teams in the four major North American professional sports leagues, each of which also has its headquarters in the city.

New York is one of the few areas of the United States where [[baseball]], rather than [[American football|football]], remains the most popular sport. There have been fourteen [[World Series]] championship series between New York City teams, in matchups called [[Subway Series]]. New York is one of only five metro areas (Chicago, Washington-Baltimore, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area being the others) to have two baseball teams. The city's two current [[Major League Baseball]] teams are the [[New York Yankees]] and the [[New York Mets]], who compete in six games every regular season. The Yankees have enjoyed 26 world titles, while the Mets have taken the Series twice. The city also was once home to the [[San Francisco Giants#New York Giants history|New York Giants]] (now the [[San Francisco Giants]]) and the [[Los Angeles Dodgers#Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn Dodgers]] (now the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]]). Both teams moved to California in 1958. There are also two [[minor league baseball]] teams in the city, the [[Staten Island Yankees]] and [[Brooklyn Cyclones]].

The city is represented in the [[National Football League]] by the [[New York Jets]] and [[New York Giants]] (officially the New York Football Giants), although both teams play their home games in [[Giants Stadium]] in nearby [[New Jersey]].

[[Image:2005 New York City Marathon.jpg|thumb|left|The [[New York City Marathon]] is the largest marathon in the world]]

The [[New York Rangers]] represent the city in the [[National Hockey League]].

In [[Association football|soccer]], New York is represented by the [[Major League Soccer]] side, [[Red Bull New York]]. The "Red Bulls" also play their home games at the [[Giants Stadium]] in New Jersey.

The city's [[National Basketball Association]] team is the [[New York Knicks]] and the city's [[Women's National Basketball Association]] team is the [[New York Liberty]]. The first national college-level basketball championship, the [[National Invitation Tournament]], was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nit.org/history/nit-postseason.html |title=Postseason Overview |publisher=National Invitation Tournament |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> [[Rucker Park]] in [[Harlem]] is a celebrated court where many professional athletes play in the summer league.

[[Image:Arthur ashe stadium interior.jpg|thumb|right|The [[US Open (tennis)|U.S. Tennis Open]] (held in Queens) is the fourth and final event of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments]]

As a global city, New York supports many events outside these sports. Queens is host of the U.S. Tennis Open, one of the four [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] tournaments. The [[New York City Marathon]] is the world's largest, and the 2004-2006 runnings hold the top three places in the marathons with the largest number of finishers, including 37,866 finishers in 2006.<ref>[http://www.aims-association.org/statistics/World's_Largest_Marathons.html World's Largest Marathons], [[Association of International Marathons and Distance Races]]. Accessed [[June 28]], [[2007]].</ref> The [[Millrose Games]] is an annual track and field meet whose featured event is the [[Wanamaker Mile]]. Boxing is also a very prominent part of the city's sporting scene, with events like the Amateur Boxing Golden Gloves being held at Madison Square Garden each year.

Many sports are associated with New York's immigrant communities. [[Stickball]], a street version of baseball, was popularized by youths in working class Italian, German, and Irish neighborhoods in the 1930s. Stickball is still commonly played, as a street in The Bronx has been renamed Stickball Blvd. as tribute to New York's most known street sport. In recent years several amateur [[cricket]] leagues have emerged with the arrival of immigrants from South Asia and the Caribbean. Street hockey, football, and baseball are also commonly seen being played on the streets of New York. New York City is often called "The World's Biggest Urban Playground," as street sports are commonly played by people of all ages.<ref>{{cite video |people=Sas, Adrian (Producer) |year=2006 |url=http://nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/video/index.html?key=16&search= |title=It's my Park: Cricket |medium=TV-Series |location=New York City |publisher=[[Nystv]]}}</ref>

== Economy ==
{{main|Economy of New York City}}
[[Image:Photos NewYork1 032.jpg|thumb|The [[New York Stock Exchange]] on [[Wall Street]] is the largest [[stock exchange]] in the world by dollar volume]]

New York City is a global hub of international business and commerce and is one of three "command centers" for the [[world economy]] (along with [[London]] and [[Tokyo]]).<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Saskia Sassen|Sassen, Saskia]] |title=The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo |year=2001 |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=2nd edition |isbn=0691070636}}</ref> The city is a major center for finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts in the United States. The New York [[metropolitan area]] had an estimated [[gross metropolitan product]] of $952.6 billion in 2005, the largest regional economy in the United States<ref name="NYC economy">{{cite web |url=http://www.usmayors.org/74thWinterMeeting/metroeconreport_January2006.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=The United States Conference of Mayors |title=The role of metro areas in the U.S. economy |date=[[January 13]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> and second largest city economy in the world.<ref name="London ranked as world's six largest economy">{{cite web|url=http://www.itweek.co.uk/accountancyage/news/2184877/london-ranked-world-six-largest=|title=London ranked as world's six largest economy|publisher=ITWeek|accessdate=2008-08-04}}</ref> The city's economy accounts for the majority of the economic activity in the states of New York and New Jersey.<ref name="NYC economy" /> Many major corporations are headquartered in New York City, including 44 [[Fortune 500]] companies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nycedc.com/Web/NYCBusinessClimate/FactsFigures/FactsFigures.htm |title=NYC Business Climate - Facts & Figures |publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation|accessdate=2007-06-08}}</ref> New York is also unique among American cities for its large number of foreign corporations. One out of ten private sector jobs in the city is with a foreign company.<ref>{{cite news |title=Keeping the Economy Growing |author=Wylde, Kathryn |publisher=Gotham Gazette |date=[[January 23]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20060123/202/1727 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

New York City is home to some of the nation's — and the world's — most valuable real estate. 450 [[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park Avenue]] was sold on [[July 2]] [[2007]] for $510 million, about $1,589 per square foot ($17,104/m²), breaking the barely month-old record for an American office building of $1,476 per square foot ($15,887/m²) set in the June 2007 sale of 660 Madison Avenue.<ref>Quirk, James. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk4NDImZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxNjI5NzEmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyMg== "Bergen offices have plenty of space"], ''[[The Record (Bergen County)]]'', [[July 5]] [[2007]]. Accessed [[July 5]] [[2007]]. "On Monday, a 26-year-old, 33-story office building at 450 Park Ave. sold for a stunning $1,589 per square foot, or about $510 million. The price is believed to be the most ever paid for a U.S. office building on a per-square-foot basis. That broke the previous record—set four weeks earlier—when 660 Madison Ave. sold for $1,476 a square foot."</ref>

[[Manhattan]] had 353.7 million square feet (32,859,805 m²) of office space in 2001.<ref name="Four Percent of Manhattan's Total Office Space Was Destroyed in the World Trade Center Attack">{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/construction/4266400-1.html|title=Four Percent of Manhattan's Total Office Space Was Destroyed in the World Trade Center Attack|publisher=Allbusiness|date=[[September 25]] [[2001]]|accessdate=2008-08-05}}</ref>

