New York - The Empire State

So you went to France this summer? Italy? Spain? Morocco? Boring! Next year, you'll all go to... New York – The Empire State! Home of the statue of Liberty, celebrities, New York City, bagels, the New York Yankees, lots of tourists - and a lot of clichés. But guess what: New York is way more than that!

Nobody cares about the basis facts, but something we do want to make clear, is that the capital is not New York City, as some of you might think, but Albany; New York is the biggest city of the state, though, and the biggest of the entire USA. Did you know it used to be the capital of the United States in the 1780's before it was moved to Philadelphia and then Washington DC?

So where did “New York” get its name from? To know that, we have to travel back to the 17th century. At that time, the power was in hands of the Dutch people. They created a city on Manhattan Island and called it “New Amsterdam”. However, at a later date, when the Dutch and the English fought for the control over the region, the English won and changed the name of the region to “ New York” . This new name was to honor the Duke of York who had previously controlled the land.

That's when the flag was made: On the New York flag are 2 goddesses: Liberty, with a discarded crown representing freedom from England, and Justice, with her blindfold and the scales of justice, meaning that everyone is equal under the law. The state motto “excelsior”, “ever upward”, expresses the idea of reaching upward to higher goals, so actually the forerunner of  the modern American Dream.

One of the most common cliches about Americans is that they are stupid. New Yorkers sure aren't!

• Joseph Gayetty produced the first toilet paper. Before that, people used leaves, sticks, magazines, ...
• In the 19th century, George Eastman invented something that made photographymuch easier: the roll film. Four years later, he did one better by creating a push button camera.
• Eastman also came up with one of the strongest brand names in history: Kodak.
• Pierre Lorillard invented the tuxedo.
• George Babcock invented the water tube boiler.
• Clarence Crane invented Life Savers.
• George Lerner City invented and patented Mr. Potato Head.
• Jonas Salk developer of the first successful polio vaccine.
• Elmer Sperry invented the gyroscopic compass.

The music of New York, and especially in New York City, is an important field in the world of jazz, rock and blues. It is the birthplace of hip-hop, latin music, disco, punk rock and salsa. The city's culture is a melting pot of nations from around the whole world., this has produced vital folk music scenes such as Irish-American music and Jewish klezmer.

Music author Richie Unterberger has described the New York music scene as "immense, richly diverse, flashy, polyethnic, and engaged in a never-ending race for artistic and cosmopolitan supremacy".

Despite the city's historic importance in the development of American music, there are those who feel that its status has declined in recent years, due to a combination of increased corporate control over music media, and increase in the cost-of-living.

The Woodstock Festivals were always held in New York, until it ended in 1999 because of the violence.

• Some well-known musicians born or living in New York State are: Lana Del Rey, Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Scarlett Johansson, Barbra Streisand, Christina Aguilera and Bob Dylan.
• Well-known bands are: Aventura and Dope
• And some well-known songwriters: Harry Akst, Bernie Baum, Ron Dante, Lee Evans, Bob Haymes, Alicia Keys, Jack Lewis

Of course, when visiting the Empire State, you should definitely go to NYC; city of fashion, fame, art, opportunities and yellow cabs, and see all the tourist cliches: the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, Times Square, Central Park, and so on, but there's a lot of other interesting things worth a visit in New York State! Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester ans Syracuse, for example, are pretty cool cities too.  And:

The state of New York also has a lot of natural attractions, the most populars are:

• The Niagara Falls, who are not only the greatest natural wonder in NY, but also 1 of the world's
• Finger Lakes, a series of beautiful neighboring lakes with the longest being Cayuga Lake, is well known for its wine and many wineries.
• The Adirondack Mountains, including majestic Mount Marcy, the tallest mountain peak in New York at 1630 meters.
• Located in the St. Lawrence River, between New York and Canada, is a group of  islands known as the Thousand Islands. There are actually 1,793 islands, the largest is over 105 square kilometers, the smallest is just a rock extending above the waterline.
• Located in Letchworth State Park is the magnificent canyon gorge carved out by the Genesee River that as is often called the 'Grand Canyon of the East'.

When visiting New York, you should definitely try the culinar specialties:

• Most famous: the New York Bagel
• Waldorf Salad  (with lettuce, apple and nuts)
• Manhattan Clam Chowder  (a clam soup made with tomato and accompanied with crackers)
• Buffalo Wings
• Black and White cookies  (shortbread, on half iced with vanilla fondant, the other with dark chocolate)

The New Yorker's also invented some foods:

• Ice cream cone, Potato chips, Marshmallows
• Club Sandwich
• Cappuccino, Bloody Mary
• Ready-made Mayonaise and French Mustard
• Gelatine powder
• The legend sais that chop suey, the Chinese stir-fry dish, was invented in New York by the cooks of Chinese ambassador Li Hongzhang when he was visiting the city in 1896. The dish was supposed to satisfy both Chinese and American people.