Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Ithaca
native name	Περιφερειακή ενότητα / ΔήμοςΙθάκης
native name lang	el
settlement type	Peripheral unit
map caption	Ithaca within the Ionian Islands
coordinates display	inline,title
subdivision type	Country
subdivision name	Greece
subdivision type1	Periphery
subdivision name1	Ionian Islands
established date	2011
seat type	Capital
seat	Vathy
leader title	Vice Governor
leader title1	Mayor
leader name	Sotiris Kouris
leader name1	Ioannis Kassianos
unit pref	Metric
area total km2	117.8
population total	3084
population as of	2001
population density km2	auto
time zone	EET
utc offset	+2
timezone1 dst	EEST
utc offset1 dst	+3
postal code type	Postal codes
postal code	283 0x
area code type	Area codes
area code	26740
blank name	Car plates
blank info	ΚΕ
website
footnotes	}}

Ithaca or Ithaka (Greek: Ιθάκη, ''Ithakē'') is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate peripheral unit of the Ionian Islands Periphery, and the only municipality of the peripheral unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and to the west and within sight of continental Greece. The municipality of Ithaca includes some islets as well. The capital, Vathy or Ithaki, has one of the world's largest natural harbours. Modern Ithaca is generally identified with Homer's Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, whose delayed return to the island is one of the elements of the Odyssey's plot.

Origin of name

The fact that classical Greek authors often used eponymous explanations to explain away names through folk etymology makes it more likely that ''Ithakos'' derives from ''Ithaca'' rather than vice versa.

The name Ithaca has remained unchanged since ancient times, but it has been noticed that in written documents of different periods, it has also been referred to by other names such as:

Val di Compare (Valley of the Bestman), Piccola (Small) Cephallonia, Anticephallonia (Middle Ages till the beginning of the Venetian period)

Ithaki nisos (Greek for island), Thrakoniso, Thakou, Thiakou (Byzantine period)

Thiaki (before the Venetian period, also called so by the sailors and has remained the name used by the inhabitants)

Teaki (Venetian period)

Fiaki (Turkish period)

History

The island has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC. It may have been the capital of Cephalonia during the Mycenaean period, and the capital-state of the kingdom ruled by Odysseus. The Romans occupied the island in the 2nd century BC, and later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Normans ruled Ithaca in the 13th century, and after a short Turkish rule it fell into Venetian hands.

Ithaca was then occupied by France under the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio. It was liberated by a joint Russo-Turkish force in 1798, before becoming part of the Septinsular Republic. It became a French possession again in 1807, until it was liberated by the United Kingdom in 1809. Under the 1815 Treaty of Paris, Ithaca became a state of the United States of the Ionian Islands, an amical protectorate under the wing of the British Empire. From 1830 onwards the local community had requested that union with rest of the newly restored nation-state of Greece take place. Under the 1864 Treaty of London, Ithaca, along with the remaining six Ionian islands, were ceded to Greece as a gesture of diplomatic friendship to Greece's new Anglophile king, George I. The U.K. kept its privileged use of the harbour at Corfu.

First settlers

The origins of the first people to inhabit the island, which was during the last years of the Neolithic Period (4000–3000 BCE), are not clear. The traces of buildings, walls and a road from this time period prove that life existed and continued to do so during the Early Hellenic era (3000–2000 BCE). In the years (2000–1500 BCE)some of the population migrated to part of the island. The buildings and walls that were excavated showed the lifestyle of this period had remained primitive.

Mycenaean era

During the Mycenaean period (1500–1100 BCE), Ithaca rose to the highest level of its ancient history. Mostly based on the «Odyssey» and oral traditions, it is believed that the island became the capital of the Ionian Kingdom-State, which included the surrounding lands, and was referred to as one of the most powerful states of that time. The Ithacans were characterized as great navigators and explorers with daring expeditions reaching further than the Mediterranean Sea.

The epic poems of Homer, the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', shed some light on Bronze-Age Ithaca. Those poems are generally thought to have been composed sometime in the 9th or 8th centuries BC, but may have made use of older mythological and poetic traditions; their depiction of the hero Odysseus, and his rule over Ithaca and the surrounding islands and mainland, preserve somes memories of the political geography, customs and society of the time.

After the end of the Mycenaean period, Ithaca's influence diminished, and it came under the jurisdiction of the nearest large island.

Hellenistic era

During the ancient Hellenic prime (800–180 BCE) independent organized life continued in the northern and southern part of the island. In the southern part, in the area of Aetos, the town Alalcomenae was founded. From this period, many objects of important historical value have been found during excavations. Among these objects are coins imprinted with the name Ithaca and the image of Odysseus which suggest that the island was self-governed.

According to the different periods, conquerors and circumstances, the population of the island kept changing. Although there is no definite numerical information until the Venetian period, it is believed that from the Mycenaean to the Byzantine period the number of inhabitants was several thousand, who lived mainly in the northern part of Ithaca. During the Middle Ages, the population decreased due to the continuous invasions of pirates, forcing the people to establish settlements and live in the mountains.

Ottoman era

In 1479, Turkish forces reached the islands and many of the people fled from the island out of fear of the new Turkish settlers. Those that remained hid in the mountains to avoid the pirates who controlled the channel between Cephallonia and Ithaca and the bays of the island. In the following five years, the Turks, Toques and Venetians laid claim to the islands diplomatically. Possession of the islands was finally taken by the Ottoman Empire from 1484 to 1499. During this period, the Venetians had strengthened into a major power with an organized fleet. The Venetians pursued their interest in the Ionian Islands, and in 1499 a war between the Venetians and the Turks began. The allied fleets of the Venetians and the Spanish besieged Ithaca, and the other islands. The fleets prevailed, and from 1500 onwards the Venetians controlled the islands. According to a treaty of 1503, Ithaca, Cephallonia and Zante would be ruled by the Venetians, and Lefkada by the Turks.

French era

A few years after the French Revolution, the Ionian area came under the rule of the First French Republic (1797–1798), and the island became the honorary capital of Cephallonia, Lefkada, and part of the Greek mainland, which formed the French ''département'' of Ithaque (the prefecture was at Argostoli on Kefalonia).

The population welcomed the French, who took care in the control of the administrative and judicial systems, but later the heavy taxation they demanded, caused a feeling of indignation among the people. During this short historical period, the new ideas of system and social structure greatly influenced the inhabitants of the island. At the end of 1798, the French were succeeded by Russia and Turkey (1798–1807), which were allies at that time. Corfu became the capital of the Ionian States, and the form of government was democratic with a fourteen-member senate in which Ithaca had one representative.

The Ithacan fleet flourished when it was allowed to carry cargo up to the ports of the Black Sea. In 1807, according to an agreement with Turkey the Ionian Islands once again came under the French rule (1807–1809 AD). The French quickly began preparing to face the British fleet, which had become very powerful, by building a fort in Vathy.

Prominent citizens of Ithaki participated in the secret "Filiki Etairia" which was instrumental in organizing the Greek Revolution of 1821 against Turkish rule, and Greek fighters found refuge there. In addition, the participation of Ithacans during the siege of Messologi and the naval battles with Turkish ships at the Black Sea and Danube were significant.

Modern Ithaca

Many structures were destroyed in an earthquake in 1953. In the 1970s, Kalamos split from the province and became part of the prefecture of Lefkada, and the province of Ithaca became a non-provincial municipality.

Home of Odysseus

Since antiquity, Ithaca has been identified as the home of the mythological hero Odysseus. In the ''Odyssey'' of Homer, Ithaca is described thus (13.21-27)

:" dwell in shining Ithaca. There is a mountain there, :high Neriton, covered in forests. Many islands :lie around it, very close to each other, :Doulichion, Same, and wooded Zacynthos-- :but low-lying Ithaca is farthest out to sea, :towards the sunset, and the others are apart, towards the dawn and sun. :It is rough, but it raises good men."

It has sometimes been argued that this description does not match the topography of modern Ithaca. Three features of the description have been seen as especially problematic. First, Ithaca is described as "low-lying" (), but Ithaca is mountainous. Second, the words "farthest out to sea, towards the sunset" () are usually interpreted to mean that Ithaca must be the island furthest to the west, but Kefalonia lies to the west of Ithaca. Lastly, it is unclear which modern islands correspond to Homer's Doulichion and Same.

The Greek geographer Strabo, writing in the 1st century AD, identified Homer's Ithaca with modern Ithaca. Following earlier commentators, he interpreted the word translated above as "low-lying" to mean "close to the mainland", and the phrase translated as "farthest out to sea, towards the sunset" as meaning "farthest of all towards the north." Strabo identified Same as modern Kefalonia, and believed that Homer's Doulichion was one of the islands now known as the Echinades. Ithaca lies farther north than Kefalonia, Zacynthos, and the island that Strabo identified as Doulichion, consistent with the interpretation of Ithaca as being "farthest of all towards the north."

Strabo's explanation has not won universal acceptance. In the last few centuries, some scholars have argued that Homer's Ithaca was not modern Ithaca, but a different island. Perhaps the best known proposal is that of Wilhelm Dörpfeld, who believed that the nearby island of Leukas was Homer's Ithaca.

It has also been suggested that Paliki, the western peninsula of Kefalonia, is Homer's Ithaca. It has been argued that in Homeric times this western peninsula was separated from Kefalonia by a sea channel since closed up by earthquake-induced rockfalls. However, no scientific review publications are available in support of this theory.

Despite any difficulties with Homer's description of the island, in classical and Roman times the island now called "Ithaca" was universally held to be the home of Odysseus; the Hellenistic identifications of Homeric sites, such as the identifications of Lipari as the island of Aeolus, are usually taken with a grain of salt, and attributed to the ancient tourist trade.

The island has been known as Ithaca from an early date, as coins and inscriptions show. Coins from Ithaca frequently portray Odysseus, and an inscription from the 3rd century BC refers to a local hero-shrine of Odysseus and games called the ''Odysseia''. The Archaeological site of "School of Homer" on modern Ithaca is the only place between Lefkas-Kefalonia-Ithaca Triangle where Linear B has been found, near royal remains. Modern scholars generally accept the identification of modern Ithaca with Homeric Ithaca, and explain discrepancies between the ''Odyssey'''s description and the actual topography as the product of lack of first-hand knowledge of the island, or as poetic license.

