Uss Charles Negatives X6 Famous Photographer Original Destroyer 1945 Vintage

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US, Item: 176270370285 USS CHARLES NEGATIVES X6 FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER ORIGINAL DESTROYER 1945 VINTAGE. SHIP LAUNCHING OF USS CHARLES WARE NEW DEDSTROYER NAMES FOR NAVY FLYER... LAUNCHED AT BETHLEHEM SHIPYARDS 6 VINTAGE ORIGINAL 4X5 INCH NEGATIVES FROM APRIL 12, 1945 TAKEN BY FAMED PHOTOGRAPHER IRVINH HABERMAN WITH ORIGINAL NEGATIVE ENVELOPE AND PAPER DESCRIPTION Irving Haberman (June 1, 1916 - March 25, 2003) was one of the  preeminent news photographers of the 20th century . Born in the Bronx, New York, he "shot 'em all" during an illustrious career that spanned nearly 50 years, including stops at the Brooklyn Eagle (1936-1939), PM (1941-1949) and CBS (1949-1985). Photographer Irving Haberman duplicate Date April 12,1945 Story A Ship was launched today" photo story Names (L to R) a new navy destroyer named after Naval Aviator Charles R.Ware was sent down the ways at Bethelem Shipyards in iss in name… s.I. to today…but Vare though dead will fight on… l- his family present to do the honors… sister Mrs C.G.Peterson, brother Cpl.Willard L.Ware…U.S.Army home after some fighting, Mrs Zena Ware… his mother… look over the ship from platform just before ceremonies… all sad but proud… 2- soldiers who have done their bit and now visiting from nearby Army hospital lookmover the new fighter… 3-mother sad and proud holds champagne bottle against bow of ship deep thought shows in her eyes. 4- man with torch cuts plates that will send ship down the graesed ways… and over the loud speaker we hear cut l… cut 2, cut 3. and then camera swings s- we catch mother Tare with tears in her eyes . biting her lips. . and as ship starts sliding she swings bottle and it splatters # 6- workers and guests and visitors send cheers ringing in the air as ship slides neutly into the water 7- shes in and shipshape… 8- and while tug jockeys ship into position … in background… workmen in foreground guides hull 8065which is being swung by crane and 9 - a new ship is born



























Charles R. Ware (DD-865) (DD-865: dp. 2,425; l. 390'6"; b. 41'1"; dr. 18'6"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 367; a. 6 5", 5 21" tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct.; cl. Gearing) Charles Rollins Ware, born 11 March 1911 in Knoxville, Tenn., enlisted in the Navy 14 June 1929, and the following year was appointed to the Naval Academy. After graduation in 1934, he served in Texas (BB-35) and Dahlgren (DD-187) until February 1940 when he entered flight training at Pensacola. Serving with Scouting Squadron 5, based on Yorktown (CV-5), Lieutenant Ware was reported missing in action 4 June 1942 during the Battle of Midway. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism in pressing home his attack on the Japanese fleet in the face of fierce fighter opposition and formidable antiaircraft fire. __________   Charles R. Ware (DE-547) was canceled prior to construction. I Charles R. Ware (DD-865) was launched 12 April 1945 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N.Y.; sponsored by Mrs. Z. Ware; and commissioned 21 July 1945, Commander H. R. Wier in command. From her home ports at Norfolk, Va., and after December 1950, Newport, R.I., Charles R. Ware operated through 1960 on the demanding schedule of the Atlantic Fleet. Along with many deployments to the Mediterranean and northern Europe, she carried out the intensive training and overhaul necessary to keep her ready for any emergency as well as her usual activities. Her first major cruise, between 1 March and 9 April 1946, was to northern waters, where she aided in developing techniques for cold weather operations, crossing the Arctic Circle. Shortly thereafter she carried out the -first of several operations through which she aided in maintaining the readiness of other forces, as she served as target ship for submarines training off New London, Conn. The tenth of November 1947 found her underway for the Mediterranean, and her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet. After exercising with this force, and calling at ports of northern Europe, she returned to Norfolk 11 March 1948. Her next tour of duty in the Mediterranean came in 1949, during which for 2 weeks she patrolled off the Levant Coast under the direction of the United Nations' Palestine Truce Commission. Through two cruises to the Caribbean in the summer of 1949, Charles R. Ware aided in the training of members of the Naval Reserve, then took part in a large-scale Arctic operation before preparing for a 1950 tour with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Her 1951 tour was highlighted by operations with ships of the Royal Hellenic Navy. Following her 1953 tour, she conducted antisubmarine warfare exercises with British ships off Northern Ireland, calling then at ports in Ireland, Germany, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium. Later that year she took part in exercises with the carrier HMCS Magnificent off Narragansett Bay. Early in 1954 she returned to the Mediterranean once more, for a tour of duty which included participation in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization operation. Her 1955 deployment began with antisubmarine warfare exercises with the Royal Navy off Northern Ireland, and was followed by her 6th Fleet duty. In summer 1956, she carried midshipmen on a summer training cruise to Northern Europe. The year 1957 was marked by assignment to escort the ship carrying King Saud of Saudi Arabia into New York harbor for his state visit, and a European cruise during which she exercised with Spanish destroyers. That fall she put to sea for North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises and on 20 January 1958, she rescued a downed pilot from Essex (CVA-9) while conducting air operations off the east coast. Shortly thereafter she cleared for the Mediterranean once more. During the summer of 1959, Charles R. Ware took part in the historic Operation "Inland Sea," the first passage of a naval force through the Saint Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes. She took part in the Naval Review in Lake Saint Louis on 26 June, which was taken by Queen Elizabeth II of England and President D. D. Eisenhower, and sailed on to call at a number of United States and Canadian ports. During her 1960 Mediterranean tour, she carried German naval observers during an exercise in the Ionian Sea. The Gearing class was a series of 98 destroyers built for the U.S. Navy during and shortly after World War II. The Gearing design was a minor modification of the Allen M. Sumner class, whereby the hull was lengthened by 14 ft (4.3 m) at amidships, which resulted in more fuel storage space and increased the operating range. The first Gearings were not ready for service until mid-1945 and saw little service in World War II. They continued serving, with a series of upgrades, until the 1970s. At that time many were sold to other nations, where they served many more years. Contents 1 Procurement and construction 2 Cancelled vessels 3 Design 3.1 1946-1959 upgrades 4 FRAM I upgrade 5 FRAM II upgrade 6 Service and disposition 7 Yang class 8 Ships in class 9 Survivors 9.1 Surviving ships 9.2 Surviving parts 10 References 11 External links Procurement and construction 31 vessels were authorized on 9 July 1942: DD-710 to DD-721 awarded to Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny. DD-742 to DD-743 awarded to Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. DD-763 to DD-769 awarded to Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco. DD-782 to DD-791 awarded to Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle. 4 vessels were authorized on 13 May 1942: DD-805 to DD-808 awarded to Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. 3 vessels were authorized on 27 March 1943 under the Vinson–Trammell Act: DD-809 to DD-811 awarded to Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. (later cancelled) 114 vessels were authorized on 19 July 1943 under the 70% Expansion Act: DD-812 awarded to Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. (later cancelled) DD-813 to DD-814 awarded to Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island. (later cancelled) DD-815 to DD-825 awarded to Consolidated Steel, Orange. (815 and 816 later cancelled) DD-826 to DD-849 awarded to Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. DD-850 to DD-853 awarded to Bethlehem Steel, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy. DD-854 to DD-856 awarded to Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island. (later cancelled) DD-858 to DD-861 awarded to Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro. DD-862 to DD-872 awarded to Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island. DD-873 to DD-890 awarded to Consolidated Steel, Orange. DD-891 to DD-893 awarded to Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny. (later cancelled) DD-894 to DD-895 awarded to Consolidated Steel, Orange. (later cancelled) DD-896 to DD-904 awarded to Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. (later cancelled) DD-905 to DD-908 awarded to Boston Navy Yard. (later cancelled) DD-909 to DD-916 awarded to Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island. (later cancelled) DD-917 to DD-924 awarded to Consolidated Steel, Orange. (later cancelled) DD-925 to DD-926 awarded to Charleston Navy Yard. (later cancelled) (Of the missing numbers in this sequence - 722 to 741, 744 to 762, 770 to 781, and 857 were allocated to orders for Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers; 792 to 804 were awarded to orders for Fletcher-class destroyers.) Cancelled vessels In March 1945, the orders for 36 of the above vessels were cancelled, and 11 more orders were cancelled in August 1945. Following the close of World War II, 7 further vessels were cancelled in 1946: Castle and Woodrow R. Thompson, the last pair of the twelve vessels launched by Federal Shipbuilding at Kearny, were cancelled on 11 February 1946. They were sold on 29 August 1955, and scrapped. Lansdale and Seymour D. Owens, both launched by Bethlehem at San Francisco, were cancelled on 7 January 1946. Their bows were used to repair other destroyers, and their remains were scrapped in 1958-1959. Hoel and Abner Read, both building by Bethlehem at San Francisco, were cancelled on 12 September 1946, prior to launch and broken up on the slip. Seaman, built by Todd Pacific Shipyards at Seattle; partially completed. Put in reserve on 25 June 1946, sold 12 September 1961, scrapped 22 September 1961. Four unnamed vessels (DD-809 to DD-812) awarded to Bath Iron Works, and five others (DD-813, DD-814, and DD-854 to DD-856) awarded to Bethlehem at Staten Island, were cancelled on 12 August 1945. Charles H. Roan (DD-815) and Timmerman (DD-816), both awarded to Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, were also cancelled on 12 August 1945. Their names were reallocated to Charles H. Roan and Timmerman respectively. Three more unnamed vessels (DD-891 to DD-893) awarded to Federal Shipbuilding at Kearney, were cancelled 8 March 1945. Ten more unnamed vessels (DD-894, DD-895, and DD-917 to DD-924) awarded to Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, and four more (DD-905 to DD-908) awarded to Boston Navy Yard, and another two (DD-925 and DD-926) awarded to Charleston Navy Yard, were all cancelled on 27 March 1945. Nine more unnamed vessels (DD-896 to DD-904) awarded to Bath Iron Works, and another eight (DD-909 to DD-916) awarded to Bethlehem at Staten Island, were all cancelled on 28 March 1945. Design The first ship was laid down in August 1944, while the last was launched in March 1946. In that time the United States produced 98 Gearing-class destroyers. The Gearing class was a seemingly minor improvement of the Allen M. Sumner class, built from 1943 until 1945. The main differences were that the Gearings were 14 ft (4.3 m) longer in the midship section, allowing for increased fuel tankage for greater range, an important consideration in Pacific War operations and that the Gearings had an additional rudder. More importantly in the long run, the increased size of the Gearings made them much more suitable for upgrades than the Allen M. Sumners, as seen in the wartime radar picket subclass, the 1950s radar picket destroyer (DDR) and escort destroyer (DDE) conversions, and the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) conversions 1960-1965. As designed, the Gearing class's armament was identical to that on the Allen M. Sumner class. Three twin 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber Mark 38 dual purpose (DP) mounts constituted the main battery. The 5-inch guns were guided by a Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System with a Mark 25 fire control radar linked by a Mark 1A Fire Control Computer stabilized by a Mark 6 8,500 rpm gyro. This fire control system provided effective long-range anti-aircraft (AA) or anti-surface fire. Twelve 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors guns in two quad and two twin mounts and 11 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons in single mounts were also equipped. The initial design retained the Allen M. Sumner class's heavy torpedo armament of ten 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes in two quintuple mounts, firing the Mark 15 torpedo. As the threat from kamikaze aircraft mounted in 1945, and with few remaining Japanese warships to use torpedoes on, most of the class had the aft quintuple 21-inch tube mounts replaced by an additional 40 mm quadruple mount (prior to completion on later ships) for 16 total 40 mm guns. Twenty-six ships (DD-742-745, 805-808, 829-835, and 873-883) were ordered without torpedo tubes to allow for radar picket equipment; these were redesignated as DDRs in 1948.[1][2][3][4] 1946-1959 upgrades Chart showing the development of the Gearing class. George K. MacKenzie, Leonard F. Mason, Henry W. Tucker, and Rupertus under the Story Bridge, Brisbane, Australia in January 1958. Following World War II most of the class had their AA and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) armament upgraded. The 40 mm and 20 mm guns were replaced by two to six 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber guns in up to two twin and two single mountings. One depth charge rack was removed and two Hedgehog ASW mortar mounts added. The K-guns were retained. Nine additional (for a total of 35) ships were converted to radar picket destroyers (DDR) in the early 1950s; these typically received only one 3-inch twin mount to save weight for radar equipment, as did the wartime radar pickets. Nine ships were converted to escort destroyers (DDE), emphasizing ASW. Carpenter was the most thorough DDE conversion, with 4 3-inch/70 caliber guns in twin enclosed mounts, two Weapon Alpha launchers, four new 21-inch torpedo tubes for the Mark 37 ASW torpedo, and one depth charge rack.[5] FRAM I upgrade Sarsfield (top) as delivered and Rowan (bottom) after FRAM I. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, 79 of the Gearing-class destroyers underwent extensive modernization overhauls, known as FRAM I, which were designed under project SCB 206[6] to convert them from an anti-aircraft destroyer to an anti-submarine warfare platform. FRAM I removed all of the DDR and DDE equipment, and these ships were redesignated as DDs. FRAM I and FRAM II conversions were completed 1960-1965. Eventually all but three Gearings received FRAM conversions.[7] The FRAM I program was an extensive conversion for the Gearing-class destroyers. This upgrade included rebuilding the ship's superstructure, electronic systems, radar, sonar, and weapons. The second twin 5-inch gun mount and all previous AA guns and ASW equipment were removed. On several ships the two forward 5-inch mounts remained and the aft 5-inch mount was removed. Upgraded systems included SQS-23 sonar, SPS-10 surface search radar, two triple Mark 32 torpedo tubes, an 8-cell Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC) box launcher, and one QH-50C DASH ASW drone helicopter, with its own landing pad and hangar. Both the Mk 32 torpedo tubes and ASROC launched Mk. 44 homing ASW torpedoes. ASROC could also launch a nuclear depth charge. On 11 May 1962, Agerholm tested a live nuclear ASROC in the "Swordfish" test.[8][9][10] In Navy slang, the modified destroyers were called "FRAM cans", "can" being a contraction of "tin can", the slang term for a destroyer or destroyer escort.[citation needed] The Gyrodyne QH-50C DASH was an unmanned anti-submarine helicopter, controlled remotely from the ship. The drone could carry two Mark 44 homing ASW torpedoes. During this era the ASROC system had an effective range of only 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi), but the DASH drone allowed the ship to deploy ASW attack to sonar contacts as far as 22 nmi (41 km; 25 mi) away.[11] However, DASH proved unreliable in shipboard service, with over half of the USN's 746 drones lost at sea. This was possibly due to inadequate maintenance support, as other services had few difficulties with DASH. By 1970, DASH had been withdrawn from FRAM I ships, though it was retained into the early 1970s on FRAM II ships, which lacked ASROC. A limitation of drones in ASW was the need to re-acquire the target at ranges beyond the effectiveness of the controlling ship's sonar. This led to shift to the LAMPS program of manned helicopters, which the Gearing class were too small to accommodate.[12] An upgraded version of DASH, QH-50D, remained in use by the United States Army until May 2006.[13] FRAM I "A" Ships: (First 8 conversions) Removal of aft twin 5-inch gun mount (Mount 53). Group A ships also received two MK10/11 Hedgehogs fitted on each side of the bridge at the 01 level and had the MK-32 triple torpedo launchers aft of the second stack. FRAM I "B" Ships (remainder of conversions): Kept their forward 5-inch mount (Mount 51), lost the second mount (Mount 52) and kept their aft 5-inch mount (Mount 53). In place of mount 52, a practice 5-inch reloading machine was installed with the MK-32 triple torpedo launchers aft of the loader. Group B ships also received greater ASROC and torpedo storage areas next to the port side of the DASH hangar.[14][15] FRAM II upgrade Norris after FRAM II. The FRAM II program was designed primarily for the Allen M. Sumner class destroyer, but sixteen Gearings were upgraded as well. This upgrade program included life-extension refurbishment, a new radar system, Mark 32 torpedo tubes, DASH ASW drone, and variable depth sonar (VDS). Importantly, it did not include ASROC. FRAM II ships included six DDRs and six DDEs that retained their specialized equipment (1960–1961), as well as four DDRs that were converted to DDs and were nearly identical to the Allen M. Sumner class FRAM IIs (1962–1963). The FRAM II ships retained all six 5-inch guns, except the DDEs retained four 5-inch guns and a trainable Hedgehog in the No. 2 position. All FRAM IIs retained two Hedgehogs alongside either the No. 2 5-inch mount or the trainable Hedgehog mount. The four DDRs converted to DDs were armed with two new 21-inch torpedo tubes for the Mk. 37 ASW homing torpedo. Photographs of the six retained DDRs show no markings on the DASH landing deck, as well as a much smaller deckhouse than was usually provided for DASH, so they may not have been equipped with DASH. Service and disposition Many of the Gearings provided significant gunfire support in the Vietnam War. They also served as escorts for Carrier Battle Groups (carrier strike groups from 2004) and Amphibious Ready Groups (Expeditionary Strike Groups from 2006). DASH was withdrawn from ASW service in 1969, due to poor reliability. Lacking ASROC, the FRAM II ships were disposed of in 1969–1974. With ASROC continuing to provide a standoff ASW capability, the Gearing FRAM Is were retained in service for several years, with most being decommissioned and transferred to foreign navies 1973–1980. They were replaced as ASW ships by the Spruance-class destroyers, which were commissioned 1975–1983. These had the same ASW armament as a Gearing FRAM destroyer, with the addition of improved sonar and a piloted helicopter, initially the Kaman SH-2 Seasprite, and from 1984, the Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk. Some Gearings served in the Naval Reserve Force (NRF) from 1973, remaining in commission with a partial active crew to provide training for Naval reservists. The last Gearing-class destroyer in US naval service was William C. Lawe, a FRAM I, decommissioned and struck 1 October 1983, and expended as a target 14 July 1999.[16] Yang class The Taiwanese destroyer Liao Yang in 1993 (ex Hanson). After the Gearing-class ships were retired from USN service, many were sold abroad, including over a dozen to the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) in Taiwan. These ships, along with Fletcher-class destroyers and Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers also acquired then, were upgraded under the Wu Chin (Chinese: 武進) I, II, and III programs and known throughout the ROCN as the Yang-class (Chinese: 陽字號) destroyers as they were assigned names that all end with the word "Yang". The last batch of 7 WC-III program vessels, all of them Gearing class, were retired in the early 2000s.[17] Under the most advanced Wu Chin III upgrade program, all World War II vintage weapons were removed and replaced with four Hsiung Feng II surface-to-surface missiles, ten SM-1 (box launchers), one 8-cell ASROC, one 76 mm (3 in) Otobreda gun, two Bofors 40 mm AA, one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS and two triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes. The DASH ASW drones were not acquired, but hangar facilities aboard those ships that had them were later used to accommodate ASW versions of MD 500 Defender helicopters. After the Yang-class destroyers were decommissioned, the SM-1 launch boxes were moved to Chi Yang-class frigates to improve their anti-air capability. Ships in class Ships of the Gearing destroyer class Name Hull no. Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned FRAM Decommissioned Fate USS Gearing DD-710 Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newark, New Jersey 10 August 1944 18 February 1945 3 May 1945 IB 2 July 1973 Sold for scrap, 6 November 1974 USS Eugene A. Greene DD-711 17 August 1944 18 March 1945 8 June 1945 IB 31 August 1972 Transferred to Spain, 31 August 1972 USS Gyatt DD-712 7 September 1944 15 April 1945 2 July 1945 22 October 1969 Sunk as a target, 11 June 1970 USS Kenneth D. Bailey DD-713 DDR-713 21 September 1944 17 June 1945 31 July 1945 II 20 January 1970 Sold to Iran, 13 January 1975, to be broken up for spare parts USS William R. Rush DD-714 19 October 1944 8 July 1945 21 September 1945 IB 1 July 1978 Transferred to South Korea in 1978; retired in 2000; became museum ship; scrapped December 2016 USS William M. Wood DD-715 2 November 1944 29 July 1945 24 November 1945 IB 1 December 1976 Sunk as target off Puerto Rico during ReadEx 1-83 in March 1983 USS Wiltsie DD-716 13 March 1945 31 August 1945 12 January 1946 IB 23 January 1976 Sold to Pakistan, 29 April 1977 USS Theodore E. Chandler DD-717 23 April 1945 20 October 1945 22 March 1946 IB 1 April 1975 Sold for scrap, 30 December 1975 USS Hamner DD-718 25 April 1945 24 November 1945 12 July 1946 IB 1 October 1979 Sold to Taiwan, 17 December 1980 USS Epperson DD-719 DDE-719 20 June 1945 22 December 1945 19 March 1949 IB 1 December 1975 Transferred to Pakistan, 29 April 1977 USS Frank Knox DD-742 DDR-742 Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 8 May 1944 17 September 1944 11 December 1944 II 30 January 1971 Transferred to Greece, 3 February 1971 USS Southerland DD-743 27 May 1944 5 October 1944 22 December 1944 IB 26 February 1981 Sunk as a target, 2 August 1997 USS William C. Lawe DD-763 Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California 12 March 1944 21 May 1945 18 December 1946 IB 1 October 1983 Sunk as a target, 14 July 1999 USS Lloyd Thomas DD-764 DDE-764 26 March 1944 5 October 1945 21 March 1947 II 12 October 1972 Sold to the Republic of China, 12 October 1972 USS Keppler DD-765 DDE-765 23 April 1944 24 June 1946 23 May 1947 II 1 July 1972 Sold to Turkey USS Rowan DD-782 Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington 25 March 1944 29 December 1944 31 March 1945 IB 18 December 1975 Ran aground and wrecked while under tow, 22 August 1977 USS Gurke DD-783 1 July 1944 15 February 1945 12 May 1945 IB 30 January 1976 Transferred to Greece, 17 March 1977 USS McKean DD-784 15 September 1944 31 March 1945 9 June 1945 IB 1 October 1981 Transferred to Turkey, 2 November 1982 USS Henderson DD-785 27 October 1944 28 May 1945 4 August 1945 IB 30 September 1980 Sold to Pakistan, 1 October 1980 USS Richard B. Anderson DD-786 1 December 1944 7 July 1945 26 October 1945 IA 20 December 1975 Transferred to Republic of China, 1 June 1977 USS James E. Kyes DD-787 27 December 1944 4 August 1945 8 February 1946 IB 31 March 1973 Transferred to Taiwan, 18 April 1973 USS Hollister DD-788 18 January 1945 9 October 1945 29 March 1946 IB 31 August 1979 Transferred to Taiwan, 3 March 1983 USS Eversole DD-789 28 February 1945 8 January 1946 10 May 1946 IB 11 July 1973 Transferred to Turkey, 11 July 1973 USS Shelton DD-790 31 May 1945 8 March 1946 21 June 1946 IA 31 March 1973 Sold to Taiwan, 18 April 1973 USS Chevalier DD-805 DDR-805 Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 12 June 1944 29 October 1944 9 January 1945 II 5 July 1972 Transferred to South Korea, 5 July 1972 USS Higbee DD-806 26 June 1944 13 November 1944 27 January 1945 IB 15 July 1979 Sunk as a target, 24 April 1986 USS Benner DD-807 DDR-807 10 July 1944 30 November 1944 13 February 1945 II 20 November 1970 Sold for scrap, 18 April 1975 USS Dennis J. Buckley DD-808 24 July 1944 20 December 1944 2 March 1945 IB 2 July 1973 Sold for scrap, 29 April 1974 USS Corry DD-817 Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas 5 April 1945 28 July 1945 27 February 1946 IB 27 February 1981 Transferred to Greece, 8 July 1981 USS New DD-818 14 April 1945 18 August 1945 5 April 1946 IB 1 July 1976 Transferred to South Korea, 23 February 1977 USS Holder DD-819 23 April 1945 25 August 1945 18 May 1946 IB 1 October 1976 Transferred to Ecuador, 23 February 1977 USS Rich DD-820 16 May 1945 5 October 1945 3 July 1946 IB 10 November 1977 Sold for scrap, 5 December 1979 USS Johnston DD-821 26 March 1945 10 October 1945 23 August 1946 IB 27 February 1981 Transferred to Republic of China, 27 February 1981 USS Robert H. McCard DD-822 20 June 1945 9 November 1945 23 October 1946 IB 5 June 1980 Transferred to Turkey, 5 June 1980 USS Samuel B. Roberts DD-823 27 June 1945 30 November 1945 22 December 1946 IB 2 November 1970 Sunk as a target, 14 November 1971 USS Basilone DD-824 DDE-824 7 July 1945 21 December 1945 26 July 1949 IB 1 November 1977 Sunk in exercise, 9 April 1982 USS Carpenter DD-825 DDK-825 DDE-825 30 July 1945 30 December 1945[18] 15 December 1949 IB 20 February 1981 Leased to Turkey, 20 February 1981 USS Agerholm DD-826 Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine 10 September 1945 30 March 1946 20 June 1946 IA 1 December 1978 Sunk as a target, 18 July 1982 USS Robert A. Owens DD-827 DDK-827 DDE-827 29 October 1945 15 July 1946 5 November 1949 IB 16 February 1982 Transferred to Turkey, 16 February 1982 USS Timmerman DD-828 1 October 1945 19 May 1951 26 September 1952 27 July 1956 Sold for scrap, 21 April 1959 USS Myles C. Fox DD-829 14 August 1944 13 January 1945 20 March 1945 IB 1 October 1979 Transferred to Greece for spare parts, 2 August 1980 USS Everett F. Larson DD-830 DDR-830 4 September 1944 28 January 1945 6 April 1945 II 30 October 1972 Transferred to South Korea, 30 October 1972 USS Goodrich DD-831 DDR-831 18 September 1944 25 February 1945 24 April 1945 II 30 November 1969 Sold for scrap, 12 September 1977 USS Hanson DD-832 7 October 1944 11 March 1945 11 May 1945 IB 31 March 1973 Transferred to Republic of China, 18 April 1973 USS Herbert J. Thomas DD-833 30 October 1944 25 March 1945 29 May 1945 IB 4 December 1970 Transferred to Republic of China, 1 June 1974 USS Turner DD-834 DDR-834 13 November 1944 8 April 1945 12 June 1945 II 26 September 1969 Sold for scrap, 13 October 1970 USS Charles P. Cecil DD-835 2 December 1944 2 April 1945 29 June 1945 IB 1 October 1979 Sold to Greece, 8 August 1980 USS George K. MacKenzie DD-836 21 December 1944 13 May 1945 13 July 1945 IB 30 September 1976 Sunk as a target, 15 October 1976 USS Sarsfield DD-837 15 January 1945 27 May 1945 31 July 1945 IB 1 October 1977 Transferred to Republic of China, 1 October 1977 and become museum at An-Pin harbor TAI-NAN, TAIWAN. USS Ernest G. Small DD-838 DDR-838 30 January 1945 14 June 1945 21 August 1945 II 13 November 1970 Transferred to Republic of China, 13 April 1971 USS Power DD-839 26 February 1945 30 June 1945 13 September 1945 IB 1 October 1977 Sold to Republic of China, 1 October 1977 USS Glennon DD-840 12 March 1945 14 July 1945 4 October 1945 IB 1 October 1976 Sunk as a target, 26 February 1981 USS Noa DD-841 26 March 1945 30 July 1945 2 November 1945 IA 31 October 1973 Loaned to Spain, 31 October 1973; Sold, 17 May 1978 USS Fiske DD-842 9 April 1945 8 September 1945 28 November 1945 IB 5 June 1980 Transferred to Turkey, 5 June 1980 USS Warrington DD-843 23 April 1945 27 September 1945 20 December 1945 IB 30 September 1972 Transferred to Taiwan, 24 April 1973, for spare parts USS Perry DD-844 14 May 1945 25 October 1945 17 January 1946 IA 1 July 1973 Sold for scrap, 24 June 1974 USS Bausell DD-845 28 May 1945 19 November 1945 7 February 1946 IA 30 May 1978 Sunk as a target, 17 July 1987 USS Ozbourn DD-846 16 June 1945 22 December 1945 5 March 1946 IB 30 May 1975 Sold for scrap, 1 December 1975 USS Robert L. Wilson DD-847 2 July 1945 5 January 1946 28 March 1946 IB 30 September 1974 Sunk as a target, 1 March 1980 USS Witek DD-848 16 July 1945 2 February 1946 23 April 1946 19 August 1968 Sunk as a target, 4 July 1969 USS Richard E. Kraus DD-849 31 July 1945 2 March 1946 23 May 1946 IB 1 July 1976 Transferred to South Korea, 23 February 1977 USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. DD-850 Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts 2 April 1945 26 July 1945 15 December 1945 IB 2 July 1973 Museum ship at Battleship Cove USS Rupertus DD-851 2 May 1945 21 September 1945 8 March 1946 IB 10 July 1973 Loaned to Greece, 10 July 1973 USS Leonard F. Mason DD-852 6 August 1945 4 January 1946 28 June 1946 IB 2 November 1976 Sold to Republic of China, 10 March 1978 USS Charles H. Roan DD-853 27 September 1945 15 March 1946 12 September 1946 IB 21 September 1973 Transferred to