New York Cosmos

Logo
Full name	New York Cosmos Cosmos (1977–78)
Nickname(s)	The Cosmos
Founded	4 February 1971[1]
Dissolved	1985
Stadium	See Stadium and supporters
League	North American Soccer League
Final season 1984	3rd in Eastern Division
Home colors Away colors

The New York Cosmos (pronounced /ˈkɒzmoʊs/; simply the Cosmos in 1977–1978) were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history. Founded in 1971, the team competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) until 1984 and was the strongest franchise in that league, both competitively and financially – based largely around its backing by Warner Communications President Steve Ross, which enabled it to sign internationally famous stars such as the Brazilian forward Pelé, Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia and the West German sweeper Franz Beckenbauer. The acquisition of these foreign players, particularly Pelé, made the Cosmos into what Gavin Newsham called "the most glamorous team in world football", and contributed to the development of soccer across the United States, a country where it had previously been largely ignored.

However, as the Cosmos declined following Pelé's retirement, so did the NASL. Attendances fell, the league's television deal was lost and it finally folded in 1984. Although the Cosmos attempted to operate as an independent team in the Major Indoor Soccer League, attendances were so low that the club withdrew without completing a season. The Cosmos folded, though the team's youth camps continued to operate under the Cosmos name and label, run by the franchise's former general manager, G. Peppe Pinton.

The Cosmos name remained very well known, even after it stopped competing. Numerous attempts were made to revive it during the 1990s and 2000s, most notably as a Major League Soccer (MLS) club. Seeking to retain the Cosmos' heritage, Pinton refused to sell the name and image rights, believing that MLS would not honor them. However, following a change of attitude by MLS towards the NASL's legacy and the revival of several former NASL names, Pinton sold the rights to an international, English-based consortium in August 2009. A new Cosmos team was announced a year later, in August 2010, by the group's honorary president, Pelé. The new team intends to become an MLS expansion franchise based in New York City.

History[link]

Creation and naming[link]

The club was founded in 1971 by brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun and Warner Brothers President Steve Ross. The team's first recruit was the English-born Clive Toye, a former sports writer who had moved to the United States in 1967 to become general manager of the short-lived Baltimore Bays; he was given the same post in New York. Toye sought to convey the new team's ambitions within its name, and reasoned that he could outdo the "Metropolitans" label referenced by the then-nine-year-old New York Mets baseball team by calling his team the "Cosmos", shortened from "Cosmopolitans". However, the Erteguns wished to use the name originally suggested by Nesuhi, the "New York Blues"; to ensure that his own chosen name was adopted, Toye staged a "name the team" contest, inviting supporters to write in with potential names. He then filed dozens of entries suggesting "Cosmos", one of which he chose as the winner. The day on which the name was officially unveiled, February 4, 1971, would later be adopted as the Cosmos' founding date.^[1][2][3]

North American Soccer League[link]

The New York Cosmos entered the 1968-founded North American Soccer League (NASL) in its fourth season, 1971. The first roster signing of the club was Gordon Bradley, an English professional who had moved to North America in 1963 and played for the New York Generals in 1968.^[4] He was made player-coach, a position he would hold until 1975.^[4] Bradley's team finished second in its division in its first year, playing at Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees baseball team. Randy Horton, from Bermuda, was named the league's Rookie of the Year after scoring 16 goals and 37 points, the most by any New York player.^[5][6] In 1972 the team moved to Hofstra Stadium where they won their first league title with a 2–1 victory over the St. Louis Stars. Horton was the league's top scorer and Most Valuable Player, with 9 goals and 22 points from the 14 regular-season games and two post-season matches.^[5] The Cosmos reached the play-offs once more in 1973, but were knocked out at the semi-final stage.^[7] Bradley coached the United States national team for six games during 1973 – picking himself in one, despite not being an American citizen – but lost them all.^[4][8][9] Before the 1974 season, the Cosmos moved again, settling at Downing Stadium. In their first year at their new base, they finished bottom of their division.^[7] Horton top scored for the Cosmos in every season before he was traded in 1975 to the Washington Diplomats.^[5]

Arrival of Pelé, and the Cosmos' peak[link]

Pele crying while Carlos Alberto consoles him, during his farewell from football in 1977.

