The City University of New York, or CUNY, is the nation’s largest urban university, comprised of 11 senior colleges, 6 community colleges, a graduate school, a law school and a medical school. Nearly 200,000 students are enrolled in degree credit courses, and another 204,000 are enrolled in adult and continuing education courses at campuses located in all New York City boroughs. CUNY traces its beginnings to the founding in 1847 of the Free Academy, which later became The City College, the first CUNY College. According to New York State Education Law, CUNY is "supported as an independent and integrated system of higher education on the assumption that the university will continue to maintain and expand its commitment to academic excellence and to the provision of equal access and opportunity for students, faculty and staff from all ethnic and racial groups and from both sexes." The law requires CUNY to "remain responsive to the needs of its urban setting and maintain its close articulation between senior and community college units." The facilities at CUNY’s 19 modern campuses throughout the five boroughs of New York City include the traditional and the innovative. More than 270 buildings on close to 23 million square feet of space include state-of-the-art computer centers, science and language laboratories, gymnasiums, theaters, greenhouses, astronomy observatories, and many more features. The new Baruch College Vertical Campus on East 25th Street is the largest vertical campus facility in the city—approximately 800,000 gross square feet. The College of Staten Island’s bucolic 204-acre park-like campus is the largest college campus in New York City. The York College campus is the site of the $85 million Food and Drug Administration’s Northeastern Regional headquarters, where students are offered opportunities for study and internships. CUNY has programs to strengthen academic skills and provide advanced placement courses. They include College Now ( currently operating in 200 New York City public high schools) the free pre-freshman Summer Skills Program, remedial classes in community colleges, English as a Second Language classes, SEEK and College Discovery (for economically and educationally disadvantaged students) and an intensive low-cost Language Immersion Program for entering freshmen who need to improve their English.

The World Trade Center was destroyed by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. We maintain this page as a testament to its place in New York City's history, and in memory of all those who suffered and who lost their lives. For information about Ground Zero, please click here and for information about the National September 11 Memorial & Museum click here. We have additional pages about the new 7 World Trade Center and under-construction 1 World Trade Center, which is also known as the Freedom Tower. Following is our original description of the World Trade Center:With a wide-open plaza between them, the Twin Towers have been an impressive tourist attraction since 1975 as well as a daily workplace for 50,000 people. An additional 200,000 people enter the World Trade Center every day, which includes those who come to ride the two express elevators up to the observatory on the 107th floor. The views, particularly of the nearby harbor, New York skyline, and Statue of Liberty are spectacular. Also of note is the World Financial Center next door, which has a stunning glass-enclosed atrium as well as boat launch outside on the Hudson River. Special events and dozens of stores and restaurants can be found in the entire complex.

Two and a half miles on the Atlantic Ocean. Crowded but the easiest beach to get to from most parts of New York City. Almost a century before the boardwalk opened along the Atlantic Ocean, Coney Island was on its way to becoming the nation’s most popular pleasure ground. In 1824 the Coney Island House was established as a seaside resort, and within a few decades it was attracting a steady stream of visitors, including celebrities. After the Civil War, new railroad lines provided direct public transportation to a rapidly expanding list of attractions: restaurants, hotels, bathing pavilions, shops, amusement rides, race tracks, theatres, and as always, the beach and the ocean. At the turn of the century, amusement parks—Sea Lion Park, Steeplechase Park, Luna Park, and Dreamland—offered rides, concessions and entertainment on a spectacular scale. Once the BMT subway line reached the area in 1920, the pleasures of Coney Island were just a five-cent ride away from the steaming city. Attendance on a hot summer day could reach as high as a million, causing extreme congestion on the beach. Making matters worse, private concessions (such as beachfront hotels, bath houses, and cabarets) controlled large portions of the beach. As Brooklyn Borough President from 1918 to 1924, Edward Riegelmann (1869-1941) took charge of beautifying Coney Island and ensuring public access to the beach and shore. After the city secured title to property along the beachfront, the $3 million beach improvement and boardwalk construction began in 1921. The immense engineering project required 1.7 million cubic yards of sand to add another 2.5 million square feet to the beach area. Construction of the boardwalk made use of 120,000 tons of stone, 7700 cubic yards of reinforced concrete, and 3.6 million feet of timber, including long leaf yellow pine for the flooring. From a height of 14 feet above the beach, the 80-foot wide boardwalk stretched from W. 37th Street to Ocean Parkway and provided easy access to both beach and concessions. "Coney Island's Fifth Avenue" opened with great fanfare on May 15, 1923.