Geography

There is a strait situated to the west of the island called the Strait of Ithaca. The capes in the island include Exogi, the westernmost but not in land, Melissa to the north, Mavronos and Agios Ilias to the east, Schinous, Sarakiniko and Agios Ioannis, the easternmost to the east and Agiou Andreou, the southernmost in the south. Bays include Afales Bay to the northwest, Frikes and Kioni Bays to the northeast and Ormos Gulf and Sarakiniko Bay to the southeast. The tallest mountain is Nirito (806 m), the second tallest is Merovigli (669 m).

Lazaretto Islet (or ''Island of The Saviour'') guards the harbor. The church of The Saviour and the remains of an old gaol sit on the island.

Notable people

St. Joachim Papoulakis (1786 - 1868), Athonite monk and an Orthodox Saint

Odysseas Androutsos (1788 – 1825), hero of the Greek War of Independence

Platon Drakoulis (1858 – 1934), philosopher, writer, politician

Lorentzos Mavilis (1860 – November 28, 1912 in the Ioannina area)

Ioannis Metaxas (1871 – 1941), general and dictator of Greece

Panagis Lekatsas (1911 – 1970), writer, journalist

Administration

Ithaca is a separate peripheral unit of the Ionian Islands Periphery, and the only municipality of the peripheral unit. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the peripheral unit Ithaca was created out of the former Kefalonia and Ithaca Prefecture. The municipality, unchanged at the Kallikratis reform, includes islets other than Ithaca including two near Cape Melissa, Arkoudi and Atokos to the northeast and the numerous islets in the Echinades Island group (the larger ones being Drakonera, Makri, Oxeia, Petalas, and Vromonas) to the east near the mainland of Aitoloakarnania. Its largest towns are Itháki (pop. 1,816), Perachóri (354), Stavrós (325), Platreithiá (210), and Kióni (171).

Communities and villages

Aetos, Afales, Agios Ioannis, Agia Saranta, Anogi, Exogi, Frikes, Kalivia, Kathara, Kioni, Kolieri, Lachos, Lefki, Marmaka, Perachori, Piso Aetos, Platrithia, Rachi, Stavros, Vathy/Ithaki.

Further reading

See also

List of traditional Greek place names

References

External links

Official website (Greek)

Blog about Ithaca (Greek)

Category:Populated places in Kefalonia Category:Mycenaean Greece Category:Islands of Greece * Category:Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece Category:Locations in the Iliad Category:Odyssey Ithaca Category:Tourism in Greece Category:Peripheral units of Greece Category:Municipalities of the Ionian Islands

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Fullname	State of New York
Name	New York
Flag	Flag of New York.svg
Seal	Seal of New York.svg
Nickname	The Empire State
Motto	Excelsior (Latin)Ever upward
Demonym	New Yorker
Map	New York in United States.svg
Capital	Albany
Largestcity	New York City
Largestmetro	New York City Metropolitan Area
Arearank	27th
Totalareaus	54,556
Totalarea	141,300
Widthus	285
Width	455
Lengthus	330
Length	530
Pcwater	13.5
Latitude	40° 30′ N to 45° 1′ N
Longitude	71° 51′ W to 79° 46′ W
2000pop	19,465,197 (2011 est)
Poprank	3rd
2000densityus	412
2000density	159
Densityrank	7th
Highestpoint	Mount Marcy
Highestelevus	5,343
Highestelev	1628.57
Meanelevus	1,000
Meanelev	300
Lowestpoint	Atlantic Ocean
Lowestelevus	0
Lowestelev	0
Admittancedate	July 26, 1788
Admittanceorder	11th
Governor	Andrew Cuomo (D)
Lieutenant governor	Robert Duffy (D)
Legislature	New York Legislature
Upperhouse	State Senate
Lowerhouse	State Assembly
Senators	Charles Schumer (D)Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
Representative	21 Democrats,8 Republicans
Timezone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Postalabbreviation	NY
Isocode	US-NY
Website	www.ny.gov }}

New York (; locally or ) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. New York is the 27th most extensive, the 3rd most populous, and the 7th most densely populated of the 50 United States. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the west and north, and Quebec to the north. The state of New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from the city of New York.

New York City, with a population of over 8.1 million, is the most populous city in the United States. It is known for its status as a financial and cultural center, and for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is also a destination of choice for many foreign visitors. Both the state and city were named for the 17th century Duke of York, James Stuart, future James II and VII of England and Scotland.

New York was inhabited by various tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian speaking Native American tribes at the time Dutch settlers moved into the region in the early 17th century. In 1609, the region was first claimed by Henry Hudson for the Dutch. Fort Nassau was built near the site of the present-day capital of Albany in 1614. The Dutch soon also settled New Amsterdam and parts of the Hudson River Valley, establishing the colony of New Netherland. The British took over the colony by annexation in 1664.

The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were roughly similar to those of the present-day state. About one third of all the battles of the Revolutionary War took place in New York. The state constitution was enacted in 1777. New York became the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788.

History

17th century

During the 17th century, Dutch trading posts established for the trade of pelts from the Lenape, Iroquois and other indigenous peoples expanded into the colony of New Netherland. The first of these trading posts were Fort Nassau (1614, near present-day Albany); Fort Orange (1624, on the Hudson River just south of the current city of Albany and created to replace Fort Nassau), developing into settlement Beverwijck (1647), and into what became Albany; Fort Amsterdam (1625, to develop into the town New Amsterdam which is present-day New York City); and Esopus, (1653, now Kingston). The success of the patroonship of Rensselaerswyck (1630), which surrounded Albany and lasted until the mid 19th century, was also a key factor in the early success of the colony. The British captured the colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and governed it as the Province of New York.

American Revolution

The Sons of Liberty were organized in New York City during the 1760s, largely in response to the oppressive Stamp Act passed by the British Parliament in 1765. The Stamp Act Congress met in the city on October 19 of that year: a gathering of representatives from across the Thirteen Colonies that set the stage for the Continental Congress to follow. The Stamp Act Congress resulted in the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which was the first written expression by representatives of the Americans of many of the rights and complaints later expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence, including the right to representative government.

The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga provided the cannon and gunpowder necessary to force a British withdrawal from the Siege of Boston in 1775.

New York endorsed the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776. The New York state constitution was framed by a convention which assembled at White Plains, New York on July 10, 1776, and after repeated adjournments and changes of location, terminated its labors at Kingston, New York on Sunday evening, April 20, 1777, when the new constitution drafted by John Jay was adopted with but one dissenting vote. It was not submitted to the people for ratification. On July 30, 1777, George Clinton was inaugurated as the first Governor of New York at Kingston.

The first major battle of the American Revolutionary War after independence was declared—and the largest battle of the entire war—was fought in New York at the Battle of Long Island (a.k.a ''Battle of Brooklyn'') in August 1776. British victory made New York City their military and political base of operations in North America for the duration of the conflict, and consequently the center of attention for General George Washington's intelligence network.

The notorious British prison ships of Wallabout Bay saw more American combatants die of intentional neglect than were killed in combat in every battle of the war, combined.

The first of two major British armies were captured by the Continental Army at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, influencing France to ally with the revolutionaries.

In an attempt to retain their sovereignty and remain an independent nation positioned between the new United States and British North America, four of the Iroquois nations fought on the side of the British; only the Oneidas and their dependents the Tuscaroras allied themselves to the Americans. The Sullivan Expedition of 1778 and 1779 destroyed nearly 50 Iroquois villages and adjacent croplands, forcing many refugees to British-held Niagara. As allies of the British, the Iroquois were resettled in Canada after the war. In the treaty settlement, the British ceded most Indian lands to the new United States. Because New York made treaty with the Iroquois without getting Congressional approval, some of the land purchases are the subject of modern-day claims by the individual tribes. More than of former Iroquois territory was put up for sale in the years after the Revolutionary War, leading to rapid development in upstate New York. As per the Treaty of Paris, the last vestige of British authority in the former Thirteen Colonies—their troops in New York City—departed in 1783, which was long afterwards celebrated as Evacuation Day.

Following heated debate, which included the publication of the now quintessential constitutional interpretation—the Federalist Papers—as a series of installments in New York City newspapers, New York was the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788.

19th century

Transportation in western New York was difficult before canals were built in the early part of the 19th century. The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could be navigated only as far as Central New York. While the St. Lawrence River could be navigated to Lake Ontario, the way westward to the other Great Lakes was blocked by Niagara Falls, and so the only route to western New York was over land.

Governor DeWitt Clinton strongly advocated building a canal to connect the Hudson River with Lake Erie, and thus all the Great Lakes. Work commenced in 1817, and the Erie Canal was finished in 1825. It was considered an engineering marvel. Packet boats traveled up and down the canal with sightseers and visitors on board. The canal opened up vast areas of New York to commerce and settlement. It enabled Great Lakes port cities such as Buffalo and Rochester to grow and prosper. It also connected the burgeoning agricultural production of the Midwest and shipping on the Great Lakes, with the port of New York City. Improving transportation, it enabled additional population migration to territories west of New York.

Ellis Island

Ellis Island was the main facility for immigrants, entering the United States in the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. It was opened when the federal government took over the responsibility for processing immigrants, prior to that it was the responsibility of the states. It replaced the prior New York State immigration center located at Castle Clinton, a War of 1812 era fort located in what is today Battery Park, through which at least 8 million immigrants such as Harry Houdini, passed through from 1855–1890.

Ellis Island operated as an immigration center from January 1, 1892, until November 12, 1954. It is owned by the Federal government and is now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. It is situated in New York Harbor, between two states and cities, Jersey City, New Jersey and New York City, New York.

More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island, between 1892 and 1954. After 1924, when the National Origins Act was passed, the only immigrants to pass through there were displaced persons or war refugees. Today, over 100 million Americans can trace their ancestry to the immigrants, who first arrived in America through Castle Clinton and Ellis Island, before dispersing to points all over the country. Ellis Island was the subject of a border dispute between New York State and New Jersey. The issue was settled in 1998 by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that the original 3.3 acre island was New York State territory and that the balance of the added after 1834 by landfill was in New Jersey.

