Manhattan

Thanks to its geographical position and historical past, New York has grown into a big financial, commercial, and industrial centre with the heart in the Borough of Manhattan.

Manhattan is an island 13 miles long and 2 miles wide. It’s the centre of American advertising, art, theatre, publishing, fashion. The island is named after a Native American people who once lived there. Manhattan is divided into the East Side and the West Side. The dividing line is Fifth Avenue.

Manhattan is also divided into Lower (Downtown) Manhattan, Midtown, and Upper (Uptown) Manhattan.

Lower (Downtown) Manhattan is the southern part of the island, nearest the Atlantic Ocean. Upper (Uptown) Manhattan is the northern part of the island.

Lower (Downtown) Manhattan

The first Europeans to settle in Manhattan were the Dutch. To protect themselves from possible attacks, they built a strong wooden wall. This wall, which is now destroyed, gave its name to a street in Lower Manhattan, and the street, in its turn, became a synonym of American capitalism. This street is Wall Street. It’s easy to see why Wall Street is a synonym of capitalism. The New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange are located in the Wall Street area, as well as many banks and offices of many large corporations. It’s one of the biggest money capitals of the world. Economic and financial power of the United States is concentrated in the buildings of Wall Street.

The Declaration of Independence was read to the American troops here on July 9, 1776, in the presence of George Washington. It was here on April 30, 1789, that Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall.

The Lower East Side became an area in which immigrants settled. First there were many Irish, then came many Jews from Eastern Europe. In recent years new immigrant groups have settled here: for example, ‘Little Italy’. Many Italian restaurants and cafes which are famous for Italian food are popular with tourists.

Close to ‘Little Italy’ another immigrant area is situated – Chinatown. Chinatown is the only immigrant community in Manhattan that is still growing. Chinatown has seven newspapers of its own. More than 200 restaurants serve traditional Chinese food.

In the Lower West Side a famous Greenwich Village is situated. Its elegant-looking houses in narrow tree-lined streets look very picturesque and charming. In the early 1900s this charm attracted writers and artists. The rents were cheap, and for many years Greenwich Village was a place for people with different and creative ideas. It had an active nightlife with plenty of bars, restaurants and clubs. There are many theatres in the Greenwich Village. Plays at these theatres are more experimental, more interesting than plays on Broadway. They may involve audience participation. Today rents in Greenwich Village are far from cheap, and not many artists can afford them.

Midtown

Many of New York offices and jobs are concentrated in Midtown, as well as many of its famous skyscrapers. The first skyscraper in New York was built in 1902. It was twenty storeys high.

The first building boom for skyscrapers came in late 1920s. These skyscrapers were abundantly and richly decorated. The most beautiful and famous of such skyscrapers of that time are the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, the third tallest building in the world. A visitor can go to the top of the Empire State Building and admire the view of Manhattan. It has 102 floors. The Empire State Building has become a symbol of New York. The fourth tallest building in the world, the commanding position of the most famous building ever erected by man (443 metres) offers inspiring views around the horizon, night or day, in wet weather or dry, to visitors from around the world. The Empire State Building has become not only a symbol of New York but also part of its history – when a plane crashed into it in 1945.

Rockefeller Centre, which was built by John Rockefeller Junior between 1931 – 1939, is the world’s largest privately owned business and entertainment centre. Today it consists of nineteen buildings, which include offices, shops, and various places of entertainment: Music Hall, Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall is a large concert hall used for all types of music. When it first opened in 1891 it was called the Music Hall, but in 1898 it was named after Andrew Carnegie, a rich American who gave about $ 350 million to help good projects. He was born in Scotland and made his wealth in the steel industry. He gave money to organizations working for world peace and to build many libraries and other buildings.

There were plans to destroy Carnegie Hall in 1950s but a campaign by well-known musicians saved it.

The buildings are connected by underground passages. The centre is also famous for its Christmas Tree and lights that are put up each year, as well as its outdoor winter ice-skating rink.

In the 1950s there was a second building boom, which introduced a new style – buildings of steel and glass. The United Nations Secretariat Building was the first steel-and-glass skyscraper. On weekends, weather permitting the flags of all member states can be seen flying along United Nations Plazza in English alphabetical order. The United Nations uses six official languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese.

Visitors who come to Headquarters among the gifts in the Public Lobby can see a model of Sputnik 1 (from Russia), the Foucault Pendulum (from the Netherlands), a statue of Poseidon (from Greece), a painting “Brotherhood” (from Mexico), and the Chagall window – a dramatic, blue, 15 by 20 foot stained glass panel.

The new style became very popular, and today there are a lot of steel-and-glass skyscrapers in Manhattan.

St Patrick’s Cathedral is another midtown landmark. The Gothic Revival structure, New York’s most famous church was opened in 1879. Today it features high-society weddings and the shrine of the first American male Saint, St John Newman.

New York is an outstanding Theatre District. The centre of it is Times Square. Times Square got its name from the New York Times, the most popular newspaper in America, which has its main office there. The Theatre District begins at Times Square and occupies an area near Broadway. Broadway has long been the centre of theatre life in the United States.