[[Midtown Manhattan]] is the largest central business district in the United States and is home to the highest concentration of the city's skyscrapers. [[Lower Manhattan]] is the third largest central business district in the United States, and is home to The [[New York Stock Exchange]], located on [[Wall Street]], and the [[NASDAQ]], representing the world's first and second largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured by average daily trading volume and overall market capitalization.<ref>{{cite web |authors=Claessens, Stjin |title=Electronic Finance: Reshaping the Financial Landscape Around the World |publisher=The World Bank |date=September 2000 |url=http://www.worldbank.org/research/interest/confs/upcoming/papersjuly11/E-finance.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> Financial services account for more than 35% of the city's employment income.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci12-1.pdf|format=PDF |title=Challenges Facing the New York Metropolitan Area Economy |author=Orr, James and Giorgio Topa |work=Current Issues in Economics and Finance - Second District Highlights |publisher=New York Federal Reserve |date=Volume 12, Number 1, January 2006|accessdate=2007-06-05}}</ref> Real estate is a major force in the city's economy, as the total value of all New York City property was $802.4 billion in 2006.<ref name="NYC real estate">{{cite web |title=Tentative Assessment Roll: Fiscal Year 2008 |publisher=New York City Department of Finance |date=[[January 15]], [[2007]] |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/pdf/07pdf/tent-ass-roll-07-08t.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> The [[Time Warner Center]] is the property with the highest-listed market value in the city, at $1.1 billion in 2006.<ref name="NYC real estate" />

[[Image:Times Square New York City FLIKR 1.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Times Square]] has been dubbed "the Crossroads of the World"]]

The city's television and film industry is the second largest in the country after [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/stats.shtml |title=NYC Film Statistics |publisher=Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting |accessdate=2007-06-07}}</ref> Creative industries such as new media, advertising, fashion, design and architecture account for a growing share of employment, with New York City possessing a strong competitive advantage in these industries.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Currid, Elizabeth |title=New York as a Global Creative Hub: A Competitive Analysis of Four Theories on World Cities |journal=Economic Development Quarterly |year=2006 |volume=20(4) |pages=pp. 330–350 |doi=10.1177/0891242406292708}}</ref> High-tech industries like bioscience, software development, game design, and internet services are also growing, bolstered by the city's position at the terminus of several [[transatlantic telephone cable|transatlantic fiber optic trunk lines]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Telecommunications and Economic Development in New York City: A Plan for Action|publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation |date=March 2005 |url=http://www.nycedc.com/about_us/TelecomPlanMarch2005.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities.

Manufacturing accounts for a large but declining share of employment. Garments, chemicals, metal products, processed foods, and furniture are some of the principal products.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/imb/downloads/pdf/whitepaper.pdf |format=PDF |title=Protecting and Growing New York City's Industrial Job Base |publisher=The Mayor's Office for Industrial and Manufacturing Business |date=January 2005 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The food-processing industry is the most stable major manufacturing sector in the city.<ref name="food manufacturing">{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/imb/downloads/pdf/more_than_link_food_chain.pdf |format=PDF |title=More Than a Link in the Food Chain |publisher=The Mayor's Office for Industrial and Manufacturing Business |accessdate=2007-02-14 |date=February 2007}}</ref> Food making is a $5 billion industry that employs more than 19,000 residents, many of them immigrants who speak little English. Chocolate is New York City's leading specialty-food export, with $234 million worth of exports each year.<ref name="food manufacturing" />
<br clear="all">

== Demographics ==
<!-- CONSIDER ADDING TO "DEMOGRAPHICS OF NYC" DAUGHTER ARTICLE INSTEAD OF ADDING LENGTH HERE. -->
{{main|Demographics of New York City}}

{| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" style="margin:0 0 2em 2em; font-size: 95%;"
|+'''New York City Compared'''
|-
! [[United States Census, 2000|2000 Census]]
! abbr="City" | NY City
! abbr="State" | NY State
! abbr="Country" | U.S.
|-
! Total population
| 8,008,278<ref name="census" />
| 18,976,457
| 281,421,906
|-
! Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000
| +9.4%
| +5.5%
| +13.1%
|-
! Population density
| 26,403/sq mi
| 402/sq mi
| 80/sq mi
|-
! Median household income (1999)
| $38,293
| $43,393
| $41,994
|-
! Bachelor's degree or higher
| 27%
| 27%
| 29%
|-
! Foreign born
| 36%
| 20%
| 11%
|-
! White
| 45%
| 68%
| 75%
|-
! White (non-Hispanic)
| 37%
| 62%
| 67%
|-
! Black
| 28%
| 16%
| 12%
|-
! Hispanic (any race)
| 27%
| 15%
| 11%
|-
! Asian
| 10%
| 6%
| 4%
|}

{{Historical populations|type=USA
| 1698|4937
| 1712|5840
| 1723|7248
| 1737|10664
| 1746|11717
| 1756|13046
| 1771|21863
| 1790|33131
| 1800|60515
| 1810|96373
| 1820|123706
| 1830|202589
| 1840|312710
| 1850|696490
| 1860|813669
| 1870|942292
| 1880|1206299
| 1890|1515301
| 1900|3437202
| 1910|4766883
| 1920|5620048
| 1930|6930446
| 1940|7454995
| 1950|7891957
| 1960|7781984
| 1970|7894862
| 1980|7071639
| 1990|7322564
| 2000|8008288
| 2007 est|8295029
|footnote=Beginning 1900, figures are for consolidated city of five boroughs. Sources: 1698 — 1771<ref>{{cite book|last=Greene and Harrington|first=|title=American Population Before the Federal Census of 1790|publisher=|location=New York|year=1932|isbn=|pages=}}, as cited in: {{cite book|last=Rosenwaike|first=Ira|title=Population History of New York City|publisher=Syracuse University Press|location=Syracuse, N.Y.|year=1972|isbn=0815621558|pages=p.8}}</ref>, 1790 — 1990<ref>Gibson, Campbell.[http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027.html Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States:1790 to 1990], [[United States Census Bureau]], June 1998. Accessed [[June 12]], [[2007]].</ref>, 2007<ref name=CensusEst>[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_event=Search&geo_id=16000US3403940&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US34%7C16000US3403940&_street=&_county=new+york+city&_cityTown=new+york+city&_state=04000US36&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=population_0&ds_name=null&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=Census Data for New York city, New York], [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed [[June 12]], [[2007]].</ref>
}}


New York is the most populous city in the United States, with an estimated 2007 population of 8,274,527 (up from 7.3 million in 1990).<ref name="census" /> This amounts to about 40% of New York State's population and a similar percentage of the metropolitan regional population. Over the last decade the city's population has been increasing and demographers estimate New York's population will reach between 9.2 and 9.5 million by 2030.<ref>{{cite web |title=New York City Population Projections by Age/Sex and Borough, 2000-2030 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=December 2006 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/projections_report.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}} See also {{cite news |last=Roberts, Sam |title=By 2025, Planners See a Million New Stories in the Crowded City |publisher=New York Times |date=[[February 19]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/nyregion/19population.html?ex=1298005200&en=c586d38abbd16541&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

