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New York, often called New York City^[b] or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world’s largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population and urban area. New York is a global center of finance^[12] and commerce, culture, technology,^[13] entertainment and media, academics and scientific output,^[14] the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

With an estimated population in 2024 of 8,478,072^[5][6] distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km²),^[4] the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation’s second-most populous city.^[20] With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area^[21] and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City is one of the world’s most populous megacities.^[22] The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York City,^[23] making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the United States,^[20] the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world.^[24]

New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists around 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York,^[25] before being permanently renamed New York in November 1674. Following independence from Great Britain, the city was the national capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790.^[26] The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District, Manhattan, New York City has been called both the world’s premier financial and fintech center^[27][28] and the most economically powerful city in the world.^[29] As of 2022, the New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a gross metropolitan product of over US$2.16 trillion.^[10] The New York metropolitan area’s economy is larger than all but nine countries in the world. Despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system, New York also leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion.^[30] The city is home to the world’s two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. New York City is an established safe haven for global investors.^[31] As of 2023, New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates^[32] and has by a wide margin the highest residential rents of any city in the nation;^[33] and Fifth Avenue is the most expensive shopping street in the world.^[34] New York City is home by a significant margin to the highest number of billionaires,^[35] individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$30 million),^[36] and millionaires of any city in the world.^[37]

Etymology

See also: Nicknames of New York City

In 1664, New York was named in honor of the Duke of York (later King James II of England).^[38] James’s elder brother, King Charles II, appointed him proprietor of the former territory of New Netherland, including the city of New Amsterdam, when the Kingdom of England seized it from Dutch control.^[39]

History

Main articles: History of New York City and Timeline of New York City

Further information: History of Manhattan, Timeline of Brooklyn, Timeline of Queens, Timeline of the Bronx, and Timeline of Staten Island

Early history

Main article: History of New York City (prehistory–1664)

In the pre-Columbian era, the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by Algonquians, including the Lenape. Their homeland, known as Lenapehoking, included the present-day areas of Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx, the western portion of Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens), and the Lower Hudson Valley.^[40]

The first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano.^[41] He claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême (New Angoulême).^[42] A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes sailing for Emperor Charles V, arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of the Hudson River, which he named Río de San Antonio (‘Saint Anthony’s River’).^[43]

In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for the Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company.^[44] He sailed up what the Dutch called North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange.^[45]

Hudson claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and called Nieuw-Nederland (‘New Netherland‘). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City was Juan Rodriguez, a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for pelts and trading with the local population as a representative of the Dutch.^[46][47]

Dutch rule

Main articles: New Amsterdam, Fort Amsterdam, and New Netherland

The Castello Plan, a 1660 map of New Amsterdam in Lower Manhattan

New Amsterdam, centered in what eventually became Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year England took control and renamed it New York

A permanent European presence near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making New York the 12th-oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States, with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625, construction was started on a citadel and Fort Amsterdam, later called Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island.^[48][49]

The colony of New Amsterdam extended from the southern tip of Manhattan to modern-day Wall Street, where a 12-foot (3.7 m) wooden stockade was built in 1653 to protect against Native American and English raids.^[50] In 1626, the Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit, as charged by the Dutch West India Company, purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie, a small Lenape band,^[51] for “the value of 60 guilders“^[52] (about $900 in 2018).^[53] A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads.^[54][55]

Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly.^[25] To attract settlers, the Dutch instituted the patroon system in 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen (patroons, or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded land, local political autonomy, and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success.^[56]

Since 1621, the Dutch West India Company had operated as a monopoly in New Netherland, on authority granted by the Dutch States General. In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth, the Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with the Dutch West Indies).^[25][57]

In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began his tenure as the last Director-General of New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000.^[58][59] Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order; however, he earned a reputation as a despotic leader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over the Dutch Reformed Church, and blocked other religious groups from establishing houses of worship.^[60]

English rule

Main articles: Province of New York and History of New York City (1665–1783)

The Fall of New Amsterdam, painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, depicting the Conquest of New Netherland

Fort George and New York with British warships, c. 1731

In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by Colonel Richard Nicolls, without bloodshed.^[60][61] The terms of the surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in the colony and allowed for religious freedom.^[62]

In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda after the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is now Suriname, which they had gained from the English,^[63] and in return the English kept New Amsterdam. The settlement was promptly renamed “New York” after the Duke of York (the future King James II and VII).^[64] The duke gave part of the colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley.^[65]