Turkey, 21 September 1973 USS Fred T. Berry DD-858 DDE-858 Bethlehem Shipbuilding, San Pedro, California 16 July 1944 28 January 1945 12 May 1945 II 15 September 1970 Scuttled as an artificial reef, 14 May 1972 USS Norris DD-859 DDE-859 29 August 1944 25 February 1945 9 June 1945 II 4 December 1970 Transferred to Turkey, 1 July 1974 USS McCaffery DD-860 DDE-860 1 October 1944 12 April 1945 26 July 1945 II 30 September 1973 Sold for scrap, 11 June 1974 USS Harwood DD-861 DDE-861 29 October 1944 22 May 1945 28 September 1945 II 1 February 1971 Sold to Turkey, 17 December 1973 USS Vogelgesang DD-862 Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Staten Island, New York 3 August 1944 15 January 1945 28 April 1945 IB 24 February 1982 Sold to Mexico, 24 February 1982 USS Steinaker DD-863 1 September 1944 13 February 1945 26 May 1945 IB 24 February 1982 Sold to Mexico, 24 February 1982 USS Harold J. Ellison DD-864 3 October 1944 14 March 1945 23 June 1945 IB 1 October 1983 Transferred to Pakistan, 1 October 1983 USS Charles R. Ware DD-865 1 November 1944 12 April 1945 21 July 1945 IB 30 November 1974 Sunk as target 15 November 1981 USS Cone DD-866 30 November 1944 10 May 1945 18 August 1945 IB 1 October 1982 Transferred to Pakistan, 1 October 1982 USS Stribling DD-867 15 January 1945 8 June 1945 29 September 1945 IA 1 July 1976 Sunk as target, 27 July 1980 USS Brownson DD-868 13 February 1945 7 July 1945 17 November 1945 IB 30 September 1976 Sold for scrap, 10 June 1977 USS Arnold J. Isbell DD-869 14 March 1945 6 August 1945 5 January 1946 IB 4 December 1973 Sold to Greece, 4 December 1973 USS Fechteler DD-870 12 April 1945 19 September 1945 2 March 1946 IB 11 September 1970 Sold for scrap, 28 June 1972 USS Damato DD-871 10 May 1945 21 November 1945 27 April 1946 IB 30 September 1980 Transferred to Pakistan, 1 October 1980 USS Forrest Royal DD-872 8 June 1945 17 January 1946 29 June 1946 IB 27 March 1971 Sold to Turkey, 27 March 1971 USS Hawkins DD-873 Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas 14 May 1944 7 October 1944 10 February 1945 IB 1 October 1979 Sold to Taiwan, 17 March 1983 USS Duncan DD-874 DDR-874 22 May 1944 27 October 1944 25 February 1945 II 15 January 1971 Sunk as target, 31 July 1980 USS Henry W. Tucker DD-875 29 May 1944 8 November 1944 12 March 1945 IB 3 December 1973 Transferred to Brazil, 3 December 1973 USS Rogers DD-876 3 June 1944 20 November 1944 26 March 1945 IB 1 October 1980 Transferred to South Korea, 25 July 1981 USS Perkins DD-877 DDR-877 19 June 1944 7 December 1944 4 April 1945 II 15 January 1973 Transferred to Argentina, 15 January 1973 USS Vesole DD-878 DDR-878 3 July 1944 29 December 1944 23 April 1945 IB 1 December 1976 Sunk as target, 14 April 1983 USS Leary DD-879 11 August 1944 20 January 1945 7 May 1945 IB 31 October 1973 Transferred to Spain, 17 May 1978 USS Dyess DD-880 17 August 1944 26 January 1945 21 May 1945 IB 27 January 1981 Sold to Greece for spare parts, 8 July 1981 USS Bordelon DD-881 9 September 1944 3 March 1945 5 June 1945 IB 1 February 1977 Transferred to Iran, 1 July 1977 USS Furse DD-882 23 September 1944 9 March 1945 10 July 1945 IB 31 August 1972 Loaned to Spain, 1972; Sold, 17 May 1978 USS Newman K. Perry DD-883 10 October 1944 17 March 1945 26 July 1945 IB 27 February 1981 Transferred to South Korea, 27 February 1981 USS Floyd B. Parks DD-884 30 October 1944 31 March 1945 31 July 1945 IB 2 July 1973 Sold for scrap, 1 April 1974 USS John R. Craig DD-885 17 November 1944 14 April 1945 20 August 1945 IB 27 July 1979 Sunk as target, 17 June 1980 USS Orleck DD-886 28 November 1944 12 May 1945 15 September 1945 IB 1 October 1982 Transferred to Turkey, 1 October 1982 USS Brinkley Bass DD-887 20 December 1944 26 May 1945 1 October 1945 IB 3 December 1973 Transferred to Brazil, 3 December 1973 USS Stickell DD-888 5 January 1945 16 June 1945 31 October 1945 IB 1 July 1972 Transferred to Greece, 1 July 1972 USS O'Hare DD-889 27 January 1945 22 June 1945 29 November 1945 IB 31 October 1973 Loaned to Spain, 31 October 1973; Sold, 17 May 1978 USS Meredith DD-890 27 January 1945 28 June 1945 31 December 1945 IA 29 June 1979 Transferred to Turkey, 29 June 1979 World War II Destroyer Shipbuilders map from Department of Defense (DoD) Survivors Six Gearing-class destroyers are preserved as museum ships: two in the United States, two in South Korea, one in Taiwan, and one in Turkey. Surviving ships USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850) in Fall River, Massachusetts USS Orleck (DD-886) in Jacksonville, Florida (planned) ROCS Te Yang (DDG-925) in Tainan City, Taiwan ROKS Jeong Ju (DD-925) in Dangjin, South Korea ROKS Jeong Buk (DD-916) in Gangneung, South Korea TCG Gayret (D352) in Izmit, Turkey Surviving parts USS Higbee (DD-806), in Naval Station Mayport Dental Clinic, Florida. ROCS Kai Yang (DDG-924), in August 23 Artillery Battle Museum, Taichung, Taiwan. ROCS Tze Yang (DDG-930), in Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan.[19] Quetzalcoatl (E-03), in Mexican Pacific Fleet headquarters, Mexico. USS Charles R. Ware (DD-865), was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy in service from 1945 to 1974. After her decommissioning, she was sunk as a target in 1981. Contents 1 Namesake 2 Construction 3 Operational history 4 References 5 External links Namesake Charles R. Ware with VS-6 pilots, seated, 3rd from left Charles Rollins Ware was born on 11 March 1911 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 14 June 1929, and in 1930 was appointed to the United States Naval Academy. After graduation in 1934, Ware served on the battleship USS Texas and the destroyer USS Dahlgren until February 1940, when he entered flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Serving as a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber pilot with Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6) based on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, Lieutenant Ware and his division of six SBDs attacked the carrier Kaga on 4 June 1942, one of four Japanese carriers sunk in the Battle of Midway. During their return to the Enterprise they successfully fought off attacks by Japanese fighters, but ran out of fuel and were forced to ditch. One crew was rescued and another crew was picked up by a Japanese destroyer and later executed. Ware and the other SBD crewmen were reported missing in action. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The planned destroyer escort USS Charles R. Ware (DE-547) was named for him, but its construction was cancelled in 1944 before construction could begin. Construction Charles R. Ware was laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at Staten Island in New York on 1 November 1944, launched on 12 April 1945 by Mrs. Z. Ware and commissioned on 21 July 1945.[1] Operational history From her home ports at Norfolk, Virginia, and after December 1950, Newport, Rhode Island, Charles R. Ware operated through 1960 with the Atlantic Fleet. Along with many deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and northern Europe, she carried out training and overhaul necessary. Her first major cruise, between 1 March and 9 April 1946, was to northern waters, where she aided in developing techniques for cold weather operations, crossing the Arctic Circle.[1] Shortly thereafter, she served as target ship for submarines training off New London, Connecticut. On 10 November 1947 the ship got underway for the Mediterranean, and her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet. After exercising with this force, and calling at ports of northern Europe, she returned to Norfolk 11 March 1948. Her next tour of duty in the Mediterranean came in 1949, during which for 2 weeks she patrolled off the Levant Coast under the direction of the United Nations' Palestine Truce Commission.[1] Through two cruises to the Caribbean in the summer of 1949, Charles R. Ware aided in the training of members of the Naval Reserve, then took part in a large-scale Arctic operation before preparing for a 1950 tour with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Her 1951 tour was highlighted by operations with ships of the Royal Hellenic Navy. Following her 1953 tour, she conducted antisubmarine warfare exercises with British ships off Northern Ireland, calling then at ports in Ireland, Germany, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium. Later that year she took part in exercises with the aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent off Narragansett Bay.[1] Early in 1954, she returned to the Mediterranean once more, for a tour of duty which included participation in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation. Her 1955 deployment began with antisubmarine warfare exercises with the Royal Navy off Northern Ireland, and was followed by her 6th Fleet duty. In summer 1956, she carried midshipmen on a summer training cruise to Northern Europe.[1] The year 1957 was marked by assignment to escort the ship carrying King Saud of Saudi Arabia into New York harbor for his state visit, and a European cruise during which she exercised with Spanish destroyers. That fall, she put to sea for North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises and on 20 January 1958, she rescued a downed pilot from the aircraft carrier Essex while conducting air operations off the east coast. Shortly thereafter she cleared for the Mediterranean once more.[1] During the summer of 1959, Charles R. Ware took part in the historic Operation Inland Seas,[2] the first passage of a naval force through the Saint Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes. She took part in the Naval Review in Lake Saint Louis on 26 June, which was taken by Queen Elizabeth II and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and sailed on to call at a number of United States and Canadian ports. During her 1960 Mediterranean tour, she carried German naval observers during an exercise in the Ionian Sea.[1] Charles R. Ware was decommissioned on 12 December 1974 and was sunk as a target in the Caribbean on 15 November 1981. The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 U.S. allies or partner nations as of 2015.[7][8][9][10] It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage[11][7] (4,635,628 tonne as of 2019)[12] and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the U.S. military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of June 2019.[3] The U.S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. After suffering significant loss of goods and personnel at the hands of the Barbary pirates from Algiers, the U.S. Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 for the construction of six heavy frigates, the first ships of the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy played a major role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy and seizing control of its rivers. It played the central role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The U.S. Navy emerged from World War II as the most powerful navy in the world. The 21st century U.S. Navy maintains a sizable global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. It is a blue-water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward deployments during peacetime and rapidly respond to regional crises, making it a frequent actor in U.S. foreign and military policy. The U.S. Navy is part of the Department of the Navy, alongside the U.S. Marine Corps, which is its coequal sister service. The Department of the Navy is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Navy. The Department of the Navy is itself a military department of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) is the most senior Navy officer serving in the Department of the Navy.[13] Contents 1 Mission 2 History 2.1 Origins 2.2 From re-establishment to the Civil War 2.3 20th century 2.3.1 World War I and interwar years 2.3.2 World War II 2.3.3 Cold War 2.4 21st century 3 Organization 3.1 Operating forces 3.2 Shore establishments 3.3 Relationships with other service branches 3.3.1 United States Marine Corps 3.3.2 United States Coast Guard 4 Personnel 4.1 Uniforms 4.1.1 Commissioned officers 4.1.2 Warrant officers 4.1.3 Enlisted 4.1.4 Badges of the United States Navy 5 Bases 5.1 Eastern United States 5.2 Western United States and Hawaii 5.3 United States territories 5.4 Foreign countries 6 Equipment 6.1 Ships 6.1.1 Aircraft carriers 6.1.2 Amphibious warfare vessels 6.1.3 Cruisers 6.1.4 Destroyers 6.1.5 Frigates and Littoral combat ships 6.1.6 Mine countermeasures ships 6.1.7 Patrol boats 6.1.8 Submarines 6.2 Aircraft 6.3 Weapons 7 Naval jack 8 Notable sailors 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links Mission To recruit, train, equip, and organize to deliver combat ready Naval forces to win conflicts and wars while maintaining security and deterrence through sustained forward presence. — Mission statement of the United States Navy.[14] The U.S. Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navy's three primary areas of responsibility:[15] The preparation of naval forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war. The maintenance of naval aviation, including land-based naval aviation, air transport essential for naval operations, and all air weapons and air techniques involved in the operations and activities of the Navy. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, and equipment of naval combat and service elements. U.S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U.S. Armed Forces is "to be prepared to conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest." The Navy's five enduring functions are sea control, power projection, deterrence, maritime security, and sealift.[16] History Main article: History of the United States Navy Origins It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious. — George Washington 15 November 1781, to Marquis de Lafayette[17] Would to Heaven we had a navy able to reform those enemies to mankind or crush them into non-existence. — George Washington 15 August 1786, to Marquis de Lafayette[18] Naval power . . . is the natural defense of the United States. — John Adams[19] The Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders.[20] In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia. The rationale for establishing a national navy was debated in the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, and make it easier to seek support from foreign countries. Detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the world's preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchantmen and reported the captures to the Congress. On 13 October 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the purchase of two vessels to be armed for a cruise against British merchantmen; this resolution created the Continental Navy and is considered the first establishment of the U.S. Navy.[21] The Continental Navy achieved mixed results; it was successful in a number of engagements and raided many British merchant vessels, but it lost twenty-four of its vessels[22] and at one point was reduced to two in active service.[23] In August 1785, after the Revolutionary War had drawn to a close, Congress had sold Alliance, the last ship remaining in the Continental Navy due to a lack of funds to maintain the ship or support a navy.[24][25] In 1972, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, authorized the Navy to celebrate its birthday on 13 October to honor the establishment of the Continental Navy in 1775.[26][21] From re-establishment to the Civil War See also: Union Navy USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente during the Quasi-War The United States was without a navy for nearly a decade, a state of affairs that exposed U.S. maritime merchant ships to a series of attacks by the Barbary pirates. The sole armed maritime presence between 1790 and the launching of the U.S. Navy's first warships in 1797 was the U.S. Revenue-Marine, the primary predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard. Although the USRCS (United States Revenue Cutter Service) conducted operations against the pirates, the pirates' depredations far outstripped its abilities and Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 that established a permanent standing navy on 27 March 1794.[27] The Naval Act ordered the construction and manning of six frigates and, by October 1797,[22] the first three were brought into service: USS United States, USS Constellation, and USS Constitution. Due to his strong posture on having a strong standing Navy during this period, John Adams is "often called the father of the American Navy".[28] In 1798–99 the Navy was involved in an undeclared Quasi-War with France.[29] From 1801 to 1805, in the First Barbary War, the U.S. Navy defended U.S. ships from the Barbary pirates, blockaded the Barbary ports and executed attacks against the Barbary' fleets. The U.S. Navy saw substantial action in the War of 1812, where it was victorious in eleven single-ship duels with the Royal Navy. It proved victorious in the Battle of Lake Erie and prevented the region from becoming a threat to American operations in the area. The result was a major victory for the U.S. Army at the Niagara Frontier of the war, and the defeat of the Native American allies of the British at the Battle of the Thames. Despite this, the U.S. Navy could not prevent the British from blockading its ports and landing troops.[30] But after the War of 1812 ended in 1815, the U.S. Navy primarily focused its attention on protecting American shipping assets, sending squadrons to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, where it participated in the Second Barbary War that ended piracy in the region, South America, Africa, and the Pacific.[22] From 1819 to the outbreak of the Civil War, the Africa Squadron operated to suppress the slave trade, seizing 36 slave ships, although its contribution was smaller than that of the much larger British Royal Navy. USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812 During the Mexican–American War the U.S. Navy blockaded Mexican ports, capturing or burning the Mexican fleet in the Gulf of California and capturing all major cities in Baja California peninsula. In 1846–1848 the Navy successfully used the Pacific Squadron under Commodore Robert Stockton and its marines and blue-jackets to facilitate the capture of California with large-scale land operations coordinated with the local militia organized in the California Battalion. The Navy conducted the U.S. military's first large-scale amphibious joint operation by successfully landing 12,000 army troops with their equipment in one day at Veracruz, Mexico. When larger guns were needed to bombard Veracruz, Navy volunteers landed large guns and manned them in the successful bombardment and capture of the city. This successful landing and capture of Veracruz opened the way for the capture of Mexico City and the end of the war.[30] The U.S. Navy established itself as a player in United States foreign policy through the actions of Commodore Matthew Perry in Japan, which resulted in the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. A carte de visite of a U.S. Navy lieutenant during the Civil War Naval power played a significant role during the American Civil War, in which the Union had a distinct advantage over the Confederacy on the seas.[30] A Union blockade on all major ports shut down exports and the coastal trade, but blockade runners provided a thin lifeline. The Brown-water navy components of the U.S. navy control of the river systems made internal travel difficult for Confederates and easy for the Union. The war saw ironclad warships in combat for the first time at the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862, which pitted USS Monitor against CSS Virginia.[31] For two decades after the war, however, the U.S. Navy's fleet was neglected and became technologically obsolete.[32] 20th century The Great White Fleet demonstrating U.S. naval power in 1907; it was proof that the U.S. Navy had blue-water capability. Our ships are our natural bulwarks. — Woodrow Wilson[17] A modernization program beginning in the 1880s when the first steel-hulled warships stimulated the American steel industry, and "the new steel navy" was born.[33] This rapid expansion of the U.S. Navy and its easy victory over the Spanish Navy in 1898 brought a new respect for American technical quality. Rapid building of at first pre-dreadnoughts, then dreadnoughts brought the U.S. in line with the navies of countries such as Britain and Germany. In 1907, most of the Navy's battleships, with several support vessels, dubbed the Great White Fleet, were showcased in a 14-month circumnavigation of the world. Ordered by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was a mission designed to demonstrate the Navy's capability to extend to the global theater.[22] By 1911, the U.S. had begun building the super-dreadnoughts at a pace to eventually become competitive with Britain.[34] The 1911 also saw the first naval aircraft with the navy[35] which would lead to the informal establishment of United States Naval Flying Corps to protect shore bases. It was not until 1921 US naval aviation truly commenced. Columbia, personification of the United States, wearing a warship bearing the words "World Power" as her "Easter bonnet" on the cover of Puck, 6 April 1901 World War I and interwar years During World War I, the U.S. Navy spent much of its resources protecting and shipping hundreds of thousands of soldiers and marines of the American Expeditionary Force and war supplies across the Atlantic in U-boat infested waters with the Cruiser and Transport Force. It also concentrated on laying the North Sea Mine Barrage. Hesitation by the senior command meant that naval forces were not contributed until late 1917. Battleship Division Nine was dispatched to Britain and served as the Sixth Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet. Its presence allowed the British to decommission some older ships and reuse the crews on smaller vessels. Destroyers and U.S. Naval Air Force units like the Northern Bombing Group contributed to the anti-submarine operations. The strength of the United States Navy grew under an ambitious ship building program associated with the Naval Act of 1916. Naval construction, especially of battleships, was limited by the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22. The aircraft carriers USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Lexington (CV-2) were built on the hulls of partially built battle cruisers that had been canceled by the treaty. The New Deal used Public Works Administration funds to build warships, such as USS Yorktown (CV-5) and USS Enterprise (CV-6). By 1936, with the completion of USS Wasp (CV-7), the U.S. Navy possessed a carrier fleet of 165,000 tonnes displacement, although this figure was nominally recorded as 135,000 tonnes to comply with treaty limitations. Franklin Roosevelt, the number two official in the Navy Department during World War I, appreciated the Navy and gave it strong support. In return, senior leaders were eager for innovation and experimented with new technologies, such as magnetic torpedoes, and developed a strategy called War Plan Orange for victory in the Pacific in a hypothetical war with Japan that would eventually become reality.[36] World War II Main articles: United States Navy in World War II and Naval history of World War II Further information: Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942; The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944; and Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 Battleship USS Idaho shelling Okinawa on 1 April 1945. The U.S. Navy grew into a formidable force in the years prior to World War II, with battleship production being restarted in 1937, commencing with USS North Carolina (BB-55). Though ultimately unsuccessful, Japan tried to neutralize this strategic threat with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Following American entry into the war, the U.S. Navy grew tremendously as the United States was faced with a two-front war on the seas. It achieved notable acclaim in the Pacific Theater, where it was instrumental to the Allies' successful "island hopping" campaign.[23] The U.S. Navy participated in many significant battles, including the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, the Solomon Islands Campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and the Battle of Okinawa. By 1943, the navy's size was larger than the combined fleets of all the other combatant nations in World War II.[37] By war's end in 1945, the U.S. Navy had added hundreds of new ships, including 18 aircraft carriers and 8 battleships, and had over 70% of the world's total numbers and total tonnage of naval vessels of 1,000 tons or greater.[38][39] At its peak, the U.S. Navy was operating 6,768 ships on V-J Day in August 1945.[40] Doctrine had significantly shifted by the end of the war. The U.S. Navy had followed in the footsteps of the navies of Great Britain and Germany which favored concentrated groups of battleships as their main offensive naval weapons.[41] The development of the aircraft carrier and its devastating utilization by the Japanese against the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, however, shifted U.S. thinking. The Pearl Harbor attack destroyed or took out of action a significant number of U.S. Navy battleships. This placed much of the burden of retaliating against the Japanese on the small number of aircraft carriers.[42] During World War II some 4,000,000 Americans served in the United States Navy.[43] Cold War USS George Washington (SSBN-598), a ballistic missile submarine The potential for armed conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War pushed the U.S. Navy to continue its technological advancement by developing new weapons systems, ships, and aircraft. U.S. naval strategy changed to that of forward deployment in support of U.S. allies with an emphasis on carrier battle groups.[44] The navy was a major participant in the Vietnam War, blockaded Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and, through the use of ballistic missile submarines, became an important aspect of the United States' nuclear strategic deterrence policy. The U.S. Navy conducted various combat operations in the Persian Gulf against Iran in 1987 and 1988, most notably Operation Praying Mantis. The Navy was extensively involved in Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Deliberate Force, Operation Allied Force, Operation Desert Fox and Operation Southern Watch. The U.S. Navy has also been involved in search and rescue/search and salvage operations, sometimes in conjunction with vessels of other countries as well as with U.S. Coast Guard ships. Two examples are the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash incident and the subsequent search for missing hydrogen bombs, and Task Force 71 of the Seventh Fleet's operation in search for Korean Air Lines Flight 007, shot down by the Soviets on 1 September 1983. 21st century When a crisis confronts the nation, the first question often asked by policymakers is: 'What naval forces are available and how fast can they be on station?' — Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost[45] U.S. Navy officers aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln monitor defense systems during early 2010s maritime security operations exercises The U.S. Navy continues to be a major support to U.S. interests in the 21st century. Since the end of the Cold War, it has shifted its focus from preparations for large-scale war with the Soviet Union to special operations and strike missions in regional conflicts.[46] The navy participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and is a major participant in the ongoing War on Terror, largely in this capacity. Development continues on new ships and weapons, including the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier and the Littoral combat ship. Because of its size, weapons technology, and ability to project force far from U.S. shores, the current U.S. Navy remains an asset for the United States. Moreover, it is the principal means through which the U.S. maintains international global order, namely by safeguarding global trade and protecting allied nations.[47] In 2007, the U.S. Navy joined with the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard to adopt a new maritime strategy called A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower that raises the notion of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct of war. The strategy was presented by the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Commandant of the Coast Guard at the International Sea Power Symposium in Newport, RI on 17 October 2007.[48] U.S. Navy patrol boat near Kuwait Naval Base in 2009 The strategy recognized the economic links of the global system and how any disruption due to regional crises (man-made or natural) can adversely impact the U.S. economy and quality of life. This new strategy charts a course for the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent these crises from occurring or reacting quickly should one occur to prevent negative impacts on the U.S. In 2010, Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, noted that demands on the Navy have grown as the fleet has shrunk and that in the face of declining budgets in the future, the U.S. Navy must rely even more on international partnerships.[49] The amphibious assault ship USS America, launched in 2012. In its 2013 budget request, the navy focused on retaining all eleven big deck carriers, at the expense of cutting numbers of smaller ships and delaying the SSBN replacement.[50] By the next year the USN found itself unable to maintain eleven aircraft carriers in the face of the expiration of budget relief offered by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 and CNO Jonathan Greenert said that a ten ship carrier fleet would not be able to sustainably support military requirements.[51] The British First Sea Lord George Zambellas said that[52] the USN had switched from "outcome-led to resource-led" planning.[53] One significant change in U.S. policymaking that is having a major effect on naval planning is the Pivot to East Asia. In response, the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus stated in 2015 that 60 percent of the total U.S. fleet will be deployed to the Pacific by 2020.[54] The Navy's most recent 30-year shipbuilding plan, published in 2016, calls for a future fleet of 350 ships in order to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive international environment.[52] A provision of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act called for expanding the naval fleet to 355 ships "as soon as practicable", but did not establish additional funding nor a timeline.