20 facts you didn’t know about New York City
Words: Hugh Francis Anderson
NYC has long been the leading cosmopolitan metropolis, but underneath it’s modern fineries lie many fascinating facts. Over the past 515 years, NYC has grown rapidly as the number one destination in the world. So let’s take a look at 20 things you don’t know about New York City.
1. Statistically, 1 in every 38 US citizens live in NYC, 2. Toilet paper was invented here in 1857 by Joseph C. Gayetty, 3. A child is born every 4.4 minutes in NYC, 4. NYC has the largest Chinese and Puerto Rican populations outside of their respective countries, 5. The Waldorf Astoria has a secret train platform within it, 6. Time Square is named after the New York Times, 7. Pinball was banned in NYC until 1978, 8. NYC has a coastline of 520 miles, longer than the coastlines of Miami, San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles combined, 9. There are approximately 400,000 more women than men in NYC, 10. Until automobiles took over from horse-drawn carriages, 500 tons of horse manure was cleaned off the streets each day, 11. The oldest remaining building in NYC was constructed in 1652, 12. The Federal Reserve Bank holds an estimated 25% of the world’s gold bullion, equating to almost 7,000 tons, 13. Eggs Benedict was invented in NYC, 14. The Brooklyn Bridge originally contained vast wine cellars, 15. Washington Square Park used to be a graveyard, with an estimated 20,000 bodies still lying beneath it, 16. Albert Einstein’s eyeballs are stored in a NYC safety deposit box, 17. It can cost almost $300,000 for a 1-year hotdog stand lease in Central Park, 18. There are more students in NYC than Boston’s entire population, 19. The entire population of the world could fit inside Texas if it were as densely populated as NYC, 20. It is a criminal offence to fart in NYC’s churches
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