WELCOME!

New York is a vibrant city. You probably have heard, it never sleeps. And as Frank said again and again: "If you can make it here you can make it anywhere."

It's a concrete jungle where dreams are made. More than 8.5 million people from all over the world call the Big Apple home, and another 60 million or so visit it every year.

That happens for a good reason: no matter what you love or which are your interests – art, food, architecture, photography, shopping, sightseeing, theater, music, romance, adventure, exploration – New York is the place where you can find it all and much more.

It's a new surprise on every corner, every day. It's a dream in every heart. Just have your eyes and sensibility open. In New York you can learn a new thing every single day. In New York you can make your dream come true. So, why not give it a try?

Why Gotham City?

New York is a city of nicknames—the Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps, Empire City, The City So Nice They Named It Twice... but let’s just concentrate on one: Gotham. 

The word “Gotham” actually dates back to medieval England. NYPL – New York Public Libra has some of these resources, including an 1866 reprint of The Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gottam. Gathered Together by A.B. of Phisicke, Doctor, 1630. There is also a digitized version available on-site at the library and a Google Book version. English proverbs tell of a village called Gotham or Gottam, meaning “Goat’s Town” in old Anglo-Saxon. 

GOAT'S TOWN

                                                 DIG DEEPER

For some, the term Gotham City is forever tied to the Batman comic universe.  But writer Bill Finger was inspired by an entry in a telephone book for Gotham Jewelers.  Finger explains in the Steranko History of Comics that changing the locale from Manhattan to the fictional Gotham City made the setting of Batman more vague.  In fact, the nickname goes a lot further back than 1940, when in Batman issue number four, Gotham City is named for the first time.


BATMAN STANDING AT THE QUEENSBORO BRIDGE? YES! WATCH THE TRAILER:

It’s without doubt that New Yorkers have indeed embraced the nickname, Gotham. It no longer invokes a foolish village of goat herders, and sometimes invokes the darkened noirish version as popularized through Batman, but it can be referencing New York in several ways.
— Carman Nigro, Coordinator of Research Services for Maps, Local History and Genealogy at The New York Public Library (NYPL)

From the Gotham typeface font to the Gotham Center of New York History and all of the businesses with Gotham in their names in between, the moniker remains a permanent part of New York City’s character.  


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