Kips Bay, Manhattan

Coordinates: 40°44′29″N 73°58′42″W / 40.74139°N 73.97833°W / 40.74139; -73.97833

Kips Bay is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. A part of Manhattan Community Board 6, Kips Bay is bordered on the north by Murray Hill; on the west by Madison Square, NoMad, or Rose Hill; on the south by the Gramercy Park neighborhood and the Peter Cooper Village apartment complex; and on the east by the East River. The New York Times defines the boundaries as the area between East 23rd Street to the south, East 34th Street to the north, Lexington Avenue to the west, and the East River to the east. The American Institute of Architects' AIA Guide to New York City considers the western boundary to be Second Avenue.

History

Colonial settlement

Kips Bay was an inlet of the East River running from what is now 32nd Street to 37th Street. The bay extended into Manhattan Island to just west of what is now First Avenue and had two streams that ran from it. The bay was named after New Netherland Dutch settler Jacobus Hendrickson Kip (1631–1690), whose farm ran north of present day 30th Street along the East River. The bay became reclaimed land, yet "Kips Bay" remains the name of the area. Kip built a large brick and stone house, near the modern intersection of Second Avenue and East 35th Street. The house stood from 1655 to 1851, expanded more than once, and when it was demolished was the last farmhouse from New Amsterdam remaining in Manhattan. Iron figures fixed into the gable-end brickwork commemorated the year of its first construction. Its orchard was famous, and, when George Washington was presented with a slip of its Rosa gallica during his first administration, it was claimed to have been the first garden to have grown it in the colonies.

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States and is the United States' 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border in the Atlantic Ocean with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the west and north. The state of New York, with an estimated 19.8 million residents in 2015, is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City, the state's most populous city and its economic hub.

With an estimated population of nearly 8.5 million in 2014, New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. The New York City Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City is a global city, exerting a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York City is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State. Two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% live on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. The next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany.