New York City
Our city. Yeah, we own it.
History
Founded in 1625 as New Amsterdam, a company town of the Dutch East India Company. Switched to municipal government (as opposed to a company outpost) in 1653. Turned over to an English fleet under the command of Colonel Nicoll in 1664 and renamed New York. Hasn't been the same since.
Geography
The city comprises five boroughs, which are administrative units below the city level. They are:
- Manhattan, our island, containing most "iconic" New York things. Sometimes people in the rest of the city (the "outer boroughs") refer to it as "the City".
- The Bronx, north of Manhattan and mostly poor
- Brooklyn, once poor but rapidly gentrifying with hipsters
- Queens, filled with lots of diverse immigrant neighborhoods
- Staten Island, a suburban wasteland similar to New Jersey
Taking advantage
Columbia has a number of ways in which it helps you take advantage of the city's wealth of cultural riches.
- Urban New York
- SEAS New York
- Passport to New York
- The Columbia Guide to New York
- Arts Train
- College Activities Office (Barnard)
- Discounted MetroCards