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States to mark the Centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. The idea of giving a colossal representation of republican virtues to a "sister" republic, across the sea, served as a focus for the republican cause against other politicians. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor on October 28, 1886.

Liberty Island closed on September 11, 2001; the island reopened in December, the monument reopened on August 3, 2004, but the statue remained closed until the summer of 2009. The National Park Service claims that the statue is not shut because of a terrorist threat, but principally because of a long list of fire regulation contraventions, including inadequate evacuation procedures. The museum and ten-story pedestal are open for visitors, but are only accessible if visitors have a "Monument Access Pass", which is a reservation that visitors must make in advance of their visit and pick up before boarding the ferry. There are a maximum of 3000 passes available each day, with a total of 15,000 visitors to the island daily. The interior of the statue remains closed, although a glass ceiling in the pedestal allows for views of Gustave Eiffel's iron framework of Lady Liberty.

Geography

New York covers and ranks as the 27th largest state by size. The Great Appalachian Valley dominates eastern New York, while Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the valley, which also includes the Hudson River flowing southward to the Atlantic Ocean. The rugged Adirondack Mountains, with vast tracts of wilderness, lie west of the valley.

Most of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny Plateau, which rises from the southeast to the Catskill Mountains. The western section of the state is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact, signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system. The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks.

New York's borders touch (clockwise from the west) two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario, which are connected by the Niagara River); the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada; Lake Champlain; three New England states (Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut); the Atlantic Ocean, and two Mid-Atlantic States, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In addition, Rhode Island shares a water border with New York. New York is the only state that touches both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, and is the second-largest of the original Thirteen Colonies.

In contrast with New York City's urban atmosphere, the vast majority of the state is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the United States. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Olympic National Parks combined. New York established the first state park in the United States at Niagara Falls in 1885. Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction.

The Hudson River begins at Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows south through the eastern part of the state without draining Lakes George or Champlain. Lake George empties at its north end into Lake Champlain, whose northern end extends into Canada, where it drains into the Richelieu and then the St. Lawrence Rivers. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on three islands at the mouth of the Hudson River: Manhattan Island; Staten Island; and Long Island, which contains Brooklyn and Queens on its western end.

''Upstate'' and ''downstate'' are often used informally to distinguish New York City or its greater metropolitan area from the rest of New York State. The placement of a boundary between the two is a matter of great contention. Unofficial and loosely defined regions of Upstate New York include the Southern Tier, which often includes the counties along the border with Pennsylvania, and the North Country, which can mean anything from the strip along the Canadian border to everything north of the Mohawk River.

Climate

In general, New York has a humid continental climate, though under the Köppen climate classification, New York City has a humid subtropical climate. Weather in New York is heavily influenced by two continental air masses: a warm, humid one from the southwest and a cold, dry one from the northwest.

The winters are long and cold in the Plateau Divisions of the state. In the majority of winter seasons, a temperature of or lower can be expected in the northern highlands (Northern Plateau) and or colder in the southwestern and east-central highlands (Southern Plateau). The summer climate is cool in the Adirondacks, Catskills and higher elevations of the Southern Plateau.

The New York City/Long Island area and lower portions of the Hudson Valley have rather warm summers by comparison, with some periods of high, uncomfortable humidity. The remainder of New York State enjoys pleasantly warm summers, marred by only occasional, brief intervals of sultry conditions. Summer daytime temperatures usually range from the upper 70s to mid 80s °F (25 to 30 °C), over much of the state.

New York ranks 46th among the 50 states in the amount of greenhouse gases generated per person. This relative efficiency is primarily due to the state's higher rate of mass transit use.

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State parks

New York has many state parks and two major forest preserves. Adirondack Park, roughly the size of the state of Vermont and the largest state park in the United States, was established in 1892 and given state constitutional protection to remain "forever wild" in 1894. The thinking that led to the creation of the Park first appeared in George Perkins Marsh's ''Man and Nature'', published in 1864. Marsh argued that deforestation could lead to desertification; referring to the clearing of once-lush lands surrounding the Mediterranean, he asserted "the operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon."

The Catskill Park was protected in legislation passed in 1885, which declared that its land was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. Consisting of of land, the park is a habitat for bobcats, minks and fishers. There are some 400 black bears living in the region. The state operates numerous campgrounds and there are over of multi-use trails in the Park.

The Montauk Point State Park boasts the 1797 Montauk Lighthouse, commissioned under President George Washington, which is a major tourist attraction on the easternmost tip of Long Island. Hither Hills park offers camping and is a popular destination with surfcasting sport fishermen.

Counties

New York is divided into ''62 counties'':

Regions

''New York State is divided into eleven regions by the Department of Economic Development:''

# Chautaugua–Allegheny

# Niagara Frontier

# Finger Lakes

# Thousand Islands

Central New York Region>Central Region (formerly Central-Leatherstocking)

# Adirondack Mountains

# Catskill Mountains

# Hudson Valley

# Capital District

# New York City

# Long Island

''New York State is sometimes divided into eight major regions:''

* North Country New York

* Western New York

* Central New York

* Capital District

* Southern Tier

* Hudson Valley

* New York City

* Long Island

Cities

There are 62 cities in New York. The largest city in the state and the most populous city in the United States is New York City, which comprises five counties (boroughs): the Bronx, New York (Manhattan), Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), and Richmond (Staten Island). New York City is home to more than two-fifths of the state's population.

''The following are the ten largest cities in New York:''

# New York City (8,175,133)

Buffalo, New York>Buffalo (261,310)

Rochester, New York>Rochester (210,565)

Yonkers, New York>Yonkers (195,976)

Syracuse, New York>Syracuse (145,170)

Albany, New York>Albany (97,856)

New Rochelle, New York>New Rochelle (77,062)

Mount Vernon, New York>Mount Vernon (67,292)

Schenectady, New York>Schenectady (66,135)

Utica, New York>Utica (62,235)

The location of these cities within the state stays remarkably true to the major transportation and trade routes in the early 19th century, primarily the Erie Canal and railroads paralleling it. Today, Interstate 90 acts as a modern counterpart to commercial water routes.

''Grouped by metropolitan statistical area,'' ''the following are the twelve largest population centers in the state are:''

New York metropolitan area>New York City (18,815,988 in NY/New Jersey

Buffalo-Niagara Falls (1,128,183)

Rochester, NY MSA>Rochester (1,030,495)

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA>Albany and the Capital District (853,358)

Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY MSA>Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley (669,915)

Syracuse, NY MSA>Syracuse (645,293)

Utica-Rome, NY MSA>Utica-Rome (294,862)

Binghamton, NY MSA>Binghamton (246,426)

Kingston, NY MSA>Kingston (181,860)

Glens Falls, NY MSA>Glens Falls (128,886)

Ithaca, NY MSA>Ithaca (101,055)

Elmira, NY MSA>Elmira (88,015)

The smallest city is Sherrill, New York, located just west of the Town of Vernon in Oneida County. Albany is the state capital, and the Town of Hempstead is the civil township with the largest population. If it were a city, it would be the second largest in the state with over 700,000 residents.

The southern tip of New York State—New York City, its suburbs including Long Island, the southern portion of the Hudson Valley, and most of northern New Jersey—can be considered to form the central core of the Northeast megalopolis", a super-city stretching from the northern suburbs of Boston south to the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C..

Demographics

Population

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of New York was 19,465,197 on July 1, 2011, a 0.45% increase since the 2010 United States Census. In spite of the open land in the state, New York's population is very urban, with 92% of residents living in an urban area.

New York is a slow growing state with a large rate of domestic migration to other states. In 2000 and 2005, more people moved from New York to Florida than from any one state to another. However, New York State is one of the leading destinations for international immigration and thus has the second largest immigrant population in the country (after California) at 4.2 million as of 2008. Although Upstate New York receives considerable immigration, most of the state's immigrants settle in and around New York City, due to its more vibrant economy and cosmopolitan culture.

The center of population of New York is located in Orange County, in the town of Deerpark. New York City and its eight suburban counties (excluding those in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania) have a combined population of 13,209,006 people, or 68.42% of the state's population.

Racial and ancestral makeup

According to the US Census Bureau, the 2010 racial makeup of New York State was as follows:

White – 65.7%

Hispanic or Latino (of any race) – 17.6%

Black or African American – 15.9%

Asian – 7.3% (3.0% Chinese, 1.6% Indian, 0.7% Korean, 0.5% Filipino, 0.3% Pakistani, 0.3% Bangladeshi, 0.2% Japanese, 0.1% Vietnamese)

Two or more races – 3.0%

Native American/American Indian – 0.6%

The major ancestry groups in New York State are African American (15.8%), Italian (14.4%), Irish (12.9%), German (11.1%) and English (6%). According to a 2004 estimate, 20.4% of the population is foreign-born.

New York is home to the largest African American population and the second largest Asian American population in the United States. In addition it is home to the largest Puerto Rican, Dominican and Jamaican American populations in the continental United States. The New York City neighborhood of Harlem has historically been a major cultural capital for African-Americans of sub-Saharan descent, and Bedford Stuyvesant is the largest such population in the United States.

Queens, also in New York City, is home to the state's largest Asian-American population, and is also the most diverse county in the United States. The second concentration of Asian-Americans is in Manhattan's Chinatown. Queens is home to the largest Andean population (Colombian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Bolivian) population in The United States of America.

In the 2000 Census, Italian Americans made up the largest ancestral group in Staten Island and Long Island, followed by Irish Americans. Albany and southeast-central New York also have populations with many of Irish-American and Italian-American descent. In Buffalo and western New York, German Americans are the largest group; in the northern tip of the state, French Canadians are. Americans of English ancestry are present throughout all of upstate New York. New York State has a higher number of Italian Americans than any other U.S. state.

6.5% of New York's population were under 5 years of age, 24.7% under 18, and 12.9% were 65 or older. Females made up 51.8% of the population.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 13.61% of the population aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, while 2.04% speak Chinese (including Cantonese and Mandarin), 1.65% Italian, and 1.23% Russian.

