The term sixth borough is used to describe any of a number of places that are not politically within the borders of any of the five boroughs of New York City but have been referred to as a metaphorical part of the city by virtue of their geographic location, demographic composition, special affiliation with New York City, or cosmopolitan character. They include adjacent cities and counties in the New York metropolitan area as well as in other states, U.S. territories, and foreign countries. [1] [2] [3]
The Westchester County cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon directly border the northern part of the Bronx and share much of that borough's heavily urbanized character. In 1894, the voters of Yonkers and Mount Vernon, along with voters in other parts of southern Westchester, took part in a referendum to determine if they wanted to become part of New York City, along with the voters in Kings, Queens and Richmond Counties (today's Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, respectively). At that time, the city consisted only of Manhattan and a portion of the present-day Bronx, which had been part of Westchester until it became part of New York City in 1874. While the results of the 1894 vote were positive elsewhere, including in several other adjacent sections of Westchester, which were then annexed to the city and which thus became part of the new borough of the Bronx, the returns were so negative in Yonkers and Mount Vernon that those two areas were not included in the consolidated city and remained independent municipalities. [4] A subway connection was planned between Getty Square in downtown Yonkers and the New York City Subway, but the project was abandoned after the failed merger vote. Local residents frequently refer to the area as "the sixth borough", referring to the two cities' location bordering the Bronx, the high number of local residents employed in Manhattan, and the area's similarly urban character. [1]
In 1934, a bill submitted by New York City alderman Elias H. Jacobs proposed merging Yonkers into New York City as a sixth borough. Joseph F. Loehr, then Mayor of Yonkers, was opposed to the merger, despite Jacobs's argument that such a maneuver would cause a rise in real estate prices and increase quality of transit. [5]
New Jersey's Hudson Waterfront lies opposite Manhattan on the North River, and during the Dutch colonial era, it was under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam and known as Bergen. Jersey City [6] and Hoboken, in Hudson County, are sometimes referred to as the sixth borough, given their proximity and connections by PATH trains to the city. [7] [1] Fort Lee, in Bergen County, opposite Upper Manhattan and connected by the George Washington Bridge, has also been called the sixth borough. [1] [8] In the 1920s, soon after the creation of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, there were calls to integrate the rail and subway system in New York and northern New Jersey by expanding the New York City Subway. [9] After Mayor Bloomberg called for the 7 Subway Extension to continue to Secaucus Junction, a feasibility study was conducted and released in April 2013. [10]
In 2011, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to the city's waterfront and waterways as a composite sixth borough during presentations of planned rehabilitation projects along the city's shoreline, [12] including Governors Island in the Upper New York Bay. [13] Other individuals have also referred to the city's waterways as a sixth borough. [14] Rikers Island has been called the sixth borough as well. [3]
Several 20th- and 21st-century proposals have been made for a drastic Lower Manhattan expansion encompassing Governors Island, and have sometimes been characterized as visions for a "sixth borough". [15]
Other communities within the New York City Consolidated Statistical Area have often been referred to as sixth boroughs, especially diverse urban centers such as Stamford [16] and New Haven. [17] Historically, these nearby cities have drawn in significant populations from New York City through outmigration and also share similar cultural characteristics with the city, such as disproportionately large Italian and Jewish American populations.
Places outside the New York metropolitan area that are home to large populations of former New Yorkers have also been referred to as the "sixth borough", including Philadelphia; [18] [19] Miami, and South Florida in general; [20] Los Angeles; [21] and, outside the continental U.S., Puerto Rico [22] and Israel. [1] Among those places referred to as a sixth borough are locations as diverse as Beverly Hills, California, and Nashville, Tennessee. [3]
Philadelphia has been cited as a "sixth borough" due to its proximity to New York and the movement of New York residents to Philadelphia for various reasons, including lower rent prices and a generally lower cost of living. [18] [19] [23] The nickname has been met with apprehension by both Philadelphia and New York publications. [24] Some have even disputed inaccurate reporting about Philadelphia by New York–based reporters. [25]
Foreign countries, such as China, have also been referred to as a "sixth borough." In China's instance, it is referred to as the "sixth borough" by some media because many Chinese companies invest in developments in Brooklyn, such as Pacific Park. [26]
Manhattan College, located in Riverdale, Bronx, refers to its Jaspers student cheering section as "The 6th Borough" at home basketball games played in Draddy Gymnasium. [27] In addition, the University of Connecticut (UConn) has often promoted its Huskies sports teams, especially in men's basketball, as "the Sixth Borough", given the dominance of that team in games played at Madison Square Garden. [28] UConn also sells a T-shirt making this claim. [29]
Jonathan Safran Foer published a short story about a fictional sixth borough, an island that gradually floated away. The story was featured in his novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . [30]
A parallel concept in France is the "21st arrondissement of Paris", [31] while in the United Kingdom, the City of London is sometimes thought of as the "33rd borough of London", although it is not, strictly speaking, a borough. [32]
Broadway is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from the south at State Street at Bowling Green for 13 mi (20.9 km) through the borough of Manhattan, over the Broadway Bridge, and 2 mi (3.2 km) through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional 18 mi (29.0 km) through the Westchester County municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow, after which the road continues, but is no longer called "Broadway". The latter portion of Broadway comprises a portion of U.S. Route 9.
