Even if they've never set foot in the city, most people are intimately familiar with New York: its bristling skyscrapers, giant department stores and museums provide a backdrop for many a Hollywood blockbuster. But the city has a long and fascinating history that you might not know so well. Here, we shoot back in time to reveal the Big Apple's frequently surprising past.
Before Europeans colonised the region, the land now covered by New York City was home to the Indigenous Lenape peoples. They called the area Manahatta, which means 'hilly island'. It's thought that they occupied the land for thousands of years, harvesting shellfish from the island's surrounding waters, growing corn and squash and hunting animals such as deer. This 2022 photograph depicts New York's annual Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Parade, which honours tribes including the Lenape.
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano is known as the first European to set foot upon America's east coast, arriving in New York Harbor in 1524. The Italians never settled, however, and Verrazzano was eventually captured and killed by cannibals in the Lesser Antilles, on his third expedition to the Americas.
The Dutch eventually settled the land a century later in 1624, naming the area New Amsterdam after their canal-laced home city. Interactions between the Indigenous peoples and the European colonisers were apparently peaceful at first, involving the exchange of goods including weapons. However, while many history books claim that the Dutch bought Manhattan from the Lenape peoples, according to Smithsonian the colonists displaced the natives by building a large wall around the New Amsterdam settlement, excluding them from their homeland.
Revolution was brewing through the 18th century, and the American War of Independence raged from 1775 to 1783. New York was a hive of anti-British activity in the years leading up to the war, but the city was occupied by the British after the 1776 Battle of Long Island. NYC was used as a British military base right up until the end of the war in 1783. This illustration shows protests against the Stamp Act of 1765, which imposed a tax on printed materials and was decried as unfair in the fledgling US.
Washington DC is the USA's modern capital, but did you know it all began with New York City? The US Constitution was ratified in 1788 and New York became the nation's first federal capital. President George Washington was sworn in at Federal Hall, the USA's earliest capitol building, pictured here in the 18th century.
Most people know about London's Great Fire in 1666, but New York City had its own devastating blaze in 1835. Beginning on a frosty December night, the fire raged from a dry goods warehouse and through the city's financial district, decimating 17 blocks, killing two people and even setting the river alight when flammable turpentine flowed onto its surface. Lower Manhattan was built back from the ground up in the decades that followed.
These days New York is a jungle of soaring skyscrapers but, upon its consecration in 1846, Trinity Church was the tallest structure in the city. The third iteration of the sacred building (two other churches had already been destroyed on the site) is a neo-Gothic confection whose steeple thrusts to 281 feet (86m).
New York City has a robust sanitation department today, but that wasn't always the case. Back in the 1800s, hordes of free-roaming hogs were tasked with cleaning the city streets, gobbling up trash and leftover food along New York's boulevards. English literary great Charles Dickens was so amused by the city-cleaning sows following a visit that he wrote about them afterwards.
New York's sprawling 'green lung' is an icon of the city today, and its design was decided in a competition which ran in the 1850s. Numerous entries were put forward, including an intricate Versailles-style symmetrical offering, but the winning option was by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, who favoured vast, open green spaces. Unfortunately, construction of the park displaced around 1,600 inhabitants, including a predominantly African-American settlement named Seneca Village.
During the Civil War, the Southern states led the Confederate effort, which hinged upon states' rights and continuing the institution of slavery, while the North fought to protect the union. However, New York also found itself divided. The Big Apple was a hub of commerce and finance, with an economy that relied on Southern cotton, so many opposed the war and favoured reconciliation with the South. Ultimately, the Union victory in 1865 contributed to the abolition of slavery.
Before the successful introduction of the New York subway in 1904, another subterranean project was attempted. The Beach Pneumatic Transit (named for its pioneer Alfred Ely Beach) came first in the 1870s and saw tunnels forged beneath Broadway. It had a single tunnel, track and car and was ultimately more of a curiosity than a practical transport system. It became defunct just a few years later.
The Brooklyn Bridge remains one of New York City's most beautiful and impressive architectural feats, and when it was finished in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. However, such was the bridge's size that many New Yorkers feared it wasn't stable. As a publicity stunt, and to demonstrate the bridge's might, circus showman PT Barnum led 21 elephants across the bridge, in a spectacular show that helped ease public concern.
Today the USA is one of the world's roller coaster capitals, and the first thrill ride of its kind opened way back in the summer of 1884. The 'Switchback Railway', dreamt up by inventor LaMarcus Thompson, was located at blossoming amusement wonderland Coney Island. Soon, roller coasters began to spring up across the country. This photo shows Coney Island's Luna Park, one of the area's first amusement parks.
The Statue of Liberty is the most American of symbols, but it was actually a gift from France, as a celebration of friendship, democracy and 100 years of American independence. It was presented to the USA in a ceremony in 1884 and, before its unveiling, was shipped across the Atlantic in more than 200 crates. This photograph from 1872 shows workers toiling away at Lady Liberty's giant hand, while the brains behind the sculpture, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, explains the process to a visitor from ground level.