New York's two key demographic features are its [[population density]] and [[cultural diversity]]. The city's population density of 26,403 people per square mile (10,194/km²) makes it the most densely populated American municipality with a population above 100,000.<ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_lang=en&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1R_US13S&-format=US-13 US-13S&-CONTEXT=gct United States -- Places and (in selected states) County Subdivisions with 50,000 or More Population; and for Puerto Rico], [[United States Census Bureau]] [[United States Census, 2000]]. Accessed [[June 12]], [[2007]].</ref> Manhattan's population density is 66,940 people per square mile (25,846/km²), highest of any county in the United States.<ref>[http://gislounge.com/features/aa041101c.shtml "Population Density"], Geographic Information Systems - GIS of Interest. Accessed [[May 17]], [[2007]]. "What I discovered is that out of the 3140 counties listed in the Census population data only 178 counties were calculated to have a population density over one person per acre. Not surprisingly, New York County (which contains Manhattan) had the highest population density with a calculated 104.218 persons per acre."</ref><ref name="census2000">{{cite web |title=Census 2000 Data for the State of New York |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url=http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/ny.html|accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

New York City is exceptionally diverse. Throughout its history the city has been a major point of entry for [[Immigration|immigrants]]; the term ''[[melting pot]]'' was first coined to describe densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the [[Lower East Side]]. Today, 36% of the city's population is foreign-born.<ref name="NYC immigration" /> Among American cities, this proportion is exceeded only by [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] and [[Miami, Florida|Miami]].<ref name="census2000" /> While the immigrant communities in those cities are dominated by a few nationalities, in New York no single country or region of origin dominates. The ten largest countries of origin for modern immigration are the [[Dominican Republic]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Jamaica]], [[Guyana]], [[Mexico]], [[Ecuador]], [[Haiti]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Colombia]], and [[Russia]].<ref name="newestnewyorkers">{{cite web |title=The Newest New Yorkers, 2000 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=2004 |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/nny_exec_sum.shtml |accessdate=2008-05-27 |quote=The Dominican Republic was the largest source of the foreign-born, numbering 369,200 or 13 percent of the total, followed by China (262,600), Jamaica (178,900), Guyana (130,600), and Mexico (122,600). Ecuador, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, and Russia rounded out the city's ten largest sources of the foreign-born.}}</ref> About 170 languages are spoken in the city.<ref name="languages in NYC" />

The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest [[American Jews|Jewish community]] outside [[Israel]]; [[Tel Aviv]] proper (non-metro/within municipal limits) has a smaller population than the Jewish population of New York City proper, making New York the largest Jewish community in the world. About 12% of New Yorkers are Jewish or of Jewish descent and roots.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewish Community Study of New York |publisher=United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York |date=2002 |url=http://www.ujafedny.org/atf/cf/%7BAD848866-09C4-482C-9277-51A5D9CD6246%7D/JCommStudyIntro.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> It is also home to nearly a quarter of the nation's [[Indian American]]s,<ref>{{cite web |title=Census Profile:New York City's Indian American Population |publisher=Asian American Federation of New York |date=2004 |url=http://www.aafny.org/cic/briefs/indianamer.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> and the largest [[African American]] community of any city in the United States.

The five largest ethnic groups as of the 2005 census estimates are: [[Puerto Ricans in the United States|Puerto Ricans]], [[Italian American|Italians]], [[Caribbean|West Indians]], [[Dominican American|Dominicans]] and [[Chinese American|Chinese]].<ref name="acs_socio_05">{{cite web |title=NYC2005 — Results from the 2005 American Community Survey : Socioeconomic Characteristics by Race/Hispanic Origin and Ancestry Group |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]]|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/acs_socio_05_nyc.pdf |format=PDF |date=2005 |accessdate=2007-08-14}}; [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/popacs.shtml Population Division American Community Survey], [[New York City Department of City Planning]]</ref> The Puerto Rican population of New York City is the [[Puerto Rican migration to New York|largest outside of Puerto Rico]].<ref>Archive of the Mayor's Press Office, [http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/98a/pr256-98.html ''Mayor Giuliani Proclaims Puerto Rican Week in New York City''], Tuesday, June 9, 1998.</ref> Italians emigrated to the city in large numbers in the early twentieth century. The [[Irish American|Irish]], the sixth largest ethnic group, also have a [[Irish Americans in New York City|notable presence]]; one in 50 New Yorkers of European origin carry a distinctive genetic signature on their Y chromosomes inherited from [[Niall of the Nine Hostages]], an Irish high king of the fifth century A.D.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Moore LT, McEvoy B, Cape E, Simms K, Bradley DG |title=A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=334–338 |date=February 2006 |url=http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/issues/v78n2/43032/43032.web.pdf |format=PDF |pmid=16358217 |accessdate=2007-06-07 |doi=10.1086/500055}} See also {{cite news |title=If Irish Claim Nobility, Science May Approve |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[2006-01-18]]|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/science/18irish.html?ex=1149652800&en=2336ca46c937614b&ei=5070 |first=Nicholas |last=Wade |accessdate=2006-07-16}}</ref>

New York City has a high degree of income disparity. In 2005 the median household income in the wealthiest census tract was $188,697, while in the poorest it was $9,320.<ref>{{cite news |author=Roberts, Sam |title=In Manhattan, Poor Make 2 Cents for Each Dollar to the Rich |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[April 9]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/SamRoberts4Sep05.htm |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> The disparity is driven by wage growth in high income brackets, while wages have stagnated for middle and lower income brackets. In 2006 the average weekly wage in Manhattan was $1,453, the highest and fastest growing among the largest counties in the United States.<ref name=ManhattanLabor>{{cite web |title=Average Weekly Wage in Manhattan at $1,453 in Second Quarter 2006 |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor|date=[[February 20]], [[2007]] |url=http://www.bls.gov/ro2/fax/qcew9310.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-02-21}}</ref> The borough is also experiencing a baby boom that is unique among American cities. Since 2000, the number of children under age 5 living in Manhattan grew by more than 32%.<ref>{{cite news |title=In Surge in Manhattan Toddlers, Rich White Families Lead Way |author=Roberts, Sam |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[2007-03-27]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/nyregion/23kid.html |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref>

Home ownership in New York City is about 33%, much lower than the national average of 69%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeownership/ |title=Homeownership}}</ref> Rental vacancy is usually between 3% and 4.5%, well below the 5% threshold defined to be a housing emergency and used to justify the continuation of [[Rent control in New York|rent control and rent stabilization]]. About 33% of rental units are rent-stabilized. Finding housing, particularly affordable housing, in New York City can be more than challenging.<ref>[http://www.helium.com/tm/329063/normally-quite-optimistic-person How to find a cheap apartment in New York City]; [http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/pr/vacancy.shtml Housing Vacancy Survey]</ref>

== Government ==
<!-- PLEASE CONSIDER ADDING TO "GOV'T OF NYC" DAUGHTER ARTICLE INSTEAD OF ADDING LENGTH HERE. -->
{{main|Government of New York City}}
[[Image:Municipal Building - New York City.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Manhattan Municipal Building]], a 40-story building built to accommodate increased governmental space demands after the 1898 consolidation of New York City]]

Since its consolidation in 1898, New York City has been a [[metropolitan municipality]] with a "strong" [[Mayor-council government|mayor-council form of government]]. The government of New York is more centralized than that of most other U.S. cities. In New York City, the central government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply and welfare services. The [[Mayor of New York City|mayor]] and [[councillor]]s are elected to four-year terms. The [[New York City Council]] is a [[unicameralism|unicameral]] body consisting of 51 Council members whose districts are defined by geographic population boundaries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyccouncil.info/tools/about_council.cfm |title=About the Council |publisher=New York City Council |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> The mayor and councilors are limited to two four-year terms.

