15 Interesting Facts About New York City

Folks, I was born in Iowa, right in the heartland of America. It’s a pretty awesome state. It has lots of corn and even more pigs. I’ll also have you know that it is home to not one but TWO of the world’s most iconic streets. The fact that my mom’s house is located on one of them is purely coincidental, okay? Anyway, although I love Iowa, I’m willing to concede that New York City is an okay place too. In fact, to prove this I have even compiled a list of 15 amazing facts about the biggest city in America. Enjoy!

1. The city is home to the world’s third largest library
Located on 5th avenue, the New York Public Library contains more than 55 million different items that you can borrow and then “forget” to return, including books, journals, and even musical records – just in case you’re still trapped in the 1950s, we suppose.

2. NYC is the most linguistically diverse city in the world
English is one of those languages, sorta. So is Spanish, for sure. Russian? Duh, Brighton Beach, guys. In fact, there are more than different 800 languages in total. So if you’re looking for a way to fill up your free time, why not create a challenge for yourself and learn all of them so that you can strike up a conversation literally with everybody in the city!

3. The Mall at Central Park was created for the Rich and Snooty
The Mall, originally known as the Promenade, is the only straight path through the city’s famous and largest park. Built between 1921 and 1923, its purpose was to allow the city’s wealthy elites to walk around with their noses up in the air, compare the lengths of their top hats, and show off their impressive monocols.

4. Honking a car horn in non-emergency situations is technically illegal in NYC.
Honking for no good reason carries a fine of $350, but whatever. It’s rarely enforced because New Yorkers are gonna do what New Yorkers are gonna do.

5. Traveling the entire NYC subway system would take 22 hours
Hey, do you have plans on Sunday? Well, you do now. Step 1: Fly to New York City (or if you already live there or nearby, drive/walk/take a bus). Step 2: get on the subway and take every single route. Excluding the time it takes to transfer by foot from one line to another, you’re looking at nearly an entire day of sitting in a subway car and basking in the weirdness that is the typical New York passenger.