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The New York metropolitan area is the most populous in the United States and the fourth most populous in the world (after Tokyo, Seoul, and Mexico City). The metropolitan area is defined by the United States Census Bureau as the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), with an estimated population (as of 2005) of 18,747,320. The MSA is further subdivided into four metropolitan divisions. The 23-county metropolitan area includes the seven counties that constitute New York City and Long Island, twelve counties in northern New Jersey, three counties north of New York City in New York State, and one county in northeastern Pennsylvania. The largest urbanized area in the United States is at the heart of the metropolitan area, the New York--Newark, NY--NJ--CT Urbanized Area (with a population of 17,799,861 as of 2000). Based on commuting patterns, the Census Bureau also defines a wider functional metropolitan area, the New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) with an estimated population of 21,903,623 (as of 2005). This, when taken in proportion to population of the United States means that about one out of every fourteen Americans resides in this metropolitan area. This area includes seven additional counties in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and is often referred to as the Tri-state Area, leaving out Pennsylvania. However, the New York City television designated market area (DMA) includes Pike County, Pennsylvania. This extended metropolitan area includes the largest city in the United States (New York), the five largest cities in New Jersey (Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Paterson, and Trenton) and the two largest cities in Connecticut (Bridgeport and New Haven). The total land area of the extended metropolitan area is 11,842 sq. mi. (30,671 km²).
Components of the metropolitan area The counties and county groupings comprising the New York metropolitan area are listed below with 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates of their populations. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (18,709,802) In addition to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, the following Metropolitan Statiscal Areas are also included in the New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area (total pop. 21,903,623): Note: Sixty-three percent of the population (13,730,534) lives in the 43% of the land area that is east of the Ambrose Channel/The Narrows/Hudson River; Thirty-seven percent of the population (8,128,296) lives in the 57% of the land area that is west of the Ambrose Channel/The Narrows/Hudson River. Urban areas of the region The combined statistical area is a multicore metropolitan region containing several urban areas. Principal cities The following is a list of principal cities in the New York-Newark-Bridgeport Combined Statistical Area with 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates of their population: Commuter rail The metropolitan area is partly defined by the areas from which people commute into the city. New York City is served by three primary commuter train systems plus Amtrak. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the busiest commuter railroad in the United States *, is operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), an agency of New York State. Its three major terminals are Pennsylvania Station (New York), Flatbush Avenue and Hunterspoint Avenue. It has a major transfer point at Jamaica Station. A map of the system can be found here. Metro-North Railroad (MNRR), the second busiest commuter railroad in the United States *, is also operated by the MTA, but in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Transportation and New Jersey Transit. Its major terminal is Grand Central Terminal. Trains on the Port Jervis Line and Pascack Valley Line access terminals at Hoboken Terminal and at Pennsylvania Station (New York City) via Secaucus Junction. A map of the system can be found here. New Jersey Transit (NJT), the third busiest commuter railroad in the United States by passenger miles and also third in trips when direct operated and purchased transportation services are both included (fourth if only direct operated are included) *, is operated by the New Jersey Transit Corporation, an agency of New Jersey, in conjunction with Metro-North and Amtrak. A map of the system can be found here. Major terminals are Pennsylvania Station (New York City), Hoboken Terminal and Pennsylvania Station (Newark). A major transfer point is Secaucus Junction. New Jersey transit also operates a light rail in Hudson and Bergen Counties. A map can be found here. Amtrak's Northeast Corridor offers service to Philadelphia and New Haven. Major stations in the metropolitan area are: The following table shows all train lines operated by these commuter railroads in the New York metropolitan area. New Jersey Transit operates an additional train line in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. (Shown counterclockwise from the Atlantic Ocean): Additionally, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an agency of the states of New York and New Jersey, operates the PATH system. This heavy rail transportation service serves the counties of New York, Hudson and Essex. A map can be found here. Major highways Some of the major freeways/expressways carrying commuter traffic in and out of New York City are: Major airports The metropolitan area is served by three major airports: See also Ethnic diversity New York City has long been very ethnically diverse. Beginning in the later 19th Century, the New York Area was mainly divided among Italians, Irish, German, Polish, and Jewish populations. African Americans also have a long-standing presence in New York City, increasing particularly at the end of the 19th Century with the arrival of waves of internal migrants from the Southern United States. Thanks to successive waves of immigration beginning in the early 20th Century the area's diversity continues to grow. The states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are all ranked among the top 10 fastest-growing immigration states in America, and great numbers of recent immigrants from across East Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean now call the New York metropolitan area home. While prominent ethnic neighborhoods in the region are too numerous to list, there are multiple neighborhoods with large Dominican, Colombian, Chinese, Filipino, Russian, Korean, Indian, and Pakistani populations. The cuisines of virtually every major ethnic group on the planet are at least partially represented in the area, with the culinary landscape of New York changing slightly from year to year as new arrivals settle in. The New York metropolitan area hosts a religious diversity in line with its ethnic diversity. Houses of worship exist for numerous Christian denominations, especially Catholicism but also various churches within both Orthodoxy and Protestantism. New York has a large Jewish population, and is a major center of Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism, and is home to the headquarters of many Hasidic movements, particularly in the borough of Brooklyn. Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, and many other world religions have formal houses of worship in New York. Along with these religions, there are also many people who practice no religion at all. Local politics Individual politics in the New York Metropolitan area vary greatly, but coexisting in such a huge population of many diverse cultures and backgrounds requires a large amount of tolerance for differing worldviews. As a result, the residents of the Tri-state area are traditionally very liberal. More recently, the attacks of September 11th have made New Yorkers much more security-minded. Also, the spiraling crime rates and the inner-city crack cocaine epidemic of the 1970s and 80s gave New York City a reputation of ruthlessness and vice. The public backlash against this ushered in an era of strong policing and determined leadership under New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in the mid to late 1990's. Through his guidance and not-so-polite methods of pushing through "quality of life" policing, coupled with Police Commissioner William J. Bratton's implementation of a more computer and data driven police force (known as COMPSTAT), violent crime in the city dropped to levels not seen since the 1950s. As a result, a new synthesis has begun to emerge across the metropolitan area. New Yorkers remain some of the most culturally liberal people in the United States, but many also now appreciate the need for policy measures that they feel protect their way of life from terrorism, violent crime, and economic malaise. Four of the city's five boroughs (Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens) are predominantly towards the Democratic Party, while one (Staten Island) trends Republican. The city has elected two Republican mayors, Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, consecutively since 1994. However, they are both liberal Republicans, or how it has become known New York Republican, as compared to the New York Conservative Party, which cross-endorses many more conservative Republicans in the state, especially statewide candidates and legislators. Despite this, the overwhelming majority of congressmen and city council members are Democratic. This divide reflects the diverse views held by New York City's millions of residents. The urban areas of adjacent New Jersey are predominantly Democratic, including Hudson County (Jersey City, Hoboken), Essex County (Newark, the Oranges), Union County (Elizabeth, Linden), and Passaic County (Paterson). The suburban areas of the New York metropolitan region are fairly evenly divided between communities that trend to the Democrats and those that favor Republicans-- at least in local and state politics. However, many of these suburbs have been trending strongly toward the Democrats in recent years, especially in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester, and those of many other cities are still strongly Republican. Nationally, there is a definite preference for the Democrats by people in the New York region. Parts of Bergen County, New Jersey and Morris County, New Jersey remain Republican-leaning. Overall, Greater New York's voters voted for John Kerry, by 59.20% (4,772,314) to 39.67% (3,197,970) for George W. Bush in 2004. In details, New York City voters overwhelmingly favored Kerry by 75% (1,828,015) to 24% (587,534) for the incumbent, while suburban voters gave only a slim margin to the Democratic candidate, with 52.36% (2,944,299) of the vote for Kerry, to 46.42% (2,610,436) for Bush, though Kerry's margin in Westchester was among the largest anywhere in New York outside the city proper. The New York City area is notoriously multifarious. While the city itself has some bad areas, and some of the inner metropolitan cities have poor reputations, the New York Metro Area is overall one of the safest areas to live in. Long Island, New York was rated the safest place to live per-capita in 2005, followed by Middlesex and Monmouth counties in New Jersey. New York City itself has been ranked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the safest big city in the United States in recent years. Some say this (especially in the inner city areas) can be credited to major "quality of life" initiatives passed in the 1990s; back in the 1970s the area had a reputation (exaggerated but not unfounded) as one of the most dangerous areas of the U.S. to live in. - The New York Metro area is also the second most expensive place to live in the United States, trailing behind only Boston, the city itself being the most costly, with many of its suburbs closely behind. Connecticut, where about one third of the state is considered a suburb of New York, is home to some of the most expensive and affluent areas in the world. Fortunately, mass-transit often alleviates the need to drive into the city, where parking costs and traffic tend to be quite high. - Westchester County, New York; Fairfield County, Connecticut; and Bergen County, New Jersey are among America's wealthiest counties. Long Island tends to be more working-class oriented, except for the North Shore of Nassau County. - Despite New York's improving reputation, many families live in the suburbs and commute to jobs in the city. Most school districts in New York City itself and other nearby "inner-city" communities have a reputation for being unsatisfactory; however, many school districts in the wealthier suburbs are considered very effective and among the best in the entire country. In some of the Connecticut and especially the New Jersey suburbs, this is achieved with lower costs of living than the city itself (especially Manhattan). See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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