The mayor is [[Michael Bloomberg]], a former Democrat and current independent elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] in 2001 and re-elected in 2005 with 59% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement and Return Report for Certification: General Election 2005 |publisher=New York City Board of Elections |date=[[November 8]], [[2005]] |url=http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/pdf/results/2005/general/Manhattan/New%20York%20Mayor%20NY%20Recap.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> He is known for taking control of the city's education system from the state, rezoning and economic development, sound fiscal management, and aggressive public health policy. In his second term he has made school reform, poverty reduction, and strict gun control central priorities of his administration.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Mike Bloomberg |url=http://www.mikebloomberg.com/en/about_mike_bloomberg |publisher=The Official Site of Mike Bloomberg |accessdate=2007-05-31}}</ref> Together with [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] mayor [[Thomas Menino]], in 2006 he founded the [[Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition]], an organization with the goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal [[gun politics|guns]] off the streets."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml |title=Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members}} Retrieved on [[June 20]], [[2007]]</ref> The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] holds the majority of public offices. 66% of registered voters in the city are Democrats.<ref>{{cite web |title=County Enrollment Totals |publisher=New York State Board of Elections |date=[[April 1]], [[2006]] |url=http://www.elections.state.ny.us/NYSBOE/enrollment/county/county_apr06.htm |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> New York City has not been won by a Republican in a statewide or presidential election since 1924. [[Party platform]]s center on affordable housing, education and economic development, and labor politics are of importance in the city.

[[Image:New York City Hall.jpg|thumb|right|[[New York City Hall]]]]

New York is the most important source of political fundraising in the United States, as four of the top five [[ZIP code|zip codes]] in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the [[Upper East Side]], generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both [[George W. Bush]] and [[John Kerry]].<ref>{{cite web |title=2006 Election Overview: Top Zip Codes |publisher=Opensecrets.org |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topzips.asp?cycle=2004 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The city has a strong imbalance of payments with the national and state governments. It receives 83 cents in services for every $1 it sends to the federal government in [[Taxation in the United States|taxes]] (or annually sends $11.4 billion more than it receives back). The city also sends an additional $11 billion more each year to the state of New York than it receives back.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Fair Share of State Budget: Does Albany Play Fair with NYC?|publisher=New York City Finance Division |date=[[March 11]], [[2005]] |url=http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/attachments/65379.htm?CFID=232457&CFTOKEN=33008944 |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

Located near City Hall are the courthouse for the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] and [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]], and the [[Jacob K. Javits Federal Building]]. Manhattan also hosts the [[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division|NY Appellate Division, First Department]]. Brooklyn hosts the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York]], and [[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division|NY Appellate Division, Second Department]]. As with any county, each Borough has a branch of the [[New York Supreme Court]] and other New York State courts.

== Crime ==
{{main|Crime in New York City}}
In the 1980s, crime rates spiked and in the early 1990s as the [[crack epidemic]] hit the city, but by the mid 1990s and early 21st century crime rates had greatly subsided and since the year 2005 the city had the lowest crime rate of the 25 largest U.S cities. By 2002 New York City had about the same crime rate as [[Provo, Utah]] and was ranked 197th in overall crime among the 216 U.S. cities with populations greater than 100,000. Violent crime in New York City decreased more than 75% from 1993 to 2005 and continued decreasing during periods when the nation as a whole saw increases.<ref>{{cite news |''Law Enforcement News'' |title=Don't tell New York, but crime is going up |url=http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/len/2002/12.31/page5.html}}</ref> In 2005 the [[list of countries by homicide rate|homicide rate]] was at its lowest level since 1963.<ref>{{cite paper |title=The Remarkable Drop In Crime In New York City |author=Langan, Patrick A. |date=[[October 21]], [[2004]] |url=http://samoa.istat.it/Eventi/sicurezza/relazioni/Langan_rel.pdf |publisher=Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (Italy) |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-05-22}}</ref> In 2007 New York City recorded fewer than 500 [[homicide]]s for the first time ever since crime statistics were first published in 1963.

Sociologists and criminologists have not reached consensus on what explains the dramatic decrease in the city's crime rate. Some attribute the phenomenon to new tactics used by the [[New York City Police Department]], including its use of [[CompStat]] and the [[Fixing Broken Windows|broken windows theory]]. Others cite the end of the crack epidemic and demographic changes.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Crime Drop in America |chapter=The Rise and Decline of Hard Drugs, Drug Markets, and Violence in Inner-City New York |author=Johnson, Bruce D., Andrew Golub, Eloise Dunlap |editor=Blumstein, Alfred, Joel Wallman |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |id=ISBN 0521862795}}; {{cite book |title=New York Murder Mystery: The True Story Behind the Crime Crash of the 1990s |author=Karmen, Andrew |year=2000 |publisher=NYU Press |id=0814747175}}</ref>

[[Organized crime]] has long been associated with New York City, beginning with the [[40 Thieves|Forty Thieves]] and the [[Roach Guards]] in the [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] in the 1820s. The 20th century saw a rise in the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] dominated by the [[Five Families]]. [[Gang]]s including the [[Black Spades]] also grew in the late 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=NYPD: A City and Its Police |author=Lardner, James, and Thomas Reppetto |publisher=Owl Books |year=2000 |pages=pp. 18–21}}</ref>

== Education ==
{{main|Education in New York City}}
[[Image:Fordham University Keating Hall.JPG|left|thumb|[[Fordham University]]'s Keating Hall in The Bronx]]

The city's public school system, managed by the [[New York City Department of Education]], is the largest in the United States. About 1.1 million students are taught in more than 1,200 separate primary and secondary schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dcp/download/census/sf3edp302.xls |title=School Enrollment by Level of School and Type of School for Population 3 Years and Over |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=2000 |format=MS Excel |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> There are approximately 900 additional privately run secular and religious schools in the city, including some of the most prestigious private schools in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/ |title=Private School Universe Survey |publisher=National Center for Education Statistics |accessdate=2007-06-05}}</ref>
Though it is not often thought of as a [[college town]], there are about 594,000 university students in New York City, the highest number of any city in the United States.<ref>{{cite paper |publisher=Brookings Institution |title=New York in Focus: A Profile from Census 2000 |date=November 2003 |url=http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/livingcities/newyork2.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-11-17}}</ref> In 2005, three out of five Manhattan residents were college graduates and one out of four had advanced degrees, forming one of the highest concentrations of highly educated people in any American city.<ref>{{cite news |title=New York Area Is a Magnet For Graduates |author=McGeehan, Patrick |publisher=The New York Times |date=[[August 16]], [[2006]] |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E16FF3F5A0C758DDDA10894DE404482 |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> Public postsecondary education is provided by the [[City University of New York]], the nation's third-largest public university system, and the [[Fashion Institute of Technology]], part of the [[State University of New York]]. New York City is also home to such notable private universities as [[Barnard College]], [[Columbia University]], [[Cooper Union]], [[Fordham University]], [[New York University]], [[The New School]], and [[Yeshiva University]]. The city has dozens of other smaller private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions, such as [[St. John's University (Jamaica, NY)|St. John's University]], [[Juilliard School|The Juilliard School]] and [[School of Visual Arts|The School of Visual Arts]].