[55] Organization Main article: Structure of the United States Navy Organization of the United States Navy within the Department of Defense Simplified flowchart of the U.S. Navy command structure The U.S. Navy falls under the administration of the Department of the Navy, under civilian leadership of the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). The most senior naval officer is the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), a four-star admiral who is immediately under and reports to the Secretary of the Navy. At the same time, the Chief of Naval Operations is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is the second-highest deliberative body of the armed forces after the United States National Security Council, although it plays only an advisory role to the President and does not nominally form part of the chain of command. The Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations are responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Navy so that it is ready for operation under the commanders of the unified combatant commands. Operating forces Main article: List of units of the United States Navy Further information: Structure of the United States Navy § Numbered_fleets Areas of responsibility for each of the United States Navy Fleets. Areas of responsibility for each of the United States Navy fleets. Tenth Fleet serves as the numbered fleet for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and therefore is not shown. There are nine components in the operating forces of the U.S. Navy: the United States Fleet Forces Command (formerly United States Atlantic Fleet), United States Pacific Fleet, United States Naval Forces Central Command, United States Naval Forces Europe, Naval Network Warfare Command, Navy Reserve, United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, and Military Sealift Command. Fleet Forces Command controls a number of unique capabilities, including Military Sealift Command, Naval Expeditionary Combat Command, and Navy Cyber Forces. The United States Navy has seven active numbered fleets – Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh Fleet and Tenth Fleets are each led by a vice admiral, and the Fourth Fleet is led by a rear admiral. These seven fleets are further grouped under Fleet Forces Command (the former Atlantic Fleet), Pacific Fleet, Naval Forces Europe-Africa, and Naval Forces Central Command, whose commander also doubles as Commander Fifth Fleet; the first three commands being led by four-star admirals. The United States First Fleet existed after the Second World War from 1947, but it was redesignated the Third Fleet in early 1973. The United States Second Fleet was deactivated in September 2011 but reestablished in August 2018 amid heightened tensions with Russia.[56] It is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, with responsibility over the East Coast and North Atlantic.[57] In early 2008, the Navy reactivated the United States Fourth Fleet to control operations in the area controlled by Southern Command, which consists of US assets in and around Central and South America.[58] Other number fleets were activated during World War II and later deactivated, renumbered, or merged. Shore establishments USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) docking at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan Shore establishments exist to support the mission of the fleet through the use of facilities on land. Among the commands of the shore establishment, as of April 2011, are the Naval Education and Training Command, the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, the Naval Supply Systems Command, the Naval Air Systems Command, the Naval Sea Systems Command, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the Bureau of Naval Personnel, the United States Naval Academy, the Naval Safety Center, the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, and the United States Naval Observatory.[59] Official Navy websites list the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Chief of Naval Operations as part of the shore establishment, but these two entities effectively sit superior to the other organizations, playing a coordinating role.[60] Relationships with other service branches United States Marine Corps Main article: United States Marine Corps A Marine F/A-18 from VMFA-451 preparing to launch from USS Coral Sea (CV-43) In 1834, the United States Marine Corps came under the Department of the Navy.[61] Historically, the Navy has had a unique relationship with the USMC, partly because they both specialize in seaborne operations. Together the Navy and Marine Corps form the Department of the Navy and report to the Secretary of the Navy. However, the Marine Corps is a distinct, separate service branch[62] with its own uniformed service chief – the Commandant of the Marine Corps, a four-star general. The Marine Corps depends on the Navy for medical support (dentists, doctors, nurses, medical technicians known as corpsmen) and religious support (chaplains). Thus Navy officers and enlisted sailors fulfill these roles. When attached to Marine Corps units deployed to an operational environment they generally wear Marine camouflage uniforms, but otherwise, they wear Navy dress uniforms unless they opt to conform to Marine Corps grooming standards.[60] In the operational environment, as an expeditionary force specializing in amphibious operations, Marines often embark on Navy ships to conduct operations from beyond territorial waters. Marine units deploying as part of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) operate under the command of the existing Marine chain of command. Although Marine units routinely operate from amphibious assault ships, the relationship has evolved over the years much as the Commander of the Carrier Air Group/Wing (CAG) does not work for the carrier commanding officer, but coordinates with the ship's CO and staff. Some Marine aviation squadrons, usually fixed-wing assigned to carrier air wings train and operate alongside Navy squadrons; they fly similar missions and often fly sorties together under the cognizance of the CAG. Aviation is where the Navy and Marines share the most common ground since aircrews are guided in their use of aircraft by standard procedures outlined in a series of publications known as NATOPS manuals. United States Coast Guard Main article: United States Coast Guard A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter preparing to land on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) The United States Coast Guard, in its peacetime role with the Department of Homeland Security, fulfills its law enforcement and rescue role in the maritime environment. It provides Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs) to Navy vessels, where they perform arrests and other law enforcement duties during naval boarding and interdiction missions. In times of war, the Coast Guard operates as a service in the Navy.[63] At other times, Coast Guard Port Security Units are sent overseas to guard the security of ports and other assets. The Coast Guard also jointly staffs the Navy's naval coastal warfare groups and squadrons (the latter of which were known as harbor defense commands until late-2004), which oversee defense efforts in foreign littoral combat and inshore areas. Personnel Main article: Personnel of the United States Navy Navy SEALs at one of the entrances to the Zhawar Kili cave complex The United States Navy has over 400,000 personnel, approximately a quarter of whom are in ready reserve. Of those on active duty, more than eighty percent are enlisted sailors and around fifteen percent are commissioned officers; the rest are midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy and midshipmen of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at over 180 universities around the country and officer candidates at the Navy's Officer Candidate School.[3] Enlisted sailors complete basic military training at boot camp and then are sent to complete training for their individual careers.[64] Sailors prove they have mastered skills and deserve responsibilities by completing Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS) tasks and examinations. Among the most important is the "warfare qualification", which denotes a journeyman level of capability in Surface Warfare, Aviation Warfare, Information Dominance Warfare, Naval Aircrew, Special Warfare, Seabee Warfare, Submarine Warfare or Expeditionary Warfare. Many qualifications are denoted on a sailor's uniform with U.S. Navy badges and insignia. Uniforms See also: Uniforms of the United States Navy The uniforms of the U.S. Navy have evolved gradually since the first uniform regulations for officers were issued in 1802 on the formation of the Navy Department. The predominant colors of U.S. Navy uniforms are navy blue and white. U.S. Navy uniforms were based on Royal Navy uniforms of the time, and have tended to follow that template.[65] Commissioned officers Commissioned officer rank structure of the United States Navy[66] US DoD Pay Grade O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6 O-7 O-8 O-9 O-10 Special Grade NATO Code OF-1 OF-2 OF-3 OF-4 OF-5 OF-6 OF-7 OF-8 OF-9 OF-10 Insignia US Navy O1 insignia.svg US Navy O2 insignia.svg US Navy O3 insignia.svg US Navy O4 insignia.svg US Navy O5 insignia.svg US Navy O6 insignia.svg US Navy O7 insignia.svg US Navy O8 insignia.svg US Navy O9 insignia.svg US Navy O10 insignia.svg US Navy O11 insignia.svg Title Ensign Lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant Lieutenant commander Commander Captain Rear admiral (lower half) Rear admiral Vice admiral Admiral Fleet admiral Abbreviation ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM FADM Navy officers serve either as a line officer or as a staff corps officer. Line officers wear an embroidered gold star above their rank of the naval service dress uniform while staff corps officers and commissioned warrant officers wear unique designator insignias that denotes their occupational specialty.[67][68] Type Line officer Medical Corps Dental Corps Nurse Corps Medical Service Corps Judge Advocate General's Corps Insignia USN Line Officer.png USN Med-corp.gif USN Dental.gif USN Nurse.gif USN Msc.gif USN Jag-corp.gif Designator1 1XXX 210X 220X 290X 230X 250X Chaplain Corps (Christian Faith) Chaplain Corps (Jewish Faith) Chaplain Corps (Muslim Faith) Chaplain Corps (Buddhist Faith) Supply Corps Civil Engineer Corps Law Community (Limited Duty Officer) USN Chapchr.gif USN Chap-jew.gif USN Chap-mus.gif USN - Chaplian Insignia - Buddhist 2.jpg United States Navy Supply Corps insignia.gif USN Ce-corp.gif USN Law Community.png 410X 410X 410X 410X 310X 510X 655X Warrant officers Main article: Warrant officer (United States) U.S. Navy warrant officer specialty insignias Warrant and chief warrant officer ranks are held by technical specialists who direct specific activities essential to the proper operation of the ship, which also require commissioned officer authority.[69] Navy warrant officers serve in 30 specialties covering five categories. Warrant officers should not be confused with the limited duty officer (LDO) in the Navy. Warrant officers perform duties that are directly related to their previous enlisted service and specialized training. This allows the Navy to capitalize on the experience of warrant officers without having to frequently transition them to other duty assignments for advancement.[70] Most Navy warrant officers are accessed from the chief petty officer pay grades, E-7 through E-9, analogous to a senior non-commissioned officers in the other services, and must have a minimum 14 years time in service.[71] Uniformed services pay grade W-5 W-4 W-3 W-2 W-1  United States Navy vte US Navy CW5 insignia.svg US Navy CW4 insignia.svg US Navy CW3 insignia.svg US Navy CW2 insignia.svg US Navy WO1 insignia.svg Chief warrant officer 5 Chief warrant officer 4 Chief warrant officer 3 Chief warrant officer 2 Warrant officer 1 Abbreviation CWO-5 CWO-4 CWO-3 CWO-2 WO-1 NATO rank WO-5 WO-4 WO-3 WO-2 WO-1 Enlisted See also: List of United States Navy enlisted rates, Ranks and insignia of NATO navies enlisted, and List of United States Navy ratings Sailors in pay grades E-1 through E-3 are considered to be in apprenticeships.[72] They are divided into five definable groups, with colored group rate marks designating the group to which they belong: Seaman, Fireman, Airman, Constructionman, and Hospitalman. E-4 to E-6 are non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and are specifically called Petty officers in the Navy.[73] Petty Officers perform not only the duties of their specific career field but also serve as leaders to junior enlisted personnel. E-7 to E-9 are still considered Petty Officers, but are considered a separate community within the Navy. They have separate berthing and dining facilities (where feasible), wear separate uniforms, and perform separate duties. After attaining the rate of Master Chief Petty Officer, a service member may choose to further their career by becoming a Command Master Chief Petty Officer (CMC). A CMC is considered to be the senior-most enlisted service member within a command, and is the special assistant to the Commanding Officer in all matters pertaining to the health, welfare, job satisfaction, morale, utilization, advancement and training of the command's enlisted personnel.[74][75] CMCs can be Command level (within a single unit, such as a ship or shore station), Fleet level (squadrons consisting of multiple operational units, headed by a flag officer or commodore), or Force level (consisting of a separate community within the Navy, such as Subsurface, Air, Reserves).[76] CMC insignia are similar to the insignia for Master Chief, except that the rating symbol is replaced by an inverted five-point star, reflecting a change in their rating from their previous rating (i.e., MMCM) to CMDCM. The stars for Command Master Chief are silver, while stars for Fleet or Force Master Chief are gold. Additionally, CMCs wear a badge, worn on their left breast pocket, denoting their title (Command/Fleet/Force).[75][77] Uniformed services pay grade E-9 E-8 E-7 E-6 E-5 E-4 E-3 E-2 E-1  United States Navy vte Insignia pending MCPON FMCPO FMCPO E-9 E-8 E-8 E-7 E-6 E-5 E-4 E-3 E-2 No insignia Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Fleet/force master chief petty officer Command master chief petty officer Master chief petty officer Command senior chief petty officer Senior chief petty officer Chief petty officer Petty officer first class Petty officer second class Petty officer third class Seaman Seaman apprentice Seaman recruit Abbreviation SEAC MCPON FLTCM/FORCM CMDCM MCPO CMDCS SCPO CPO PO1 PO2 PO3 SN SA SR NATO code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1 Badges of the United States Navy See also: Badges of the United States Navy Insignia and badges of the United States Navy are military "badges" issued by the United States Department of the Navy to naval service members who achieve certain qualifications and accomplishments while serving on both active and reserve duty in the United States Navy. Most naval aviation insignia are also permitted for wear on uniforms of the United States Marine Corps. As described in Chapter 5 of U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations,[78] "badges" are categorized as breast insignia (usually worn immediately above and below ribbons) and identification badges (usually worn at breast pocket level).[79] Breast insignia are further divided between command and warfare and other qualification.[80] Insignia come in the form of metal "pin-on devices" worn on formal uniforms and embroidered "tape strips" worn on work uniforms. For the purpose of this article, the general term "insignia" shall be used to describe both, as it is done in Navy Uniform Regulations. The term "badge", although used ambiguously in other military branches and in informal speak to describe any pin, patch, or tab, is exclusive to identification badges[81] and authorized marksmanship awards[82] according to the language in Navy Uniform Regulations, Chapter 5. Below are just a few of the many badges maintained by the Navy. The rest can be seen in the article cited at the top of this section: Naval Aviator Badge   Submarine Officer badge   Surface Warfare Officer Insignia Bases Main article: List of United States Navy installations Map of naval bases in the United States The size, complexity, and international presence of the United States Navy requires a large number of navy installations to support its operations. While the majority of bases are located inside the United States itself, the Navy maintains a significant number of facilities abroad, either in U.S.-controlled territories or in foreign countries under a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Eastern United States The second largest concentration of installations is at Hampton Roads, Virginia, where the navy occupies over 36,000 acres (15,000 ha) of land. Located at Hampton Roads are Naval Station Norfolk, homeport of the Atlantic Fleet; Naval Air Station Oceana, a Master Jet Base; Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek; and Training Support Center Hampton Roads as well as a number of Navy and commercial shipyards that service navy vessels. The Aegis Training and Readiness Center is located at the Naval Support Activity South Potomac in Dahlgren, Virginia. Maryland is home to NAS Patuxent River, which houses the Navy's Test Pilot School. Also located in Maryland is the United States Naval Academy, situated in Annapolis. NS Newport in Newport, Rhode Island is home to many schools and tenant commands, including the Officer Candidate School, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and more, and also maintains inactive ships.[clarification needed] There is also a naval base in Charleston, South Carolina. This is home to the Nuclear A-School, and the Nuclear Field Power school, and one of two nuclear 'Prototype' Schools. The state of Florida is the location of three major bases, NS Mayport, the Navy's fourth largest, in Jacksonville, Florida; NAS Jacksonville, a Master Air Anti-submarine Warfare base; and NAS Pensacola; home of the Naval Education and Training Command, the Naval Air Technical Training Center that provides specialty training for enlisted aviation personnel and is the primary flight training base for Navy and Marine Corps Naval Flight Officers and enlisted Naval Aircrewman. There is also NSA Panama City, Florida which is home to the Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center. The main U.S. Navy submarine bases on the east coast are located in Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut and NSB Kings Bay in Kings Bay, Georgia. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard near Portsmouth, New Hampshire,[83] which repairs naval submarines.[3] NS Great Lakes, north of Chicago, Illinois is the home of the Navy's boot camp for enlisted sailors. The Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC is the Navy's oldest shore establishment and serves as a ceremonial and administrative center for the U.S. Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Operations, and is headquarters for numerous commands. Western United States and Hawaii Underwater Demolition Team members using the casting technique from a speeding boat Combat Camera Underwater Photo Team – A U.S. Navy diver during underwater photography training off the coast of Guantanamo Bay The navy's largest complex is Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, which covers 1.1 million acres (4,500 km2) of land, or approximately 1/3 of the U.S. Navy's total land holdings.[3] Naval Base San Diego, California is the main homeport of the Pacific Fleet, although its headquarters is located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. NAS North Island is located on the north side of Coronado, California, and is home to Headquarters for Naval Air Forces and Naval Air Force Pacific, the bulk of the Pacific Fleet's helicopter squadrons, and part of the West Coast aircraft carrier fleet. NAB Coronado is located on the southern end of the Coronado Island and is home to the navy's west coast SEAL teams and special boat units. NAB Coronado is also home to the Naval Special Warfare Center, the primary training center for SEALs. The other major collection of naval bases on the west coast is in Puget Sound, Washington. Among them, NS Everett is one of the newer bases and the navy states that it is its most modern facility.[84] NAS Fallon, Nevada serves as the primary training ground for navy strike aircrews, and is home to the Naval Strike Air Warfare Center. Master Jet Bases are also located at NAS Lemoore, California, and NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, while the carrier-based airborne early warning aircraft community and major air test activities are located at NAS Point Mugu, California. The naval presence in Hawaii is centered on NS Pearl Harbor, which hosts the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet and many of its subordinate commands. United States territories USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) pier side in Apra Harbor, Guam Guam, an island strategically located in the Western Pacific Ocean, maintains a sizable U.S. Navy presence, including NB Guam. The westernmost U.S. territory, it contains a natural deep water harbor capable of harboring aircraft carriers in emergencies.[85] Its naval air station was deactivated[86] in 1995 and its flight activities transferred to nearby Andersen Air Force Base. Puerto Rico in the Caribbean formerly housed NS Roosevelt Roads, which was shut down in 2004 shortly after the controversial closure of the live ordnance training area on nearby Vieques Island.[3] Foreign countries The largest overseas base is the United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, which serves as the home port for the navy's largest forward-deployed fleet and is a significant base of operations in the Western Pacific.[87] European operations revolve around facilities in Italy (NAS Sigonella and Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Naples) with NSA Naples as the homeport for the Sixth Fleet and Command Naval Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia (CNREURAFSWA), and additional facilities in nearby Gaeta. There is also NS Rota in Spain and NSA Souda Bay in Greece. In the Middle East, naval facilities are located almost exclusively in countries bordering the Persian Gulf, with NSA Bahrain serving as the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. Fifth Fleet. NS Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is the oldest overseas facility and has become known in recent years as the location of a detention camp for suspected al-Qaeda operatives.[88] Equipment Main article: Equipment of the United States Navy As of 2018, the navy operates over 460 ships, including vessels operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) crewed by a combination of civilian contractors and a small number of uniformed Naval personnel, 3,650+ aircraft, 50,000 non-combat vehicles and owns 75,200 buildings on 3,300,000 acres (13,000 km2). Ships Main article: United States Navy ships See also: List of current ships of the United States Navy, List of currently active United States military watercraft, and United States ship naming conventions The names of commissioned ships of the U.S. Navy are prefixed with the letters "USS", designating "United States Ship".[89] Non-commissioned, civilian-manned vessels of the navy have names that begin with "USNS", standing for "United States Naval Ship" The names of ships are officially selected by the secretary of the navy, often to honor important people or places.[90] Additionally, each ship is given a letter-based hull classification symbol (for example, CVN or DDG) to indicate the vessel's type and number. All ships in the navy inventory are placed in the Naval Vessel Register, which is part of "the Navy List" (required by article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea).[dubious – discuss] The register tracks data such as the current status of a ship, the date of its commissioning, and the date of its decommissioning. Vessels that are removed from the register prior to disposal are said to be stricken from the register. The navy also maintains a reserve fleet of inactive vessels that are maintained for reactivation in times of need. The U.S. Navy was one of the first to install nuclear reactors aboard naval vessels;[91] today, nuclear energy powers all active U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines. In the case of the Nimitz-class carrier, two naval reactors give the ship almost unlimited range and provide enough electrical energy to power a city of 100,000 people.[92] The U.S. Navy previously operated nuclear-powered cruisers, but all have been decommissioned. The U.S. Navy had identified a need for 313 combat ships in early 2010s, but under its plans at the time could afford only 232 to 243.[93] In March 2014, the Navy started counting self-deployable support ships such as minesweepers, surveillance craft, and tugs in the "battle fleet" in order to reach a count of 272 as of October 2016,[94][95] and it includes ships that have been put in "shrink wrap".[96] As of July 20, 2021, the Navy possessed 297 battle force ships; the number generally ranged from between 270 and 300 throughout the late-2010s.[97] Aircraft carriers USS Nimitz, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Main article: List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy An aircraft carrier is typically deployed along with a host of additional vessels, forming a carrier strike group. The supporting ships, which usually include three or four Aegis-equipped cruisers and destroyers, a frigate, and two attack submarines, are tasked with protecting the carrier from air, missile, sea, and undersea threats as well as providing additional strike capabilities themselves. Ready logistics support for the group is provided by a combined ammunition, oiler, and supply ship. Modern carriers are named after American admirals and politicians, usually presidents.[98] The Navy has a statutory requirement for a minimum of 11 aircraft carriers.[99] Currently there are 10 that are deployable and one, USS Gerald R. Ford, that is currently undergoing extensive systems and technologies testing until around 2021.[100] All US aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered; they and submarines are the only nuclear-powered Navy vessels.[97] Amphibious warfare vessels USS Bataan, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS San Antonio, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Main article: List of United States Navy amphibious warfare ships Amphibious assault ships are the centerpieces of US amphibious warfare and fulfill the same power projection role as aircraft carriers except that their striking force centers on land forces instead of aircraft. They deliver, command, coordinate, and fully support all elements of a 2,200-strong Marine Expeditionary Unit in an amphibious assault using both air and amphibious vehicles. Resembling small aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships are capable of V/STOL, STOVL, VTOL, tiltrotor, and rotary wing aircraft operations. They also contain a well deck to support the use of Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) and other amphibious assault watercraft. Recently, amphibious assault ships have begun to be deployed as the core of an expeditionary strike group, which usually consists of an additional amphibious transport dock and dock landing ship for amphibious warfare and an Aegis-equipped cruiser and destroyer, frigate, and attack submarine for group defense. Amphibious assault ships are typically named after World War II aircraft carriers. Amphibious transport docks are warships that embark, transport, and land Marines, supplies, and equipment in a supporting role during amphibious warfare missions. With a landing platform, amphibious transport docks also have the capability to serve as secondary aviation support for an expeditionary group. All amphibious transport docks can operate helicopters, LCACs, and other conventional amphibious vehicles while the newer San Antonio class of ships has been explicitly designed to operate all three elements of the Marines' "mobility triad": Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles (EFVs), the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, and LCACs. Amphibious transport docks are typically named after U.S. cities. The dock landing ship is a medium amphibious transport that is designed specifically to support and operate LCACs, though it is able to operate other amphibious assault vehicles in the United States inventory as well. Dock landing ships are normally deployed as a component of an expeditionary strike group's amphibious assault contingent, operating as a secondary launch platform for LCACs. All dock landing ships are named after cities or important places in U.S. and U.S. Naval history.[98] Cruisers Main article: List of cruisers of the United States Navy USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser Cruisers are large surface combat vessels that conduct anti-air/anti-missile warfare, surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and strike operations independently or as members of a larger task force. Modern guided missile cruisers were developed out of a need to counter the anti-ship missile threat facing the United States Navy. This led to the development of the AN/SPY-1 phased array radar and the Standard missile with the Aegis combat system coordinating the two. Ticonderoga-class cruisers were the first to be equipped with Aegis and were put to use primarily as anti-air and anti-missile defense in a battle force protection role. Later developments of vertical launch systems and the Tomahawk missile gave cruisers additional long-range land and sea strike capability, making them capable of both offensive and defensive battle operations. The Ticonderoga class is the only active class of cruiser. All cruisers in this class are named after battles.[98] Destroyers Main article: List of destroyers of the United States Navy USS Zumwalt, a Zumwalt-class stealth guided missile destroyer Destroyers are multi-mission medium surface ships capable of sustained performance in anti-air, anti-submarine, anti-ship, and offensive strike operations. Like cruisers, guided missile destroyers are primarily focused on surface strikes using Tomahawk missiles and fleet defense through Aegis and the Standard missile. Destroyers additionally specialize in anti-submarine warfare and are equipped with VLA rockets and LAMPS Mk III Sea Hawk helicopters to deal with underwater threats. When deployed with a carrier strike group or expeditionary strike group, destroyers and their fellow Aegis-equipped cruisers are primarily tasked with defending the fleet while providing secondary strike capabilities. With very few exceptions, destroyers are named after U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard heroes.[98] Frigates and Littoral combat ships Main article: List of frigates of the United States Navy See also: Littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS-2), a Littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS-1) underway in special naval camouflage Modern U.S. frigates mainly perform anti-submarine warfare for carrier and expeditionary strike groups and provide armed escort for supply convoys and merchant shipping. They are designed to protect friendly ships against hostile submarines in low to medium threat environments, using torpedoes and LAMPS helicopters. Independently, frigates are able to conduct counterdrug missions and other maritime interception operations. As in the case of destroyers, frigates are named after U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard heroes. As of autumn 2015, the U.S. Navy has retired its most recent class of frigates, and expects that by 2020 the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) will assume many of the duties the frigate had with the fleet. The LCS is a class of relatively small surface vessels intended for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore). It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals".[citation needed] They have the capabilities of a small assault transport, including a flight deck and hangar for housing two helicopters, a stern ramp for operating small boats, and the cargo volume and payload to deliver a small assault force with fighting vehicles to a roll-on/roll-off port facility. The ship is easy to reconfigure for different roles, including anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, homeland defense, maritime intercept, special operations, and logistics, all by swapping mission-specific modules as needed. The LCS program is still relatively new as of 2018 with only ten active ships, but the navy has announced plans for up to 32 ships. (See: List of littoral combat ships) The navy has announced that a further 20 vessels to be built after that will be redesignated as 'frigates'.[101] A special case is the USS Constitution, commissioned in 1797 as one of the original six frigates of the United States Navy, and which remains in commission at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. She serves as a tribute to the heritage of the Navy, and occasionally sails for commemorative events such as Independence Day and various victories during the War of 1812. Constitution is currently the oldest commissioned warship afloat. HMS Victory is older, and in commission, but is in permanent drydock. Mine countermeasures ships Main article: List of mine warfare vessels of the United States Navy USS Warrior (MCM-10) in port Mine countermeasures vessels are a combination of minehunters, a naval vessel that actively detects and destroys individual naval mines, and minesweepers, which clear mined areas as a whole, without prior detection of the mines. The navy has approximately a dozen of these in active service, but the mine countermeasure (MCM) role is also being assumed by the incoming classes of littoral combat ships. MCM vessels have mostly legacy names of previous US Navy ships, especially WWII-era minesweepers. Patrol boats Main article: List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy USS Typhoon (PC-5) departing Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Virginia A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties. There have been many designs for patrol boats, though the navy currently has only a single class. They may be operated by a nation's navy or coast guard, and may be intended for marine ("blue water") or estuarine or river ("brown water") environments. The Navy has approximately a dozen in active service, which are mainly used in the littoral regions of the Persian Gulf, but have also been used for home port patrols and drug interdiction missions. The navy's current class of patrol boats have names based on weather phenomena. Submarines Main article: Submarines in the United States Navy USS Kentucky (SSBN-737), an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Virginia (SSN-774), a Virginia-class attack submarine All current and planned U.S. Navy submarines are nuclear-powered, as only nuclear propulsion allows for the combination of stealth and long duration, high-speed sustained underwater movement that makes modern nuclear submarines quite vital to a modern blue-water navy. The U.S. Navy operates three types: ballistic missile submarines, guided missile submarines, and attack submarines. U.S. Navy (nuclear) ballistic missile submarines carry the stealthiest leg of the U.S. strategic triad (the other legs are the land-based U.S. strategic missile force and the air-based U.S. strategic bomber force). These submarines have only one mission: to carry and, if called upon, to launch the Trident nuclear missile. The primary missions of attack and guided missile submarines in the U.S. Navy are peacetime engagement, surveillance and intelligence, special operations, precision strikes, and control of the seas.[102] To these, attack submarines also add the battlegroup operations mission. Attack and guided missile submarines have several tactical missions, including sinking ships and other subs, launching cruise missiles, gathering intelligence, and assisting in special operations. As with other classes of naval vessels, most U.S. submarines (or "boats") are named according to specific conventions. The boats of the current U.S. ballistic missile submarine class, Ohio class, are named after U.S. states. As the four current U.S. guided missile submarines are converted Ohio-class boats, they have retained their U.S. state names. The members of the oldest currently-commissioned attack submarine class, the Los Angeles class, are typically named for cities. The follow-on Seawolf class' three submarines—Seawolf, Connecticut and Jimmy Carter—share no consistent naming scheme. With the current Virginia-class attack submarines, the U.S. Navy has extended the Ohio class' state-based naming scheme to these submarines. Attack submarines prior to the Los Angeles class were named for denizens of the deep, while pre-Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines were named for famous Americans and foreigners with notable connections to the United States. Aircraft Four Navy F/A-18F Super Hornets Main articles: List of United States naval aircraft and List of military aircraft of the United States (naval) See also: List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons and List of active United States military aircraft Carrier-based aircraft are able to strike air, sea, and land targets far from a carrier strike group while protecting friendly forces from enemy aircraft, ships, and submarines. In peacetime, aircraft's ability to project the threat of sustained attack from a mobile platform on the seas gives United States leaders significant diplomatic and crisis-management options. Aircraft additionally provide logistics support to maintain the navy's readiness and, through helicopters, supply platforms with which to conduct search and rescue, special operations, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and anti-surface warfare (ASuW), including the U.S. Navy's premier Maritime Strike and only organic ASW aircraft, the venerable Sikorsky MH-60R operated by Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing. U.S. Navy MH-60R maritime strike helicopter assigned to the HSM-78 Blue Hawks aboard the carrier USS Carl Vinson The U.S. Navy began to research the use of aircraft at sea in the 1910s, with Lieutenant Theodore G. "Spuds" Ellyson becoming the first naval aviator on 28 January 1911, and commissioned its first aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1), in 1922.[103] United States naval aviation fully came of age in World War II, when it became clear following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea, and the Battle of Midway that aircraft carriers and the planes that they carried had replaced the battleship as the greatest weapon on the seas. Leading navy aircraft in World War II included the Grumman F4F Wildcat, the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, the Douglas SBD Dauntless, and the Grumman TBF Avenger. Navy aircraft also played a significant role in conflicts during the following Cold War years, with the F-4 Phantom II and the F-14 Tomcat becoming military icons of the era. The navy's current primary fighter and attack airplanes are the multi-mission F/A-18C/D Hornet and its newer cousin, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The F-35 Lightning II is presently under development and was scheduled to replace the C and D versions of the Hornet beginning in 2012.[104] Initial operational capability of the F-35C is now expected to be February 2019.[105] The Navy is also looking to eventually replace its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets with the F/A-XX program. The Aircraft Investment Plan sees naval aviation growing from 30 percent of current aviation forces to half of all procurement funding over the next three decades.[106] Weapons Main article: List of United States Navy weapons Current U.S. Navy shipboard weapons systems are almost entirely focused on missiles, both as a weapon and as a threat. In an offensive role, missiles are intended to strike targets at long distances with accuracy and precision. Because they are unmanned weapons, missiles allow for attacks on heavily defended targets without risk to human pilots. Land strikes are the domain of the BGM-109 Tomahawk, which was first deployed in the 1980s and is continually being updated to increase its capabilities. For anti-ship strikes, the navy's dedicated missile is the Harpoon Missile. To defend against enemy missile attack, the navy operates a number of systems that are all coordinated by the Aegis combat system. Medium-long range defense is provided by the Standard Missile 2, which has been deployed since the 1980s. The Standard missile doubles as the primary shipboard anti-aircraft weapon and is undergoing development for use in theater ballistic missile defense. Short range defense against missiles is provided by the Phalanx CIWS and the more recently developed RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile. In addition to missiles, the navy employs Mark 46 and Mark 50 torpedoes and various types of naval mines. Aviation Ordnancemen loading GBU-12 bombs in 2005 Naval fixed-wing aircraft employ much of the same weapons as the United States Air Force for both air-to-air and air-to-surface combat. Air engagements are handled by the heat-seeking Sidewinder and the radar guided AMRAAM missiles along with the M61 Vulcan cannon for close range dogfighting. For surface strikes, navy aircraft utilize a combination of missiles, smart bombs, and dumb bombs. On the list of available missiles are the Maverick, SLAM-ER and JSOW. Smart bombs include the GPS-guided JDAM and the laser-guided Paveway series. Unguided munitions such as dumb bombs and cluster bombs make up the rest of the weapons deployed by fixed-wing aircraft. Rotary aircraft weapons are focused on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and light to medium surface engagements. To combat submarines, helicopters use Mark 46 and Mark 50 torpedoes. Against small watercraft, they utilize Hellfire and Penguin air to surface missiles. Helicopters also employ various types of mounted anti-personnel machine guns, including the M60, M240, GAU-16/A, and GAU-17/A. Nuclear weapons in the U.S. Navy arsenal are deployed through ballistic missile submarines and aircraft. The Ohio-class submarine carries the latest iteration of the Trident missile, a three-stage, submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) with MIRV capability; the current Trident II (D5) version is expected to be in service past 2020.[107] The navy's other nuclear weapon is the air-deployed B61 nuclear bomb. The B61 is a thermonuclear device that can be dropped by strike aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet at high speed from a large range of altitudes. It can be released through free-fall or parachute and can be set to detonate in the air or on the ground. Naval jack U.S. naval jack First navy jack The current naval jack of the United States is the Union Jack, a small blue flag emblazoned with the stars of the 50 states. The Union Jack was not flown for the duration of the War on Terror, during which Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England directed all U.S. naval ships to fly the First Navy Jack. While Secretary England directed the change on 31 May 2002, many ships chose to shift colors later that year in remembrance of the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Union Jack, however, remained in use with vessels of the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A jack of similar design to the Union Jack was used in 1794, with 13 stars arranged in a 3–2–3–2–3 pattern. When a ship is moored or anchored, the jack is flown from the bow of the ship while the ensign is flown from the stern. When underway, the ensign is raised on the mainmast. Before the decision for all ships to fly the First Navy Jack, it was flown only on the oldest ship in the active American fleet, which is currently USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19). U.S. Navy ships and craft returned to flying the Union Jack effective 4 June 2019. The date for reintroduction of the jack commemorates the Battle of Midway, which began on 4 June 1942.[108] Notable sailors For a more comprehensive list, see List of United States Navy people. Many past and present United States historical figures have served in the navy. Notable officers include John Paul Jones, John Barry (Continental Navy officer and first flag officer of the United States Navy),[109] Edward Preble, James Lawrence (whose last words "don't give up the ship" are memorialized in Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy), Stephen Decatur Jr., David Farragut, David Dixon Porter, Oliver Hazard Perry, Commodore Matthew Perry (whose Black Ships forced the opening of Japan), George Dewey (the only person in the history of the United States to have attained the rank of Admiral of the Navy), and the officers who attained the rank of Fleet Admiral during World War II: William D. Leahy, Ernest J. King, Chester W. Nimitz, and William F. Halsey Jr.. The first American president who served in the navy was John F. Kennedy (who commanded the famous PT-109). Others included Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush. Both Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt were the Assistant Secretary of the Navy prior to their presidencies. Many members of Congress served in the navy, notably U.S. Senators Bob Kerrey, John McCain, and John Kerry. Other notable former members of the U.S. Navy include astronauts (Scott Kelly, Michael J. Smith, Neil Armstrong, Lisa Nowak), entertainers (Mike Douglas), authors (Brandon Webb, Marcus Luttrell), professional athletes (David Robinson, Roger Staubach, Yogi Berra), and others (Gordon Haller, John Barry).[citation needed]
New York, often called New York City[a] or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. NYC is more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city. New York City is at the southern tip of New York State and is situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each of which is coextensive with a respective county. The five boroughs, which were created in 1898 when local governments were consolidated into a single municipality, are: Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens (Queens County), Manhattan (New York County), the Bronx (Bronx County), and Staten Island (Richmond County).[11] New York City is a global city and a cultural, financial, high-tech,[12] entertainment, glamour,[13] and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and scientific output in life sciences,[14][15] research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy,[16][17] and it is sometimes described as the world's most important city[18] and the capital of the world.[19][20] The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world's most populous megacities.[21] The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York,[22] making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. New York City enforces a right-to-shelter law guaranteeing shelter to anyone who needs shelter, regardless of their immigration status;[23] and the city is home to more than 3.2 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world as of 2016.[24] It is the most visited U.S. city by international visitors.[25] Providing continuous 24/7 service and contributing to the nickname The City That Never Sleeps, the New York City Subway is the largest single-operator rapid transit system in the world with 472 passenger rail stations, and Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere.[26] New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on the southern tip of Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists in approximately 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under British control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York.[27] The city was temporarily regained by the Dutch in July 1673 and was renamed New Orange; the city has been named New York since November 1674. New York City was the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790,[28] and has been the largest U.S. city since 1790. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the U.S. via Ellis Island by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the U.S. and its ideals of liberty and peace.[29] Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the world's leading financial and fintech center[30][31] and the most economically powerful city in the world,[32] and is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.[33][34] As of 2021, the New York metropolitan area is the second largest metropolitan economy in the world with a gross metropolitan product of almost $2.0 trillion. If the New York metropolitan area were its own country, it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world. New York City is an established safe haven for global investors.[35] As of 2023, New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates to live.[36] New York City is home to the highest number of billionaires,[37][38] individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$30 million),[39] and millionaires of any city in the world.[40] Many districts and monuments in New York City are major landmarks, including three of the world's ten-most visited tourist attractions in 2023.[41] A record 66.6 million tourists visited New York City in 2019. Times Square is the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District,[42] one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections[43] and a major center of the world's entertainment industry.[44] Many of the city's landmarks, skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world, and the city's fast pace led to the phrase New York minute. The Empire State Building is a global standard of reference to describe the height and length of other structures.[45] New York's residential and commercial real estate markets are the most expensive in the world.[46] The city features over 120 colleges and universities, including some of the world's top universities.[47] Its public urban university system, the City University of New York, is the largest in the nation.[48] In the 21st century, New York City has emerged as a global node of creativity, entrepreneurship,[49] and as a symbol of freedom and cultural diversity.[50] The New York Times has won the most Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and remains the U.S. media's newspaper of record. The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, part of the Stonewall National Monument, is considered the historic epicenter of LGBTQ+ culture in the city[51] and the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement worldwide.[52][53] New York City is the headquarters of the global art market, with numerous art galleries and auction houses collectively hosting half of the world's art auctions; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is both the largest and one of the world's most-visited art museums and hosts the globally focused Met Gala fashion event annually.[54][55] Etymology See also: Nicknames of New York City In 1664, New York was named in honor of the Duke of York (later King James II of England).[56] James's elder brother, King Charles II, appointed the Duke as proprietor of the former territory of New Netherland, including the city of New Amsterdam, when England seized it from Dutch control.[57] History Main article: History of New York City For a chronological guide, see Timeline of New York City. Further information: History of Manhattan, Timeline of Brooklyn, Timeline of Queens, Timeline of the Bronx, and Timeline of Staten Island Early history Main article: History of New York City (prehistory–1664) Lenape sites in Lower Manhattan In the pre-Columbian era, the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by Algonquians, including the Lenape. Their homeland, known as Lenapehoking, included the present-day areas of Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx, the western portion of Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens), and the Lower Hudson Valley.[58] The first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano, an explorer from Florence in the service of the French crown.[59] He claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême (New Angoulême).[60] A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes sailing for Emperor Charles V, arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of the Hudson River, which he named Río de San Antonio ('Saint Anthony's River').[61] In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for the Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company.[62] He proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange. Hudson's first mate described the harbor as "a very good Harbour for all windes" and the river as "a mile broad" and "full of fish".[63] Hudson claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and called Nieuw-Nederland ('New Netherland'). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what would eventually become New York City was Juan Rodriguez, a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for pelts and trading with the local population as a representative of the Dutch. Broadway, from 159th Street to 218th Street in Upper Manhattan, is named Juan Rodriguez Way in his honor.[64][65][importance?] Dutch rule Main articles: New Amsterdam, Fort Amsterdam, and New Netherland The Castello Plan, a 1660 map of New Amsterdam (the top right corner is roughly north) in Lower Manhattan New Amsterdam, centered in what eventually became Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year England took control and renamed it New York A permanent European presence near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making New York the 12th-oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States,[66] with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625, construction was started on a citadel and Fort Amsterdam, later called Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island.[67][68] The colony of New Amsterdam was centered on what would ultimately become Lower Manhattan. Its area extended from the southern tip of Manhattan to modern-day Wall Street, where a 12-foot (3.7 m) wooden stockade was built in 1653 to protect against Native American and British raids.[69] In 1626, the Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit, acting as charged by the Dutch West India Company, purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie, a small Lenape band,[70] for "the value of 60 guilders"[71] (about $900 in 2018).[72] A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads.[73][74] Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly.[27] To attract settlers, the Dutch instituted the patroon system in 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen (patroons, or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded swaths of land, along with local political autonomy and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success.[75] Since 1621, the Dutch West India Company had operated as a monopoly in New Netherland, on authority granted by the Dutch States General. In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth, the Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with the Dutch West Indies).[27][76] In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began his tenure as the last Director-General of New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000.[77][78] Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order in the colony; however, he earned a reputation as a despotic leader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over the Dutch Reformed Church, and blocked other religious groups (including Quakers, Jews, and Lutherans) from establishing houses of worship.[79] The Dutch West India Company would eventually attempt to ease tensions between Stuyvesant and residents of New Amsterdam.[80] English rule Main articles: Province of New York and History of New York City (1665–1783) The Fall of New Amsterdam by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, part of the Conquest of New Netherland Fort George and New York with British Navy ships of the line c. 1731 Slave being burned at the stake after the 1741 slave revolt[81] In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by Colonel Richard Nicolls, without bloodshed.[79][80] The terms of the surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in the colony and allowed for religious freedom.[82] In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda after the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is now Suriname (on the northern South American coast) they had gained from the English; and in return, the English kept New Amsterdam. The fledgling settlement was promptly renamed "New York" after the Duke of York (the future King James II and VII).[83] After the founding, the duke gave part of the colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley. Fort Orange, 150 miles (240 km) north on the Hudson River, was renamed Albany after James's Scottish title.[84] The transfer was confirmed in 1667 by the Treaty of Breda, which concluded the Second Anglo-Dutch War.[85][repetition] On August 24, 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Anthony Colve of the Dutch navy seized New York from the English at the behest of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and rechristened it "New Orange" after William III, the Prince of Orange.[86] The Dutch would soon return the island to England under the Treaty of Westminster of November 1674.[87][88] Several intertribal wars among the Native Americans and some epidemics brought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between the years 1660 and 1670.[89] By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200.[90] New York experienced several yellow fever epidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone.[91][92] In the early 18th century, New York grew in importance as a trading port while as a part of the colony of New York.[93] It became a center of slavery, with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730.[94] Most cases were that of domestic slavery; others were hired out to work at labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York's economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with the American South. During construction in Foley Square in the 1990s, the African Burying Ground was discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 of graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free.[95] The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan of John Peter Zenger, who had been accused of seditious libel after criticizing colonial governor William Cosby, helped to establish freedom of the press in North America.[96] In 1754, Columbia University was founded under charter by King George II as King's College in Lower Manhattan.[97] American Revolution Further information: American Revolution The Battle of Long Island, one of the largest battles of the American Revolutionary War, which took place in Brooklyn on August 27, 1776 The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765, as the Sons of Liberty organization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there.[98] The Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War, was fought in August 1776 within the modern-day borough of Brooklyn.[99] After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America. The city was a haven for Loyalist refugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom newly promised by the Crown. As many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation. When the British forces evacuated at the close of the war in 1783, they transported 3,000 freedmen for resettlement in Nova Scotia.[100] They resettled other freedmen in England and the Caribbean.[importance?] The only attempt at a peaceful solution to the war[citation needed] took place at the Conference House on Staten Island between American delegates, including Benjamin Franklin, and British general Lord Howe on September 11, 1776. Shortly after the British occupation began, the Great Fire of New York occurred, a large conflagration on the West Side of Lower Manhattan, which destroyed about a quarter of the buildings in the city, including Trinity Church.[101] Post-revolutionary period and early 19th century Main article: History of New York City (1784–1854) First inauguration of George Washington in 1789 In 1785, the assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York City the national capital shortly after the war. New York was the last capital of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation and the first capital under the Constitution of the United States.[102] As the U.S. capital, New York City hosted several events of national scope in 1789—the first President of the United States, George Washington, was inaugurated; the first United States Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States each assembled for the first time; and the United States Bill of Rights was drafted, all at Federal Hall on Wall Street.