lost in the concrete jungle: my new york city adventure
so, i just got back from new york city and i'm pretty sure i left half of my brain there somewhere. they say new york is located in the northeastern united states at the mouth of the hudson river. which is just a fancy way of saying it's at the coast where rivers meet the ocean. it's halfway between washington d.c. and boston, if that helps anyone visualize it.
the city covers this huge area - 468.484 square miles to be exact. and about 302.643 of that is land, while 165.841 is water. that's a lot of water! it's sitting on three major islands - manhattan, long island (which includes brooklyn and queens), and staten island. no wonder it's so densely populated - there just isn't that much land to go around.
i just checked and it's...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. feels like -4.23 but the temp is actually 0.61. so it's kinda cold, but not as bad as it feels. the pressure's at 1021, humidity at 52. i don't know what that means exactly, but it's what the app told me. someone told me that the harbor rarely freezes because of the atlantic ocean and the gulf stream moderating the temperatures. which is good, i guess, because i don't think i'd survive an actual frozen harbor.
the highest natural point in the city is todt hill on staten island, reaching 409.8 feet above sea level. which is apparently the highest point on the eastern seaboard south of maine. impressive, right? the climate is humid subtropical, which means long, hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters. spring is the wettest season, with february being typically the driest month. they get 42 to 50 inches of precipitation annually. over 2,500 hours of sunshine! the average temperatures are about 31°f in january and 72°f in june. the extremes range from −15°f to 106°f. that's quite a swing!
someone told me that the geological composition of the city is pretty diverse. brooklyn and queens, located on long island, sit atop a massive moraine formed during the last ice age, while the bronx and manhattan lie on the newark basin. which is apparently a block of the earth's crust that sank during the breakup of the supercontinent pangaea in the triassic period. that's way before dinosaurs, i think. which is kinda cool to think about when you're walking down the street.
if you get bored, boston and washington d.c. are just a short drive away. though i wouldn't recommend driving in new york city itself. the dense urban environment has made the city among the most energy-efficient and least automobile-dependent cities in the united states. which is good, because those yellow cabs aren't for the faint of heart.
i'm still trying to figure out how to describe the city without using words like "vibrant" or "nestled." it's just...there. a big, bustling place with lots of people and not enough personal space. the temperate climate, combined with its coastal location and natural harbor, has historically made it a significant trading center and continues to define its role as a global economic hub. which is fancy for saying there are a lot of rich people in fancy buildings doing important things.
i think i left my coffee in the hotel room. or maybe i drank it already. it's hard to tell when you're this tired. anyway, that's my take on new york city. it's big, it's busy, and it's got more water than land. what's not to love?