Religion

Catholics comprise more than 40% of the population in New York. Protestants are 30% of the population, Jews 8.4%, Muslims 3.5%, Buddhists 1%, and 13% claim no religious affiliation. The largest Protestant denominations are the United Methodist Church with 403,362; the American Baptist Churches USA with 203,297; and the Episcopal Church with 201,797 adherents.

Economy

New York's gross state product in 2010 was $1.16 trillion, ranking third in size behind the larger states of California and Texas. If New York were an independent nation, it would rank as the 16th largest economy in the world behind Turkey. Its 2007 per capita personal income was $46,364, placing it sixth in the nation behind Maryland, and eighth in the world behind Ireland. New York's agricultural outputs are dairy products, cattle and other livestock, vegetables, nursery stock, and apples. Its industrial outputs are printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment, machinery, chemical products, and tourism.

A recent review by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found 13 states, including several of the nation's largest, face budget shortfalls for FY2009. New York faces a deficit that could be as large as $4.3 billion.

New York exports a wide variety of goods such as foodstuffs, commodities, minerals, computers and electronics, cut diamonds, and automobile parts. In 2007, the state exported a total of $71.1 billion worth of goods, with the five largest foreign export markets being Canada ($15 billion), United Kingdom ($6 billion), Switzerland ($5.9 billion), Israel ($4.9 billion), and Hong Kong ($3.4 billion). New York's largest imports are oil, gold, aluminum, natural gas, electricity, rough diamonds, and lumber.

Canada is a very important economic partner for the state. 21% of the state's total worldwide exports went to Canada in 2007. Tourism from the north is also a large part of the economy. Canadians spent US$487 million in 2004 while visiting the state.

New York City is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in the United States and is the location of the New York Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in the world by dollar volume. Many of the world's largest corporations are based in the city.

The state also has a large manufacturing sector that includes printing and the production of garments, furs, railroad equipment and bus line vehicles. Many of these industries are concentrated in upstate regions. Albany and the Hudson Valley are major centers of nanotechnology and microchip manufacturing, while the Rochester area is important in photographic equipment and imaging.

New York is a major agricultural producer, ranking among the top five states for agricultural products such as dairy, apples, cherries, cabbage, potatoes, onions, maple syrup and many others. The state is the largest producer of cabbage in the U.S. The state has about a quarter of its land in farms and produced US$3.4 billion in agricultural products in 2001. The south shore of Lake Ontario provides the right mix of soils and microclimate for many apple, cherry, plum, pear and peach orchards. Apples are also grown in the Hudson Valley and near Lake Champlain.

New York is the nation's third-largest grape-producing state, behind California, and second-largest wine producer by volume. The south shore of Lake Erie and the southern Finger Lakes hillsides have many vineyards. In addition, the North Fork of Long Island developed vineyards, production and visitors' facilities in the last three decades of the 20th century. In 2004, New York's wine and grape industry brought US$6 billion into the state economy.

The state has of vineyards, 212 wineries, and produced 200 million bottles of wine in 2004. A moderately sized saltwater commercial fishery is located along the Atlantic side of Long Island. The principal catches by value are clams, lobsters, squid, and flounder. These areas of the economy have been increasing as environmental protection has led to an increase in ocean wildlife.

As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate was 8.8%.

Transportation

New York has one of the most extensive and one of the oldest transportation infrastructures in the country. Engineering difficulties because of the terrain of the state and the unique issues of the city brought on by urban crowding have had to be overcome since the state was young. Population expansion of the state generally followed the path of the early waterways, first the Hudson River and then the Erie Canal. Today, railroad lines and the New York State Thruway follow the same general route. The New York State Department of Transportation is often criticized for how they maintain the roads of the state in certain areas and for the fact that the tolls collected along the roadway have long passed their original purpose. Until 2006, tolls were collected on the Thruway within The City of Buffalo. They were dropped late in 2006 during the campaign for Governor (both candidates called for their removal).

In addition to New York City's famous mass transit subway, four suburban commuter railroad systems enter and leave the city: the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, Port Authority Trans-Hudson, and five of New Jersey Transit's rail lines. Many other cities have urban and regional public transportation. In Buffalo, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority runs the Buffalo Metro Rail light-rail system; in Rochester, the Rochester Subway operated from 1927 until 1956 but has fallen into disuse.

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (NYSDMV or DMV) is the governmental agency responsible for registering and inspecting automobiles and other motor vehicles as well as licensing drivers in the State of New York. As of 2008, the NYSDMV has 11,284,546 drivers licenses on file and 10,697,644 vehicle registrations in force. All gasoline powered vehicles registered in New York State must get an emissions inspection every 12 months. Diesel powered vehicles with a Gross Weight Rating over 8 500 lb that are registered in the NY Metropolitan Area must get an annual emissions inspection. All vehicles registered in NYS must get an annual safety inspection.

Portions of the transportation system are intermodal, allowing travelers to easily switch from one mode of transportation to another. One of the most notable examples is AirTrain JFK which allows rail passengers to travel directly to terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In May 2009, the New York City Department of Transportation under the control of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan banned cars from Times Square in a move designed to improve traffic flow and reduce pollution and pedestrian accidents. On February 11, 2010, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the pedestrian plazas would remain permanent.

Politics and government

Under its present constitution (adopted in 1938), New York is governed by the same three branches that govern all fifty states of the United States: the executive branch, consisting of the Governor of New York and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch, consisting of the bicameral New York State Legislature (senate and assembly); and the judicial branch, consisting of the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, and lower courts. The state has two U.S. senators, 29 members in the United States House of Representatives, and 31 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a drop from its 47 votes during the 1940s).

New York's capital is Albany. The state's subordinate political units are its 62 counties. Other officially incorporated governmental units are towns, cities, and villages. New York has more than 4,200 local governments that take one of these forms. About 52% of all revenue raised by local governments in the state is raised solely by the government of New York City, which is the largest municipal government in the United States, whereas New York City houses only 42% of the state population.

The state has a strong imbalance of payments with the federal government. New York State receives 82 cents in services for every $1 it sends in taxes to the federal government in Washington. The state ranks near the bottom, in 42nd place, in federal spending per tax dollar.

Many of New York's public services are carried out by public benefit corporations, frequently called ''authorities'' or ''development corporations''. Well known public benefit corporations in New York include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees New York City's public transportation system, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a bi-state transportation infrastructure agency.

New York's legal system is explicitly based upon English common Law.

Federal representation

As of the 2000 census and the redistricting for the 2002 elections, the state has 29 members in the United States House of Representatives, and two U.S. senators. Two seats in the House will be lost in 2013 due to a decline in the state's rate of population growth. New York has 31 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a drop from its 47 votes during the 1940s).

New York is represented by Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in the United States Senate and has 29 representatives to the United States House of Representatives, behind California's 53 congressional districts and Texas' 32 congressional districts.

Capital punishment

Capital punishment was reintroduced in 1995 under the Pataki administration but the statute was declared unconstitutional in 2004, when the New York Court of Appeals ruled in ''People v. LaValle'' that it violated the state constitution. The remaining death sentence was commuted by the court to life imprisonment in 2007, in ''People v. John Taylor'', and the death row was disestablished in 2008, under executive order from Governor Paterson. No execution has taken place in New York since 1963. Legislative efforts to amend the statute have failed, and death sentences are no longer sought at the state level, though certain crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government are subject to the federal death penalty.

Politics

In the last few decades, New York State has generally supported candidates belonging to the Democratic Party in national elections. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won New York State by 25 percentage points in 2008, a bigger margin than John Kerry in 2004. New York City is a major Democratic stronghold with liberal politics. Many of the state's other urban areas, such as Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse are also Democratic. Rural upstate New York, however, is generally more conservative than the cities and tends to favor Republicans. Heavily populated Suburban areas such as Westchester County and Long Island have swung between the major parties over the past 25 years, but more often than not support Democrats.

Same-sex marriages in New York were legalized on June 24, 2011 and were authorized to take place beginning 30 days thereafter.

New York City is the most important source of political fund-raising in the United States for both major parties. Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Education

The University of the State of New York oversees all public primary, middle-level, and secondary education in the state, while the New York City Department of Education manages the public school system in New York City. In 1894, reflecting general racial discrimination, the state passed a law that allowed communities to set up schools for children of African-American descent. In 1900, the state passed another law requiring integrated schools.

At the post-secondary level, the statewide public university system is the State University of New York commonly refereed to as SUNY. New York City also has its own City University of New York which is additionally funded by the city. The SUNY system consists of 64 community colleges, technical colleges, undergraduate colleges and universities. The four university centers are University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University.

In addition there are many notable private universities, including the oldest Catholic institution in the Northeast, Fordham University. New York is home to both Columbia University in New York City and Cornell University in Ithaca, making it the only state to contain more than one Ivy League school. Syracuse University is located in the City of Syracuse in Central New York. West Point, the service academy of the U.S. Army is located just south of Newburgh, on the banks of the Hudson River.

During the 2007–2008 school year, New York spent more per pupil on public education than any other state.

Sports

New York hosted the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. The 1980 Games are known for the USA–USSR hockey game dubbed the "Miracle on Ice" in which a group of American college students and amateurs defeated the heavily favored Soviet national ice hockey team 4–3 and went on to win the gold medal against Finland. Along with St. Moritz, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria, Lake Placid is one of the three cities to have hosted the Winter Olympic Games twice. New York City bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics but lost to London.

New York is the home of one National Football League team, the Buffalo Bills (based in the suburb of Orchard Park). Although the New York Giants and New York Jets represent the New York metropolitan area and were previously located in New York City, they play in MetLife Stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Meadowlands stadium will host Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. There has been much controversy over several proposals for a new New York Jets football stadium. The owners of the New York Jets were willing to split the $1.5 billion cost of building a new football stadium over Manhattan's West Side rail yards, but the proposal never came to fruition.

New York also has two Major League Baseball teams, the New York Yankees (based in the Bronx) and the New York Mets (based in Queens). New York is home to three National Hockey League franchises: the New York Rangers in Manhattan, the New York Islanders on Long Island and the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo. New York has a National Basketball Association team, the New York Knicks, in Manhattan. The former New York Nets from 1968 to 1977 is now titled as a New Jersey team; however, plans to relocate to New York City are in the works. There are a variety of minor league teams that can be found all through the State of New York, such as the Long Island Ducks.