It was during the 1975 season that the Cosmos acquired the Brazilian star Pelé, whom they had been attempting to sign since the team was created.^[10] Ross had apparently not heard of him before getting involved in soccer, but agreed to finance the transfer when Toye compared the Brazilian's popularity to that of the Pope. Pelé joined the Cosmos on June 10, 1975 on a salary of $1.4 million per year, an enormous wage for an athlete at that time. A number of contracts – only one of which mentioned soccer – were set up for Pelé to ensure that he paid the lowest amount of tax possible, including a position as "recording artist" with Warner subsidiary Atlantic Records. Toye later boasted: "We owned him lock, stock and barrel."^[11]

The Pelé deal was later described by Gavin Newsham, an English writer, as "the transfer coup of the century". His arrival turned the Cosmos from a "ragbag assembly of students, foreigners and part-timers" to a huge commercial presence. The club's groundsman, on hearing that the Brazilian's début for New York was to be broadcast on CBS, spray-painted the pitch green to disguise how little grass was on it: The match, against the Dallas Tornado, was broadcast to 22 countries and covered by more than 300 journalists from all over the world.^[11][12]

Although New York finished third at season end, it was still too low a placing to reach the post-season.^[7] Bradley was replaced for the 1976 season by another Englishman, Ken Furphy, who paired Pelé up front with Italian international forward Giorgio Chinaglia, a new arrival from S.S. Lazio. He had been so popular at Lazio that when his move to New York was announced, supporters "threatened to throw themselves beneath the wheels of the plane". By contrast to most of the overseas stars bought by NASL teams, Chinaglia was signed in his prime:^[11] He would play for the Cosmos for the rest of their history, scoring a record number of goals and points not only for the Cosmos, but for the entire league.^[7] He shared an unusual personal bond with the club's ultimate controller, Ross, and was therefore treated differently from the other players, including Pelé.^[11] Crowds rose with the arrival of these and other European and South American international players,^[7] resulting in a move back to Yankee Stadium for the 1976 season. With numerous foreign stars arriving at the Cosmos, the team's competitive performance improved, as New York reached the play-offs at the end of the season, but lost in the divisional championship match to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.^[7] The Cosmos relocated again before the 1977 season, to the newly constructed Giants Stadium in New Jersey, and at the same time dropped the prefix "New York" and played simply as "the Cosmos", without a geographical name. They would do so until 1979.^[7][13]

Bradley returned as coach for the 1977 season in place of the dismissed Furphy, but was removed after half of the season to become the club's vice-president of player personnel.^[4] South African-born former Italy international Eddie Firmani took his place.^[4] Pelé played his last professional match on October 1, 1977, in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium:^[11] In an exhibition match between New York and his former club Santos, Pelé appeared for both sides, playing one half for each. The Cosmos won the game 2–1.^[11] Pelé's compatriot, former Brazil captain Carlos Alberto was signed in 1977, at the same time as Franz Beckenbauer, who had captained the 1974 FIFA World Cup-winning West German national team. On the field, New York won three out of four championships, in 1977, 1978 and 1980. A playoff game against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1977 drew an American record crowd for a soccer game of 77,691.^[11] The team's average attendances, regularly over 40,000 during the late 1970s, were the biggest in the league;^[7] this helped it to become the league's "marquee club", both commercially and competitively.^[4] Firmani was fired in 1979; he claimed, after falling out with Chinaglia.^[14] His assistant, Ray Klivecka, replaced him, becoming the team's first American-born coach. He lasted a season before himself being replaced by Júlio Mazzei.^[15]

Decline of the Cosmos and the NASL[link]