[[Image:Columbia University 01.jpg|right|thumb|[[Columbia University]]'s Low Memorial Library]]

Much of the scientific research in the city is done in medicine and the life sciences. New York City has the most post-graduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, 40,000 licensed physicians, and 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions.<ref name="NYC science institutions">{{cite press release |title=Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Economic Development Corporation President Andrew M. Alper Unveil Plans to Develop Commercial Bioscience Center in Manhattan |publisher=New York City Economic Development Corporation |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fhome2.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2004b%2Fpr310-04.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 |date=[[November 18]], [[2004]] |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref> The city receives the second-highest amount of annual funding from the [[National Institutes of Health]] among all U.S. cities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://grants.nih.gov/grants/award/trends/top100fy03.htm |title=NIH Domestic Institutions Awards Ranked by City, Fiscal Year 2003 |publisher=National Institutes of Health |date=2003 |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> Major biomedical research institutions include [[Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center]], [[Rockefeller University]], [[SUNY Downstate Medical Center]], [[Albert Einstein College of Medicine]], [[Mount Sinai School of Medicine]] and [[Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University|Weill Cornell Medical College]].

The [[New York Public Library]], which has the largest collection of any public library system in the country, serves Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island.<ref name="libraryspot">{{cite web |url=http://www.libraryspot.com/lists/listlargestlibs.htm |title=Nation's Largest Libraries |publisher=LibrarySpot |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> Queens is served by the [[Queens Borough Public Library]], which is the nation's second largest public library system, and [[Brooklyn Public Library]] serves Brooklyn.<ref name="libraryspot"/> The New York Public Library has several research libraries, including the [[Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture|Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture]].

New York City also features many of the most elite and exclusive private schools in the country. These schools include [[Brearley School]], [[Dalton School]], [[Spence School]], [[The Chapin School (Manhattan)|The Chapin School]], [[Nightingale-Bamford School]], [[Convent of the Sacred Heart (New York)|Convent of the Sacred Heart]] on the [[Upper East Side]] of [[Manhattan]]; [[Collegiate School (New York)|Collegiate School]] and [[Trinity School (New York City)|Trinity School]] on the [[Upper West Side]] of Manhattan; [[Horace Mann School]], [[Ethical Culture Fieldston School]], and [[Riverdale Country School]] in [[Riverdale, Bronx]]; and [[Saint Ann's School (New York City)|Saint Ann's School]] in [[Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn]]. Some of New York City's renowned public secondary schools, often considered the best in the nation, include: [[Hunter College High School]], [[Stuyvesant High School]], [[Bronx High School of Science|The Bronx High School of Science]], [[Brooklyn Technical High School]], [[Bard High School Early College]], [[Townsend Harris High School]], and [[Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts|LaGuardia High School]].

== Transportation ==
{{main|Transportation in New York City}}
[[Image:Grand Central Station Main Concourse Jan 2006.jpg|thumb|right|New York City is home to the two busiest rail stations in the U.S., including [[Grand Central Terminal]] (seen here)]]

Public transit is overwhelmingly the dominant form of travel for New Yorkers.<ref name=2001summary>{{cite web |title=NHTS 2001 Highlights Report, BTS03-05 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics |date=2001 |url=http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/pdf/entire.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-05-21}}</ref> About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York and its suburbs.<ref name="MTAinfo">{{cite web |title=The MTA Network: Public Transportation for the New York Region |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |url=http://www.mta.info/mta/network.htm |accessdate=2006-05-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Commuting in America III: Commuting Facts |author=Pisarski, Alan |publisher=Transportation Research Board |date=[[October 16]], [[2006]] |url=http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/CIAIIIfacts.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-27}}</ref> This is in contrast to the rest of the country, where about 90% of commuters drive automobiles to their workplace.<ref name=2001summary /> New York is the only city in the United States where more than half of all [[List of U.S. cities with most households without a car|households do not own a car]] (in Manhattan, more than 75% of residents do not own a car; nationally, the percentage is 8%).<ref name=2001summary /> According the US Census Bureau, New York City residents spend an average of about one full week a year getting to work (an average of 38.4 minutes per day), making it the longest commute time in the nation among large cities.<ref>{{cite web |title=New York Has Longest Commute to Work in Nation, American Community Survey Finds |date=December 2004 |url=http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/001695.html |accessdate=2008-03-15}}</ref>

The [[New York City Subway]] is the largest [[rapid transit]] system in the world when measured by the number of stations in operation, with 468. It is the third-largest when measured by annual ridership (1.5 billion passenger trips in 2006).<ref name=MTAinfo /> New York's subway is also remarkable because nearly all of the system remains open 24 hours per day (though in some cases with significant differences in routings from the daytime network), in contrast to the overnight shutdown common to systems in most cities, including [[London]], [[Paris]], [[Washington, DC]], and [[Tokyo]]. The transportation system in New York City is extensive and complex. It includes the longest [[Verrazano-Narrows Bridge|suspension bridge]] in North America,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/verrazano-narrows/ |title=Verrazano-Narrows Bridge |publisher=Nycroads.com |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular [[Holland Tunnel|tunnel]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/writeups/93001619.nl.pdf |title=Holland Tunnel |publisher=National Park Service |date=[[November 4]], [[1993]] |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> more than 12,000 yellow cabs,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/state_of_taxi.pdf |title=The State of the NYC Taxi |publisher=New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission |date=[[2006-03-09]] |format=PDF |accessdate=2006-08-02}}</ref> an [[Roosevelt Island Tramway|aerial tramway]] that transports commuters between [[Roosevelt Island]] and Manhattan, and a ferry system connecting Manhattan to various locales within and outside the city.

[[Image:Jfkairport.jpg|thumb|left|The TWA Flight Center Building at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]]]]

New York City's public [[MTA Bus Company|bus fleet]] and commuter rail network are the largest in North America.<ref name="MTAinfo" /> The rail network, which connects the suburbs in the [[Tri-State Region|tri-state region]] to the city, has more than 250 stations and 20 rail lines.<ref name="MTAinfo" /><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |title=About the MTA Long Island Rail Road |url=http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr/pubs/aboutlirr.htm |accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Facts at a Glance |publisher=NJ Transit |date=2005 |url=http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/an_factsataGlance_FY.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-03-26}}</ref> The commuter rail system converges at [[Grand Central Terminal]] and [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Pennsylvania Station]].

New York City is the top international air passenger gateway to the United States.<ref name=IntlTravel>{{cite web |url=http://www.bts.gov/publications/us_international_travel_and_transportation_trends/2002/index.html |title=U.S. International Travel and Transportation Trends, BTS02-03 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics |date=2002 |accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref> The area is served by three major airports, [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy International]], [[Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark Liberty International]] and [[LaGuardia Airport|LaGuardia]], with plans for a fourth airport, [[Stewart International Airport]] near Newburgh, NY, to be taken over and enlarged by the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] (which administers the other three airports), as a "reliever" airport to help cope with increasing passenger volume. 100 million travelers used the three airports in 2005 and the city's airspace is the busiest in the nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/airports/pdfs/traffic/Air_Traffic_2005.pdf |title=2005 Annual Airport Traffic Report |publisher=The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |date=[[November 2]], [[2006]] |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref> Outbound international travel from JFK and Newark accounted for about a quarter of all U.S. travelers who went overseas in 2004.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.panynj.gov/AboutthePortAuthority/PressCenter/PressReleases/PressRelease/index.php?id=724 |title=Port Authority Leads Nation in Record-Setting Year for Travel Abroad |publisher=The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |date=[[August 29]], [[2005]] |accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref>