Josie Robertson Plaza is the center of the Lincoln Center campus at Columbus Avenue between 62nd and 65th Streets.

Hosted by a rotating cast of comedy greats, The Daily Show remains the go-to source for provocative satire, insightful interviews and an award-winning team of correspondents and contributors. For over twenty-five years, the groundbreaking, Emmy and Peabody award-winning The Daily Show has entertained audiences each night with hilarious, provocative and insightful satire about our society that helps make sense of the world. The Daily Show redefined the late night show category on TV and, with an audience of over 44M across social media platforms, has become a launching pad for some of the biggest stars in entertainment. This next chapter of this iconic franchise will showcase its diverse news team of correspondents, contributors, and comedy greats as guests hosts as well as interviews with influential and emerging voices from across society. And as fans meaningfully engage with the expanded TDS universe of topical specials, digital content, podcasts and live events, it’s clear The Daily Show offers the most comedy in late night across the most platforms.

From the City of New York/Parks & Recreation Historical Signs Program: Washington Square Park is named for George Washington (1732-1799), who served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. On April 30, 1789, six years after the victory of the colonists, Washington was inaugurated in New York City as the first President of the United States. He served for two four-year terms. The parkland was once a marsh fed by Minetta Brook. It was located near an Indian village known as Sapokanikan or “Tobacco Field.” In 1797 the Common Council acquired the land for use as a Potter's Field or common burial ground. The field was also used for public executions, giving rise to the tale of the Hangman’s Elm which stands in the northwest corner of the park. The site was used as the Washington Military Parade Ground in 1826, and became a public park in 1827. Following this designation, a number of wealthy and prominent families, escaping the disease and congestion of downtown Manhattan, moved into the area and built the distinguished Greek Revival mansions that still line the square’s north side. One of these provided the setting for Henry James’ 1880 novel, Washington Square. In 1835, the park also hosted the first public demonstration of the telegraph by Samuel F.B. Morse, a professor at New York University, which is adjacent to the park. Soon after the creation of the Department of Public Parks in 1870, the square was redesigned and improved by M.A. Kellogg, Engineer-in-Chief, and I.A. Pilat, Chief Landscape Gardener. The marble Washington Arch was built between the years 1890 and 1892 to replace the popular wooden arch erected in 1889 to commemorate the centennial of Washington’s inauguration. The architect Stanford White modeled both structures on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Two statues of Washington were installed on the north face of the arch in 1918, Washington as Commander-in-Chief, Accompanied by Fame and Valor by Hermon MacNeil, and Washington as President, Accompanied by Wisdom and Justice by Alexander Stirling Calder. Other monuments in this park are J.Q.A. Ward’s bust of steel manufacturer Alexander Lyman Holley (1890), Giovanni Turini’s statue of Italian nationalist leader Giuseppe Garibaldi (1888), a World War I flagpole, and the central fountain which was moved here from Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in the mid 1870s. Use of public space in Washington Square Park has also been redefined throughout the 20th century. Fifth Avenue ran through the arch until 1964 when the park was redesigned and closed to traffic at the insistence of Village residents. With the addition of bocce courts, game tables, and playgrounds, the park has become an internationally known meeting ground for students, local residents, tourists, chess players, and performers. A $900,000 renovation was completed in 1995, and an entirely new renovation is in progress in 2009.