After the retirement of Pelé in 1977, much of the progress that American soccer had made during his stay was lost; there was no star at the same level to replace him as the NASL's headline act.^[12] After enduring briefly during the late 1970s, attendances dropped after 1980. The sport's popularity fell and the media lost interest.^[12] The deal with broadcaster ABC to broadcast NASL matches was also lost in 1980, and the 1981 Soccer Bowl was only shown on tape delay.^[16] All of the franchises quickly became unprofitable, and a salary cap enforced before the 1984 season only delayed the inevitable.^[16] The league folded at the end of 1984, following the loss of most of its franchises.^[7][16][17]

The Cosmos had financial problems of their own, on top of those affecting the league in general. Much of the Cosmos' ability to attract the well-known overseas players it had acquired was due to the financial resources of parent company Warner Communications. In the early 1980s, Warner was the target of a hostile takeover bid by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch; although this attempt did not succeed, Warner sold off several of its assets, among them Atari and Global Soccer, Inc., the subsidiary that operated the Cosmos. Chinaglia bought Global Soccer, and thus controlled the team. His group did not have the capital necessary to keep all of the players signed on expensive contracts by Warner, which resulted in many of the stars being sold. The club won its last title in 1982, and by the last season of the NASL, 1984, had missed the play-offs for the first time since 1975.^[7] The precipitous decline of the Cosmos after the 1983 season became for many fans and the media proof positive of the grave condition of the whole NASL.^[7][17]

Major Indoor Soccer League, demise and youth soccer[link]

Following the collapse of the NASL, the team competed in the Major Indoor Soccer League during the 1984–85 season, with Klivecka briefly returning as coach,^[18] but withdrew after 33 games due to low attendances. Although the organization did not field a team following that season, the Cosmos' youth soccer camps, which the team had started in 1977, remained in operation.^[19] The camps were run by former Cosmos general manager G. Peppe Pinton, who retained ownership of the Cosmos name, logo and records. Pinton operated his youth programs at Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, where he was the team's soccer coach from 1989 to 2003.^[20][21] The Pelé and Giorgio Chinaglia soccer camps were located at Manhattanville college in Purchase, New York.

New Cosmos team[link]

Since the original New York Cosmos club stopped competing in 1985, there have been frequent attempts to revive it. With the rise of Major League Soccer (MLS), various New York area entities – including past and present owners of the New York Red Bulls – lobbied Pinton for the acquisition of the Cosmos name.^[22] Pinton refused to allow an MLS team to use it, believing that the league would not acknowledge the Cosmos' legacy.^[23][24] However, when old NASL names such as the San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps were revived as MLS franchises, he reconsidered. He sold the Cosmos name and brand to English businessman Paul Kemsley in 2009,^[25] whose group, fronted by Pelé and including many well-known soccer figures,^[26] announced a new team with the Cosmos' name in August 2010.^[27] As of January 2011, the new Cosmos are attempting to become an MLS expansion franchise.^[28]

Cultural impact and influence on US soccer[link]

When Pelé arrived at the Cosmos in 1975, American soccer was, in the words of Gavin Newsham, "dying a slow, painful and largely unnoticed death". Described by one sports writer as "a game played by Commies and fairies in short pants", soccer was not taken seriously by the bulk of the American media, which often sent its junior reporters to cover matches played in front of almost-empty stands.^[12] The Cosmos, and indeed the whole of the NASL, were of very little interest to the public and thus commanded only a small amount of coverage. The signing of Pelé by the Cosmos transformed soccer across the country: Within days of his arrival, the increased media attention had caused the Cosmos' office staff to increase from five people to more than 50. The Brazilian's arrival reversed the fortunes of not only the declining Cosmos, but the perception of the entire league; with the credibility that Pelé gave it, soccer became a viable alternative to "American" sports such as basketball, baseball and American football. The Cosmos, in particular, became an internationally famous club – Newsham called them "the most glamorous team in world football", while ESPN's David Hirshey later described them as "soccer demigods".^[12]