[102] In 1790, for the first time, New York City, surpassed Philadelphia as the nation's largest city. At the end of that year, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia.[103][104] Over the nineteenth century, New York City's population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million.[105] Under New York State's abolition act of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held in indentured servitude until their mid-to-late twenties.[106][107] Together with slaves freed by their masters after the Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. Under such influential United States founders as Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the New York Manumission Society worked for abolition and established the African Free School to educate Black children.[108] It was not until 1827 that slavery was completely abolished in the state, and free Blacks struggled afterward with discrimination. New York interracial abolitionist activism continued; among its leaders were graduates of the African Free School.[importance?] New York city's population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 to 312,710 by 1840, 16,000 of whom were Black.[109][110] A painting of a snowy city street with horse-drawn sleds and a 19th-century fire truck under blue sky Broadway, which follows the Native American Wecquaesgeek Trail through Manhattan, in 1840.[111] In the 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national and international trading center, as well as by European immigration, respectively.[112] The city adopted the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which expanded the city street grid to encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal through central New York connected the Atlantic port to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and the Great Lakes.[113] Local politics became dominated by Tammany Hall, a political machine supported by Irish and German immigrants.[114] Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, including William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, Herman Melville, Rufus Wilmot Griswold, John Keese, Nathaniel Parker Willis, and Edgar Allan Poe. Public-minded members of the contemporaneous business elite lobbied for the establishment of Central Park, which in 1857 became the first landscaped park in an American city.[citation needed] The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing upward of one-quarter of the city's population.[115] There was also extensive immigration from the German provinces, where revolutions had disrupted societies, and Germans comprised another 25% of New York's population by 1860.[116][117] American Civil War Main articles: New York City in the American Civil War and History of New York City (1855–1897) Depiction of lynching during the New York City draft riots in 1863 Democratic Party candidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing the city's ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called on the aldermen to declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on.[108] Anger at new military conscription laws during the American Civil War (1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to the Draft Riots of 1863, whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class.[108] The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York's elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers and their property after fierce competition for a decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground, with more than 200 children escaping harm due to efforts of the New York Police Department, which was mainly made up of Irish immigrants.[116] At least 120 people were killed.[118] Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance.[116][118] Violence by longshoremen against Black men was especially fierce in the docks area.[116] It was one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history.[119] Early 20th century Main articles: History of New York City (1898–1945) and History of New York City (1946–1977) Manhattan's Little Italy in the Lower East Side, c. 1900 In 1898, the City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then a separate 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.[120] The opening of the subway in 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together.[121] Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication.[122] In 1904, the steamship General Slocum caught fire in the East River, killing 1,021 people on board.[123] In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the city's worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and major improvements in factory safety standards.[124] New York's non-White population was 36,620 in 1890.[125] New York City was a prime destination in the early twentieth century for African Americans during the Great Migration from the American South, and by 1916, New York City had become home to the largest urban African diaspora in North America.[126] The Harlem Renaissance of literary and cultural life flourished during the era of Prohibition.[127] The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height and creating an identifiable skyline. A man working on a steel girder high about a city skyline. A construction worker atop the Empire State Building during its construction in 1930. The Chrysler Building is visible behind him. New York City became the most populous urbanized area in the world in the early 1920s, overtaking London. The metropolitan area surpassed the 10 million mark in the early 1930s, becoming the first megacity in human history.[128] The Great Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance.[129] Returning World War II veterans created a post-war economic boom and the development of large housing tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County. New York emerged from the war unscathed as the leading city of the world, with Wall Street leading America's place as the world's dominant economic power. The United Nations headquarters was completed in 1952, solidifying New York's global geopolitical influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitated New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world.[130] A two-story building with brick on the first floor, with two arched doorways, and gray stucco on the second floor off of which hang numerous rainbow flags. Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, a designated U.S. National Historic Landmark and National Monument, was the site of the June 1969 Stonewall riots and the cradle of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.[131][132][133] The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan.[134] They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement[131][135][136][137] and the modern fight for LGBT rights.[138][139] Wayne R. Dynes, author of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality, wrote that drag queens were the only "transgender folks around" during the June 1969 Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality during the period of the Stonewall riots and thereafter.[140] Late 20th century to present Main articles: History of New York City (1978–present) and September 11 attacks In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates.[141] While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through that decade and into the beginning of the 1990s.[142] By the mid 1990s, crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification, and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley, emerged in the city's economy.[143] New York City's population reached all-time highs in the 2000, 2010, and 2020 US censuses. The World Trade Center, in Lower Manhattan, during the September 11 attacks in 2001 New York City suffered the bulk of the economic damage and largest loss of human life in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.[144] Two of the four airliners hijacked that day were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, destroying the towers and killing 2,192 civilians, 343 firefighters, and 71 law enforcement officers. The North Tower became, and remains, the tallest building to ever be destroyed.[145] The area was rebuilt with a new World Trade Center, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, and other new buildings and infrastructure.[146] The World Trade Center PATH station, which had opened on July 19, 1909, as the Hudson Terminal,[importance?] was destroyed in the attacks. A temporary station was built and opened on November 23, 2003.[importance?] An 800,000-square-foot (74,000 m2) permanent rail station designed by Santiago Calatrava, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the city's third-largest hub, was completed in 2016.[147] The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere[148] and the seventh-tallest building in the world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m) in reference to the year of U.S. independence.[149][150][151] The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide.[152] Manhattan in the aftermath of the Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the worst to strike the city since 1700.[153] New York City was heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. Sandy's impacts included the flooding of the New York City Subway system, of many suburban communities, and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except the Lincoln Tunnel. The New York Stock Exchange closed for two consecutive days. Numerous homes and businesses were destroyed by fire, including over 100 homes in Breezy Point, Queens.[excessive detail?] Large parts of the city and surrounding areas lost electricity for several days. Several thousand people in Midtown Manhattan were evacuated for six days due to a crane collapse at Extell's One57.[excessive detail?] Bellevue Hospital Center and a few other large hospitals were closed and evacuated.[excessive detail?] Flooding at 140 West Street and another exchange disrupted voice and data communication in Lower Manhattan.[excessive detail?] At least 43 people died in New York City as a result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $19 billion. The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counter climate change and rising seas.[154] In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the city was confirmed in Manhattan.[155] The city rapidly replaced Wuhan, China to become the global epicenter of the pandemic during the early phase, before the infection became widespread across the world and the rest of the nation. As of March 2021, New York City had recorded over 30,000 deaths from COVID-19-related complications. Geography Main articles: Geography of New York City and Geography of New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary Aerial view of the New York City metropolitan area with Manhattan at its center New York City is situated in the northeastern United States, in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston. 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 port. Most of New York City is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island. During the Wisconsin glaciation, 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet.[156] The erosive forward movement of the ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan's skyscrapers.[157] 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.[158] The Hudson River separates the city from the U.S. state of New Jersey. The East River—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 most of Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River, which flows through the Bronx and Westchester County, is the only entirely freshwater river in the city.[159][importance?] The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along the waterfronts since Dutch colonial times; reclamation is most prominent in Lower Manhattan, with developments such as Battery Park City in the 1970s and 1980s.[160] Some of the natural relief in topography has been evened out, especially in Manhattan.[161] The city's total area is 468.484 square miles (1,213.37 km2); 302.643 sq mi (783.84 km2) of the city is land and 165.841 sq mi (429.53 km2) of this is water.[162][163] 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.[164] The summit of the ridge is mostly covered in woodlands as part of the Staten Island Greenbelt.[165] Boroughs Main articles: Boroughs of New York City and Neighborhoods in New York City A map showing five boroughs in different colors.   1. Manhattan   2. Brooklyn   3. Queens   4. The Bronx   5. Staten Island New York City's five boroughsvte Jurisdiction Population Land area Density of population GDP † Borough County Census (2020) square miles square km people/ sq. mile people/ sq. km billions (2012 US$) 2 The Bronx Bronx 1,472,654 42.2 109.3 34,920 13,482 $38.726 Brooklyn Kings 2,736,074 69.4 179.7 39,438 15,227 $92.300 Manhattan New York 1,694,251 22.7 58.8 74,781 28,872 $651.619 Queens Queens 2,405,464 108.7 281.5 22,125 8,542 $88.578 Staten Island Richmond 495,747 57.5 148.9 8,618 3,327 $14.806 City of New York 8,804,190 302.6 783.8 29,095 11,234 $885.958 State of New York 20,215,751 47,126.4 122,056.8 429 166 $1,514.779 † GDP = Gross Domestic Product    Sources:[166][167][168][169] and see individual borough articles. New York City is sometimes referred to collectively as the Five Boroughs.[170] Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City one of the U.S. municipalities in multiple counties. There are hundreds of distinct neighborhoods throughout the boroughs, many with a definable history and character.[citation needed] 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 (Staten Island would be ranked 37th as of 2020); these same boroughs are coterminous with the four most densely populated counties in the United States: New York (Manhattan), Kings (Brooklyn), Bronx, and Queens. Manhattan Lower and Midtown Manhattan photographed by a SkySat satellite in August 2017 Midtown Manhattan, the world's largest central business district Manhattan (New York County) is the geographically smallest and most densely populated borough. It is home to Central Park and most of the city's skyscrapers, and is sometimes locally known as The City.[171] Manhattan's population density of 72,033 people per square mile (27,812/km2) in 2015 makes it the highest of any county in the United States and higher than the density of any individual American city.[172] Manhattan is the cultural, administrative, and financial center of New York City and contains the headquarters of many major multinational corporations, the United Nations headquarters, Wall Street, and a number of important universities. The borough of Manhattan is often described as the financial and cultural center of the world.[173][174] Most of the borough is situated on Manhattan Island, at the mouth of the Hudson River and the East River, and its southern tip, at the confluence of the two rivers on the site of today's Financial District in Lower Manhattan, represents the historical birthplace of New York City itself.[175][176] Several small islands also compose part of the borough of Manhattan, including Randalls and Wards Islands, and Roosevelt Island in the East River, and Governors Island and Liberty Island to the south in New York Harbor. Manhattan Island is loosely divided into the Lower, Midtown, and 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, bordering the Bronx (Bronx County). Harlem was predominantly occupied by Jewish and Italian Americans in the 19th century until the Great Migration. It was the center of the Harlem Renaissance. The borough of Manhattan also includes a small neighborhood on the mainland, called Marble Hill, which is contiguous with the Bronx. New York City's remaining four boroughs are collectively referred to as the Outer Boroughs. Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn seen from Lower Manhattan Brooklyn (Kings County), on the western tip of Long Island, is the city's most populous borough. Brooklyn is known for its cultural, social, and ethnic diversity, an independent art scene, distinct neighborhoods, and a distinctive architectural heritage. Downtown Brooklyn is the largest central core neighborhood in the Outer Boroughs. The borough has a long beachfront shoreline including Coney Island, established in the 1870s as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the U.S.[177] Marine Park and Prospect Park are the two largest parks in Brooklyn.[178] Since 2010, Brooklyn has evolved into a thriving hub of entrepreneurship and high technology startup firms,[179][180] and of postmodern art and design.[180][181] Queens The growing skyline of Long Island City in Queens,[182] facing the East River Queens (Queens County), on Long Island north and east of Brooklyn, is geographically the largest borough, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States,[183] and the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world.[184][185] Historically a collection of small towns and villages founded by the Dutch, the borough has since developed both commercial and residential prominence. Downtown Flushing has become one of the busiest central core neighborhoods in the outer boroughs.[citation needed] Queens is the site of the Citi Field baseball stadium, home of the New York Mets, and hosts the annual U.S. Open tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. Additionally, two of the three busiest airports serving the New York metropolitan area, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, are in Queens. The Bronx The Yankee Stadium in the Bronx The Bronx (Bronx County) is both New York City's northernmost borough, and the only one that is mostly on the mainland. It is the location of Yankee Stadium, the baseball park of the New York Yankees, and home to the largest cooperatively-owned housing complex in the United States, Co-op City.[186] It is home to the Bronx Zoo, the world's largest metropolitan zoo,[187] which spans 265 acres (1.07 km2) and houses more than 6,000 animals.[188] The Bronx is the birthplace of hip hop music and its associated culture.[189] Pelham Bay Park is the largest park in New York City, at 2,772 acres (1,122 ha).[190] Staten Island St. George, Staten Island Staten Island (Richmond County) is the most suburban in character of the five boroughs. It is connected to Brooklyn by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and to Manhattan by way of the free Staten Island Ferry. In central Staten Island, the Staten Island Greenbelt spans approximately 2,500 acres (10 km2), including 28 miles (45 km) of walking trails and one of the last undisturbed forests in the city.[191] Designated in 1984 to protect the island's natural lands, the Greenbelt comprises seven city parks. Architecture Further information: Architecture of New York City; List of buildings, sites, and monuments in New York City; List of tallest buildings in New York City; and List of hotels in New York City The Empire State Building has setbacks, Art Deco details, and a spire. It was the world's tallest building from 1931 to 1970. The Chrysler Building, built in 1930, is in the Art Deco style, with ornamental hubcaps and a spire. Landmark 19th-century rowhouses, including brownstones, on tree-lined Kent Street in the Greenpoint Historic District, Brooklyn Modernist and Gothic Revival architecture in Midtown Manhattan New York has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a wide range of styles and from distinct time periods, from the Dutch Colonial Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, the oldest section of which dates to 1656, to the modern One World Trade Center, the skyscraper at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan and the most expensive office tower in the world by construction cost.[192] Manhattan's skyline, with its many skyscrapers, is universally recognized, and the city has been home to several of the tallest buildings in the world. As of 2019, New York City had 6,455 high-rise buildings, the third most in the world after Hong Kong and Seoul.[193] Of these, as of 2011,[needs update] 550 completed structures were at least 330 feet (100 m) high, with more than fifty completed skyscrapers taller than 656 feet (200 m). These include the Woolworth Building, an early example of Gothic Revival architecture in skyscraper design; completed in 1913, for 17 years it was the world's tallest building.[194] The 1916 Zoning Resolution required setbacks in new buildings and restricted towers to a percentage of the lot size, to allow sunlight to reach the streets below.[195] The Art Deco style of the Chrysler Building (1930) and Empire State Building (1931), with their tapered tops and steel spires, reflected the zoning requirements.[citation needed] The buildings have distinctive ornamentation, such as the eagles at the corners of the 61st floor on the Chrysler Building, and are considered some of the finest examples of the Art Deco style.[196] A highly influential example of the International Style in the United States is the Seagram Building (1957), distinctive for its façade using visible bronze-toned I-beams to evoke the building's structure. The Condé Nast Building (2000) is a prominent example of green design in American skyscrapers[197] and has received an award from the American Institute of Architects and AIA New York State for its design.[citation needed] The character of New York's large residential districts is often defined by the elegant brownstone rowhouses and townhouses and shabby tenements that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930.[198] In contrast, New York City also has neighborhoods that are less densely populated and feature free-standing dwellings. In neighborhoods such as Riverdale (in the Bronx), Ditmas Park (in Brooklyn), and Douglaston (in Queens), large single-family homes are common in various architectural styles such as Tudor Revival and Victorian.[199][200][201] 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 1835.[202] A distinctive feature of many of the city's buildings is the roof-mounted wooden water tower. 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 break municipal water pipes.[203] Garden apartments became popular during the 1920s in outlying areas, such as Jackson Heights.[204] According to the United States Geological Survey, an updated analysis of seismic hazard in July 2014 revealed a "slightly lower hazard for tall buildings" in New York City than previously assessed. Scientists estimated this lessened risk based on a lower likelihood than previously thought of slow shaking near the city, which would be more likely to cause damage to taller structures.[205] Manhattan contained over 500 million square feet of office space as of 2022;[repetition] the COVID-19 pandemic and hybrid work model have prompted consideration of commercial-to-residential conversion within Midtown Manhattan.[206] Ten mile (16km) Manhattan skyline panorama from 120th Street to the Battery, taken in February 2018 from across the Hudson River in Weehawken, New Jersey Riverside ChurchDeutsche Bank Center220 Central Park SouthCentral Park TowerOne57432 Park Avenue53W53Chrysler BuildingBank of America Tower4 Times SquareThe New York Times BuildingEmpire State BuildingManhattan Westa: 55 Hudson Yards, 14b: 35 Hudson Yards, 14c: 10 Hudson Yards, 14d: 15 Hudson Yards56 Leonard Street8 Spruce StreetWoolworth Building70 Pine StreetFour Seasons Downtown40 Wall Street3 World Trade Center4 World Trade CenterOne World Trade Center Climate Main article: Climate of New York City New York City Climate chart (explanation) J F M A M J J A S O N D   3.6  4028   3.2  4230   4.3  5036   4.1  6246   4  7155   4.5  8064   4.6  8570   4.6  8369   4.3  7662   4.4  6551   3.6  5442   4.4  4434 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Metric conversion Deep snow in Brooklyn during the Blizzard of 2006 Under the Köppen climate classification, New York City has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), and is the northernmost major city on the North American continent with this categorization. The suburbs to the immediate north and west are in the transitional zone between humid subtropical and humid continental climates (Dfa).[207][208] Annually, the city averages 234 days with at least some sunshine.[209] Winters are chilly and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blow sea breezes offshore temper the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean; yet the Atlantic and the partial shielding from colder air by the Appalachian Mountains keep the city warmer in the winter than inland North American cities at similar or lesser latitudes. The daily mean temperature in January, the area's coldest month, is 33.3 °F (0.7 °C).[210] Temperatures usually drop to 10 °F (−12 °C) several times per winter,[211] yet can also reach 60 °F (16 °C) for several days even in the coldest winter month. Spring and autumn are unpredictable and can range from cool to warm, although they are usually mild with low humidity. Summers are typically hot and humid, with a daily mean temperature of 77.5 °F (25.3 °C) in July.[210] Nighttime temperatures are often enhanced due to the urban heat island effect. Daytime temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on average of 17 days each summer and in some years exceed 100 °F (38 °C), although this is a rare achievement, last occurring on July 18, 2012.[212] Similarly, readings of 0 °F (−18 °C) are extremely rare, last occurring on February 14, 2016.[213] Extreme temperatures have ranged from −15 °F (−26 °C), recorded on February 9, 1934, up to 106 °F (41 °C) on July 9, 1936;[210] the coldest recorded wind chill was −37 °F (−38 °C) on the same day as the all-time record low.[214] The record cold daily maximum was 2 °F (−17 °C) on December 30, 1917, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum was 87 °F (31 °C), on July 2, 1903.[212] The average water temperature of the nearby Atlantic Ocean ranges from 39.7 °F (4.3 °C) in February to 74.1 °F (23.4 °C) in August.[215] The city receives 49.5 inches (1,260 mm) of precipitation annually, which is relatively evenly spread throughout the year. Average winter snowfall between 1991 and 2020 was 29.8 inches (76 cm); this varies considerably between years. Hurricanes and tropical storms are rare in the New York area.[216] Hurricane Sandy brought a destructive storm surge to New York City on the evening of October 29, 2012, flooding numerous streets, tunnels, and subway lines in Lower Manhattan and other areas of the city and cutting off electricity in many parts of the city and its suburbs.[217] The storm and its profound impacts have prompted the discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of the city and the metropolitan area to minimize the risk of destructive consequences from another such event in the future.[154] vte Climate data for New York (Belvedere Castle, Central Park), 1991–2020 normals,[b] extremes 1869–present[c] Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °F (°C) 72 (22) 78 (26) 86 (30) 96 (36) 99 (37) 101 (38) 106 (41) 104 (40) 102 (39) 94 (34) 84 (29) 75 (24) 106 (41) Mean maximum °F (°C) 60.4 (15.8) 60.7 (15.9) 70.3 (21.3) 82.9 (28.3) 88.5 (31.4) 92.1 (33.4) 95.7 (35.4) 93.4 (34.1) 89.0 (31.7) 79.7 (26.5) 70.7 (21.5) 62.9 (17.2) 97.0 (36.1) Average high °F (°C) 39.5 (4.2) 42.2 (5.7) 49.9 (9.9) 61.8 (16.6) 71.4 (21.9) 79.7 (26.5) 84.9 (29.4) 83.3 (28.5) 76.2 (24.6) 64.5 (18.1) 54.0 (12.2) 44.3 (6.8) 62.6 (17.0) Daily mean °F (°C) 33.7 (0.9) 35.9 (2.2) 42.8 (6.0) 53.7 (12.1) 63.2 (17.3) 72.0 (22.2) 77.5 (25.3) 76.1 (24.5) 69.2 (20.7) 57.9 (14.4) 48.0 (8.9) 39.1 (3.9) 55.8 (13.2) Average low °F (°C) 27.9 (−2.3) 29.5 (−1.4) 35.8 (2.1) 45.5 (7.5) 55.0 (12.8) 64.4 (18.0) 70.1 (21.2) 68.9 (20.5) 62.3 (16.8) 51.4 (10.8) 42.0 (5.6) 33.8 (1.0) 48.9 (9.4) Mean minimum °F (°C) 9.8 (−12.3) 12.7 (−10.7) 19.7 (−6.8) 32.8 (0.4) 43.9 (6.6) 52.7 (11.5) 61.8 (16.6) 60.3 (15.7) 50.2 (10.1) 38.4 (3.6) 27.7 (−2.4) 18.0 (−7.8) 7.7 (−13.5) Record low °F (°C) −6 (−21) −15 (−26) 3 (−16) 12 (−11) 32 (0) 44 (7) 52 (11) 50 (10) 39 (4) 28 (−2) 5 (−15) −13 (−25) −15 (−26) Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.64 (92) 3.19 (81) 4.29 (109) 4.09 (104) 3.96 (101) 4.54 (115) 4.60 (117) 4.56 (116) 4.31 (109) 4.38 (111) 3.58 (91) 4.38 (111) 49.52 (1,258) Average snowfall inches (cm) 8.8 (22) 10.1 (26) 5.0 (13) 0.4 (1.0) 0.0 (0.0) 0.0 (0.0) 0.0 (0.0) 0.0 (0.0) 0.0 (0.0) 0.1 (0.25) 0.5 (1.3) 4.9 (12) 29.8 (76) Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 10.8 10.0 11.1 11.4 11.5 11.2 10.5 10.0 8.8 9.5 9.2 11.4 125.4 Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 3.7 3.2 2.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 2.1 11.4 Average relative humidity (%) 61.5 60.2 58.5 55.3 62.7 65.2 64.2 66.0 67.8 65.6 64.6 64.1 63.0 Average dew point °F (°C) 18.0 (−7.8) 19.0 (−7.2) 25.9 (−3.4) 34.0 (1.1) 47.3 (8.5) 57.4 (14.1) 61.9 (16.6) 62.1 (16.7) 55.6 (13.1) 44.1 (6.7) 34.0 (1.1) 24.6 (−4.1) 40.3 (4.6) Mean monthly sunshine hours 162.7 163.1 212.5 225.6 256.6 257.3 268.2 268.2 219.3 211.2 151.0 139.0 2,534.7 Percent possible sunshine 54 55 57 57 57 57 59 63 59 61 51 48 57 Average ultraviolet index 2 3 4 6 7 8 8 8 6 4 2 1 5 Source 1: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961–1990; dew point 1965–1984)[212][219][209] Source 2: Weather Atlas[220] See Climate of New York City for additional climate information from the outer boroughs. Sea temperature data for New York[220] Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Average sea temperature °F (°C) 41.7 (5.4) 39.7 (4.3) 40.2 (4.5) 45.1 (7.3) 52.5 (11.4) 64.5 (18.1) 72.1 (22.3) 74.1 (23.4) 70.1 (21.2) 63.0 (17.2) 54.3 (12.4) 47.2 (8.4) 55.4 (13.0) Parks Main article: List of New York City parks Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, with the Unisphere at center, was used in both the 1939 and 1964 New York World's Fairs. The city of New York has a complex park system, with various lands operated by the National Park Service, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. In its 2018 ParkScore ranking, the Trust for Public Land reported that the park system in New York City was the ninth-best park system among the fifty most populous U.S. cities.[221] ParkScore ranks urban park systems by a formula that analyzes median park size, park acres as percent of city area, the percent of city residents within a half-mile of a park, spending of park services per resident, and the number of playgrounds per 10,000 residents.[importance?] In 2021, the New York City Council banned the use of synthetic pesticides by city agencies and instead required organic lawn management. The effort was started by teacher Paula Rogovin's kindergarten class at P.S. 290.