Conversational topic: New York

New York is the largest US city and a major economic, financial, scientific and cultural centre of the country. People of different races and nationalities make up its population of more than 8 million. More than 80 languages are spoken in New York.

The city was founded in 1625 by the Dutch West India Company and was named New Amsterdam. In 1664 this territory was taken over by the English and they changed its name to new York.

Situated at the mouth of the Hudson River, New York has always been the gateway to the USA. About 12 million immigrants passed through New York when they came to America. The first view of the city from sea is a sight that can never be forgotten. Crowded ferry-boats cross the water with the people hurrying to work in the downtown sky-scrapers.

Liberty Island is a small uninhabited island in New York Harbor in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. It has been owned by the federal government since 1800, first as military installation and now as a national landmark. The bronze Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States by France in 1886 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of American independence. The statue is about 50 metres high and stands on a pedestal of almost the same height. Its torch can be seen at night for many miles. A new American Immigration Museum has been opened at the base of the statue. North of the Statue of Liberty is Ellis Island used from 1892 to 1943 to detain immigrants while examining their qualifications for legal entry to the USA.

The city of New York is divided into five districts. They are Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Richmond (Staten Island).

The heart of the city is Manhattan. There are some world-famous streets in Manhattan. Wall Street is the financial heart of the USA and the most important banking centre in the world. Broadway is the centre of the theatres and night life. Many drugstores and restaurants, which never close their doors, are situated here. There are cinemas with films that start at midnight. Fifth Avenue is the great shopping, hotel and club Avenue. On the corner of fifth Avenue and 34^th Street stands “the most famous building in the world”, the 102-storeyd Empire State Building. It was the first sky-scraper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at Fifth Avenue and 82^nd Street. It houses a permanent collection from all over the globe, ranging from Paleolithic to modern art.

The United Nations headquarters is a stunning complex of buildings and grounds situated along the embankment of the East River.

Brooklyn is the largest in population. 3,000,000 people live in Brooklyn, almost as many as in Chicago, thus giving its name “the bedroom of New York”.

Richmond over the bay is a district of piers and warehouses. Its population is only 295,000. The Bronx in the north is a residential, rather than industrial part of the city. Queens in the east is both residential and industrial.

Research institutes and societies, theatres, museums and publishing houses make New York one of the main centres of scientific and cultural life in the country.

New York is also one of the leading manufacturing cities in the world. Its enterprises produce vehicles, machinery, paper products, glass and chemicals.

New York is the largest port in America. More than half the trade of the United States goes through this city.