The Cosmos, as the flagship team of the NASL, embodied what Hirshey labelled the "nexus of soccer and showbiz", and became Warner Communications' most culturally visible asset.^[11][12] After Pelé signed for New York, many other European and South American stars came to the United States to play alongside him and for other NASL franchises: The Los Angeles Aztecs, for example, brought George Best and Johan Cruyff to the US in 1976 and 1979 respectively. Cosmos road trips, described by traveling secretary Steve Marshall as "like traveling with the Rolling Stones",^[12] saw the team pack out each stadium it visited,^[11][12] while at home, the team attracted numerous high-profile supporters and became regular patrons of the well-known New York night club Studio 54.^[11][12] While soccer had previously been largely ignored by the American press, the Cosmos and other NASL teams became regular fixtures on the back pages.^[12]

However, just as Pelé had kick-started the development of soccer in the US, his retirement in 1977 would mark the start of a decline.^[12] With nobody of the same stature to personify the sport, the popularity that had been built up nosedived just as quickly as it had appeared.^[12] The league's television deal with ABC was lost at the end of 1980 and a salary cap, enforced before the 1984 season,^[16] caused many of the remaining overseas stars – attracted to America by large wages – to return to the European leagues.^[12] The NASL collapsed abruptly in late 1984, and was not replaced by a new professional soccer league until Major League Soccer's first season in 1996.^[11]

A feature-length documentary about the Cosmos, called Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos, was released in theaters in 2006. The film, narrated by Matt Dillon, featured interviews with many of the players and personalities involved with the team.^[11][29][30]

Colors and crest[link]

When the team was founded in 1971, Cosmos general manager Clive Toye chose the green and yellow of the Brazil national team as playing colors as part of his strategy to lure Pelé, one of that country's star players, to the United States.^[10] The club's initial uniform was all green with yellow trim, with the colors reversed on the road uniform. Coincidentally, the colors were the same as those of the previous North American Soccer League team based in New York – the New York Generals – which had folded after the 1968 season.^[7] When Pelé did come on board in 1975, the uniform was changed to all-white in imitation of his club in Brazil, Santos. The green and yellow elements were relegated to the trim. The green shirt was concurrently matched with white shorts to became the new away uniform.^[31] Uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren were used from 1979 to the end; the home uniform remained all-white, though with navy and yellow trim replacing the green and white trim of the previous outfit. The away uniform became navy shirts and shorts with yellow trim, paired with unusual yellow-and-navy hooped socks, which were later replaced with plain navy blue ones.^[28]

The artist commissioned by Toye to design the team's logo was Wayland Moore, a sports artist from Atlanta who had already worked on the logo, uniform and program covers of that city's soccer team, the Chiefs. Moore attempted to create a design that was simple, recognisable and inclusive of New York's many nationalities. The three colored "blades" surrounding the soccer ball in the center represented its movement, while the font originally used was chosen simply because it was easily legible on the uniform.^[10][32] The text on the logo was shortened to "Cosmos" in 1977, concurrently with the team's dropping of the "New York" label. The badge remained unchanged despite the readdition of the city's name in 1979.

Stadium and supporters[link]

The Cosmos' first home stadium was Yankee Stadium, home to the New York Yankees baseball team, where they played throughout the 1971 season. Attendances during the club's first year averaged at 4,517, less than 7% of the stadium's capacity, which was at that time 65,010. The Cosmos therefore moved before the 1972 season to the 15,000-seater Hofstra Stadium, on the campus of the namesake university 25 miles (40 km) east of metropolitan New York. After two seasons of continuing low crowds at this out-of-town location, the Cosmos moved again, relocating to the 22,500-capacity Downing Stadium before the 1974 season. It was at Downing Stadium that attendances started to rise significantly, buoyed by the arrival of stars such as Pelé, who arrived in 1975. For the Brazilian's first match, the stadium was full; "there must have been another 50,000 turned away", coach Gordon Bradley later claimed.^[12]

These larger attendances necessitated another move, which occurred in 1976, when the Cosmos returned to Yankee Stadium. This time the team averaged 18,227 fans over the course of the season, over four times the average 1971 gate. The team then moved yet again before the 1977 season, to the newly built Giants Stadium, where attendances sky-rocketed; crowds peaked at an average of 47,856 during 1978. The Cosmos remained at Giants Stadium for the rest of their time in the NASL. Attendances gradually fell as the league declined during the early 1980s, then finally slumped in 1984, when they dropped by more than half from the 1983 seasonal average.^[7]