[222][importance?] National parks Main article: National Park Service The Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, a global symbol of the United States and its ideals of liberty, freedom, and opportunity[29] Gateway National Recreation Area contains over 26,000 acres (110 km2), most of it in New York City.[223] In Brooklyn and Queens, the park contains over 9,000 acres (36 km2) of salt marsh, wetlands, islands, and water, including most of Jamaica Bay and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Also in Queens, the park includes a significant portion of the western Rockaway Peninsula, most notably Jacob Riis Park and Fort Tilden. In Staten Island, it includes Fort Wadsworth, with historic pre-Civil War era Battery Weed and Fort Tompkins, and Great Kills Park. The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum are managed by the National Park Service and are in both New York and New Jersey. They are joined in the harbor by Governors Island National Monument. Historic sites under federal management on Manhattan Island include Stonewall National Monument; Castle Clinton National Monument; Federal Hall National Memorial; Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site; General Grant National Memorial (Grant's Tomb); African Burial Ground National Monument; and Hamilton Grange National Memorial. Hundreds of properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places or as a National Historic Landmark. State parks Main article: New York state parks Marsha P. Johnson State Park There are seven state parks within the confines of New York City. They include: The Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve, a natural area that includes extensive riding trails. Riverbank State Park, a 28-acre (11 ha) facility[224] Marsha P. Johnson State Park, a state park in Brooklyn and Manhattan that borders the East River renamed in honor of Marsha P. Johnson[225] City parks See also: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The Pond and Midtown Manhattan as seen from Gapstow Bridge in Central Park The Boathouse on the Lullwater in Prospect Park, Brooklyn New York City has over 28,000 acres (110 km2) of municipal parkland and 14 miles (23 km) of public beaches.[226] The largest municipal park in the city is Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, with 2,772 acres (1,122 ha).[190][227] Central Park, an 843-acre (3.41 km2)[190] park in middle-upper Manhattan, is the most visited urban park in the United States and one of the most filmed and visited locations in the world, with 40 million visitors in 2013.[228] The park has a wide range of attractions; there are several lakes and ponds, two ice-skating rinks, the Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, and the 106-acre (0.43 km2) Jackie Onassis Reservoir.[229] Indoor attractions include Belvedere Castle with its nature center, the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, and the historic Carousel. On October 23, 2012, hedge fund manager John A. Paulson announced a $100 million gift to the Central Park Conservancy, the largest ever monetary donation to New York City's park system.[230] Washington Square Park is a prominent landmark in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. The Washington Square Arch at the northern gateway to the park is an iconic symbol of both New York University and Greenwich Village. Prospect Park in Brooklyn has a 90-acre (36 ha) meadow, a lake, and extensive woodlands. Within the park is the historic Battle Pass, prominent in the Battle of Long Island.[231] Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, with its 897 acres (363 ha) making it the city's fourth largest park,[232] was the setting for the 1939 World's Fair and the 1964 World's Fair[233] and is host to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and the annual U.S. Open Tennis Championships tournament.[234] Over a fifth of the Bronx's area, 7,000 acres (28 km2), is dedicated to open space and parks, including Pelham Bay Park, Van Cortlandt Park, the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Botanical Gardens.[235] In Staten Island, the Conference House Park contains the historic Conference House, site of the only attempt of a peaceful resolution to the American Revolution which was conducted in September 1775, attended by Benjamin Franklin representing the Americans and Lord Howe representing the British Crown.[236] The historic Burial Ridge, the largest Native American burial ground within New York City, is within the park.[237] Military installations Brooklyn is home to Fort Hamilton, the U.S. military's only active duty installation within New York City,[238] aside from Coast Guard operations. The facility was established in 1825 on the site of a battery used during the American Revolution, and it is one of America's longest serving military forts.[239] Today, Fort Hamilton serves as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers and for the New York City Recruiting Battalion. It also houses the 1179th Transportation Brigade, the 722nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron, and a military entrance processing station. Other formerly active military reservations still used for National Guard and military training or reserve operations in the city include Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island and Fort Totten in Queens.[citation needed] Demographics Historical population Year Pop. ±% 1698 4,937 —     1712 5,840 +18.3% 1723 7,248 +24.1% 1737 10,664 +47.1% 1746 11,717 +9.9% 1756 13,046 +11.3% 1771 21,863 +67.6% 1790 49,401 +126.0% 1800 79,216 +60.4% 1810 119,734 +51.1% 1820 152,056 +27.0% 1830 242,278 +59.3% 1840 391,114 +61.4% 1850 696,115 +78.0% 1860 1,174,779 +68.8% 1870 1,478,103 +25.8% 1880 1,911,698 +29.3% 1890 2,507,414 +31.2% 1900 3,437,202 +37.1% 1910 4,766,883 +38.7% 1920 5,620,048 +17.9% 1930 6,930,446 +23.3% 1940 7,454,995 +7.6% 1950 7,891,957 +5.9% 1960 7,781,984 −1.4% 1970 7,894,862 +1.5% 1980 7,071,639 −10.4% 1990 7,322,564 +3.5% 2000 8,008,278 +9.4% 2010 8,175,133 +2.1% 2020 8,804,190 +7.7% Note: Census figures (1790–2010) cover the present area of all five boroughs, before and after the 1898 consolidation. For New York City itself before annexing part of the Bronx in 1874, see Manhattan#Demographics.[240] Source: U.S. Decennial Census;[241] 1698–1771[242] 1790–1890[240][243] 1900–1990[244] 2000–2010[245][246][247] 2010–2020[248] Main articles: Demographics of New York City and Demographic history of New York City New York City is the most populous city in the United States,[249] with 8,804,190 residents incorporating more immigration into the city than outmigration since the 2010 United States census.[248][250][251] More than twice as many people live in New York City as compared to Los Angeles, the second-most populous U.S. city.[249] New York City gained more residents between 2010 and 2020 (629,000) than any other U.S. city, and a greater amount than the total sum of the gains over the same decade of the next four largest U.S. cities (Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix, Arizona) combined.[252][253] New York City comprises about 44% of the state's population,[254] and about 39% of the population of the New York metropolitan area.[255] The majority of New York City residents in 2020 (5,141,538, or 58.4%) were living on Long Island, in Brooklyn, or in Queens.[256] The New York City metropolitan statistical area, has the largest foreign-born population of any metropolitan region in the world. The New York region continues to be by far the leading metropolitan gateway for legal immigrants admitted into the United States, substantially exceeding the combined totals of Los Angeles and Miami.[257] In 2020, the city had an estimated population density of 29,302.37 inhabitants per square mile (11,313.71/km2), rendering it the nation's most densely populated of all municipalities with more than 100,000 residents. Geographically co-extensive with New York County, the borough of Manhattan's 2017 population density of 72,918 inhabitants per square mile (28,154/km2) makes it the highest of any county in the United States and higher than the density of any individual American city.[258][259][260][repetition] The next three densest counties in the United States are also New York boroughs: Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens respectively.[261][repetition] Race and ethnicity Main article: New York City ethnic enclaves Historical demographics 2020[262] 2010[263] 1990[264] 1970[264] 1940[264] Map of racial distribution in New York, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, or Other (yellow) The city's population in 2020 was 30.9% White (non-Hispanic), 28.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Black or African American (non-Hispanic), 15.6% Asian, and 0.2% Native American (non-Hispanic).[265] A total of 3.4% of the non-Hispanic population identified with more than one race. Throughout its history, New York has been a major port of entry for immigrants into the United States. More than 12 million European immigrants were received at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954.[266] The term "melting pot" was first coined to describe densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the Lower East Side. By 1900, Germans were the largest immigrant group, followed by the Irish, Jews, and Italians.[267] In 1940, Whites represented 92% of the city's population at 6.6 million.[264][268] Approximately 37% of the city's population is foreign born, and more than half of all children are born to mothers who are immigrants as of 2013.[269][270] In New York, no single country or region of origin dominates.[269] The ten largest sources of foreign-born individuals in the city as of 2011 were the Dominican Republic, China, Mexico, Guyana, Jamaica, Ecuador, Haiti, India, Russia, and Trinidad and Tobago,[271] while the Bangladeshi-born immigrant population has become one of the fastest growing in the city, counting over 74,000 by 2011.[24][272] Asian Americans in New York City, according to the 2010 census, number more than one million, greater than the combined totals of San Francisco and Los Angeles.[273] New York contains the highest total Asian population of any U.S. city proper.[274] The New York City borough of Queens is home to the state's largest Asian American population and the largest Andean (Colombian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, and Bolivian) populations in the United States, and is also the most ethnically and linguistically diverse urban area in the world.[275][185] Tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Venezuela have arrived in New York City since 2022.[276] Chinatown, Manhattan Little Italy, Manhattan Koreatown, Manhattan Little Manila, Queens Little Russia, Brooklyn Little India, Queens The Chinese population is the fastest-growing nationality in New York State. Multiple satellites of the original Manhattan's Chinatown—home to the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere,[277] as well as in Brooklyn, and around Flushing, Queens, are thriving as traditionally urban enclaves—while also expanding rapidly eastward into suburban Nassau County[278] on Long Island,[279] as the New York metropolitan region and New York State have become the top destinations for new Chinese immigrants, respectively, and large-scale Chinese immigration continues into New York City and surrounding areas,[257][280][281][282][283][284] with the largest metropolitan Chinese diaspora outside Asia,[24][285] including an estimated 812,410 individuals in 2015.[286] In 2012, 6.3% of New York City was of Chinese ethnicity, with nearly three-fourths living in either Queens or Brooklyn.[287] A community numbering 20,000 Korean-Chinese (Chaoxianzu or Joseonjok) is centered in Flushing, Queens, while New York City is home to the largest Tibetan population outside China, India, and Nepal, also centered in Queens.[288] Koreans made up 1.2% of the city's population, and Japanese 0.3%. Filipinos were the largest Southeast Asian ethnic group at 0.8%, followed by Vietnamese, who made up 0.2% of New York City's population in 2010. Indians are the largest South Asian group, comprising 2.4% of the city's population, with Bangladeshis and Pakistanis at 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.[289] Queens is the preferred borough of settlement for Asian Indians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Malaysians,[290][257] and other Southeast Asians;[291] while Brooklyn is receiving large numbers of both West Indian and Asian Indian immigrants, and Manhattan is the favored destination for Japanese.[citation needed] New York City has the largest European and non-Hispanic white population of any American city. At 2.7 million in 2012, New York's non-Hispanic White population is larger than the non-Hispanic White populations of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston combined.[292] The non-Hispanic White population has begun to increase since 2010.[293][needs update] The European diaspora residing in the city is very diverse. According to 2012 census estimates, there were roughly 560,000 Italian Americans, 385,000 Irish Americans, 253,000 German Americans, 223,000 Russian Americans, 201,000 Polish Americans, and 137,000 English Americans. Additionally, Greek and French Americans numbered 65,000 each, with those of Hungarian descent estimated at 60,000 people. Ukrainian and Scottish Americans numbered 55,000 and 35,000, respectively. People identifying ancestry from Spain numbered 30,838 total in 2010,[294] and Belarusians numbered about 55,000 as of 2010.[295] People of Norwegian and Swedish descent both stood at about 20,000 each, while people of Czech, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Scotch-Irish, and Welsh descent all numbered between 12,000 and 14,000.[296] Arab Americans number over 160,000 in New York City,[297] with the highest concentration in Brooklyn. Central Asians, primarily Uzbek Americans, are a rapidly growing segment of the city's non-Hispanic White population, enumerating over 30,000, and including more than half of all Central Asian immigrants to the United States,[298] most settling in Queens or Brooklyn. Albanian Americans are most highly concentrated in the Bronx,[299] while Astoria, Queens is the epicenter of American Greek culture as well as the Cypriot community.[citation needed] New York is home to the highest Jewish population of any city in the world, numbering 1.6 million in 2022, more than Tel Aviv and Jerusalem combined.[300] In the borough of Brooklyn, an estimated 1 in 4 residents is Jewish.[301] The city's Jewish communities are derived from many diverse sects, predominantly from around the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and including a rapidly growing Orthodox Jewish population, the largest outside Israel.[288] The metropolitan area is home to 20% of the nation's Indian Americans and at least 20 Little India enclaves, and 15% of all Korean Americans and four Koreatowns;[246] the largest Asian Indian population in the Western Hemisphere; the largest Russian American,[280] Italian American, and African American populations; the largest Dominican American, Puerto Rican American, and South American[280] and second-largest overall Hispanic population in the United States, numbering 4.8 million;[294] and includes multiple established Chinatowns within New York City alone.[302] Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela are the top source countries from South America for immigrants to the New York City region; the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean; Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa from Africa; and El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala in Central America.[303] Amidst a resurgence of Puerto Rican migration to New York City, this population had increased to approximately 1.3 million in the metropolitan area as of 2013.[citation needed] Since 2010, Little Australia has emerged and is growing rapidly, representing the Australasian presence in Nolita, Manhattan.[304][305][306][307] In 2011, there were an estimated 20,000 Australian residents of New York City, nearly quadruple the 5,537 in 2005.[308][309] Qantas Airways of Australia and Air New Zealand have been planning for long-haul flights from New York to Sydney and Auckland, which would both rank among the longest non-stop flights in the world.[310] A Little Sri Lanka has developed in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island.[311] Le Petit Sénégal, or Little Senegal, is based in Harlem. Richmond Hill, Queens is often thought of as "Little Guyana" for its large Guyanese community,[312] as well as Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ), or Little Punjab, for its high concentration of Punjabi people. Little Poland is expanding rapidly in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.[citation needed] Sexual orientation and gender identity Main articles: LGBT culture in New York City, Same-sex marriage in New York, Stonewall riots, and NYC Pride March Further information: New York City Drag March, Queens Liberation Front, Queens Pride Parade, Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, List of LGBT people from New York City, and List of largest LGBT events Caribbean NYC-LGBTQ Equality Project The NYC Dyke March, the world's largest celebration of lesbian pride and culture[313] NYC Pride March in Manhattan, the world's largest[314][315] The Multicultural Festival at the 2018 Queens Pride Parade New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest LGBTQ populations and the most prominent.[51] The New York metropolitan area is home to about 570,000 self-identifying gay and bisexual people, the largest in the United States.[316][317] Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults has been legal in New York since the New York v. Onofre case in 1980 which invalidated the state's sodomy law.[318] Same-sex marriages in New York were legalized on June 24, 2011, and were authorized to take place on July 23, 2011.[319] Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre".[320] LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs".[321] LGBT advocate and entertainer Madonna stated metaphorically, "Anyways, not only is New York City the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer."[322] The annual New York City Pride March proceeds southward down Fifth Avenue and ends at Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan; the parade is the largest pride parade in the world, attracting tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June.[323][314] The annual Queens Pride Parade is held in Jackson Heights and is accompanied by the ensuing Multicultural Parade.[324] Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 was the largest international Pride celebration in history, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, with 150,000 participants and five million spectators attending in Manhattan alone.[325] New York City is home to the largest transgender population in the world, estimated at more than 50,000 in 2018, concentrated in Manhattan and Queens; however, until the June 1969 Stonewall riots, this community had felt marginalized and neglected by the gay community.[324][140] Brooklyn Liberation March, the largest transgender-rights demonstration in LGBTQ history, took place on June 14, 2020, stretching from Grand Army Plaza to Fort Greene, Brooklyn, focused on supporting Black transgender lives, drawing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 participants.[326][327] Religion Religious affiliation (2014)[328][329] Christian   59% Catholic   33% Protestant   23% Other Christian   3% Unaffiliated   22% Jewish   8% Muslim   7% Hindu   2% Buddhist   1% Other faiths   1% Religious affiliations in New York City The landmark Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral, Midtown Manhattan Central Synagogue, a notable Reform synagogue located at 652 Lexington Avenue The Islamic Cultural Center of New York in Upper Manhattan, the first mosque built in New York City Ganesh Temple in Flushing, Queens, the oldest Hindu temple in the U.S. Christianity Further information: St. Patrick's Cathedral (Midtown Manhattan), Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, and Christmas in New York Largely as a result of Western European missionary work and colonialism, Christianity is the largest religion (59% adherent) in New York City,[328] which is home to the highest number of churches of any city in the world.[19] Roman Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination (33%), followed by Protestantism (23%), and other Christian denominations (3%). The Roman Catholic population are primarily served by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Diocese of Brooklyn. Eastern Catholics are divided into numerous jurisdictions throughout the city. Evangelical Protestantism is the largest branch of Protestantism in the city (9%), followed by Mainline Protestantism (8%), while the converse is usually true for other cities and metropolitan areas.[329] In Evangelicalism, Baptists are the largest group; in Mainline Protestantism, Reformed Protestants compose the largest subset. The majority of historically African American churches are affiliated with the National Baptist Convention (USA) and Progressive National Baptist Convention. The Church of God in Christ is one of the largest predominantly Black Pentecostal denominations in the area. Approximately 1% of the population is Mormon. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and other Orthodox Christians (mainstream and independent) were the largest Eastern Christian groups. The American Orthodox Catholic Church (initially led by Aftimios Ofiesh) was founded in New York City in 1927.[citation needed] Judaism Main articles: Judaism in New York City, History of the Jews in New York, and Jewish arrival in New Amsterdam Judaism, the second-largest religion practiced in New York City, with approximately 1.6 million adherents as of 2022, represents the largest Jewish community of any city in the world, greater than the combined totals of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.[330][331] Nearly half of the city's Jews live in Brooklyn, which is one-quarter Jewish.[332][333] The ethno-religious population makes up 18.4% of the city and its religious demographic makes up 8%.[334] The first recorded Jewish settler was Jacob Barsimson, who arrived in August 1654 on a passport from the Dutch West India Company.[335][importance?] Following the assassination of Alexander II of Russia, for which many blamed "the Jews", the 36 years beginning in 1881 experienced the largest wave of Jewish immigration to the United States.[336][relevant?] In 2012, the largest Jewish denominations were Orthodox, Haredi, and Conservative Judaism.[337] Reform Jewish communities are prevalent through the area. 770 Eastern Parkway is the headquarters of the international Chabad Lubavitch movement, and is considered an icon, while Congregation Emanu-El of New York in Manhattan is the largest Reform synagogue in the world.[citation needed] Islam Main article: Islam in New York City Islam ranks as the third largest religion in New York City, following Christianity and Judaism, with estimates ranging between 600,000 and 1,000,000 observers of Islam, including 10% of the city's public school children.[338] 22.3% of American Muslims live in New York City, with 1.5 million Muslims in the greater New York metropolitan area, representing the largest metropolitan Muslim population in the Western Hemisphere[339]—and the most ethnically diverse Muslim population of any city in the world.[340] Powers Street Mosque in Brooklyn is one of the oldest continuously operating mosques in the U.S., and represents the first Islamic organization in both the city and the state of New York.[341][342] Hinduism and other religious affiliations Further information: Hindu Temple Society of North America Following these three largest religious groups in New York City are Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and a variety of other religions. As of 2023, 24% of Greater New Yorkers identified with no organized religious affiliation, including 4% Atheist.[343] Wealth and income disparity New York City, like other large cities, has a high degree of income disparity, as indicated by its Gini coefficient of 0.55 as of 2017.[344] In the first quarter of 2014,[needs update] the average weekly wage in New York County (Manhattan) was $2,749, representing the highest total among large counties in the United States.[345] In 2022, New York City was home to the highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, with a total of 107.[37] New York also had the highest density of millionaires per capita among major U.S. cities in 2014, at 4.6% of residents.[346] New York City is one of the relatively few American cities levying an income tax (about 3%) on its residents.[347][348][349] As of 2018, there were 78,676 homeless people in New York City.[350] Economy Main article: Economy of New York City Further information: Economy of Long Island and Economy of New York Midtown Manhattan, the world's largest central business district[351] see caption The Financial District of Lower Manhattan New York City is a global hub of business and commerce and an established safe haven for global investors,[35] and is sometimes described as the capital of the world.[352] New York is a center for worldwide banking and finance, health care and life sciences,[15] medical technology and research, retailing, world trade, transportation, tourism, real estate, new media, traditional media, advertising, legal services, accountancy, insurance, and the arts in the United States; while Silicon Alley, metonymous for New York's broad-spectrum high technology sphere, continues to expand. The Port of New York and New Jersey is a major economic engine, benefitting post-Panamax from the expansion of the Panama Canal, and accelerating ahead of California seaports in monthly cargo volumes in 2023.[353][354][355] Many Fortune 500 corporations are headquartered in New York City,[356] as are a large number of multinational corporations. New York City has been ranked first among cities across the globe in attracting capital, business, and tourists.[357][358] New York City's role as the top global center for the advertising industry is metonymously reflected as Madison Avenue.[359] The city's fashion industry provides approximately 180,000 employees with $11 billion in annual wages.[360] The non-profit Partnership for New York City is the city's pre-eminent private business association, comprising approximately 330 corporate leaders.[citation needed] The fashion industry is based in Midtown Manhattan and is represented by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CDFA), headquartered in Lower Manhattan. Significant economic sectors include non-profit institutions, and universities. Manufacturing declined over the 20th century but still accounts for significant employment. particularly in smaller operations.[citation needed] The city's apparel and garment industry, historically centered on the Garment District in Manhattan, peaked in 1950, when more than 323,000 workers were employed in the industry in New York. In 2015, fewer than 23,000 New York City residents were employed in the industry, although revival efforts were underway,[361] and the American fashion industry continues to be metonymized as Seventh Avenue.[362] Chocolate is New York City's leading specialty-food export, with up to $234 million worth of exports each year.[363] Godiva, one of the world's largest chocolatiers, is headquartered in Manhattan,[364] and an unofficial chocolate district in Brooklyn is home to several chocolate makers and retailers.[365] Food processing is a $5 billion industry that employs more than 19,000 residents.[citation needed] In 2017, there were 205,592 employer firms in New York City.[263] Of those firms, 64,514 were owned by minorities, while veterans owned 5,506 of those firms, statistics pertinent to the increasing participation of U.S. firms in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.[263] Midtown Manhattan in panorama from Weehawken, New Jersey, pictured in September 2021 Wall Street Main article: Wall Street A large flag is stretched over Roman style columns on the front of a large building. The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, the world's largest stock exchange per total market capitalization of its listed companies[366][367] New York City's most important economic sector lies in its role as the headquarters for the U.S. financial industry, metonymously known as Wall Street. The city's securities industry continues to form the largest segment of the city's financial sector and is an important economic engine.[citation needed] Many large financial companies are headquartered in New York City, and the city is home to a burgeoning number of financial startup companies. Lower Manhattan is home to the New York Stock Exchange, at 11 Wall Street, and the Nasdaq, at 165 Broadway, representing the world's largest and second largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured both by overall average daily trading volume and by total market capitalization of their listed companies in 2013.[366][367] Investment banking fees on Wall Street totaled approximately $40 billion in 2012,[368][needs update] while in 2013, senior New York City bank officers who manage risk and compliance functions earned as much as $324,000 annually.[369][importance?] In fiscal year 2013–14, Wall Street's securities industry generated 19% of New York State's tax revenue.[370] New York City remains the largest global center for trading in public equity and debt capital markets, driven in part by the size and financial development of the U.S. economy.[371]: 31–32 [372] New York also leads in hedge fund management; private equity; and the monetary volume of mergers and acquisitions. Several investment banks and investment managers headquartered in Manhattan are important participants in other global financial centers.[371]: 34–35  New York is the principal commercial banking center of the United States.[373] Many of the world's largest media conglomerates are based in the city. Manhattan contained over 500 million square feet (46.5 million m2) of office space in 2018,[374] making it the largest office market in the United States,[375] while Midtown Manhattan, with 400 million square feet (37.2 million m2) in 2018,[374] is the largest central business district in the world.