New York City is perhaps the most widely known city around the world. With residents from every country on earth with differing cultures, it can be said that New York City is an urbanized microcosm of the globe.

New York City is home to the United Nations and is also one of the world's major venues for international diplomacy. The city has been a dominant global financial center ever since World War II. New York City was the birthplace of many American cultural movements such as Hip-Hop and abstract expressionism.

Geographically, the city consists of five boroughs; Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Together, these boroughs comprise a population of over eight million people.

Towards the late 90's, and early 2000's the city's crime levels dropped dramatically, the city's economy boomed, and New York's population reached an all-time high in the 2000 census. New York City became known for many of its famous landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the Statue Of Liberty, Ellis Island, the (now destroyed) Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, United Nations, Times Square, Central Park, Chrysler Building and much more.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck; the city was one of the sites of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. The world famous World Trade Center was destroyed and nearly 3,000 lives were lost.

Nevertheless, New York rebuilds: The New World Trade Center is underway. The crowning Freedom Tower is currently under construction. The Freedom Tower, along with WTC towers 2, 3 & 4, are expected to be completed by 2012.