The largest crowd to attend a Cosmos home game was set in 1977, when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers visited for a playoff match. The game was attended by 77,691 fans,^[11] which, at the time, was a record for American soccer.^[33] The lowest average attendance for a season was 3,578, in 1974.^[7] As of 2011, only Hofstra Stadium remains, now renamed James M. Shuart Stadium. Downing Stadium, the original Yankee Stadium and Giants Stadium were demolished in 2002, 2008 and 2010 respectively.^[34][35][36]

Supporters[link]

We transcended everything, every culture, every socio-economic boundary. We were international, we were European, we were cool, we were Americans from the Bronx. We were everything to everybody.

—Shep Messing, speaking in 2006^[12]

The Cosmos sought to maximize their fanbase by appealing to as wide a demographic as possible. The club's name and badge were designed to be inclusive of New York's many immigrant communities; the logo purposefully avoided the standard American red, white and blue. In this the Cosmos succeeded, attracting noticeable support from local Europeans, Middle-Easterners and South Americans. The association of the team with the city's high society in both social and sporting contexts led to it becoming very popular among celebrities, both American and international.^{[11][12][32][37]}

Players[link]

The New York Cosmos are famous for having fielded numerous well-known players, almost all of whom were from outside the United States: Examples include Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto.^[38] American players of note include goalkeeper Shep Messing – who was notoriously sold after posing nude for a magazine in December 1974, then brought back two years later on Pelé's insistence.^[38] The Cosmos also fielded Werner Roth, a Yugoslavian-born US international defender, from 1972 to 1979. A number of Cosmos players were named in the NASL all-star teams selected by the league at the end of each season.^[39][40] No NASL all-star from the Cosmos was born in the United States or Canada, where all of the league's teams were based; apart from Roth, both North Americans selected – Siegfried Stritzl and John Kerr – were born in Yugoslavia and Scotland respectively.^[41] Ricky Davis (US) and Erol Yasin (Turkey) were also fan favorites. Erol Yasin was a goal keeper and the announcer would say, "Another save by Erol Yasin" and the stadium would erupt.

Retired numbers[link]

• 10 Pelé (Forward, 1975–77)^[42]

Head coaches[link]

Name	Country	From	To	Notes
Bradley, GordonGordon Bradley	United States	01971-01-011971	01975-01-011975	Player-coach[4]
Furphy, KenKen Furphy	England	01976-01-011976	01976-01-011976	[4]
Bradley, GordonGordon Bradley	United States	01976-01-011976	01977-01-011977	[4]
Firmani, EddieEddie Firmani	Italy	01977-01-011977	01979-01-011979	[4][14]
Klivecka, RayRay Klivecka	United States	01979-01-011979	01979-01-011979	[18]
Mazzei, JúlioJúlio Mazzei	Brazil	01979-01-011979	01980-01-011980	[15]
Weisweiler, HennesHennes Weisweiler	German ! West Germany	01980-01-011980	01981-01-011981	Joint with Özdenak[43]
Ozdenak !Yasin Özdenak	Turkey	01980-01-011980	01981-01-011981	Joint with Weisweiler[43]
Mazzei, JúlioJúlio Mazzei	Brazil	01982-01-011982	01983-01-011983	[15][43]
Firmani, EddieEddie Firmani	Italy	01984-01-011984	01984-01-011984	[18]
Birkenmeier, HubertHubert Birkenmeier	German ! West Germany	01984-01-011984	01984-01-011984	Caretaker[18]
Klivecka, RayRay Klivecka	United States	01984-01-011984	01985-01-011985	[18]