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width: 43em;" |- ! colspan=3 | List of all New York State professional sports teams |- !Club !Sport !League |- |Buffalo Bills |Football |National Football League |- |New York Red Bulls |Soccer |Major League Soccer |- |New York Knicks |Basketball |National Basketball Association |- |New York Liberty |Basketball |Women's National Basketball Association |- |Rochester Raging Rhinos |Soccer |USL First Division |- |Buffalo Sabres |Ice hockey |National Hockey League |- |New York Islanders |Ice Hockey |National Hockey League |- |New York Rangers |Ice Hockey |National Hockey League |- |Adirondack Phantoms |Ice Hockey |American Hockey League |- |Albany River Rats |Ice Hockey |American Hockey League |- |Binghamton Senators |Ice Hockey |American Hockey League |- |Elmira Jackals |Ice Hockey |ECHL |- |Rochester Americans |Ice Hockey |American Hockey League |- |Syracuse Crunch |Ice Hockey |American Hockey League |- |New York Mets |Baseball |National League |- |New York Yankees |Baseball |American League |- |Brooklyn Cyclones |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Staten Island Yankees |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Jamestown Jammers |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Batavia Muckdogs |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Auburn Doubledays |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Oneonta Tigers |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Tri-City Valley Cats |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Hudson Valley Renegades |Baseball |New York – Penn League |- |Binghamton Mets |Baseball |Eastern League |- |Buffalo Bisons |Baseball |International League |- |Rochester Red Wings |Baseball |International League |- |Syracuse Chiefs |Baseball |International League |- |Long Island Ducks |Baseball |Atlantic League of Professional Baseball |- |New York Dragons |Arena football |Arena Football League |- |Albany Conquest |Arena football |af2 |- |Long Island Lizards |Lacrosse |Major League Lacrosse |- |Rochester Rattlers |Lacrosse |Major League Lacrosse |- |Buffalo Bandits |Lacrosse |National Lacrosse League |- |Rochester Knighthawks |Lacrosse |National Lacrosse League |- |New York Titans |Lacrosse |National Lacrosse League |- |Brooklyn Wonders |Basketball |American Basketball Association |- |Buffalo Silverbacks |Basketball |American Basketball Association |- |Rochester Razorsharks |Basketball |American Basketball Association |- |Strong Island Sound |Basketball |American Basketball Association |- |Albany Patroons |Basketball |Continental Basketball Association |- |New York |Gaelic football |Gaelic Athletic Association |- |New York |hurling |Gaelic Athletic Association |}

See also

List of New York state symbols

List of people from New York

List of places in New York

National Register of Historic Places listings in New York

USS New York

References

Further reading

External links

General Government

State Government website

Governor

New York State Senate

New York State Assembly

New York State Unified Court System

Constitution of New York (or see 15px Wikisource)

Tourism and recreation

I ♥ New York

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation

Culture and history

New York State Historical Association

New York State Cultural Education Center

New York State Guide from the Library of Congress

Over 350 Photos of Old New York City (1890–1990)

Maps and Demographics

USGS geographic resources of New York

New York State Climate Office (NOAA and Cornell University)

New York State Fact Sheet

2000 Census of Population and Housing for New York, U.S. Census Bureau

OPENCities Monitor participant

Category:Former British colonies Category:States of the United States

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
county	Tompkins County| map Tompkins County, New York Divisions.PNG
state	New York
seal	Tompkins County ny seal.png
founded	1817
seat	Ithaca
area total sq mi	476
area land sq mi	460
area water sq mi	16
area percentage	3.17%
census yr	2010
pop	101564
density km2	85.2
web	www.tompkins-co.org

Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and comprises the whole of the Ithaca metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,564. The county seat is Ithaca, and the county is home to Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States of America.

History

When counties were established in the British Province of New York in 1683, the present Tompkins County was part of Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. This county was reduced in size on July 3, 1766 by the creation of Cumberland County, and further on March 16, 1770 by the creation of Gloucester County, both containing territory now in Vermont.

On March 12, 1772, what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. One of the other pieces, Tryon County, contained the western portion (and thus, since no western boundary was specified, theoretically still extended west to the Pacific). The eastern boundary of Tryon County was approximately five miles west of the present city of Schenectady, and the county included the western part of the Adirondack Mountains and the area west of the West Branch of the Delaware River. The area then designated as Tryon County now includes 37 counties of New York State. The county was named for William Tryon, colonial governor of New York.

In the years prior to 1776, most of the Loyalists in Tryon County fled to Canada. In 1784, following the peace treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, the name of Tryon County was changed to Montgomery County in honor of the general, Richard Montgomery, who had captured several places in Canada and died attempting to capture the city of Quebec, replacing the name of the hated British governor.

In 1789, Montgomery County was reduced in size by the splitting off of Ontario County. The actual area split off from Montgomery County was much larger than the present county, also including the present Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Steuben, Wyoming, Yates, and part of Schuyler and Wayne Counties.

Herkimer County was one of three counties split off from Montgomery County (the others being Otsego and Tioga Counties) in 1791.

Onondaga County was formed in 1794 by the splitting of Herkimer County.

Cayuga County was formed in 1799 by the splitting of Onondaga County. This county was, however, much larger than the present Cayuga County. It then included the present Seneca and Tompkins Counties.

In 1804, Seneca County was formed by the splitting of Cayuga County.

On April 7th, 1817, Tompkins County was created by combining portions of Seneca and the remainder of Cayuga County. Named after then Vice-President (to President James Monroe) and former New York Governor Daniel Tompkins. Tompkins almost certainly never visited the county named for him.

In 1854, the county lost the town of Hector and the west line of lots in Newfield to the newly-formed Schuyler County, New York.

Government and politics

In February 2008, Tompkins County was the only county in New York State in which Senator Barack Obama beat Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. In the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, Obama carried the county by a huge 41% margin over John McCain, with Obama winning by 25.5% statewide. It was his highest percentage by county in Upstate New York. Tompkins County is the most Democratic county in New York State outside New York City. Tompkins County is governed by a 15 member legislature. Members are elected from single member districts.

Geography

Tompkins County is in the west central part of New York State, south of Syracuse and northwest of Binghamton. It is usually geographically grouped with the Central New York region, but some locals consider themselves to be part of the Southern Tier.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 492 square miles (1,273 km²), of which 476 square miles (1,233 km²) is land and 16 square miles (40 km²) (3.17%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Cayuga County - north

Cortland County - east

Tioga County - south

Chemung County - southwest

Schuyler County - west

Seneca County - northwest

Major highways

Demographics

In 2010, the population was 101,564.

As of the census of 2000, there were 96,501 people, 36,420 households, and 19,120 families residing in the county. The population density was 203 people per square mile (78/km²). There were 38,625 housing units at an average density of 81 per square mile (31/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.50% White, 3.64% African American, 0.28% Native American, 7.19% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.09% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.08% of the population. 12.4% were of German, 11.7% English, 11.1% Irish, 9.2% Italian and 6.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000 . 2.85% of the population reported speaking Spanish at home, while 1.86% speak Chinese, 1.07% Korean, and 1.00% French.

There were 36,420 households out of which 25.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.20% were married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.50% were non-families. 32.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.00% under the age of 18, 26.00% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 19.30% from 45 to 64, and 9.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 97.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,272, and the median income for a family was $53,041. Males had a median income of $35,420 versus $27,686 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,659. About 6.80% of families and 17.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.00% of those under age 18 and 5.40% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets

Town of Caroline, containing

*Brooktondale

*Caroline Center

*Caroline Depot

*Slaterville

*Slaterville Springs

*Speedsville

Town of Danby, containing

*Danby

*West Danby

Town of Dryden, containing

*Village of Dryden

*Village of Freeville

*Etna

*Varna

*West Dryden

Town of Enfield

Town of Groton, containing

*Village of Groton

City of Ithaca

Town of Ithaca, containing

*Village of Cayuga Heights

*East Ithaca

*Forest Home

*Northeast Ithaca

*Northwest Ithaca

*South Hill

Town of Lansing

*Village of Lansing

Town of Newfield, containing

*Newfield Hamlet

Town of Ulysses, containing

*Hamlet of Podunk

*Village of Trumansburg

Colleges and Universities in county

Cornell University

Ithaca College

Tompkins-Cortland Community College

See also

List of counties in New York

National Register of Historic Places listings in Tompkins County, New York

External links

Tompkins County, NY official site

Weather forecast for Tompkins County

Tompkins County, NY Trip Planner (bus)

Official brief history of Tompkins County by Carol Kammen, Tompkins County Historian

Historical summary of Tompkins County

Tompkins County Historical Aerial Photographs of New York , Cornell University Library & Cornell Institute for Resource Information Sciences

References

Jane M. Dieckmann, A Short History of Tompkins County (Ithaca, 1986)

W. Glenn Norris, The Origin of Place Names in Tompkins County (Ithaca, 1951)

The Towns of Tompkins County, Jane M. Dieckmann ed., (Ithaca, 1998)

Category:1817 establishments in the United States Category:Populated places established in 1817

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Name	Ithaca
Settlement type	City
Map caption	Location in New York
Coordinates region	US-NY
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision type1	US state
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision name1	New York
Subdivision name2	Tompkins
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Carolyn K. Peterson (D)
Leader title1	Common Council
Leader name1
Established title	Founded
Established title2	Incorporated
Established date	1790
Established date2	1888
Area magnitude	1 E8
Area total km2	15.7
Area total sq mi	6.1
Area land km2	14.1
Area land sq mi	5.5
Area water km2	1.6
Area water sq mi	0.6
Population as of	2010
Population total	30014 (city proper)
Population metro	101,564
Population density km2	2071.0
Population blank1 title	Demonym
Population blank1	Ithacan
Timezone	EST
Utc offset	−5
Timezone dst	EDT
Utc offset dst	−4
Area code	607
Latitude	42° 26' 36'' N
Longitude	76° 30' 0'' W
Coordinates display	displayinline,title
Elevation m	136
Website	www.cityofithaca.org
Footnotes	}}

The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area (which also contains the separate municipalities of the town of Ithaca, the village of Cayuga Heights, the village of Lansing and other towns and villages in Tompkins County). The city of Ithaca sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York. It is named for the Greek island of Ithaca,

Ithaca is best known for being home to Cornell University, an Ivy League school of over 20,000 students (most of whom study on Cornell’s Ithaca campus). Ithaca College is located just south of the city in the town of Ithaca, adding to Ithaca’s “college town” focus and atmosphere. Nearby is Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3). These three colleges influence Ithaca's seasonal population. In 2010, the city's population was 30,014, and the metropolitan area had a population of 101,564.

Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca is the North American seat of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.

History

Early history

The inhabitants of the Ithaca area at the time Europeans began arriving were the Saponi and Tutelo Indians, dependent tribes of the Cayuga Indians who formed part of the Iroquois confederation. These tribes had been allowed to settle on Cayuga-controlled hunting lands at the south end of Cayuga Lake as well as in Pony (originally Sapony) Hollow of Newfield, New York, after being forced from North Carolina by European invasion. They were driven from the area by the Sullivan Expedition which destroyed the Tutelo village of Coregonal, located near the junction of state routes 13 and 13A just south of the Ithaca city limits. Indian presence in the current City of Ithaca was limited to a temporary hunting camp at the base of Cascadilla Gorge. The destruction of Iroquois confederation power opened the region to settlement by people of European origin, a process which began in 1789. In 1790, an official program began for distributing land in the area as a reward for service to the American soldiers of the Revolutionary War; most local land titles trace back to the Revolutionary war grants. Lots were drawn in 1791; informal settlement had already started.

Partition of the Military Tract

As part of this process, the Central New York Military Tract, which included northern Tompkins County, was surveyed by Simeon DeWitt. His clerk Robert Harpur had a fondness for ancient Greek and Roman history as well as English authors and philosophers (as evidenced by the nearby townships of Dryden and Locke). The Commissioners of Lands of New York State (chairman Gov. George Clinton) followed Harpur's recommendations at a meeting in 1790. The Military Tract township in which proto-Ithaca was located he named the Town of Ulysses, the Latin form of the Greek Odysseus from Homer's Odyssey. A few years later DeWitt moved to Ithaca, then called variously "The Flats," "The City," or "Sodom," and named it for the Greek island home of Ulysses (still the surrounding township at the time — nowadays Ulysses is a separate town in Tompkins County). Contrary to popular myth, DeWitt did not name many of the classical references found in Upstate New York such as Syracuse and Troy; these were from the general classical fervor of the times.

The growth of Ithaca, village and city

In the 1820s and 1830, Ithaca held high hopes of becoming a major city when the primitive Ithaca and Owego Railway was completed in 1832 to connect the Erie Canal navigation with the Susquehanna River to the south. In 1821, the village set itself off by incorporation at the same time the Town of Ithaca parted with the parent town of Ulysses. These hopes survived the depression of 1837 when the railroad was re-organized as the Cayuga & Susquehanna and re-engineered with switchbacks in the late 1840s; much of this route is now used by the South Hill Recreation Way. However, easier routes soon became available, such as the Syracuse, Binghamton & New York (1854). In the decade following the Civil War railroads were built from Ithaca to all surrounding points (Geneva, New York; Cayuga, New York; Cortland, New York; Elmira, New York; Athens, Pennsylvania) mainly with financing from Ezra Cornell; however, the geography of the city has always prevented it from lying on a major transportation artery. Nevertheless, the village of Ithaca became a chartered city in 1887. When the Lehigh Valley Railroad built its main line from Pennsylvania to Buffalo in 1890 it bypassed Ithaca (running via eastern Schuyler County on easier grades), as the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad had done in the 1850s. Ithaca became a city in 1888 and remained a small manufacturing and retail center until the recent education boom. In 1891, the Rev. John M. Scott and a local druggist, Chester Platt, invented the ice cream sundae in Ithaca, though other cities, such as Two Rivers, Wisconsin, make the same claim.

Local industry

Ithaca was nationally known for the Ithaca Gun Company, makers of highly-valued shotguns, and the Ithaca Calendar Clock Company. The largest industrial company (and associated building) in the area was Morse Chain, elements of which were absorbed into Emerson Power Transmission on South Hill and Borg Warner Automotive in Lansing, New York. In the post-World War II decades, National Cash Register and the Langmuir Research Labs of General Electric were also major employers.

Food

Ithaca is also known for its relatively high number of restaurants per capita. Claims have been made for the origin of the ice cream Sundae in Ithaca in 1892. Ithaca has many local and chain restaurants both in the city and town with a range of ethnic foods. The Ithaca Farmers Market also provides a range of foods.

Higher education

Cornell University was founded by Ezra Cornell in 1865. It was opened as a coeducational institution, which was extremely unusual at the time; women first enrolled in 1870. Ezra Cornell also established a public library for the city. Cornell University has cross-enrollment with the private colleges of Ithaca College on South Hill and with Wells College in Aurora, New York. Ithaca College was founded as the Ithaca Conservatory of Music in 1892. Ithaca College was originally located in the Downtown, but due to the lack of space, it was relocated to South Hill in the 1960s.

The film industry

During the early 20th century, Ithaca was an important center in the silent film industry. The most common type of film produced was the cliffhanger serial. These films often featured the local natural scenery. Many of these films were the work of Leopold Wharton and his brother Theodore Wharton in their studio on the site of what is now Stewart Park. Eventually the film industry centralized in Hollywood, which offered the possibility of year-round filming, and film production in Ithaca effectively ceased. Few of the silent films made in Ithaca are preserved today.

Geography and climate

The valley in which Cayuga Lake is located is long and narrow with a north-south orientation. Ithaca is at the southern end (the "head") of the lake, but the valley continues to the southwest behind the city. Originally a river valley, it was deepened and widened by the action of Pleistocene ice sheets over the last several hundred thousand years. The lake, which drains to the north, formed behind a dam of glacial moraine. The rock is predominantly Devonian and, north of Ithaca, is relatively fossil rich. Glacial erratics can be found in the area. The world-renowned fossils found in this area can be examined at the Museum of the Earth.

Ithaca was founded on flat land just south of the lake — land that formed in fairly recent geological times when silt filled the southern end of the lake. The city ultimately spread to the adjacent hillsides, which rise several hundred feet above the central flats: East Hill, West Hill, and South Hill. Its sides are fairly steep, and a number of the streams that flow into the valley from east or west have cut deep canyons, usually with several waterfalls.

Ithaca experiences a moderate continental climate, with cold, snowy winters and sometimes hot and humid summers. The valley flatland has slightly milder weather in winter, and occasionally Ithacans experience simultaneous snow on the hills and rain in the valley. The phenomenon of mixed precipitation (rain, wind, and snow), common in the late fall and early spring, is known tongue-in-cheek as ''ithacation'' to many of the local residents.

The natural vegetation of the Ithaca area, seen in areas unbuilt and unfarmed, is northern temperate broadleaf forest, dominated by deciduous trees.

Due to the microclimates created by the impact of the lakes, the region surrounding Ithaca (Finger Lakes American Viticultural Area) experiences a short but adequate growing season for winemaking. As such the region is home to many wineries.

Education

Ithaca is a major educational center in Central New York. The city is home to Ithaca College, situated on South Hill, and Cornell University which overlooks the town from East Hill. The student population is very high as there are currently more than 20,000 students enrolled at Cornell, with an additional 6,300 students at Ithaca College. Tompkins Cortland Community College is located in the neighboring town of Dryden, New York, and has an extension center in downtown Ithaca. Empire State College offers non-traditional college courses to adults in downtown Ithaca.

The Ithaca City School District, which encompasses Ithaca and the surrounding area, enrolls about 5,500 K-12 students in eight elementary schools, two middle schools, Ithaca High School, and the Lehman Alternative Community School, which provides its students wide-ranging freedom to choose their own curriculum. There are also several private elementary and secondary schools in the Ithaca area, including Immaculate Conception School, the Cascadilla School, and New Roots Charter School. New Roots is a small charter school of approximately 175 students, 225 at full enrollment featuring small class sizes, mentoring relationships with faculty, and a Farm to School meal program. The school has a cross-disciplinary, experience-based, “whole Earth community” curriculum and is located in the Clinton House on N. Cayuga St across from the Ithaca Commons.

Economy

The economy of Ithaca is based on education and manufacturing with high tech and tourism in strong supporting roles. As of 2006, Ithaca remains one of the few expanding economies in economically troubled New York State outside of New York City, and draws commuters from the neighboring rural counties of Cortland, Tioga, and Schuyler, as well as from the more urbanized Chemung County.

With some level of success, Ithaca has tried to maintain a traditional downtown shopping area that includes the Ithaca Commons pedestrian mall and Center Ithaca, a small mixed-use complex built at the end of the urban renewal era. Some in the community regret that downtown has lost vitality to two expanding commercial zones to the northeast and southwest of the old city. These areas contain an increasing number of large retail stores and restaurants run by national chains. Others say the chain stores boost local shopping options for residents considerably, many of whom would have previously shopped elsewhere, while increasing sales tax revenue for the city and county. Still others note that the stores, restaurants, and businesses that remain in downtown are not necessarily in direct competition with the larger chain stores. The tradeoff between sprawl and economic development continues to be debated throughout the city and the surrounding area. (Another commercial center, Collegetown, is located next to the Cornell campus. It features a number of restaurants, shops, and bars, and an increasing number of high rise apartments and is primarily frequented by Cornell University students.)

Ithaca has many of the businesses characteristic of small American university towns: used bookstores, art house cinemas, craft stores, and vegetarian restaurants. The collective Moosewood Restaurant, founded in 1973, was the wellspring for a number of vegetarian cookbooks; Bon Appetit magazine ranked it among the thirteen most influential restaurants of the 20th century.