On August 24, 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Anthony Colve of the Dutch navy seized New York at the behest of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and rechristened it “New Orange” after William III, the Prince of Orange.^[66] The Dutch soon returned the island to England under the Treaty of Westminster of November 1674.^[67][68]

Several intertribal wars among the Native Americans and epidemics brought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between 1660 and 1670.^[69] By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200.^[70] New York experienced several yellow fever epidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone.^[71][72]

In the early 18th century, New York grew in importance as a trading port while as a part of the colony of New York.^[73] It became a center of slavery, with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730.^[74] Most were domestic slaves; others were hired out as labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York’s economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with the American South. During construction in Foley Square in the 1990s, the African Burying Ground was discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free.^[75]

The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan of John Peter Zenger, who had been accused of seditious libel after criticizing colonial governor William Cosby, helped to establish freedom of the press in North America.^[76] In 1754, Columbia University was founded.^[77]

American Revolution

Further information: American Revolution

The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765, as the Sons of Liberty organization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there.^[78] The Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War, was fought in August 1776 within modern-day Brooklyn.^[79] A British rout of the Continental Army at the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 eliminated the last American stronghold in Manhattan, causing George Washington and his forces to retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey, pursued by British forces.^[80][81]

After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America.^[82] The city was a haven for Loyalist refugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom promised by the Crown, with as many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation, the largest such community on the continent.^[83][84] When the British forces evacuated New York at the close of the war in 1783, they transported thousands of freedmen for resettlement in Nova Scotia, England, and the Caribbean.^[85]

The attempt at a peaceful solution to the war took place at the Conference House on Staten Island between American delegates, including Benjamin Franklin, and British general Lord Howe on September 11, 1776.^[86] Shortly after the British occupation began, the Great Fire of New York destroyed nearly 500 buildings, about a quarter of the structures in the city, including Trinity Church.^[87][88]

Post-revolutionary period and early 19th century

Main article: History of New York City (1784–1854)

In January 1785, the assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York City the national capital.^[89] New York was the last capital of the United States under the Articles of Confederation and the first under the Constitution.^[90] As the capital, New York City hosted the inauguration of the first President, George Washington, and the first Congress, at Federal Hall on Wall Street. Congress drafted the Bill of Rights there.^[90] The Supreme Court held its first organizational sessions in New York in 1790.

In 1790, for the first time, New York City surpassed Philadelphia as the nation’s largest city. At the end of 1790, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia.^[91][92]

During the 19th century, New York City’s population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million.^[93] Under New York State’s gradual emancipation act of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held in indentured servitude until their mid-to-late twenties.^[94][95] Together with slaves freed by their masters after the Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. The New York Manumission Society worked for abolition and established the African Free School to educate Black children.^[96] It was not until 1827 that slavery was completely abolished in the state.^[97] Free Blacks struggled with discrimination and interracial abolitionist activism continued. New York City’s population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 (10,886 of whom were Black and of which 518 were enslaved) to 312,710 by 1840 (16,358 of whom were Black).^[98]

Also in the 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national and international trading center, as well as by European immigration, respectively.^[100] The city adopted the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, which expanded the city street grid to encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal through central New York connected the Atlantic port to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and the Great Lakes.^[101] Local politics became dominated by Tammany Hall, a political machine supported by Irish and German immigrants.^[102] In 1831, New York University was founded.^[103]

Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, including William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, Herman Melville, Rufus Wilmot Griswold, John Keese, Nathaniel Parker Willis, and Edgar Allan Poe. Members of the business elite lobbied for the establishment of Central Park, which in 1857 became the first landscaped park in an American city.^[104]

The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing over a quarter of the city’s population.^[105] Extensive immigration from the German provinces meant that Germans comprised another 25% of New York’s population by 1860.^[106][107]

American Civil War

Main articles: New York City in the American Civil War and History of New York City (1855–1897)

Democratic Party candidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing the city’s ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called on the aldermen to declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on.^[96] Anger at new military conscription laws during the American Civil War (1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to the Draft Riots of 1863, whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class.^[96]

The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York’s elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers after fierce competition for a decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground.^[106] At least 120 people were killed.^[108] Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance.^[106][108] It was one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history.^[109]

Late 19th and early 20th century

Main articles: History of New York City (1898–1945) and History of New York City (1946–1977)