The New York Cosmos' first head coach was the English-American professional Gordon Bradley, who had played in the English Football League's lower divisions during the 1950s prior to moving to North America in 1963. Bradley came out of retirement to become player-coach, a role he retained until his departure in 1975. Bradley's team won the league championship in 1972, but after it failed to reach the playoffs in both 1974 and 1975, he was dismissed. His replacement was another Englishman, Ken Furphy. His Cosmos succeeded in reaching the post-season, but lost the divisional championship game to Vancouver, prompting Furphy's own departure in favor of a return for Bradley, whose second spell lasted only half a season before he was promoted to an advisory role. Eddie Firmani, the South African-born former Italy forward, took over midway through the 1977 season.^[14] His star-studded team won two consecutive Soccer Bowls – 1977 and 1978 – but lost the National Conference championship game in 1979. Firmani lost his job after falling out with Giorgio Chinaglia, a favorite of the Cosmos hierarchy.^[14] His assistant, Ray Klivecka, became the team's first American-born head coach when he took Firmani's place midway through 1979.

Klivecka was replaced before the 1980 season by Brazilian coach Júlio Mazzei, who won the Cosmos' fourth title at the end of that campaign before being succeeded by two joint head coaches, Hennes Weisweiler & Yasin Özdenak, in 1980. This duo's team came second in the 1981 NASL before Mazzei returned in 1982 and won his second championship with the Cosmos during that year. Firmani returned in 1984, the NASL's final year, in which the Cosmos failed to make the playoffs. Firmani remained as the team entered the Major Indoor Soccer League for the 1984–85 season, but was fired in early December, halfway through the season, and replaced by Klivecka, who returned after two games under the caretaker management of goalkeeper Hubert Birkenmeier. Klivecka was retained until the team ceased competitive play.^[18]

Honors[link]

The Cosmos won the 1982 Soccer Bowl at San Diego-Jack Murphy Stadium, now known as Qualcomm Stadium, pictured in 2005.

With five championships and seven first-place finishes, the Cosmos still rank as the most successful franchise in the history of North American soccer.^[7][44]

References[link]

Bibliography

• Newsham, Gavin (2006). Once in a Lifetime: The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos. New York, New York: Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-4288-5. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nZQh9FjdOfcC&printsec=frontcover. 
• Toye, Clive (2006). A Kick in the Grass. Haworth, New Jersey: St Johann Press. ISBN 978-1-878282-47-7. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kick-Grass-Clive-Toye/dp/1878282476. 

Notes

External links[link]

• New York Cosmos official website

State of New York
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior (Latin)[1] Ever upward
Demonym	New Yorker
Capital	Albany
Largest city	New York City
Largest metro area	New York City Metropolitan Area
Area	Ranked 27th in the U.S.
- Total	54,556[2] sq mi (141,300 km2)
- Width	285 miles (455 km)
- Length	330 miles (530 km)
- % water	13.5
- Latitude	40° 30′ N to 45° 1′ N
- Longitude	71° 51′ W to 79° 46′ W
Population	Ranked 3rd in the U.S.
- Total	19,465,197 (2011 est)[3]
- Density	412/sq mi  (159/km2) Ranked 7th in the U.S.
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Marcy[4][5][6] 5,343 ft (1628.57 m)
- Mean	1,000 ft  (300 m)
- Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean[5][6] sea level
Admission to Union	July 26, 1788 (11th)
Governor	Andrew Cuomo (D)
Lieutenant Governor	Robert Duffy (D)
Legislature	New York Legislature
- Upper house	State Senate
- Lower house	State Assembly
U.S. Senators	Charles Schumer (D) Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
U.S. House delegation	21 Democrats, 8 Republicans (list)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Abbreviations	NY US-NY
Website	www.ny.gov

New York (/njuː ˈjɔrk/; locally IPA: [nɪu ˈjɔək] or [nuː ˈjɔɹk] ( listen)) 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 New York City.