Culture

Ithacans support the Ithaca Farmers Market, professional theaters (Kitchen Theatre, Hangar Theatre, Icarus Theatre), a civic orchestra, much parkland, the Sciencenter, a hands-on science museum for people of all ages, an independent movie theater (Cinemapolis), and the Museum of the Earth. Ithaca is noted for its annual artistic celebration of community: The Ithaca Festival (and its parade), the Circus Eccentrithaca. The Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts provides grants and Summer Fellowships at the Saltonstall Arts Colony for New York State artists and writers. Ithaca also hosts what is described as the third-largest used-book sale in the United States. Other festivals occur annually, with music and food. These include The Apple Festival in the fall, with many different varieties of apples and apple products; Chili Fest in February, a local contest involving many local restaurants who compete to make the best chili in several different categories; the Finger Lakes International Dragon Boat Festival in July.

In June 2008, local peace activist Trevor Dougherty led almost 6,000 members of the Ithaca community in forming a giant human peace sign. This event took part during the Ithaca Festival, making Ithaca the unofficial home of the world's largest human peace sign.

In August, Women's Swimmin' has a swim across Cayuga Lake to raise money for Hospicare.

Ithaca has also pioneered the Ithaca Health Fund, a popular cooperative health insurance. Ithaca is also home to one of the United States' first local currency systems, Ithaca Hours, developed by Paul Glover (building on the pioneering work of Ralph Borsodi and Robert Swann).

Music and musicians

Ithaca is known for its resident musicians, who contribute to a music scene which is unusually talented and diverse for such a small town. These musicians have come from many backgrounds to pursue their careers in Ithaca; the School of Music at Ithaca College attracts talented musicians, some of whom remain in Ithaca after graduating and take up work as performing musicians or in the sound engineering field. Ithaca is the seat of the ''Official Orchestra of the City of Ithaca'', commonly known under the name Cayuga Chamber Orchestra.

Several notable musicians have relocated from other countries to Ithaca in order to begin their careers, most notably Samite of Uganda, Mamadou Diabaté of Mali and Malang Jobateh of Senegal. Other regionally, nationally and internationally known performers and musical groups that call Ithaca home include: Donna the Buffalo, The Burns Sisters, jazz cellist Hank Roberts, Johnny Dowd, Jimkata, John Brown's Body, Ayurveda, The Gunpoets, The Sim Redmond Band, Nate & Kate, The Horse Flies, Technicolor Trailer Park, Mike Brindisi & The New York Rock, Who You Are, Willie B, and Kevin Kinsella. Traditional folk music is a staple and is featured weekly on North America's longest running live folk concert broadcast WVBR 93.5 FM's Bound for Glory.

In the nearby village of Trumansburg, the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance is held every third week in July. Initiated as a benefit for Aids research at the State Theater in Ithaca by the band Donna the Buffalo, it has successfully occurred every year for the past 18 years. The Grassroots Festival has brought hundreds and hundreds of bands through the region, further enriching the local musical palate with every new introduction of musical style and culture. Several local bands call it home as either a figurative birthplace or a nurturing environment within which to develop new forms of music. Other notable local music festivals include the Ithaca Festival, Musefest, the Summertime Block Party, the Juneteenth Celebration and Rock the Arts.

Ithaca is also home to an Underground Music scene known as Ithaca Underground. This music scene is a non-commercial, DIY scene that focuses on genres of music outside the pop music mainstream(s), including genres that many people would consider unlistenable. All Ithaca Underground shows are all ages shows and book both local and national bands that focus on these music genres.

Media

The dominant local newspaper in Ithaca is a morning daily, The ''Ithaca Journal'', founded 1815. The paper is owned by Gannett, Inc., publishers of ''USA Today''. The alternative weekly newspaper ''Ithaca Times'' is distributed free of charge. Other area publications include ''Tompkins Weekly'', the ''Ithaca Community News'', ''14850 Magazine'', the ''Cornell Daily Sun'', the ''Ithacan'', and the ''Tattler''. (The latter three are run by student staffs at Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Ithaca High School, respectively.)

Ithaca is also home to several radio stations. WVBR 93.5 FM is associated with Cornell University in the sense that it is owned and predominantly staffed by an association composed of enrolled Cornell students; but it is an independent, financially self-supporting commercial station in the rock format playing a mix of modern and classic rock during the week and specialty shows on the weekend. WICB 91.7 FM is an award-winning, non-commercial, student-run station owned by Ithaca College. The Cayuga Radio Group, a subsidiary of Saga Communications, Inc., owns country WQNY "Q-Country" 103.7 FM, WYXL "Lite Rock" 97.3 FM, news/talk WHCU 870 AM, progressive talk WNYY 1470 AM, as well as classic rock "I-100" WIII 99.9 FM, with its main transmitter in Cortland and a repeating station at 100.3 FM in Ithaca. Saga also has lower-powered "translator" stations "Hits 103.3" and "98.7 The Vine" on the FM dial. WFIZ "Z95.5" is also in the area, broadcasting a top-40, CHR format. Classic rock "The Wall" WLLW 99.3 and 96.3, based in Seneca Falls, has a transmitter in Ithaca. There is also NPR and classical programming available on WSQG 90.9 FM, NPR/college programming on WEOS repeater 88.1 FM, and Christian music and talk Family Life Network on 88.9 FM.

Politics

Politically, the city's population has a significant tilt toward liberalism and the Democratic Party. A November, 2004 study by ePodunk lists it as New York's most liberal town. This contrasts with the more conservative leanings of the surrounding Upstate New York region, and is also somewhat more liberal than the rest of Tompkins County. In 1988 Jesse Jackson received the most votes in Ithaca in the Democratic Presidential primary. In 2000 Ralph Nader received more votes for President than George W. Bush in the City of Ithaca, and 11% county-wide. In 2008, Barack Obama, running against New York State's Senator Hillary Clinton, won Tompkins County in the Democratic Presidential Primary, the only county that he won in New York State. Obama went on to win Tompkins County (including Ithaca) by a wide margin of 41% over his opponent John McCain in the November 2008 election.

Local government

The name Ithaca designates two governmental entities in the area, the Town of Ithaca and the City of Ithaca.

The Town of Ithaca is one of the nine towns comprised by Tompkins County. (Towns in New York are something like townships in other states; every county outside New York City is subdivided into towns.) The City of Ithaca is surrounded by, but legally independent of, the Town. The Town of Ithaca contains the Village of Cayuga Heights, a small incorporated upper-middle class suburb located to the northeast of the City of Ithaca.

The City of Ithaca has a mayor-council government. The charter of the City of Ithaca provides for a full-time mayor and city judge, each independent and elected at large. Since 1995, the mayor has been elected to a four-year term, and since 1989, the city judge has been elected to a six-year term. Since 1983, the city has been divided into five wards, each electing two members to the city council, known as the Common Council, for staggered four-year terms.

The Town government consists of an executive, the Town Supervisor, elected to a four-year term, and a Town Council of five members also elected for terms of four years.

The majority of local property taxes are actually assessed by an entirely independent agency with entirely different borders, the Ithaca City School District.

City-Town consolidation

In December 2005, the City and Town governments began discussing opportunities for increased government consolidation, including the possibility of joining the two into a single entity. This topic had been previously discussed in 1963 and 1969.

The possibility of consolidation is controversial for Town residents who could be forced to pay higher taxes as they help shoulder the higher debt burden that the City has taken on. Some Town residents also worry that consolidation could lead to increased sprawl and traffic congestion. However, most of the Town's population is already concentrated in hamlets in proximity to the City's borders and Town residents take advantage of City amenities. Mayor Walter Lynn of the Village of Cayuga Heights (an affluent Ithaca suburb located in the Town) called consolidation discussion a "waste of time."

Gallery

Greater Ithaca

The term "Greater Ithaca" encompasses both the City and Town of Ithaca, as well as several smaller settled places within or adjacent to the Town: Municipalities

Village of Groton

Village of Lansing

the southern part of the Town of Lansing

Village of Cayuga Heights

Hamlet of Forest Home

Hamlet of South Hill

Census-designated places

East Ithaca

Northeast Ithaca

Northwest Ithaca

Demographics

[[File:Ithaca-Cortland CSA.png|thumb|right|300px|Location of the Ithaca-Cortland CSA and its components: ]]

Ithaca is the larger principal city of the Ithaca-Cortland CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Ithaca metropolitan area (Tompkins County) and the Cortland micropolitan area (Cortland County), which had a combined population of 145,100 at the 2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 29,287 people, 10,287 households, and 2,962 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,360.9 people per square mile (2,071.0/km²). There were 10,736 housing units at an average density of 1,965.2 per square mile (759.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.97% White, 6.71% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 13.65% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.86% from other races, and 3.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.31% of the population.

There were 10,287 households out of which 14.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 19.0% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 71.2% were non-families. 43.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the city the population was spread out with 9.2% under the age of 18, 53.8% from 18 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 10.6% from 45 to 64, and 6.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 102.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $21,441, and the median income for a family was $42,304. Males had a median income of $29,562 versus $27,828 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,408. About 13.2% of individuals and 4.2% of families were below the poverty line.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Ithaca is in the rural Finger Lakes region about 225 miles to the northwest of New York City; the nearest larger cities, Binghamton and Syracuse, are an hour's drive away by car, Rochester and Scranton are two hours, Buffalo is three.

Ithaca is served by Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, located about three miles to the northeast of the city center. US Airways Express offers flights to New York LaGuardia and its hub at Philadelphia using a mixture of small jets and propeller craft. Delta Air Lines provides thrice-daily jet service to its hub at Detroit Metro airport and Continental Connection offers three daily turboprop flights to Newark Liberty International Airport. Some residents choose to travel to Syracuse Hancock International Airport, Greater Binghamton Airport, Elmira-Corning Regional Airport or Greater Rochester International Airport for more airline service options.

Ithaca lies at over a half hour's drive from any interstate highway, and all car trips to Ithaca involve some driving on two-lane state rural highways. The city is at the convergence of many regional two-lane state highways: Routes 13, 13A, 34, 79, 89, 96, 96B, and 366. These are usually not congested except in Ithaca proper. There is frequent intercity bus service by Greyhound Lines, New York Trailways, and Shortline (Coach USA), particularly to Binghamton and New York City, with limited service to Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse, and (via connections in Binghamton) to Utica and Albany. The bus station serving all these companies is the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railway station on Meadow St. between W State and W Seneca streets, a little over half a mile west of downtown Ithaca.