Before the rise of the film industry, Broadway was the place where actors could become famous. Broadway’s best years were in the 1920s when there were about 80 theatres.

Since the early 1970s the high cost of producing plays has forced many theatres to close or to become cinemas, and Broadway is not as important as it once was.

The World Trade Centre (the Twin Towers) were the tallest buildings in the world, but a terrorist bomb exploded in the Centre in 1993 killing six people and injuring more than a thousand. On September 11^th 2001 the Twin Towers were both destroyed in another terrorist attack. Two planes crashed into the towers, and a short time later both towers collapsed. The area where the building used to be is now called Ground Zero. A memorial to the victims of the attack is planned for the site.

Upper (Uptown) Manhattan

Practically the whole of the Manhattan area is a sea of concrete. Luckily for New Yorkers, there is one exception: Central Park.

This huge park in the middle of the city was designed in the 1850s by the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. He wanted to build a large beautiful park where a lot of New York residents could rest and enjoy nature.

You can take a ride through Central Park in a little carriage pulled by a horse, or rent a bicycle. There are many attractions in the park: a zoo, a skating-rink(каток), an old-fashioned carousel, a lake with boats, and an outdoor theatre.

After Central Park was opened in 1876, some wealthy New Yorkers soon built mansions along Fifth Avenue. Now many of these mansions hold art collections. There are so many museums in this part of Fifth Avenue, that it is called “Museum Mile”. One of the museums is the Metropolitan Museum Art, with huge collections of art from all over the world. It’s one of the largest and finest museums in the world.

The American Museum of Natural History is the largest science museum in the world.

Uptown Manhattan has a Memorial to Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle and Columbia University which was founded in 1754.

Ellis Island Immigration Museum tells the moving tales of the 12 million immigrants who entered America through the golden door of Ellis Island. Today the descendants of these immigrants account for almost half of the American people. The American Immigrant Wall of Honour is a special feature of the Ellis Island Museum. Overlooking the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline, it is the longest wall of names in the world. Each name was placed on the Wall by individuals who donated $100 in memory of their ancestors for the restoration of Ellis Island.

Harlem is a poor district of north Manhattan. It was originally a Dutch village. Many of the people living there now are African Americans, though there are many Puerto Ricans living in east Harlem, also called Spanish Harlem. Many African Americans moved there from the southern states in the 1920s and made it their cultural centre. Harlem had a very active club scene. Whites from downtown came to Harlem and partied until the early hours of the morning. The depression of the 1930s hit Harlem hard. With a bad economy and discrimination, many blacks were unable to earn a living. Many middle-class blacks left. Harlem has never really recovered. But it kept its special feet and remains a centre for black culture.

The Bronx

The Bronx in the north is more residential rather than industrial part of the city. In the past it had a reputation as a poor area with a lot of crime and drug but its image has improved. It contains Yankee Stadium, the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo.

Queens

Queens in the east is both residential and industrial part of the city. It is the largest of the five boroughs of New York City. It was named after the wife of Charles II. The area of Queens is known for its large Greek community. The John Kennedy Airport, several racing tracks and the Museum of the Moving Image are all here.

Brooklyn and Richmond

Brooklyn is connected to Manhattan by the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River. The bridge was opened in 1883 and has a length of 486 metres. Brooklyn is an industrial port but the area in it is one of the most beautiful in the city. Brooklyn is the largest in population. It is called ‘bedroom of New York’. It has its own dialect ‘Brooklynese’.

Richmond is a borough of piers and warehouses. Its population is 200 000.

Many Americans have never been to New York, everyone knows something about the city. Many immigrants to the US stayed in New York, giving the city the variety of cultures it has today.

Today there are about 8 million people in New York City. New Yorkers speak in a very direct way which can seem rude to people from other parts of the US. But for many visitors, meeting real, rude New Yorkers is part of the attraction of going to the city. New York is a great shopping centre. Shopping is a serious recreational sport for millions of tourists.

GLOSSARY

Read the following words and word combinations according to the reading rules:

-to allot – выделять, предоставлять

-inauguration - вступление в должность, инаугурация;

-excerpt – выдержка, цитата, отрывок

-cemetery – кладбище

-borough – район крупного города

-skyscraper – небоскрёб, высотное здание

-pier – пирс, причал

-warehouse – товарный склад

Practice the following for pronunciation

Proper names: Washington, the Potomac River, the Mall, the Smithsonian Institution, the Lincoln Memorial, the Arlington National Cemetery, Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Richmond, Greenwich Village, the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, Carnegie Hall, Harlem.

VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR EXERCISES

I. Choose the word corresponding to the definition from those listed below:

· a broad road in a town or city, typically having trees at regular intervals along its sides;

· a large burial ground, especially one not in a churchyard;

· a structure built in order to remind people of a famous person or event;

· a very tall building in a city;

· a tall stone pillar that has been built in honour of a person or an important event;

· a town or district which is an administrative unit, in particular.

(cemetery, borough, skyscraper, memorial, obelisk, avenue)

Date: 2014-12-28; view: 1859