The 2 Seventh Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored red since it uses the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through most of Manhattan.
The 5 Lexington Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored forest green since it uses the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in Manhattan.
Since the opening of the original New York City Subway line in 1904, and throughout the subway's history, various official and planning agencies have proposed numerous extensions to the subway system. The first major expansion of the subway system was the Dual Contracts, a set of agreements between the City of New York and the IRT and the BRT. The system was expanded into the outer reaches of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, and it provided for the construction of important lines in Manhattan. This one expansion of the system provided for a majority of today's system.
Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial for much of its length.
U Thant Island is a small artificial island or islet in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The 100-by-200-foot island, created during the construction of the Steinway Tunnel directly underneath, is the smallest island in Manhattan.
The IND Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND); as such, New Yorkers originally applied the Eighth Avenue Subway name to the entire IND system.
The Concourse Line is an IND rapid transit line of the New York City Subway system. It runs from 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx, primarily under the Grand Concourse, to 145th Street in Harlem, Manhattan. It is the only B Division line in the Bronx, and also the only line in the Bronx with all stations underground.
The Broadway Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge across the Harlem River Ship Canal in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It connects the neighborhoods of Inwood on Manhattan Island and Marble Hill on the mainland. The bridge consists of two decks. The lower deck carries Broadway, which is designated as U.S. Route 9 at this location. The upper deck carries the New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, serving the 1 train.
The D Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored orange, since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.
The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest and busiest subway systems in the world; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway. New York City is home to an extensive bus system in each of the five boroughs; citywide and Staten Island ferry systems; and numerous yellow taxis and boro taxis throughout the city. Private cars are less used compared to other cities in the rest of the United States.
Van Cortlandt Park is a 1,146-acre (464 ha) park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. The park, the city's third-largest, was named for the Van Cortlandt family, which was prominent in the area during the Dutch and English colonial periods.
The 175th Street station is a station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located in the Washington Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, at the intersection of 175th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, it is served by the A train at all times.
The West Fourth Street–Washington Square station is an express station and transfer stop on the IND Sixth Avenue and IND Eighth Avenue Lines of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of West Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It is served by the A, D, E, and F trains at all times; the B and M trains on weekdays; the C train at all times except late nights; and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City. The boroughs are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.
Starlight Park is a public park located along the Bronx River in the Bronx in New York City. Starlight Park stands on the site of an amusement park of the same name that operated in the first half of the 20th century.
The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a 25-acre (10 ha) public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, with Bowling Green to the northeast, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. The park contains attractions such as an early 19th-century fort named Castle Clinton; multiple monuments; and the SeaGlass Carousel. The surrounding area, known as South Ferry, contains multiple ferry terminals, including the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal; a boat launch to the Statue of Liberty National Monument ; and a boat launch to Governors Island.
The Bx15 and M125 bus routes constitute the Third Avenue/125th Street Line, a public transit line in New York City. The Bx15 runs between Fordham Plaza and the Hub in the Bronx, running primarily along Third Avenue. The M125 runs between the Hub in the Bronx and Manhattanville in Manhattan, running along Willis Avenue in the South Bronx and along 125th Street in Harlem, Manhattan.
NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. As of August 2023, there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet in the United States with a total of 38 vessels, providing between 20 and 90 minute service on each of the routes, depending on the season.
The expansion of the land area of Lower Manhattan in New York City by land reclamation has, over time, greatly altered Manhattan Island's shorelines on the Hudson and East rivers; as well as those of the Upper New York Bay. The extension of the island began with European colonialization and continued in the 20th century. Incremental encroachment as well as major infrastructure have added acreage to the island. Since the passage of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 all projects which extend into navigable waterways follow federal regulation and are overseen by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) * Carlsen, Jen (December 10, 2010). "Poll: Where is New York's 6th Borough?". Gothamist. Archived from the original on September 2, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2013.Merging the city of Yonkers with New York City as a sixth borough was proposed last night by Alderman Elias H. Jacobs, Washington Heights Democrat, who said he would introduce a local bill in the Board of Aldermen branch of the Municipal Assembly at its next meeting on Nov. 13.
Hoboken will likely continue to grow and prosper, rivaling official boroughs like Queens and Brooklyn and living up to its nickname, 'The Sixth Borough.'
'We call ourselves the Sixth Borough,' Chen says.
The sixth borough. That's what Mayor Bloomberg calls the 578 miles of shore land that encircle the five boroughs of New York City.