Ithaca is the center of an extensive bus public transportation system — Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) — which carried 3.1 million passengers in 2005. TCAT was reorganized as a non-profit corporation in 2004 and is primarily supported locally by Cornell University, the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County. TCAT operates 39 routes, many running seven days a week. It has frequent service to downtown, Cornell, Ithaca College, and the Pyramid Mall in the neighboring Town of Lansing, but less frequent service to many residential and rural areas, including Trumansburg and Newfield. Chemung County Transit runs weekday commuter routes into Schuyler and Chemung counties, and Tioga County Public Transit runs weekday routes into neighboring Tioga, primarily to serve Cornell employees who prefer to live in these rural counties, or are forced to because of the high house prices near Ithaca.

GADABOUT Transportation Services, Inc. provides demand-response paratransit service for seniors over 60 and people with disabilities. Ithaca Dispatch provides local and regional taxi service. In addition, Ithaca Airline Limousine and IthaCar Service connect to the local airports.

In July 2008, a non-profit called Ithaca Carshare began a carsharing service in Ithaca. Ithaca Carshare has a fleet of 13 vehicles shared by over 850 members as of May 2010 and has become a popular service among both city residents and the college communities. Vehicles are located throughout Ithaca both downtown and at Cornell University and Ithaca College. With Ithaca Carshare as the first locally run carsharing organization in New York State, others have since launched in Buffalo and Syracuse.

Norfolk Southern freight trains reach Ithaca from Sayre, Pennsylvania, mainly to deliver coal to AES Cayuga, a coal power plant (known as Milliken Station during NYSEG ownership) and haul out salt from the Cargill salt mine, both on the east shore of Cayuga Lake. There is no passenger rail service, although from the 1870s through the 1950s there were trains to Buffalo via Geneva, New York; to New York City via Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (Lehigh Valley Railroad) and Scranton, Pennsylvania (DL&W;); to Auburn, New York; and to the US northeast via Cortland, New York; service to Buffalo and New York City lasted until 1961. The Lehigh Valley's top New York City-Ithaca-Buffalo passenger train, "The Black Diamond", was optimistically publicized as 'The Handsomest Train in the World', perhaps to compensate for its roundabout route to Buffalo. It was named after the railroad's largest commodity, anthracite coal.

Ithaca was the fourth community in New York state with a street railway; streetcars ran from 1887 to summer 1935.

As a growing urban area, Ithaca is facing steady increases in levels of vehicular traffic on the city grid and on the state highways. Outlying areas have limited bus service, and many people consider a car essential. However, others consider Ithaca a walkable and bikeable community. One positive trend for the health of downtown Ithaca is the new wave of increasing urban density in and around the Ithaca Commons. Because the downtown area is the region's central business district, dense mixed-use development that includes housing may increase the proportion of people who can walk to work and recreation, and mitigate the likely increased pressure on already busy roads as Ithaca grows. The downtown area is also the area best served by frequent public transportation. Still, traffic congestion around the Commons is likely to progressively increase.

Unlike most urbanized areas in the United States, Ithaca does not have direct access to the Interstate highway system. In 1968, it was proposed to convert Route 13 from Horseheads to Cortland through Ithaca into a limited access highway (it is currently such for three miles heading north from Ithaca), but the plan lost local and State support.

Other recent changes and trends

For decades, the Ithaca Gun Company tested their shotguns behind the plant on Lake Street; the shot fell into Fall Creek (a tributary of Cayuga Lake) right at the base of Ithaca Falls. A major clean-up effort sponsored by the United States Superfund took place from 2002 to 2004. After many years of debate and environmental concerns, the old Ithaca Gun building is currently being dismantled and is scheduled to be replaced by an apartment complex.

The former Morse Chain company factory on South Hill, now owned by Emerson Power Transmission, was the site of extensive groundwater and soil contamination. Emerson Power Transmission has been working with the state and South Hill residents to determine the extent and danger of the contamination and aid in cleanup.

Reputation

In addition to its liberal politics, Ithaca is commonly listed among the most culturally liberal of American small cities. The ''Utne Reader'' named Ithaca "America's most enlightened town" in 1997. According to ePodunk's Gay Index, Ithaca has a score of 231, versus a national average score of 100.

Like many small college towns, Ithaca has also received accolades for having a high overall quality of life. In 2004, ''Cities Ranked and Rated'' named Ithaca the best "emerging city" to live in the United States. In 2006, the Internet realty website "Relocate America" named Ithaca the fourth best city in the country to relocate to. In July 2006, Ithaca was listed as one of the "12 Hippest Hometowns for Vegetarians" by ''VegNews Magazine'' and chosen by ''Mother Earth News'' as one of the "12 Great Places You've Never Heard Of."

In its earliest years during frontier days, what is now Ithaca was briefly known by the names "The Flats" and "Sodom," the name of the Biblical city of sin, due to its reputation as a town of "notorious immorality", a place of horse racing, gambling, profanity, Sabbath breaking, and readily available liquor. These names did not last long; Simeon DeWitt renamed the town Ithaca in the early 19th century, though nearby Robert H. Treman State Park still contains Lucifer Falls.

Points of interest

Beebe Lake

Buttermilk Falls State Park

Carl Sagan's Grave

Cayuga Nature Center

Collegetown

Cornell University

:* Cornell Plantations :* Llenroc House :* F.R. Newman Arboretum :* Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

Finger Lakes Trail

Ithaca College

Ithaca Commons

Ithaca Farmers Market

Moosewood Restaurant

Paleontological Research Institution's Museum of the Earth

Robert H. Treman State Park

Sciencenter

Stewart Park

Taughannock Falls State Park

Ultimate Athletics MMA, "Home of Team Bombsquad"

For additional information about recreational trails see: Trails in Ithaca, New York.

Books set (at least partially) in Ithaca

''Lolita'' by Vladimir Nabokov (schoolgirl dialog captured on Ithaca city buses)

''Pnin'' by Vladimir Nabokov ('Waindell University' a portrait of Cornell)

''The War Between the Tates'' by Alison Lurie ('Corinth University', a thinly-disguised portrait of Cornell)

''Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me'' by Richard Fariña ('Mentor University', same as above)

''The Widening Stain'' by Morris Bishop

''The Names of the Dead'' by Stewart O'Nan

''Enchantment'' by Orson Scott Card (partially set in Ithaca and fictional nearby towns)

Various Kurt Vonnegut books have Ithaca references, most notably ''Player Piano'', ''Slaughterhouse-Five'', and ''Cat's Cradle''

''Fool on the Hill'' by Matt Ruff

''The Emigrants'' by W. G. Sebald

''The Alex Bernier Mysteries'' by Beth Saulnier takes place in a fictionalized Ithaca known as Gabriel

''We Were the Mulvaneys'' by Joyce Carol Oates

''Triphammer'' by Dan McCall

''Mailman'' by J. Robert Lennon takes place in a fictionalized Ithaca known as Nestor

''Z For Zachariah'' by Robert C. O'Brien

''Between Two Fires'' by Nicholas Nicastro describes scenes in and around the site of Ithaca during the Revolutionary War

''Water for Elephants'' by Sara Gruen (the main character, Jacob, was a Cornell University veterinary student)

Movies set or filmed (at least partially) in Ithaca

''Green Lights'' (2002) — dir. Robert H. Lieberman

''The Manhattan Project'' — dir. Marshall Brickman

''Road Trip'' (2000) — dir. Todd Phillips

''The Sure Thing'' (1985) — dir. Rob Reiner

''Waiting on Alphie'' (2005) — dir. Kevin Hicks

''Love Story'' (1970) — dir. Arthur Hiller

''The Three Stooges Meet Hercules'' (1962) – dir. Edward Bernds

See also The Whartons Studio for films shot in Ithaca prior to 1920.

Notable residents and natives

This list is abridged from

Josh Bard. MLB baseball catcher for the Washington Nationals

Hans Bethe, resident, physicist, Nobel Prize winner, Cornell Professor, head of theoretical division of the Manhattan Project

Dustin Brown, NHL player for the Los Angeles Kings

Johnny Dowd, resident, musician, poet, and co-founder of Zolar Trucking

Richard Feynman, resident, Nobel Prize winner, professor of physics

Greg Graffin, resident, lead singer of the seminal punk band Bad Religion and holds a Ph.D from Cornell University in Zoology. Graffin is currently a professor at UCLA.

Alex Haley, native, author of ''Roots: The Saga of an American Family'' and the ''Autobiography of Malcolm X''

Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize winner, American theoretical chemist

Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo, guitarist for band Gym Class Heroes

Max Maven, native, illusionist and actor (moved with his family to Boston during his youth)

Mary McDonnell, native, actor in ''Dances with Wolves'', ''Independence Day'', ''Battlestar Galactica'', and others

Vladimir Nabokov, resident, Cornell Professor, author (most famously of ''Lolita'')

Roy H. Park, resident, media executive, founder of Park Communications and the Park Foundation

Carl Sagan, resident, astronomer, Cornell Professor, popularizer of science, and author and host of ''Cosmos''

Rod Serling, resident (of nearby Interlaken, NY), Ithaca College Professor, screenwriter, creator and host of ''The Twilight Zone''

Steve Squyres, resident, astronomer, Cornell Professor, Principal Investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission

William H. Thomas (physician), Geriatrician, Novelist, Ashoka Fellow, Heinz Award winner, author of "What are Old People For?"

David Foster Wallace, native, novelist

E. B. White, resident, novelist, author of ''Charlotte's Web'' and co-author of ''The Elements of Style''

Paul Wolfowitz, native, academic, Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001–05), former President of the World Bank (2005–07)

See also

List of Registered Historic Places in New York

Alliance Gospel Tabernacle

References

External links

Official City Website

Ithaca Business and Website Directory

Ithaca Wiki @ Wikispot

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cayuga Lake level

Tompkins County Weather Forecast

Finger Lakes International Dragon Boat Festival

History of Ithaca railways

History and Remnants of the Ithaca trolley system

Ithaca Family Fun -an informational hub for things to do in the Ithaca Area

Category:Populated places established in 1790 Category:County seats in New York Category:Cities in New York Category:University towns in the United States Category:Populated places in Tompkins County, New York

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