So, Why Do We Call It Gotham, Anyway?
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.
Feeling Nostalgia for the Subway? These Photos Might Help
Whether you’re a teacher, researcher, or just a subway lover, you can truly piece together a visual history of our city’s century-old transportation system in the Digital Collections.
Researching New York City Neighborhoods
New York City encompasses over 400 neighborhoods of varying size and structure. Learn about how the city’s neighborhoods are continuously growing, declining, and resurfacing anew.
Nature Walk through History: Ten Famous Trees of NYC
The historic trees of New York City are some of our most venerable and impressive landmarks, literally forming the roots of our great city. So let's take a little nature walk to admire these living landmarks—some still standing and some that live on only in memory.
Tenement Homes: The Outsized Legacy of New York's Notoriously Cramped Apartments
These particularly crowded multi-family dwellings have had a significant effect on New York City’s character and history.
From Suburb to City and Back Again: A Brief History of the NYC Commuter
Late trains, crowds, fare increases: commuters have been complaining about the same problems since the late 1800s. Learn more about the history of commuting in NYC.
125 NYC Books We Love
New York City is many things: powerful, resilient, funny, fascinating, a center of culture and literary life—a city that contains multitudes. As the Library wraps up its 125th anniversary year, we pay tribute to the city we call home with a book list that reflects its diversity, energy, and life, plus city-centric storytimes for young readers, programs with famous New Yorkers, and more.