[376] Tech and biotech Further information: Tech:NYC, Tech companies in New York City, Biotech companies in New York City, and Silicon Alley View from the Empire State Building looking southward (downtown) at the central Flatiron District, the cradle of Silicon Alley, initially metonymous for the New York metropolitan region's high tech sector Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island New York is a top-tier global technology hub.[12][377] Silicon Alley, once a metonym for the sphere encompassing the metropolitan region's high technology industries,[378] is no longer a relevant moniker as the city's tech environment has expanded dramatically both in location and in scope since at least 2003, when tech business appeared in more places in Manhattan and in other boroughs, and not much silicon was involved.[378][379] New York City's current tech sphere encompasses the array of applications involving universal applications of artificial intelligence,[380][381] broadband internet,[382] new media, financial technology (fintech) and cryptocurrency, biotechnology, game design, and other fields within information technology that are supported by its entrepreneurship ecosystem and venture capital investments. Technology-driven startup companies and entrepreneurial employment are growing in New York City and the region. The technology sector has been claiming a greater share of New York City's economy since 2010.[383] Tech:NYC, founded in 2016, is a non-profit organization which represents New York City's technology industry with government, civic institutions, in business, and in the media, and whose primary goals are to further augment New York's substantial tech talent base and to advocate for policies that will nurture tech companies to grow in the city.[384] The biotechnology sector is growing in New York City, based on the city's strength in academic scientific research and public and commercial financial support. On December 19, 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced his choice of Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to build a $2 billion graduate school of applied sciences called Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island with the goal of transforming New York City into the world's premier technology capital.[385][386] By mid-2014, Accelerator, a biotech investment firm, had raised more than $30 million from investors, including Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, for initial funding to create biotechnology startups at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, which encompasses more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m2) on East 29th Street and promotes collaboration among scientists and entrepreneurs at the center and with nearby academic, medical, and research institutions.[excessive detail?] The New York City Economic Development Corporation's Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative and venture capital partners, including Celgene, General Electric Ventures, and Eli Lilly, committed[needs update] a minimum of $100 million to help launch 15 to 20 ventures in life sciences and biotechnology.[387] Real estate Apple Store at Fifth Avenue, one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world.[388][389] The total value of all New York City property was assessed at US$1.479 trillion for the 2017 fiscal year, an increase of 6.1% from the previous year and up 38% from the $1.072 trillion assessed for 2017; of the total market value for 2024, single family homes accounted for $765 billion (51.7%), co-ops, condos and apartment buildings totaled $351 billion (23.7%) and commercial properties were valued at $317 billion (21.4%).[390][391] In 2014, Manhattan was home to six of the top ten ZIP codes in the United States by median housing price.[392] Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan commands the highest retail rents in the world, at $3,000 per square foot ($32,000/m2) in 2017.[393] In 2019, the most expensive home sale ever in the United States achieved completion in Manhattan, at a selling price of $238 million, for a 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park.[394] In 2022, one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan rented at a median monthly price of US$3,600.00, one of the world's highest. New York City real estate is a safe haven for global investors.[35] Tourism Main article: Tourism in New York City Times Square, the hub of the theater district and a global media center, is one of the world's leading tourist attractions with 50 million tourists annually.[43] The I Love New York logo designed by Milton Glaser in 1977 Tourism is a vital industry for New York City, and NYC & Company represents the city's official bureau of tourism. New York has witnessed a growing combined volume of international and domestic tourists, reflecting over 60 million visitors to the city per year, the world's busiest tourist destination.[19] Approximately 12 million visitors to New York City have been from outside the United States, with the highest numbers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and China. Multiple sources have called New York the most photographed city in the world.[395][396][397] I Love New York (stylized I ❤ NY) is both a logo and a song that are the basis of an advertising campaign and have been used since 1977 to promote tourism in New York City,[398] and later to promote New York State as well. The trademarked logo, owned by New York State Empire State Development,[399] appears in souvenir shops and brochures throughout the city and state, some licensed, many not.[citation needed] The song is the state song of New York. The majority of the most high-profile tourist destinations to the city are situated in Manhattan. These include Times Square; Broadway theater productions; the Empire State Building; the Statue of Liberty; Ellis Island; the United Nations headquarters; the World Trade Center (including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and One World Trade Center); the art museums along Museum Mile; green spaces such as Central Park, Washington Square Park, the High Line, and the medieval gardens of The Cloisters; the Stonewall Inn; Rockefeller Center; ethnic enclaves including the Manhattan Chinatown, Koreatown, Curry Hill, Harlem, Spanish Harlem, Little Italy, and Little Australia; luxury shopping along Fifth and Madison Avenues; and events such as the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village; the Brooklyn Bridge (shared with Brooklyn); the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree; the St. Patrick's Day Parade; seasonal activities such as ice skating in Central Park in the wintertime; the Tribeca Film Festival; and free performances in Central Park at SummerStage.[citation needed] Points of interest have developed in the city outside Manhattan and have made the outer boroughs tourist destinations in their own right. These include numerous ethnic enclaves; the Unisphere, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, and Downtown Flushing in Queens;[citation needed] Downtown Brooklyn, Coney Island, Williamsburg, Park Slope, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn;[citation needed] the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx;[citation needed] and the Staten Island Ferry. Media and entertainment Main article: Media in New York City Further information: New Yorkers in journalism Rockefeller Center, one of Manhattan's leading media and entertainment hubs Times Square Studios on Times Square is sometimes called the "Crossroads of the World". New York City has been described as the entertainment[19][400][401] and digital media capital of the world.[402] The city is a prominent location for the American entertainment industry, with many films, television series, books, and other media being set there.[403] As of 2019, New York City was the second-largest center for filmmaking and television production in the United States, producing about 200 feature films annually, employing 130,000 individuals. The filmed entertainment industry has been growing in New York, contributing nearly $9 billion to the New York City economy alone as of 2015.[404] By volume, New York is the world leader in independent film production—one-third of all American independent films are produced there.[405][406] The Association of Independent Commercial Producers is based in New York.[407][importance?] In the first five months of 2014,[needs update] location filming for television pilots in New York City exceeded the record production levels for all of 2013,[408] with New York surpassing Los Angeles as the top North American city for the same distinction during the 2013–2014 cycle.[409] New York City is the center for the advertising, music, newspaper, digital media, and publishing industries and is the largest media market in North America.[410] Some of the city's media conglomerates and institutions include Warner Bros. Discovery, the Thomson Reuters Corporation, the Associated Press, Bloomberg L.P., the News Corp, The New York Times Company, NBCUniversal, the Hearst Corporation, AOL, Fox Corporation, and Paramount Global. Seven of the world's top eight global advertising agency networks have their headquarters in New York.[411] Two of the top three record labels' headquarters are in New York: Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Universal Music Group has offices in New York.[importance?] New media enterprises are contributing an increasingly important component to the city's central role in the media sphere.[citation needed] More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in the city,[406] and the publishing industry employs about 25,000 people.[412] Two of the three national daily newspapers with the largest circulations in the United States are published in New York: The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (NYT). Nicknamed "the Grey Lady",[importance?] the NYT has won the most Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and is considered the U.S. media's newspaper of record.[413] Tabloid newspapers in the city include the New York Daily News, which was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson,[414] and The New York Post, founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton.[415] At the local news end of the media spectrum, Patch Media is headquartered in Manhattan. New York City has a comprehensive ethnic press, with 270 newspapers and magazines published in more than 40 languages.[416] El Diario La Prensa is New York's largest Spanish-language daily and the oldest in the nation.[417] The New York Amsterdam News, published in Harlem, is a prominent[citation needed] African American newspaper. The Village Voice, historically the largest alternative newspaper in the United States, announced in 2017 that it would cease publication of its print edition and convert to a fully digital venture.[418] The television and radio industry developed in New York and is a significant employer in the city's economy.[citation needed] The three major American broadcast networks are all headquartered in New York: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Many cable networks are based in the city as well, including CNN, MSNBC, MTV, Fox News, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, Food Network, AMC, and Comedy Central. News 12 Networks operated News 12 The Bronx and News 12 Brooklyn. WBAI, with news and information programming, is one of the few socialist radio stations operating in the United States.[citation needed] New York is a major center for non-commercial educational media. NYC Media is the official public radio, television, and online media network and broadcasting service of New York City,[419] and has produced several original Emmy Award-winning shows covering music and culture in city neighborhoods and city government. The oldest public-access television channel in the United States is the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, founded in 1971.[420] WNET is the city's major public television station and a primary source of national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television programming. WNYC, a public radio station owned by the city until 1997, has the largest public radio audience in the United States.[421] Education Main article: Education in New York City Butler Library at Columbia University The Washington Square Arch, an unofficial icon of both New York University and the Greenwich Village neighborhood that surrounds it[422] Fordham University's Keating Hall in the Bronx New York City has the largest educational system of any city in the world.[19] The city's educational infrastructure spans primary education, secondary education, higher education, and research. Primary and secondary education The New York City Public Schools system, managed by the New York City Department of Education, is the largest public school system in the United States, serving about 1.1 million students in approximately 1,800 separate primary and secondary schools, including charter schools, as of the 2017–2018 school year.[423] The city's public school system includes nine specialized high schools to serve academically and artistically gifted students. The city government pays the Pelham Public Schools to educate a very small, detached section of the Bronx.[424][importance?] The New York City Charter School Center assists the setup of new charter schools.[425] There are approximately 900 additional privately run secular and religious schools in the city.[426] Higher education and research More than a million students, the highest number of any city in the United States,[427] are enrolled in New York City's more than 120 higher education institutions, with more than half a million in the City University of New York (CUNY) system alone as of 2020, including both degree and professional programs.[428] According to Academic Ranking of World Universities, New York City has, on average, the best higher education institutions of any global city.[429] The public CUNY system is one of the largest universities in the nation,[citation needed] comprising 25 institutions across all five boroughs: senior colleges, community colleges, and other graduate/professional schools. The public State University of New York (SUNY) system includes campuses in New York City, including SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY Maritime College, and SUNY College of Optometry. New York City is home to such notable private universities as Barnard College, Columbia University, Cooper Union, Fordham University, New York University, New York Institute of Technology, Rockefeller University, and Yeshiva University; several of these universities are ranked among the top universities in the world,[430][431] while some of the world's most prestigious institutions like Princeton University and Yale University remain in the New York metropolitan area. The city hosts other smaller private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions, such as Pace University, St. John's University, The Juilliard School, Manhattan College, Adelphi University - Brooklyn, Mercy College (New York), The College of Mount Saint Vincent, Parsons School of Design, The New School, Pratt Institute, New York Film Academy, The School of Visual Arts, The King's College, Marymount Manhattan College, and Wagner College. Much of the scientific research in the city is done in medicine and the life sciences. In 2019, the New York metropolitan area ranked first on the list of cities and metropolitan areas by share of published articles in life sciences.[14] New York City has the most postgraduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, and in 2012, 43,523 licensed physicians were practicing in New York City.[432] There are 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions as of 2004.[433] 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, being joined by the Cornell University/Technion-Israel Institute of Technology venture on Roosevelt Island. The graduates of SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx earned the highest average annual salary of any university graduates in the United States, $144,000 as of 2017.[434][importance?] Human resources Public health Main articles: New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene New York-Presbyterian Hospital, affiliated with Columbia University and Cornell University, is the largest hospital and largest private employer in New York City and one of the world's busiest hospitals.[435] The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) operates the public hospitals and outpatient clinics as a public benefit corporation. As of 2021, HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the United States with $10.9 billion in annual revenues,[436] HHC is the largest municipal healthcare system in the United States[repetition] serving 1.4 million patients, including more than 475,000 uninsured city residents.[437] HHC was created in 1969 by the New York State Legislature as a public benefit corporation (Chapter 1016 of the Laws 1969).[438][importance?] HHC operates 11 acute care hospitals, five nursing homes, six diagnostic and treatment centers, and more than 70 community-based primary care sites, serving primarily the poor and working class. HHC's MetroPlus Health Plan is one of the New York area's largest providers of government-sponsored health insurance and is the plan of choice for nearly half a million New Yorkers.[439][third-party source needed] HHC's facilities annually provide millions of New Yorkers services interpreted in more than 190 languages.[440] The most well-known hospital in the HHC system is Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in the United States. Bellevue is the designated hospital for treatment of the President of the United States and other world leaders if they become sick or injured while in New York City.[441] The president of HHC is Ramanathan Raju, MD, a surgeon and former CEO of the Cook County health system in Illinois.[442][importance?] In August 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation outlawing pharmacies from selling cigarettes once their existing licenses to do so expired, beginning in 2018.[443][needs update] New York City enforces a right-to-shelter law guaranteeing shelter to anyone who needs it, regardless of their immigration, socioeconomic, or housing status, which entails providing adequate shelter and food.[23] Public safety Police and law enforcement Main articles: New York City Police Department and Law enforcement in New York City Further information: Police surveillance in New York City and Crime in New York City The New York Police Department (NYPD), the largest police force in the United States NYPD police officers in Brooklyn The New York Police Department (NYPD) is the largest police force in the United States by a significant margin, with more than 35,000 sworn officers.[444] Members of the NYPD are frequently referred to by politicians, the media, and their own police cars by the nickname, New York's Finest. Crime overall has trended downward in New York City since the 1990s.[445] In 2012, the NYPD came under scrutiny for its stop-and-frisk program,[446][447][448] which has undergone several policy revisions since then.[citation needed] In 2014, New York City had the third-lowest murder rate among the largest U.S. cities,[449] having become significantly safer after a spike in crime in the 1970s through 1990s.[450] 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.[451] By 2002, New York City was ranked 197th in crime among the 216 U.S. cities with populations greater than 100,000.[451] In 1992, the city recorded 2,245 murders.[452] In 2005, the homicide rate was at its lowest level since 1966,[453] and in 2009, the city recorded fewer than 461 homicides for the first time ever since crime statistics were first published in 1963.[452] New York City has stricter gun laws than most other cities in the U.S.—a license to own any firearm is required in New York City, and the NY SAFE Act of 2013 banned assault weapons—and New York State had the fifth lowest gun death rate of the states in 2020.[454] New York City recorded 491 murders in 2021.[455] Organized crime has long been associated with New York City, beginning with the Forty Thieves and the Roach Guards in the Five Points neighborhood in the 1820s, followed by the Tongs in the same neighborhood, which ultimately evolved into Chinatown, Manhattan. The 20th century saw a rise in the Mafia, dominated by the Five Families, as well as in gangs, including the Black Spades.[456] The Mafia and gang presence has declined in the city in the 21st century.[457][458] Firefighting Main article: New York City Fire Department The Fire Department of New York (FDNY), the largest municipal fire department in the United States The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) provides fire protection, technical rescue, primary response to biological, chemical, and radioactive hazards, and emergency medical services for the five boroughs of New York City. The FDNY is the largest municipal fire department in the United States and the second largest in the world after the Tokyo Fire Department.[citation needed] The FDNY employs approximately 11,080 uniformed firefighters and more than 3,300 uniformed EMTs and paramedics.[citation needed] The FDNY's motto is New York's Bravest. The fire department faces multifaceted firefighting challenges in many ways unique to New York. In addition to responding to building types that range from wood-frame single family homes to high-rise structures, the FDNY responds to fires that occur in the New York City Subway.[459] Secluded bridges and tunnels, as well as large parks and wooded areas that can give rise to brush fires, also present challenges. The FDNY is headquartered at 9 MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn,[460] and the FDNY Fire Academy is on the Randalls Island.[461] There are three Bureau of Fire Communications alarm offices which receive and dispatch alarms to appropriate units. One office, at 11 Metrotech Center in Brooklyn, houses Manhattan/Citywide, Brooklyn, and Staten Island Fire Communications; the Bronx and Queens offices are in separate buildings.[importance?] Public library system The Stephen A. Schwarzman Headquarters Building of the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street The New York Public Library (NYPL) has the largest collection of any public library system in the United States.[462] Queens is served by the Queens Borough Public Library (QPL), the nation's second-largest public library system, while the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) serves Brooklyn.[462] Culture Main article: Culture of New York City Further information: LGBT culture in New York City, Music of New York City, List of nightclubs in New York City, List of LGBT people from New York City, List of people from New York City, New York Fashion Week, and Met Gala (from right to left) The John Golden Theatre, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, and Booth Theatre on West 45th Street in Manhattan's Theater District New York City has been described as the cultural capital of the world.[463][464][465][466] In describing New York, author Tom Wolfe said, "Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather."[467] The city is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the Harlem Renaissance in literature and visual art;[468][469] abstract expressionism (known as the New York School) in painting; and hip-hop,[189][470] punk,[471] hardcore,[472] salsa, freestyle, Tin Pan Alley, certain forms of jazz,[473] and (along with Philadelphia) disco in music. New York City has been considered the dance capital of the world.[474][475] New York has long had a flourishing scene for Jewish American literature.[citation needed] The city is frequently the setting for novels, movies (see List of films set in New York City), and television programs. New York Fashion Week is one of the world's preeminent fashion events and is afforded extensive coverage by the media.[476][477] New York has frequently been ranked the top fashion capital of the world on the annual list compiled by the Global Language Monitor.[478] One of the most common traits attributed to New York City is its fast pace,[479][480][481] which spawned the term New York minute.[482] Journalist Walt Whitman characterized New York's streets as being traversed by "hurrying, feverish, electric crowds".[481] New York City's residents are prominently known for their resilience historically, and more recently related to their management of the impacts of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic.[483][484][485] New York was voted the world's most resilient city in 2021 and 2022 per Time Out's global poll of urban residents.[484] Arts Carnegie Hall New York City has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations and more than 500 art galleries.[486] The city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the National Endowment for the Arts.[486] Wealthy business magnates in the 19th century built a network of major cultural institutions, such as Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which have become internationally renowned. The advent of electric lighting led to elaborate theater productions,[citation needed] and in the 1880s, New York City theaters on Broadway and along 42nd Street began featuring a new stage form that became known as the Broadway musical. Strongly influenced by the city's immigrants, productions such as those of Harrigan and Hart, George M. Cohan, and others used song in narratives that often reflected themes of hope and ambition.[citation needed] New York City itself is the subject or background of many plays and musicals. Performing arts Main articles: Broadway theatre and Music of New York City The Lincoln Center houses internationally renowned performing arts organizations including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Juilliard School. Broadway theatre is one of the premier forms of English-language theatre in the world, named after Broadway, the major thoroughfare that crosses Times Square,[487] sometimes referred to as "The Great White Way".[488][489][490] Forty-one venues in Midtown Manhattan's Theatre District, each with at least 500 seats, are classified as Broadway theatres. According to The Broadway League, Broadway shows sold approximately $1.27 billion worth of tickets in the 2013–2014 season, an 11.4% increase from $1.139 billion in the 2012–2013 season. Attendance in 2013–2014 stood at 12.21 million, representing a 5.5% increase from the 2012–2013 season's 11.57 million.[491] Performance artists displaying diverse skills are ubiquitous on the streets of Manhattan.[citation needed] Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, anchoring Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is home to numerous influential arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, and New York City Ballet, as well as the Vivian Beaumont Theater, the Juilliard School, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Alice Tully Hall. The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute is in Union Square, and Tisch School of the Arts is based at New York University, while Central Park SummerStage presents free music concerts in Central Park.[492] Visual arts Main article: List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City The Metropolitan Museum of Art, part of Museum Mile, is one of the largest museums in the world.[493] New York City is home to hundreds of cultural institutions and historic sites. Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue running from 82nd to 105th streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan,[494] in the upper portion of Carnegie Hill.[495] Nine museums occupy the length of this section of Fifth Avenue, making it one of the densest displays of culture in the world.[496] Its art museums include the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neue Galerie New York, and The Africa Center. In addition to other programming, the museums collaborate for the annual Museum Mile Festival, held each year in June, to promote the museums and increase visitation.[497] Many of the world's most lucrative art auctions are held in New York City.[498][499] Cuisine Main articles: Cuisine of New York City, List of restaurants in New York City, and List of Michelin starred restaurants in New York City People crowd around white tents in the foreground next to a red brick wall with arched windows. Above and to the left is a towering stone bridge. Smorgasburg, which opened in 2011 as an open-air food market, is part of the Brooklyn Flea.[500] New York City's food culture includes an array of international cuisines influenced by the city's immigrant history. Central and Eastern European immigrants, especially Jewish immigrants from those regions, brought bagels, cheesecake, hot dogs, knishes, and delicatessens (delis) to the city. Italian immigrants brought New York-style pizza and Italian cuisine into the city, while Jewish immigrants and Irish immigrants brought pastrami[501] and corned beef,[502] respectively. Chinese and other Asian restaurants, sandwich joints, trattorias, diners, and coffeehouses are ubiquitous throughout the city. Some 4,000 mobile food vendors licensed by the city, many immigrant-owned, have made Middle Eastern foods such as falafel and kebabs[503] examples of modern New York street food. The city is home to "nearly one thousand of the finest and most diverse haute cuisine restaurants in the world", according to Michelin.[504] The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene assigns letter grades to the city's restaurants based on inspection results.[505] As of 2019, there were 27,043 restaurants in the city, up from 24,865 in 2017.[506] The Queens Night Market in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park attracts more than ten thousand people nightly to sample food from more than 85 countries.[507] Parades The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the world's largest parade[508] The annual Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, the world's largest Halloween parade[509] New York City is well known for its street parades, the majority held in Manhattan. The primary orientation of the annual street parades is typically from north to south, marching along major avenues. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the world's largest parade,[508] beginning alongside Central Park[importance?] and proceeding southward to the flagship Macy's Herald Square store;[510] the parade is viewed on telecasts worldwide and draws millions of spectators in person.