Immigrants came to the USA in large numbers throughout the 19th century, often as a result of political and economic instability, plus land and job shortages in Europe and other parts of the world. The US was seen as a place of opportunity – the birthplace of 'the American Dream'. To process this mass immigration, a station was built on Ellis Island in 1892 and more than 12 million people passed through it before it closed in 1954. The experience here was mixed: for some, it represented an exciting new start. Others had endured terrible conditions en route, or were detained (often due to illness) and/or deported upon arrival.
Modern-day NYC is comprised of five boroughs incorporated into one city: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Yet this wasn't the case until almost the turn of the century, as the diverse regions were only consolidated in 1898. Before that time, each region had its own distinct economy and character. Brooklyn in particular was a buzzing independent metropolis with its own industries, emergency departments and infrastructure. This photo shows the Brooklyn Bridge, which connects the borough with Manhattan, in the 1890s.
Times Square is one of New York City's most recognisable spots, with its screaming billboards, big-name brands and bustling crowds. But it wasn't always called Times Square. It originally went by the name Longacre Square, until The New York Times moved here in 1904. This photo shows Broadway and the Times building in the early 20th century.
Today you can barely move for pizza parlours in New York City, a delicious, cheesy consequence of the millions of Italian immigrants who arrived in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lombardi's is typically credited as the first pizzeria in the USA, opening its doors in 1905. Fast forward more than a century and it's still going strong in the city's Nolita neighbourhood (short for North of Little Italy).
New York City's gargantuan Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is famous the world over. But the city's – and the nation's – first public Christmas tree display was actually in Madison Square Park. It was put up in December 1912, much to the delight of poorer New Yorkers who couldn't afford to have a tree at home. Even though the Madison Square Park tree may have had its thunder stolen by the glitzy Rockefeller pine, you'll still find a festive tree here every year.
Through the 1800s, the New York Central Railroad delivered essential freight and food from the countryside to downtown Manhattan, but its street-level tracks were a peril to pedestrians. Hundreds died in train-related accidents in the city's Lower West Side, with one thoroughfare morosely nicknamed 'Death Avenue'. In order to increase public safety, so-called 'cowboys' on horseback were employed to patrol the area and warn pedestrians of oncoming trains. They carried on working into the 20th century and, in this photo, one is pictured in the bottom right – in front of the Manhattan Refrigerating Company warehouse.
One of New York City's most recognisable skyscrapers, the Empire State Building was built remarkably quickly. Construction began in March 1930 and was completed by the following summer. Unfortunately, the conditions for workers were extremely dangerous. Photos of labourers balancing on metal beams, without hard hats or other protective clothing, hint at the environment they worked in. Many of the daredevil construction workers were Mohawk 'skywalkers', who came into the city in search of work to support their families.
The World Trade Center's 'Twin Towers' were completed in 1973. When they were finished, they became the world's tallest buildings standing at over 1,360 feet (414m) each, knocking the Empire State Building off its decades-held pedestal. However, Chicago’s Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) overtook them the following year. In 2001 the towers were destroyed in the devastating and deadly 9/11 attacks, while the world watched in horror. The 9/11 Memorial remembers the tragic event and its victims at the modern World Trade Center complex.
While hip-hop is a convergence of many musical influences, the birth of the genre is typically linked to one particular place and time. In 1973, there was a birthday party at a recreation centre in 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, the Bronx (pictured). The party was for the sister of DJ Kool Herc, who's often heralded as the founding father of hip-hop. He's credited with pioneering the 'break beat', a turntable trick fundamental to the genre, which he revealed to an excited crowd during the party.
In recent years, news stories have emerged concerning Staten Island's desire to secede from New York City – a move spearheaded by councilman Joe Borelli. But it's not the first time the borough has made moves to separate from the Big Apple. Staten Island came close to secession in 1993, when 65% of the population voted for independence from New York. However, the proposal was blocked by the New York State Assembly and the five-way union remained.
Construction on what was tipped to be the world's first underground park was meant to begin in 2019. Dubbed the Lowline – a subterranean cousin to NYC's High Line – it was set to sprawl out beneath Delancey Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side. At present the project has been halted due to financial issues, though it may still at some point be revived. Pictured is the Lowline Lab, a prototype of the planned park.
Aman New York is hailed as the most expensive hotel in the city, and it opened its doors in the summer of 2022. Rates typically start at around $4,000 (£3,388) per night and it's a lesson in luxury, renowned for serene, sound-proofed spaces, a giant spa and fine Japanese and Italian dining. It's a fitting property for the Big Apple, which was named the sixth most expensive city in the world in 2021. Pictured is the Aman's Corner Bar.
Modern-day New York City is a sprawling metropolis with almost 8.5 million residents that covers over 300 square miles (777sq km) of space. To put this into head-spinning context, if Brooklyn were a city all its own, it would be the fourth most populous in the States.
Some 3 million immigrants call New York City home today, and that feeds a diverse food, music, art and culture scene. An interactive map released in 2021 by the Endangered Language Alliance, and shared by Time Out, also revealed the 700 languages spoken across the city, from Scottish Gaelic to Southern Italian Abruzzese.