New York City, with a population of over 8.1 million, is the most populous city in the United States. Alone, it makes up over 40 percent of the population of New York state. It is known for its status as a center for finance and culture and for its status as the largest gateway for immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, New York City 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[link]

17th century[link]

Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage marked the beginning of the European involvement with that area. Sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year. After his return word of his findings quickly spread and Dutch merchants began to explore the coast in search for profitable fur trade. 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 English captured the colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and governed it as the Province of New York. The city of New York was recaptured by the Dutch once again in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674) and renamed New Orange, but returned to the English under the terms of the Treaty of Westminster a year later.^[7]

American Revolution[link]

New York in 1777

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.^[8] 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.^[9] The Sullivan Expedition of 1778 and 1779 destroyed nearly 50 Iroquois villages and adjacent croplands, forcing many refugees to British-held Niagara.^[10] 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 5 million acres (20,000 km²) of former Iroquois territory was put up for sale in the years after the Revolutionary War, leading to rapid development in upstate New York.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13]

19th century[link]

The creation of the Erie Canal led to rapid industrialization in New York.

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.^[14] 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[link]

Scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island

Ellis Island in 1905

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.^[15]

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.^[16] 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 27.5 acres (11 ha) added after 1834 by landfill was in New Jersey.

Statue of Liberty[link]

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi, 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[link]

New York terrain.

Map of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers.

New York covers 54,556 square miles (141,300 km²) and ranks as the 27th largest state by size.^[2] 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.^[17]

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.^[18] 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.^[19] Unofficial and loosely defined regions of Upstate New York include the Southern Tier, which often includes the counties along the border with Pennsylvania,^[20] and the North Country, which can mean anything from the strip along the Canadian border to everything north of the Mohawk River.^[21]

Climate[link]

Lake-effect snow is a major contributor to snowfall totals in western New York.

In general, New York has a humid continental climate, though under the Köppen climate classification, New York City has a humid subtropical climate.^[22] 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 −13 °F (−25 °C) or lower can be expected in the northern highlands (Northern Plateau) and 5 °F (−15 °C) 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.^[23]

Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various New York Cities^[24]

(Fahrenheit)

City		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Albany	max min	31 13	34 16	44 25	57 36	70 46	78 55	82 60	80 58	71 50	60 39	48 31	36 20
Binghamton	max min	28 15	31 17	41 25	53 35	66 46	73 54	78 59	76 57	68 50	57 40	44 31	33 21
Buffalo	max min	31 18	33 19	42 26	54 36	66 48	75 57	80 62	78 60	70 53	59 43	47 34	36 24
Lake Placid	max min	27 5	32 8	40 16	54 29	66 39	74 48	78 53	76 51	69 44	56 34	44 25	32 12
Long Beach	max min	39 23	40 24	48 31	58 40	69 49	77 60	83 66	82 64	75 57	64 45	54 36	44 28
New York City	max min	38 26	41 28	50 35	61 44	71 54	79 63	84 69	82 68	75 60	64 50	53 41	43 32
Rochester	max min	31 17	33 17	43 25	55 35	68 46	77 55	81 60	79 59	71 51	60 41	47 33	36 23
Syracuse	max min	31 14	34 16	43 24	56 35	68 46	77 55	82 60	80 59	71 51	60 40	47 32	36 21

Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various New York Cities

(Celsius)

City		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Albany	max min	−1 −11	1 −9	7 −4	14 2	21 8	26 13	28 16	27 14	22 10	16 4	9 −1	2 −7
Binghamton	max min	−2 −9	−1 −8	5 −4	12 2	19 8	23 12	26 15	24 14	20 10	14 4	7 −1	1 −6
Buffalo	max min	−1 −8	1 −7	6 −3	12 2	19 9	24 14	27 17	26 16	21 12	15 6	8 1	2 −4
Lake Placid	max min	−3 −15	0 −13	4 −9	12 −2	19 4	23 9	26 12	24 11	21 7	13 1	7 −4	0 −11
Long Beach	max min	4 −5	4 −4	9 −1	14 4	21 9	25 16	28 19	28 18	24 14	18 7	12 2	7 −2
New York City	max min	3 −3	5 −2	10 2	16 7	22 12	26 17	29 21	28 20	24 16	18 10	12 5	6 0
Rochester	max min	−1 −8	1 −8	6 −4	13 2	20 8	25 13	27 16	26 15	22 11	16 5	8 1	2 −5
Syracuse	max min	−1 −10	1 −9	6 −4	13 2	20 8	25 13	28 16	27 15	22 11	16 4	8 0	2 −6
Converted from Fahrenheit data (above)

State parks[link]

Two major parks in the state are the Adirondack Park and Catskill Park.