[508] Other notable parades including the annual New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade in March, the NYC LGBT Pride March in June, the LGBT-inspired Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in October, and numerous parades commemorating the independence days of many nations. Ticker-tape parades celebrating championships won by sports teams as well as other accomplishments march northward along the Canyon of Heroes on Broadway from Bowling Green to City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan. Accent and dialect Main articles: New York City English and New York accent The New York area is home to a distinctive regional accent and speech pattern called the New York dialect, alternatively known as Brooklynese or New Yorkese. It has been considered one of the most recognizable accents within American English.[511] The traditional New York area speech pattern is known for its rapid delivery, and its accent is characterized as non-rhotic so that the sound [ɹ] does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant, therefore the pronunciation of the city name as "New Yawk".[512] The classic version of the New York City dialect is centered on middle- and working-class New Yorkers. The influx of non-European immigrants in recent decades has led to changes in this distinctive dialect,[512] and the traditional form of this speech pattern is no longer as prevalent.[512] Sports Main article: Sports in the New York metropolitan area See also: Traditional games of New York City Three runners in a race down a street where onlookers are cheering behind barriers. The New York Marathon, held annually in November, is the largest marathon in the world.[513] A tennis stadium pack with fans watching a grass court. The U.S. Open Tennis Championships are held every August and September in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens. A baseball stadium from behind home plate in the evening. Citi Field, also in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, has been home to the New York Mets since 2009. Yankee Stadium in The Bronx is home to the New York Yankees and New York City FC. Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan is home to the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, and St. John's Red Storm. Barclays Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL) New York City is home to the headquarters of the National Football League,[514] Major League Baseball,[515] the National Basketball Association,[516] the National Hockey League,[517] and Major League Soccer.[518] The New York metropolitan area hosts the most sports teams in the first four major North American professional sports leagues with nine, one more than Los Angeles, and has 11 top-level professional sports teams if Major League Soccer is included, one more than Los Angeles. Participation in professional sports in the city predates all professional leagues, as the New York Mutuals became one of the first professional baseball teams in 1869, two years before the organization of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the first professional league, of which the Mutuals were founding members. The city has played host to more than 40 major professional teams in the five sports and their respective competing leagues. Four of the ten most expensive stadiums ever built worldwide (MetLife Stadium, the new Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, and Citi Field) are in the New York metropolitan area.[519] Madison Square Garden, its predecessor, the original Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field, are sporting venues in New York City, the latter two having been commemorated on U.S. postage stamps. New York was the first of eight American cities to have won titles in all four major leagues (MLB, NHL, NFL and NBA), having done so following the Knicks' 1970 title. In 1972, it became the first city to win titles in five sports when the Cosmos won the NASL final.[citation needed] American football The city is represented in the National Football League by the New York Giants and the New York Jets, although both teams play their home games at MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey,[520] which hosted Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.[521] Baseball New York has been described as the "Capital of Baseball".[522] There have been 35 Major League Baseball World Series and 73 pennants won by New York teams. It is one of only five metro areas to host two Major League Baseball teams, the others being Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore–Washington, and until the Athletics depart Oakland, California, the San Francisco Bay Area. Additionally, there have been 14 World Series in which two New York City teams played each other, known as a Subway Series and occurring most recently in 2000. No other metropolitan area has had this happen more than once (Chicago in 1906, St. Louis in 1944, and the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989).[citation needed] The city's two Major League Baseball teams are the New York Mets, who play at Citi Field in Queens,[523] and the New York Yankees, who play at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. These teams compete in six games of interleague play every regular season that has come to be called the Subway Series.[repetition] The Yankees have won a record 27 championships,[524] while the Mets have won the World Series twice.[525] The city was once home to the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers), who won the World Series once,[526] and the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants), who won the World Series five times. Both teams moved to California in 1958.[527] There is one Minor League Baseball team in the city, the Mets-affiliated Brooklyn Cyclones,[528] and the city gained a club in the independent Atlantic League when the Staten Island FerryHawks began play in 2022.[529] Basketball The city's National Basketball Association teams are the Brooklyn Nets (previously known as the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets as they moved around the metropolitan area[importance?]) and the New York Knicks, while the New York Liberty is the city's Women's National Basketball Association team. The first national college-level basketball championship, the National Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.[530] The city is well known for its links to basketball, which is played in nearly every park in the city by local youth, many of whom have gone on to play for major college programs and in the NBA.[citation needed] Ice hockey The metropolitan area is home to three National Hockey League teams. The New York Rangers, the traditional representative of the city itself and one of the league's Original Six, play at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. The New York Islanders, traditionally representing Nassau and Suffolk Counties of Long Island, play in UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, and played in Brooklyn's Barclays Center from 2015 to 2020. The New Jersey Devils play at Prudential Center in nearby Newark, New Jersey and traditionally represent the counties of neighboring New Jersey which are coextensive with the boundaries of the New York metropolitan area and media market. Soccer Main article: Soccer in the New York metropolitan area In soccer, New York City is represented by New York City FC of Major League Soccer, who play their home games at Yankee Stadium[531] and the New York Red Bulls, who play their home games at Red Bull Arena in nearby Harrison, New Jersey.[532] NJ/NY Gotham FC plays their home games in Red Bull Arena, representing the metropolitan area in the National Women's Soccer League. Historically, the city is known for the New York Cosmos, the highly successful former professional soccer team which was the American home of Pelé.[citation needed] A new version of the New York Cosmos was formed in 2010, and most recently played in the third-division National Independent Soccer Association before going on hiatus in January 2021. New York was a host city for the 1994 FIFA World Cup[533] and will be one of eleven US host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[534] Tennis and other The annual United States Open Tennis Championships is one of the world's four Grand Slam tennis tournaments and is held at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens.[535] The New York City Marathon, which courses through all five boroughs, is the world's largest running marathon,[513] with 51,394 finishers in 2016[536] and 98,247 applicants for the 2017 race.[513][needs update] The Millrose Games is an annual track and field meet whose featured event is the Wanamaker Mile. Boxing is a prominent part of the city's sporting scene, with events like the Amateur Boxing Golden Gloves being held at Madison Square Garden each year.[537][failed verification] The city is considered the host of the Belmont Stakes, the last, longest and oldest of horse racing's Triple Crown races, held just over the city's border at Belmont Park. The city hosted the 1932 U.S. Open golf tournament and the 1930 and 1939 PGA Championships, and has hosted both events several times, most notably[citation needed] for nearby Winged Foot Golf Club. The Gaelic games are played in Riverdale, Bronx at Gaelic Park, home to the New York GAA, the only North American team to compete at the senior inter-county level.[citation needed] International events New York City hosted the 1984 Summer Paralympics and the 1998 Goodwill Games. New York City's bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics was one of five finalists, but lost out to London.[538][importance?] Environment Main article: Environmental issues in New York City Two yellow taxis on a narrow street lined with shops. As of 2012, New York City had about 6,000 hybrid taxis in service, the largest number of any city in North America.[539] Environmental issues in New York City are affected by the city's size, density, abundant public transportation infrastructure, and its location at the mouth of the Hudson River. For example, it is one of the country's biggest sources of pollution and has the lowest per-capita greenhouse gas emissions rate and electricity usage. Governors Island is planned to host a US$1 billion research and education center to make New York City the global leader in addressing the climate crisis.[540] Environmental impact reduction Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in the Sunset Park As an oceanic port city, New York City is vulnerable to the long-term manifestations of global warming and rising seas. Climate change has spawned the development of a significant climate resiliency and environmental sustainability economy in the city. Governors Island is slated to host a US$1 billion research and education center intended to establish New York's role as the global leader in addressing the climate crisis.[541] New York City has focused on reducing its environmental impact and carbon footprint.[542] Mass transit use in New York City is the highest in the United States. Also, by 2010, the city had 3,715 hybrid taxis and other clean diesel vehicles, representing around 28% of New York's taxi fleet in service, the most of any city in North America.[543] New York City is the host of Climate Week NYC, the largest Climate Week to take place globally and regarded as major annual climate summit.[citation needed] New York's high rate of public transit use, more than 200,000 daily cyclists as of 2014,[544] and many pedestrian commuters make it the most energy-efficient major city in the United States.[545] 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%.[546] In both its 2011 and 2015 rankings, Walk Score named New York City the most walkable large city in the United States,[547][548][549] and in 2018, Stacker ranked New York the most walkable U.S. city.[550] Citibank sponsored public bicycles for the city's bike-share project, which became known as Citi Bike, in 2013.[551] New York City's numerical "in-season cycling indicator" of bicycling in the city had hit an all-time high of 437 when measured in 2014.[552] 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.[citation needed] The city is a leader in the construction of energy-efficient green office buildings, including the Hearst Tower among others.[197] Mayor Bill de Blasio has committed to an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between 2014 and 2050 to reduce the city's contributions to climate change, beginning with a comprehensive "Green Buildings" plan.[542] Water purity and availability Main articles: Food and water in New York City and New York City water supply system Ridgewood Reservoir on the border between the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, within what is now Highland Park The New York City drinking water supply is extracted from the protected Catskill Mountains watershed.[553] As a result of the watershed's integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration system, New York is one of only four major cities in the United States the majority of whose drinking water is pure enough not to require purification through water treatment plants.[554] The city's municipal water system is the largest in the United States, moving over one billion gallons of water per day;[555] a leak in the Delaware aqueduct results in some 20 million gallons a day being lost under the Hudson River.[556] The Croton Watershed north of the city is undergoing construction of a $3.2 billion water purification plant to augment New York City's water supply by an estimated 290 million gallons daily, representing a greater than 20% addition to the city's current availability of water.[557] The ongoing expansion of New York City Water Tunnel No. 3, an integral part of the New York City water supply system, is the largest capital construction project in the city's history,[558] with segments serving Manhattan and the Bronx completed, and with segments serving Brooklyn and Queens planned for construction in 2020.[559][needs update] In 2018, New York City announced a $1 billion investment to protect the integrity of its water system and to maintain the purity of its unfiltered water supply.[555] Air quality According to the 2016 World Health Organization Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database,[560] the annual average concentration in New York City's air of particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5) was 7.0 micrograms per cubic meter, or 3.0 micrograms within the recommended limit of the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for the annual mean PM2.5.[561] The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in partnership with Queens College, conducts the New York Community Air Survey to measure pollutants at about 150 locations.[562] Environmental revitalization Newtown Creek, a 3.5-mile (6-kilometer) a long estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, is designated a Superfund site for environmental clean-up and remediation of the waterway's recreational and economic resources for many communities.[563] One of the most heavily used bodies of water in the Port of New York and New Jersey, it had been one of the most contaminated industrial sites in the country,[564] containing years of discarded toxins, an estimated 30 million US gallons (110,000 m3) of spilled oil, including the Greenpoint oil spill, raw sewage from New York City's sewer system,[564] and other accumulation. Government and politics Main articles: Government of New York City, Politics of New York City, and Elections in New York City Government New York City Hall is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions.[citation needed] New York County Courthouse houses the New York Supreme Court and other governmental offices. New York City has been a metropolitan municipality with a Strong mayor–council form of government[565] since its consolidation in 1898. The city government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services. The City Council is a unicameral body of 51 council members whose districts are defined by geographic population boundaries.[566] Each term for the mayor and council members lasts four years and has a two consecutive-term limit,[567] which is reset after a four-year break. The New York City Administrative Code, the New York City Rules, and the City Record are the code of local laws, compilation of regulations, and official journal, respectively.[568][569] Each borough is coextensive with a judicial district of the state Unified Court System, of which the Criminal Court and the Civil Court are the local courts, while the New York Supreme Court conducts major trials and appeals. Manhattan hosts the First Department of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division while Brooklyn hosts the Second Department. There are several extrajudicial administrative courts, which are executive agencies and not part of the state Unified Court System. Uniquely among major American cities,[citation needed] New York is divided between, and is host to the main branches of, two different U.S. district courts: the District Court for the Southern District of New York, whose main courthouse is on Foley Square near City Hall in Manhattan and whose jurisdiction includes Manhattan and the Bronx; and the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, whose main courthouse is in Brooklyn and whose jurisdiction includes Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and U.S. Court of International Trade are based in New York, also on Foley Square in Manhattan. Politics Eric Adams, the current Mayor of New York City The present mayor is Eric Adams. He was elected in 2021 with 67% of the vote, and assumed office on January 1, 2022. The Democratic Party holds the majority of public offices. As of April 2016, 69% of registered voters in the city are Democrats and 10% are Republicans.[570] New York City has not been carried by a Republican presidential election since President Calvin Coolidge won the five boroughs in 1924. A Republican candidate for statewide office has not won all five boroughs of the city since it was incorporated in 1898. In 2012, Democrat Barack Obama became the first presidential candidate of any party to receive more than 80% of the overall vote in New York City, sweeping all five boroughs.[importance?] Party platforms center on affordable housing, education, and economic development, and labor politics are of importance in the city.[citation needed] Thirteen out of 26 U.S. congressional districts in the state of New York include portions of New York City.[571] New York City is the most important geographical source of political fundraising in the United States. At least four of the top five ZIP Codes in the nation for political contributions were in Manhattan for the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections. The top ZIP Code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John Kerry.[572][excessive detail?] 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 taxes (or annually sends $11.4 billion more than it receives back). City residents and businesses also sent an additional $4.1 billion in the 2009–2010 fiscal year to the state of New York than the city received in return.[573] Transportation Main article: Transportation in New York City Rapid transit Port Authority Bus Terminal, the world's busiest bus station, at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street[574] Mass transit in New York City, most of which runs 24 hours a day, accounts for one in every three users of mass transit in the United States, and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in the New York City metropolitan area.[575][576] Buses New York City's public bus fleet runs 24/7 and is the largest in North America.[577] The Port Authority Bus Terminal, the main intercity bus terminal of the city, serves 7,000 buses and 200,000 commuters daily, making it the busiest bus station in the world.[574] Rail Main article: New York City Subway A row of yellow taxis in front of a multi-story ornate stone building with three huge arched windows. New York City is home to the two busiest train stations in the U.S., Grand Central Terminal (pictured) and Penn Station. The front end of a subway train, with a red E on a LED display on the top. To the right of the train is a platform with a group of people waiting for their train. The New York City Subway, the world's largest rapid transit system by number of stations The New York City Subway system is the largest rapid transit system in the world when measured by stations in operation, with 472, and by length of routes. Nearly all of New York's subway system is open 24 hours a day, in contrast to the overnight shutdown common to systems in most cities.[578] The New York City Subway is the busiest metropolitan rail transit system in the Western Hemisphere,[579] with 1.70 billion passenger rides in 2019,[580] while Grand Central Terminal, referred to as "Grand Central Station", is the world's largest railway station by number of train platforms.[581] Public transport is widely used in New York City. 54.6% of New Yorkers commuted to work in 2005 using mass transit.[582] This is in contrast to the rest of the United States, where 91% of commuters travel in automobiles to their workplace.[583] According to the New York City Comptroller, workers in the New York City area spend an average of 6 hours and 18 minutes getting to work each week, the longest commute time in the nation among large cities.[584] New York is the only U.S. city in which a majority (52%) of households do not have a car; only 22% of Manhattanites own a car.[585] Due to their high usage of mass transit, New Yorkers spend less of their household income on transportation than the national average, saving $19 billion annually on transportation compared to other urban Americans.[586] New York City's commuter rail network is the largest in North America.[575] The rail network, connecting New York City to its suburbs, consists of the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, and New Jersey Transit. The combined systems converge at Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station and contain more than 250 stations and 20 rail lines.[575] For 24 hours a day, the elevated AirTrain system in Queens connects JFK International Airport to the New York City Subway and the Long Island Rail Road; a separate AirTrain system is planned alongside the Grand Central Parkway to connect LaGuardia Airport to these transit systems.[587][588] For inter-city rail, New York City is served by Amtrak, whose busiest station by a significant margin is Pennsylvania Station on the West Side of Manhattan, from which Amtrak provides connections to Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. along the Northeast Corridor, and long-distance train service to other North American cities.[589] The Staten Island Railway rapid transit system solely serves Staten Island, operating 24 hours a day. The Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH train) links Midtown and Lower Manhattan to northeastern New Jersey. Like the New York City Subway, the PATH operates 24 hours a day; meaning three of the six rapid transit systems in the world which operate on 24-hour schedules are wholly or partly in New York (the others are a portion of the Chicago "L", the PATCO Speedline serving Philadelphia, and the Copenhagen Metro).[590][591] Multibillion-dollar heavy rail transit projects under construction in New York City include the Second Avenue Subway.[592] Air Main article: Aviation in the New York metropolitan area John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens New York's airspace is the busiest in the United States and one of the world's busiest air transportation corridors. The three busiest airports in the New York metropolitan area include John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport; 130.5 million travelers used these three airports in 2016.[593] JFK and Newark Liberty were the busiest and fourth busiest U.S. gateways for international air passengers, respectively, in 2012; as of 2011, JFK was the busiest airport for international passengers in North America.[594] Plans have advanced to expand passenger volume at a fourth airport, Stewart International Airport near Newburgh, New York, by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.[595] Plans were announced in July 2015 to entirely rebuild LaGuardia Airport in a multibillion-dollar project to replace its aging facilities[needs update].[596] Other commercial airports in or serving the New York metropolitan area include Long Island MacArthur Airport, Trenton–Mercer Airport and Westchester County Airport. The primary general aviation airport serving the area is Teterboro Airport. Ferries, taxis and trams Main articles: Staten Island Ferry, NYC Ferry, Taxis of New York City, and Roosevelt Island Tramway The Staten Island Ferry shuttles commuters between Manhattan and Staten Island. The Staten Island Ferry is the world's busiest ferry route, carrying more than 23 million passengers from July 2015 through June 2016 on a 5.2-mile (8.4 km) route between Staten Island and Lower Manhattan and running 24/7.[597][598] Other ferry systems shuttle commuters between Manhattan and other locales within the city and the metropolitan area. NYC Ferry, a NYCEDC initiative with routes planned to travel to all five boroughs, was launched in 2017.[599] Other features of the city's transportation infrastructure encompass 13,587 yellow taxicabs;[600] other vehicle for hire companies;[601][602] and the Roosevelt Island Tramway, an aerial tramway that transports commuters between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan Island. Cycling network Main article: Cycling in New York City Citi Bike bike share service, which started in May 2013 New York City has mixed cycling conditions that include urban density, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and many pedestrians. The city's large cycling population includes utility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; recreational cycling clubs; and an increasing number of commuters. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2017 there were approximately 450,000 daily bike trips, compared with 170,000 in 2005.[603] As of 2017, New York City had 1,333 miles (2,145 km) of bike lanes, compared to 513 miles (826 km) in 2006.[603] As of 2019, there are 126 miles (203 km) of segregated or "protected" bike lanes citywide.[604] Streets and highways Further information: Commissioners' Plan of 1811 The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 put in place the rectangular grid plan of the streets of Manhattan Streets are also a defining feature of the city. The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 greatly influenced its physical development. Several streets and avenues, including Broadway,[605] Wall Street,[606] Madison Avenue,[359] and Seventh Avenue are used as metonyms for national industries: theater, finance, advertising, and fashion, respectively. New York City has an extensive web of freeways and parkways, which link the city's boroughs to each other and to North Jersey, Westchester County, Long Island, and southwestern Connecticut through bridges and tunnels. Because these highways serve millions of outer borough and suburban residents who commute into Manhattan, it is common for motorists to be stranded for hours in traffic congestion that are a daily occurrence, particularly during rush hour.[607][608] Congestion pricing in New York City will go into effect in 2022 at the earliest[needs update].[609][610][611] Unlike the rest of the United States, New York State prohibits right or left turns on red in cities with a population greater than one million, to reduce traffic collisions and increase pedestrian safety. In New York City, therefore, all turns at red lights are illegal unless a sign permitting such maneuvers is present.[612] River crossings Further information: List of bridges and tunnels in New York City Manhattan and Staten Island are primarily coterminous with islands of the same names, while Queens and Brooklyn are at the west end of the larger Long Island, and the Bronx is on New York State's mainland. Manhattan Island is linked to New York City's outer boroughs and to New Jersey by an extensive network of bridges and tunnels. Bridges The George Washington Bridge, across the Hudson River, is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge.[613][614] The 14-lane George Washington Bridge, connecting Manhattan to New Jersey across the Hudson River, is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge.[613][614] The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, spanning the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island, is the longest suspension bridge in the Americas and one of the world's longest.[615][616] The Brooklyn Bridge, with its stone neo-Gothic suspension towers, is an icon of the city itself; opened in 1883, it was the first steel-wire suspension bridge and was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903.[617][618] The Queensboro Bridge "was the longest cantilever span in North America" from 1909 to 1917.[619] The Manhattan Bridge, opened in 1909, "is considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges", and its design "served as the model for the major long-span suspension bridges" of the early 20th century.[620] The Throgs Neck Bridge and Whitestone Bridge connect Queens and the Bronx, while the Triborough Bridge connects the three boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Tunnels Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel, which carries 120,000 vehicles a day under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan, is the busiest vehicular tunnel in the world.[621] The tunnel was built instead of a bridge to allow unfettered passage of large passenger and cargo ships that sailed through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River to Manhattan's piers. The Holland Tunnel, connecting Lower Manhattan to Jersey City, New Jersey, was the first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel when it opened in 1927.[622][623] The Queens–Midtown Tunnel, built to relieve congestion on the bridges connecting Manhattan with Queens and Brooklyn, was the largest non-federal project in its time when it was completed in 1940.[624] The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel (officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) runs underneath Battery Park and connects the Financial District in Lower Manhattan to Red Hook in Brooklyn.
  • Condition: Used
  • Unit of Sale: Lot
  • Type: NEGATIVES
  • Year of Production: 1945
  • Photographer: IRVING HABRERMAN
  • Time Period Manufactured: 1925-1949
  • Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • Subject: PEOPLE

PicClick Insights - Uss Charles Negatives X6 Famous Photographer Original Destroyer 1945 Vintage PicClick Exclusive

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