Manhattan

Coordinates: 40°47′25″N 73°57′35″W / 40.79028°N 73.95972°W / 40.79028; -73.95972

Manhattan (/mænˈhætən/, /mənˈhætən/) is one of the five boroughs of New York City, in the state of New York in the United States. The borough is coterminous with New York County, founded on November 1, 1683 as one of the state's original counties. The borough consists mostly of Manhattan Island, bounded by the East, Hudson, and Harlem Rivers, and also includes several small adjacent islands and Marble Hill, a small neighborhood on the mainland.

Manhattan is often said to be the economic and cultural center of the United States and hosts the United Nations Headquarters. Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world, and Manhattan is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization: the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Many multinational media conglomerates are based in the borough. Historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626, for the equivalent of US$1050, Manhattan real estate has since become among the most expensive in the world, with the value of Manhattan Island, including real estate, estimated to exceed US$3 trillion in 2013.

Daryl Hall

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Daryl Franklin Hohl, professionally known as Daryl Hall (born October 11, 1946), is an American rock, R&B and soul singer, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of Hall & Oates (with guitarist and songwriter John Oates).

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Hall scored several Billboard chart hits and is regarded as one of the best soul singers of his generation. Guitarist Robert Fripp, who collaborated with him in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has written, "Daryl's pipes were a wonder. I have never worked with a more able singer." Since late 2007, he has hosted the web television series, Live from Daryl's House. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

Early life and career

Daryl Franklin Hohl was born in Pottstown, a Pennsylvania borough 40 miles (64 km) from Philadelphia. His parents each had a background in music: his father was a professional singer and his mother was a vocal coach. He is of German descent. He started recording while still a student at Owen J. Roberts High School, from which he graduated in 1965. In college at Temple University in Philadelphia, he majored in music, while continuing to record, working with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff as both an artist and a session musician. During his first semester at Temple, in the fall of 1965, he and four other white Temple University students formed the vocal harmony group the Temptones. They were popular additions to the largely black Philly soul scene, defeating both The Ambassadors and The Delfonics in a contest at the Uptown Theater. The Temptones recorded a handful of singles for Arctic Records, produced by Jimmy Bishop. While performing at the Uptown theatre, Hall formed creative affiliations with such artists as Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and many other top soul singers of the 1960s.

Hall & Oates

Daryl Hall and John Oates, known more commonly as Hall & Oates, are an American musical duo from Philadelphia.

Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist of the pairing, and also plays a wide range of musical instruments. John Oates also plays a range of instruments, but primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals as well as occasional leads. The two also write most of the songs they perform, either separately or in collaboration. They achieved their greatest fame from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s with a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues, which they dubbed "rock and soul". Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and J. Scott McClintock write, "at their best, Hall & Oates' songs were filled with strong hooks and melodies that adhered to soul traditions without being a slave to them by incorporating elements of new wave." While much of their reputation is due to the sustained pop-chart run in the 1980s, they continue to record and tour, and remain respected by various artists for their ability to cross stylistic boundaries.

John Oates

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John William Oates (born April 7, 1948) is an American rock, R&B and soul guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock and soul duo, Hall & Oates (with Daryl Hall).

Although Oates's main role in the duo was guitarist, he also co-wrote many of the Top 10 songs that they recorded, including (with Hall): "Sara Smile" (the song refers to Hall's then-girlfriend, Sara Allen), "She's Gone", and "Out of Touch", as well as (with Allen & Hall): "You Make My Dreams", "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", "Maneater", and "Adult Education". He also sang lead vocals on several more singles in the Hot 100, such as "How Does It Feel to Be Back", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (a remake of the 1965 song performed by The Righteous Brothers that was written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil), on which Oates shared lead vocals with Hall, and "Possession Obsession" (with Allen & Hall). Oates also co-wrote and sang backup on the song "Electric Blue", recorded by the band Icehouse, which was a Billboard Top Ten hit. He also co-wrote, produced and sang duet with the Canadian group The Parachute Club on the 1987 song "Love is Fire" which was a Top 30 hit in Canada.

Fire Island

Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the south shore of Long Island, New York. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy once again divided Fire Island into two islands. Together, these two islands are approximately 31 miles (50 km) long and vary between 520 and 1,310 feet (160 and 400 m) wide. Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It lies within the towns of Babylon, Islip, and Brookhaven, containing two villages and a number of hamlets. All parts of the island not within village limits are part of the Fire Island census-designated place (CDP), which had a permanent population of 292 at the 2010 census, though that expands to thousands of residents and tourists during the summer months.

The land area of Fire Island is 9.6 square miles (24.9 km²).

Geography

Fire Island lies on average 3.9 miles (6.2 km) off the south shore of Long Island, but nearly touches it along the east end. It is separated from Long Island by Great South Bay, which spans interconnected bays along Long Island: Patchogue Bay, Bellport Bay, Narrow Bay, and Moriches Bay. The island is accessible by automobile near each end: via Robert Moses Causeway on its western end, and by William Floyd Parkway (Suffolk County Road 46) near its eastern end. Cross-bay ferries connect to over 10 points in between. Motor vehicles are not permitted on the rest of the island, except for utility, construction and emergency access and with limited beach-driving permits in winter. The island and its resort towns are accessible by boat, seaplane and a number of ferries, which depart from Bay Shore (Fire Island Ferries), Sayville, and Patchogue.