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,^[25] which declared that its land was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. Consisting of 700,000 acres (2,800 km²) of land,^[25] 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 300 miles (480 km) 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[link]

Map of the counties in New York

New York is divided into 62 counties:

Regions[link]

New York State is divided into eleven regions by the Department of Economic Development:^[26]

Regions of New York as defined by the New York State Department of Economic Development

Chautaugua–Allegheny Niagara Frontier Finger Lakes Thousand Islands 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:^[27]

North Country Western New York Central New York Capital District Southern Tier Hudson Valley New York City Long Island

New York State is divided into ten regions by the Department of Economic Development:^[28]

Western New York (counties: Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany) Finger Lakes (counties: Orleans, Genesse, Wyoming, Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Ontario, Yates, and Seneca) Central New York (counties: Cortland, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oswego, and Madison) Southern Tier (counties: Steuben, Schuyler, Chemung, Tompkins, Tioga, Chenango, and Broome) North Country New York (counties: St. Lawrence, Lewis, Jefferson, Hamilton, Essex, Clinton, and Franklin) Capital District (counties: Albany, Columbia, Greene, Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Rennselaer) Mohawk Valley (counties: Oneida, Herkimer, Fulton, Montogomery, Otsego, and Schoharie) Hudson Valley (counties: Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester) New York City (counties: New York, Bronx, Queens, Kings, and Richmond) Long Island (counties: Nassau and Suffolk)

Cities[link]

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:^[29]

New York City (8,175,133) Buffalo (261,310) Rochester (210,565) Yonkers (195,976) Syracuse (145,170) Albany (97,856) New Rochelle (77,062) Mount Vernon (67,292) Schenectady (66,135) 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,^[30] the following are the twelve largest population centers in the state are:

New York City (18,897,109 in NY/NJ/PA, 12,368,525 in NY) Buffalo-Niagara Falls (1,135,509) Rochester (1,054,323) Albany and the Capital District (870,716) Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley (670,301) Syracuse (662,577) Utica-Rome (299,397) Binghamton (251,725) Kingston (182,493) Glens Falls (128,923) Ithaca (101,564) Elmira (88,830)

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[link]

Population[link]

New York population distribution map

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.^[3] 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.^[32]

New York is a slowly 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.^[33] However, New York State is one of the leading destinations for international immigration and thus has the second largest immigrant population in the country of the American states, 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.^[34] 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.^[35]

Racial and ancestral makeup[link]

New York population ethnicity map

The Manhattan Chinatown.

Little Italy, New York City, circa 1900.

According to the US Census Bureau, the 2010 racial makeup of New York State was as follows:^[36]

• 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%).^[37] According to a 2004 estimate, 20.4% of the population is foreign-born.

The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 94.6% in 1940 to 58.3% in 2010.^[36][38]

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 highest volume of Asian-Americans is in Manhattan's Chinatown. The neighborhood of Flushing in Queens is also a prime center of Chinese and Korean populations, as well as businesses owned by and catering to its' Asian-American community. Queens is home to the largest Andean population (Colombian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Bolivian) population in the United States.

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.^[39]

Largest cities[link]

v t e Largest cities or towns of New York http://www.citypopulation.de/USA-NewYork.html
	Rank	City name	County	Pop.
New York Buffalo	1	New York	multiple	8,175,133	Rochester Yonkers
	2	Buffalo	Erie	261,310
	3	Rochester	Monroe	210,565
	4	Yonkers	Westchester	195,976
	5	Syracuse	Onondaga	145,170
	6	Albany	Albany	97,856
	7	New Rochelle	Westchester	77,062
	8	Cheektowaga	Erie	75,178
	9	Mount Vernon	Westchester	67,292
	10	Schenectady	Schenectady	66,135