[[Image:DeKalb Avenue (BMT Fourth Avenue Line) by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|The [[New York City Subway]] is the world's largest mass transit system by number of stations and mileage of track]]

New York's high rate of [[List of U.S. cities with high transit ridership|public transit use]], 120,000 daily cyclists<ref>{{cite news |title=Biking It|author=Schaller, Bruce |publisher=Gotham Gazette |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/transportation/20060718/16/1910/|accessdate=2006-07-20}}</ref> and many [[List of U.S. cities with most pedestrian commuters|pedestrian commuters]] makes it the most energy-efficient major city in the United States.<ref name="NYC energy consumption" /> Walk and bicycle modes of travel account for 21% of all modes for trips in the city; nationally the rate for metro regions is about 8%.<ref>{{cite web |title=2001 National Household Travel Survey: Summary of Travel Trends |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |date=December 2004 |url=http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/pub/STT.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref>

To complement New York's vast mass transit network, the city also has an extensive web of [[freeway|expressways]] and [[parkway]]s, that link New York City to northern [[New Jersey]], [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], [[Long Island]], and southwest [[Connecticut]] through various bridges and tunnels. Because these highways serve millions of suburban residents who [[Commuting|commute]] into New York, it is quite common for motorists to be stranded for hours in [[Traffic congestion|traffic jams]] that are a daily occurrence, particularly during [[rush hour]]. The [[George Washington Bridge]] is considered one of the world's busiest bridges in terms of vehicle traffic.<ref>[http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061024/BIZ/610240312/-1/NEWS03 George Washington Bridge turns 75 years old: Huge flag, cake part of celebration], ''[[Times Herald-Record]]'', [[October 24]], [[2006]]. "The party, however, will be small in comparison to the one that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey organized for 5,000 people to open the bridge to traffic in 1931. And it won't even be on ''what is now the world's busiest bridge'' for fear of snarling traffic."</ref>

Despite New York's reliance on public transit, roads are a defining feature of the city. Manhattan's street grid plan greatly influenced the city's physical development. Several of the city's streets and avenues, like Broadway, Wall Street and Madison Avenue are also used as shorthand in the American vernacular for national industries located there; those being the theater, finance, and advertising organizations, respectively.

== Sister cities ==
<!-- ONLY OFFICIAL SISTER CITIES ARE LISTED HERE. SEE http://www.nyc.gov/html/unccp/scp/html/sc/main.shtml -->
New York City has ten [[Town twinning|sister cities]],<ref>{{cite web |title=NYC's Sister Cities |publisher=Sister City Program of the City of New York |date=2006 |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/unccp/scp/html/sc/main.shtml|accessdate=2006-11-14}}</ref> nine of which are through the city's membership in [[Sister Cities International]] (SCI).<ref>{{cite web |title=Sister Cities International: Online Directory: New York, USA |date=2007 |publisher=Sister Cities International |url=http://www.sister-cities.org/icrc/directory/usa/NY}}</ref> The date section indicates the year in which the city was twinned with New York City.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%;"
! style="background:#811541" width="120" | <font color=white>Country</font>
! style="background:#810001" width="100" | <font color=white>City</font>
! style="background:#811541" width="130" | <font color=white>County/District/Region/State</font>
! style="background:#811541" width="40" | <font color=white>Date</font>
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|Japan}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Tokyo]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Tokyo|Tokyo Prefecture]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1960
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|China}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Beijing]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''Beijing''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1980
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|Egypt}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Cairo]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Cairo Governorate]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1982
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|Spain}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Madrid]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Madrid (autonomous community)|Comunidad de Madrid]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1982
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|Dominican Republic}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Santo Domingo]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Distrito Nacional]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1983
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|Hungary}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Budapest]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Budapest]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1992
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|Italy}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Rome]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Lazio]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1992
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|Israel}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Jerusalem]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Jerusalem District]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 1993
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[London]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[England]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 2001
|-
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | {{flag|South Africa}}
| bgcolor=#FFFFCF | '''[[Johannesburg]]'''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | ''[[Gauteng]]''
| bgcolor=#FFFFEF | 2003
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Edwin G. Burrows]] and [[Mike Wallace (historian)|Mike Wallace]] (1998), ''[[Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898]]'', Oxford University Press.
* [[Anthony Burgess]] (1976). ''[[New York (Anthony Burgess)|New York]]'', Little, Brown & Co.
* [[Federal Writers' Project]] (1939). ''The WPA Guide to New York City'', The New Press (1995 reissue).
* [[Kenneth T. Jackson]] (ed.) (1995). ''[[The Encyclopedia of New York City]]'', Yale University Press.
* Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar (eds.) (2005), ''Empire City: New York Through the Centuries'', Columbia University Press.
* {{cite book |title=American Metropolis: A History of New York City |author=Lankevich, George L. |publisher=NYU Press |year=1998 |isbn=0814751865}}
* [[E. B. White]] (1949). ''Here is New York'', Little Bookroom (2000 reissue).
* [[Colson Whitehead]] (2003). ''The Colossus of New York: A City in 13 Parts'', Doubleday.
* E. Porter Belden (1849). [http://books.google.com/books?id=Jv-nXd8W8b0C&printsec=titlepage ''New York, Past, Present, and Future: Comprising a History of the City of New York, a Description of its Present Condition, and an Estimate of its Future Increase''], New York, G.P. Putnam. from [[Google Book Search|Google Books]].

== External links ==
{{portal|New York City|Flag of New York City.svg}}
{{commons|New York City}}
{{wiktionary|New York City}}
* [http://www.nyc.gov/ NYC.gov] - official website of the city
* [http://www.nycvisit.com/ NYCvisit.com] - Official tourism website of New York City
* {{wikitravel}}
* {{dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/New_York/Localities/N/New_York_City|New York City}}
{{Geolinks-cityscale|40.71|-74.00|region:US-NY_type:city(8,143,000)_scale:300000}}
* [http://www.nyc.gov/citymap NYCityMap] - Interactive Map of New York City - includes subway stations and entrances
* A [http://www.timespacemap.com/search/eventsearch.htm?_what=%22wiki%2F%2Fnew_york_city%22&_maptype=1 Map and Timeline] of many of the events mentioned in this article
*[http://www.newyork.com New York.com]

{{Geographic Location (8-way)
| Centre = New York City
| North = [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], [[NY]]<br>[[Yonkers, New York|Yonkers]]
| Northeast = ''[[Long Island Sound]]''
| East = [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]], [[NY]]
| Southeast = ''[[Atlantic Ocean]]''
| South = ''[[Atlantic Ocean]]''
| Southwest = [[Middlesex County, New Jersey|Middlesex County]], [[New Jersey|NJ]]
| West = [[Hudson County, New Jersey|Hudson County]], [[New Jersey|NJ]]<br>[[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]]
| Northwest = [[Bergen County, New Jersey|Bergen County]], [[New Jersey|NJ]]
| image = Compass_rose_pale.svg
}}
{{New York City}}
{{New York}}
{{USLargestCities}}
{{USLargestMetros}}
{{World's most populated urban areas}}
{{Location of US capital}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Allingham, Henry}}
[[Category:Cities in New York]]
[[Category:Former capitals of the United States]]
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:Former United States state capitals]]
[[Category:English supercentenarians]]
[[Category:Metropolitan areas of the United States]]
[[Category:Last survivors]]
[[Category:New York City| ]]
[[Category:Légion d'honneur recipients]]
[[Category:Port cities in the United States]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Settlements established in 1625]]
[[Category:People from Clapham]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force airmen]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Navy sailors]]


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Revision as of 10:33, 11 October 2008

Henry Allingham
MP Simon Hughes meets Henry Allingham at the Imperial War Museum on 26 June 2006
BornClapton, County of London,
England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
 Royal Air Force
Years of serviceAugust 1915 – 16 April 1919
RankRigger Aero, Aircraft Mechanic Second Class
UnitRoyal Naval Air Service Number 12 Squadron
Battles/warsBattle of Jutland
AwardsFreedom of the City of Eastbourne
Freedom of the Town of Saint-Omer
Légion d'honneur
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gold Medal of Saint-Omer
Other workFord Motor Company

Henry William Allingham (born 6 June 1896) is, at age 112, a supercentenarian World War I veteran and Britain's oldest living man. He is the oldest ever surviving member of any British Armed Forces and the oldest surviving veteran of the First World War. Allingham is the oldest ever English man and the second-oldest ever British man after Welshman John Evans. On 13 February 2007, he became the UK's second-oldest living person—he also holds the record for being Europe's fifth-oldest living person and the oldest male. He is the joint second-oldest living man in the world,[1] and is the oldest living white male. As of April 2008, he is validated as one of the 25 oldest people in the world, tied with American man George Francis, and, as of October 2008, he ranks among the 20 oldest men ever and the 20 oldest Britons ever.

He is the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland, the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force (RAF).[2][3] Since 2001, he has become the face of the World War I veterans association and makes frequent public appearances to ensure that the horrors of World War I are not lost to modern generations.[4][5] Due to his longevity and his World War I service he is also the recipient of many honours and awards.[6][7][8]

Biography

Pre-World War I

Allingham was born in Clapton, County of London, England and his father died when Allingham was 14 months old. Brought up by his mother and grandparents, he attended a London County Council School before going to work as a trainee surgical instrument maker at Barts Hospital. He did not, however, find this job very interesting, and so left to work for a coachbuilder specialising in car bodies.[6] Allingham remembers watching W. G. Grace playing cricket, around 1903-05,[9] and also recalls seeing the City Imperial Volunteers return from the Second Boer War.[10]

World War I

Allingham in RNAS uniform in 1916

Allingham wanted to join the war effort in August 1914 as a despatch rider, but his critically ill mother managed to persuade him to stay at home and look after her. After his mother died, however, Allingham enlisted with the RNAS. He became formally rated as an Air Mechanic Second Class on 21 September 1915 and was posted to Chingford before completing his training at Sheerness. His RNAS serial number was RNAS F8317.[6]

After graduation, Allingham was drafted to the RNAS Air Station at Great Yarmouth where his job was aircraft maintenance. On 13 April 1916, King George V inspected the Air Station and its aircraft. He was disappointed when the king turned and left just before he would have had a chance to speak to him. Allingham also worked in Bacton, Norfolk, further up the coast, where night-flying was conducted.

Allingham was involved in supporting anti-submarine patrols. A typical patrol would last two to three days and would involve the manual labour of hoisting a seaplane in and out of the water by means of a deck-mounted derrick.

In the run-up to what has become known as the Battle of Jutland, Allingham was ordered to join HMS Kingfisher. Onboard was a Sopwith Schneider seaplane that was used to look out for the German High Seas Fleet. Allingham's responsibilities included helping to launch the plane. Although the trawler was not directly involved in the battle (it shadowed the British Grand Fleet and then the High Seas Fleet), Allingham can still rightfully claim to be the last known survivor of that battle and can recall "seeing shells ricocheting across the sea."[11]

In September 1917, Allingham, by now an Air Mechanic First Class, was posted to the Western Front to join No. 12 Squadron (RNAS). This unit acted as a training squadron for other RNAS squadrons based on the Western Front. There is also some evidence that the squadron was involved in combat operations. When Allingham arrived at Petite-Synthe, both the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the RNAS were involved in the Ypres offensive. Allingham also instrumented the very first reconnaissance aircraft camera during World War I.[citation needed]

On 12 November 1917, he was posted to the Aircraft Depot at Dunkirk, where he remained for the rest of the war, on aircraft repair and recovery duties. He recalls being bombed from the air and shelled from the land and sea.

He transferred to the Royal Air Force when the RNAS and the RFC were merged on 1 April 1918. At that time he was ranked as a Rigger Aero, Aircraft Mechanic Second Class and was given a new service number: 208317. He is believed to be the last surviving founding member of the RAF.[6] Allingham returned to the Home Establishment in February 1919 and was formally discharged to the RAF Reserve on 16 April 1919. He then joined Ford Motor Company, where he worked until his retirement.

The inter-war period

Shortly after being discharged Henry Allingham married Dorothy Cater, whom he had met at Great Yarmouth. They moved to Eastbourne in 1960, where she died ten years later in 1970. The marriage lasted 51 years and produced two daughters, both of whom Allingham outlived. Henry now has six grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 13 great-great-grandchildren and one great-great-great-grandchild, all but one of whom live in the United States.[12]

World War II

During the Second World War, Allingham was in a reserved occupation and worked on a number of different projects. The most significant of these was perhaps the effort to provide an effective counter-measure to the German magnetic mines. During his Christmas lunch in 1939 he was called away to help come up with a system that would neutralise the mines and open the port of Harwich. Nine days later, he had successfully completed the task.[6]

After World War II

Since Denis Goodwin of the World War I Veterans' Association tracked him down in 2001, Allingham has taken a prominent role in telling his story so that later generations will not forget. The 2003 Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal was launched on 16 October 2003 by Henry Allingham and model Nell McAndrew aboard the cruiser HMS Belfast. He was quoted as saying "They (the veterans) have given all they have got for the country ... I owe them ... we all owe them."[4]

A ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London on 4 August 2004 marked the 90th anniversary of Britain's entry into the First World War. This was attended by three other World War I veterans as well as Allingham—they were William Stone, Fred Lloyd and John Oborne. Allingham also marched past the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday in 2005 and laid wreaths at memorials in Saint-Omer on Armistice Day. That was the last time that a World War I veteran marched past the Cenotaph and it marked the end of an era. The Remembrance Sunday in 2006 was the first time since the Cenotaph was erected that World War I veterans were absent.[13]

As the last surviving member of the RNAS, and the last living founder member of the RAF, Allingham was an honoured guest when the British Air Services Memorial was unveiled at Saint-Omer on 11 September 2004. The group of RAF technical trainees that joined him at this ceremony continue to visit Henry at his retirement home in Eastbourne, demonstrating the bond of respect that these men have for Mr. Allingham, made even more remarkable since almost 90 years separate these young trainees from him. During this time, Allingham was given the Gold Medal of Saint-Omer, which marked the award of the Freedom of the Town.[citation needed]

He was invited by the International Holographic Portrait Archive to have his holographic portrait taken in November 2005, an offer which was accepted. His image was recorded for posterity in December 2005. At the same time, an exhibition was being planned for London's floating naval museum on board HMS Belfast, entitled the Ghosts of Jutland. A copy of this portrait was donated to the museum and HRH The Duchess of Gloucester unveiled the portrait to mark the opening of the exhibition.[11]

He was awarded the Freedom of his home town of Eastbourne by the mayor on 21 April 2006.[14] He lived on his own until May 2006 when, one month before his 110th birthday and with failing eyesight, he moved to St Dunstan's, a charity for blind ex-service personnel, at Ovingdean, near Brighton. Aside from this, he is reportedly in good health with visitors remarking on his memory and voice.[15] Allingham attended the 1 July commemorations at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing in 2006. He did not attend the 2006 Remembrance Day parade on 11 November at the Cenotaph as he was in France at a wreath-laying ceremony and to receive the Freedom of The Town of Saint-Omer. He did, however, launch the Eastbourne Poppy Appeal before leaving for this trip.[16]

On 18 April 2007, Allingham visited Wilnecote High School in Tamworth to answer students' questions about World War I after they wrote to veterans asking them about their experiences. In October 2007, he was honoured at the Pride of Britain Awards.[7]

Between his 110th and 111th birthdays, Allingham made over 60 public appearances, including a visit to The Oval on 5 June 2007 (the day before his 111th birthday), where he was wheeled around the boundary in front of the spectators. [5]

On his 111th birthday, a Royal Marines band serenaded Allingham on board the Victory before he returned with friends and relatives to the Queen's Hotel on Portsmouth seafront for afternoon tea. Asked how it felt, Allingham replied, "I'm pleased to be seeing another tomorrow. It's just the same as it was as at any age, it's no different. I'm happy to be alive and I'm looking forward to the celebrations. I never imagined I'd get to 111."[15]

Allingham celebrated his 112th birthday with members of his family at RAF Cranwell, being the guest of honour at a luncheon at the College. During the day the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight performed a flypast which was followed by an acrobatic display from two Tutor aircraft.[17] In June 2008, at his personal request, Allingham was taken on a personal guided tour of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft at BAE Systems in Warton, Lancashire, as part of the National Veterans' Day celebrations.[18]

For a number of years calls had been growing to give the last remaining veteran of World War I a state funeral.[19] The calls culminated with action and Her Majesty's Government approved on 27 June 2006 a National Memorial Service at Westminster Abbey to take place after the death of the last known World War I veteran.[20] Allingham has often said that he tries not to think about the prospect, but has also been quoted as saying "I don't mind - as long as it's not me."[21] In Harry Patch's book The Last Fighting Tommy, the author claims that Allingham plans to leave his body to medical science.[22]

On 23 September 2008, Allingham launched a book about his life co-written with Denis Goodwin, with an event at the RAF Club in London.[23]

Longevity

Allingham overtook George Frederick Ives as the longest lived member of the British Armed Forces on 1 November 2007. He is therefore the longest lived British World War I veteran to-date and there are only four other British veterans still alive that could challenge this record—Claude Choules, Sydney Lucas, Harry Patch and William Stone. In addition to this record he is currently the oldest living veteran of World War I. He would have to live to 115 years and 157 days to overtake the record for the longest lived member of any armed force in any conflict; this record is held by Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico, who also served in World War I.[1]

Allingham has been the oldest living man in England for several years. Official Guinness World Record recognition came in January 2007.[24] On 13 February 2007 he became the UK's second-oldest living person behind Florrie Baldwin. Since the death of French supercentenarian Maurice Floquet on 10 November 2006, Allingham is the oldest validated living man in Europe. On 8 February 2007, with the death of 110-year-old Antonio Pierro, he became the oldest known living veteran of World War I as well as the third-oldest living man in the world. The death of Japanese man Sukesaburo Nakanishi on 22 August 2007 meant that Allingham shares the position of second-oldest man in the world with George Francis, an American man also born on 6 June 1896. The only older man is Japan's Tomoji Tanabe, born on 18 September 1895.[1] Allingham famously credits "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women—and a good sense of humour" for his longevity.[12]

War medals and awards

Henry Allingham has four medals, two of which are medals from World War I. In the image above, the necklace medal is the Gold Medal of Saint-Omer, which was awarded to Allingham on 4 August 2004 when he was given the Freedom of the Town of Saint-Omer.[6] The lowermost medal is France's highest military award, the Légion d'honneur, which was awarded to Allingham in 2003. The remaining two medals are British Campaign Medals from World War I. The leftmost chest medal is the British War Medal and on its right is the Victory Medal; those two medals are colloquially known as 'Mutt and Jeff'. The two pictured medals are actually replacement medals supplied by the Ministry of Defence after discovering at a recent cenotaph parade that Allingham's original campaign medals were destroyed during the Blitz of the Second World War.[25]

As well as the aforementioned decorations, Allingham has won several awards and honorary memberships. Examples include the Pride of Britain award,[7] and being made an honorary member of the Fleet Air Arm Association.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Validated Living Supercentenarians". 2007-11-29. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  2. ^ "Britain's oldest war veterans meet Service chiefs at the Ministry of Defence". Ministry of Defence. 2007-07-11. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02.
  3. ^ "Brew for the Few Launch". Royal Air Forces Association. 2007-09-17. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02.
  4. ^ a b "War veteran launches Poppy Day scratchcard". 2003-10-16. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b "Britain's oldest man - 111 today". 2007-06-06. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "The Gold Medal of St Omer". 2004-11-20. Archived from the original on 2007-06-18. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2004-11-20 suggested (help)
  7. ^ a b c "Pride of Britain is awarded to Henry Allingham". St. Dunstan's. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  8. ^ a b "World War I veterans receives new honour". BBC Online. 2005-10-06. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02.
  9. ^ "110 not out Henry Allingham supports Surrey". 2007-05-27. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  10. ^ "Remembrance: The old man and the boy, united by grief". Independent on Sunday. Independent News & Media. 2007-11-04. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ a b "A portrait of Henry Allingham". 2005-12. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ a b "Great War veteran honoured". 2006-04-22. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  13. ^ "90th Anniversary at the Cenotaph". 2004-08-04. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  14. ^ "World War I veteran honoured by home town". 2006-04-21. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  15. ^ a b "Aged 111, Britain's oldest birthday boy just 'pleased to see another tomorrow'". The Daily Mail, 6 June 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Henry Allingham Helps Launch Poppies in Eastbourne". 2006-11-02. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01.
  17. ^ "Britain's oldest man reaches 112". BBC. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  18. ^ "Oldest veteran visits Eurofighter". BBC. 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  19. ^ David Smith (2005-11-12). "Calls grow to grant last Great War veteran a state funeral". Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
  20. ^ "Nation to commemorate passing of First World War generation". Ministry of Defence. 2006-06-27. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  21. ^ "Last surviving officer of the Great War dies at 107". 2007-04-14. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
  22. ^ Patch, Harry (2007-08-06). The Last Fighting Tommy. Bloomsbury. p. 204. ISBN 0747591156. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Oldest man writes his life story". BBC News. 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  24. ^ "Florence Emily Baldwin takes the title as the new Oldest Woman in the UK" (Press release). Guinness World Records. 2007-02-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-01. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ "Navy medals office replaces Allingham's campaign medals". 2005-03-29. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2005-08-28 suggested (help)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_York_City&oldid=244545921"