25 Facts About New York City

New York City, The City of Dreams, The Big Apple has been known by many names.  It is one place which according to many Hollywood movies houses lots of villains and superheroes. While facts on this city can keep going, in our first attempt here are 25  Facts About New York City.

1. During the 1863 New York Draft Riots (which was dramatized in the movie, Gangs Of New York), the staff of The New York Times averted rioters that targeted newspaper with two Gatling guns; one of which was manned by Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, himself.

2. Karl Marx was a journalist for New York Daily Tribune and wrote a lot of articles on events that took place in Europe.

3. Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor for New York Times, is the only person in the world to have a degree in enigmatology, the study of puzzles.

4. Jon Stewart proposed to his wife through a personalized crossword puzzle created with the help of the crossword editor, Will Shortz, at The New York Times.

5. New York Times wrote an article about each individual September 11th victim.

6. New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge, on which 140,000 people drive daily, is so structurally unsound that New York State aides refer to it as the “hold-your-breath bridge” while other experts call it the “scary of scaries.”

7. In mid-2001, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) announced that the three most likeliest catastrophic disasters facing the U.S. to be a hurricane in New Orleans, a massive earthquake in San Francisco, and a terrorist attack in New York City.

8. A New York man named Jesus Leonardo, has cashed in an estimated $500,000 from discarded betting slips that he picked up from the floors of an off-track betting parlor.

9. There are no Wal-Marts in New York City due to intense opposition from local unions and politicians.

10. You can pan for gold in the streets of New York City. One guy makes up to 300 dollars a day doing this.

11. Two men drove from New York to Los Angeles in only 31 hours. This was only accomplished by breaking hundreds of traffic laws along the way.

12. There is a ‘ghost town’ in New York City called “The Hole”. It is an area of Queens built too close to the water table. It is mostly abandoned, usually flooded, and was once a body-dumping ground for the mafia.

13. In 1877, Jimmy, a monkey, was charged with assault after he bit the finger of Mary Shea, in New York. On hearing the case the judge said he could not legally commit a monkey. Jimmy then respectfully removed his velvet hat, climbed atop the judge’s desk and attempted to shake his hand.

14. Five years ago, Billy Crystal (Harry From Harry Met Sally) signed a one day contract with the New York Yankees. His position? “Designated Hebrew.”

15. Major cities like New York, Paris, and Toronto create and maintain fake building fronts in urban centers to conceal ventilation shafts and utilities. The property in Brooklyn concealing a 19th century vent shaft is worth over 2 million!

16. There is a waterfall in Chestnut Ridge Park of New York which curtains an ‘eternal flame’ – a natural gas leak, which visitors keep lit all year round.

17. Parts of New York City have a vacuum-driven garbage-collection system that literally sucks garbage through the pipes, under the streets to a central disposal location. It has been in operation for 35 years.

18. After 9/11, Actor Steve Buscemi rejoined The New York Fire Department to help firefighters sift through the rubble of The World Trade Center.

19. In 1973, New York Yankee pitchers, Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson held a press conference to announce they had “traded lives.” This included the exchange of wives, children, and dogs.

20. It’s completely legal for women to walk around topless in New York State.

21. Twice a year, the sun perfectly lines up with the streets of New York, creating a natural phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge.

22. USS New York battle ship was built with 24 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center to commemorate the victims of 9/11.

23. In New York City, for the last half a century, the price of a slice of pizza and that of a subway ride have been nearly exactly the same and a rise in the price of one predicts the rise in the price of other.

24. A nine year-old boy robbed a New York bank in 1981 and got away with $118.

25. The imperial House of Bonaparte has continued to keep track of Napoleon’s bloodline, just in case. If France ever decides to put power back into the hands of the dynasty, the Emperor would be Jean-Cristophe, Prince Napoleon, presently an investment banker in New York City.