Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/583

NEW YORK.

. Tarr, Physical Geography of New York State (New York, 1903); New York Geological Survey Reports (Albany, 1838 et seq.); New York Academy of Sciences Transactions (New York, 1881 et seq.); for history, Dunlap, History of the New Netherlands Province of New York (ib., 1840); O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland (ib., 1848); Hammond, Political History of the State of New York (Syracuse, 1849); Broadhead, History of the State of New York (New York, 1871); Satterlee, The Political History of the Province of New York (ib., 1885); Schuyler, Colonial New York (ib., 1885); Roberts, New York, Planting and Growth of the Empire State (Boston, 1887); Lossing, The Empire State (Hartford, 1888); Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion (Albany, 1890);

Roberts, New York in the Revolution (1897); Prentice, New York State History (London, 1900); New York Historical Society Collections (Albany); and for bibliography, New York Public Library Bulletin, vol. iv. (New York, 1900); Flagg and Jennings, “Bibliography of New York Colonial History,” in New York State Library Bulletin of Bibliography, vol. ii. (Albany, 1901).  NEW YORK. The chief city of the State of New York, the commercial metropolis of the United States, the largest city of the Western Hemisphere, and after London the largest city in the world. It is situated at the mouth of the Hudson River, which enters the Atlantic Ocean through New York Bay, 205 miles in a direct line northeast of Washington, 715 miles east by south of Chicago, and 190 miles southwest of Boston; latitude of the City Hall, 40° 42′ N., longitude 74° W.

The climate, on the whole, is very healthful and enjoyable, but is subject to great extremes. As the continental climate extends to the Atlantic coast of North America, the temperatures of New York City depend, to an important extent, upon the meteorological conditions of the interior regions. The humidity due to the proximity of the sea tends to increase the discomfort both of oppressively hot and severely cold days. The average annual temperature is about 54° Fahr. The mean temperature of the three winter months is about 34°; spring, 52°; summer, 75°; autumn, 57°. July is almost invariably a little warmer than the other summer months. The temperature of the hottest day ranges from 90° to 99°, and the mercury sometimes falls to zero or even below. The annual precipitation is from 36 to 42 inches, the amount of snow being from 20 to 30 inches. Cyclonic storms from the West Indies occasionally bring very high winds, accompanied with a heavy fall of rain or snow.

New York Harbor, one of the finest in the world, has an entrance about a mile wide, between Fort Hamilton, the southwest corner of the Borough of Brooklyn, and Fort Wadsworth, the point opposite on Staten Island. This entrance, known as the Narrows, leads into a fine bay bounded by New Jersey and Manhattan Island on the north. Long Island on the east, Staten Island on the southwest, and New Jersey on the west. It is about five miles wide and six miles long from north to south. The bronze statue, ‘Liberty Enlightening the World,’ by Bartholdi (see ), the largest statue of modern times, 151.41 feet in height, stands upon a pedestal 155 feet high on Bedloe's Island in the bay. The torch held aloft by the figure is lighted at night by electricity. Governor's Island, near the Battery, the southern point of Manhattan Island, containing 65 acres, is occupied by the United States Government for military purposes. Ellis Island, a mile and a half from the Battery, architecturally prominent, with a fine modern building, also belongs to the United States Government and is used as a landing place for immigrants. On Swinburne and Hoffman Islands, in the Lower Bay, are institutions of the Quarantine Station.  Previous to 1874 the city did not extend beyond Manhattan Island. At the beginning of that year parts of Westchester County were incorporated with it, and in 1895 more territory in Westchester County was annexed. In 1898 the city's