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, was dedicated in New York Harbor. The statue welcomed 14 million immigrants as they arrived via Ellis Island by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the United States and American ideals of liberty and peace.^[110][111]

In 1898, the City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then a separate city), the County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens.^[112] The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together.^[113] Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication.^[114]

In 1904, the steamship General Slocum caught fire in the East River, killing 1,021 people.^[115] In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the city’s worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and major improvements in factory safety standards.^[116]

New York’s non-White population was 36,620 in 1890.^[117] New York City was a prime destination in the early 20th century for Blacks during the Great Migration from the American South, and by 1916, New York City had the largest urban African diaspora in North America.^[118] The Harlem Renaissance of literary and cultural life flourished during the era of Prohibition.^[119] The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height.^[120]

New York City became the most populous urbanized area in the world in the early 1920s, overtaking London. The metropolitan area surpassed 10 million in the early 1930s, becoming the first megacity.^[121] The Great Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance.^[122]

Returning World War II veterans created a post-war economic boom and the development of large housing tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County, with Wall Street leading America’s place as the world’s dominant economic power. The United Nations headquarters was completed in 1952, solidifying New York’s global geopolitical influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitated New York’s displacement of Paris as the center of the art world.^[123]

Late 20th and early 21st centuries

Main articles: History of New York City (1978–present) and September 11 attacks

In 1969, the Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.^[127] They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement^{[124][128][129][130]} and the modern fight for LGBT rights.^[131][132] Wayne R. Dynes, author of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality, wrote that drag queens were the only “transgender folks around” during the Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality.^[133]

In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates.^[134] Growing fiscal deficits in 1975 led the city to appeal to the federal government for financial aid; President Gerald Ford gave a speech denying the request, which was paraphrased on the front page of the New York Daily News as “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD”.^[135] The Municipal Assistance Corporation was formed and granted oversight authority over the city’s finances.^[136] While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city’s economic health in the 1980s, New York’s crime rate continued to increase through that decade and into the beginning of the 1990s.^[137]

New York City’s population exceeded 8 million for the first time in the 2000 census;^[138] further records were set in the 2010 and 2020 censuses.^[139] Important new economic sectors, such as Silicon Alley, emerged.^[140]

The year 2000 was celebrated with fanfare in Times Square.^[141] New York City suffered the bulk of the economic damage and largest loss of human life in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.^[142] Two of the four hijacked airliners were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the deaths of 2,753 people, including 343 first responders from the New York City Fire Department and 71 law enforcement officers.^[143]

The area was rebuilt with a new World Trade Center, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, and other new buildings and infrastructure,^[144] including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the city’s third-largest hub.^[145] The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere^[146] and the world’s seventh-tallest building by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m), a reference to the year of American independence.^{[147][148][149]}

The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide.^[150]

New York City was heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, including flooding that led to the days-long shutdown of the subway system,^[151] and flooding of all East River subway tunnels and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except the Lincoln Tunnel.^[152] The New York Stock Exchange closed for two days due to weather for the first time since the Great Blizzard of 1888.^[153] At least 43 people died in New York City as a result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $19 billion.^[154] The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counter climate change and rising seas, with $15 billion in federal funding received through 2022 towards those resiliency efforts.^[155][156]

In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the city was confirmed.^[157] With its population density and extensive exposure to global travelers, the city rapidly replaced Wuhan, China as the global epicenter of the pandemic during the early phase, straining the city’s healthcare infrastructure.^[158][159] Through March 2023, New York City recorded more than 80,000 deaths from COVID-19-related complications.^[160]

Geography

Main articles: Geography of New York City and Geography of New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary

New York City lies in the northeastern United States, in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston. Its location at the mouth of the Hudson River, which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean, has helped the city become a significant trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

During the Wisconsin glaciation, 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet.^[161] The erosive forward movement of the ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan’s skyscrapers.^[162]

The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay. Between New York City and Troy, New York, the river is an estuary.^[163] The Hudson River separates the city from New Jersey. The East River—a tidal strait—flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River, another tidal strait between the East and Hudson rivers, separates most of Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River, which flows through the Bronx and Westchester County, is the only entirely freshwater river in the city.^{[164][importance?]}

The city’s land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along the waterfronts since Dutch colonial times; reclamation is most prominent in Lower Manhattan, with developments such as Battery Park City in the 1970s and 1980s.^[165] Some of the natural relief in topography has been evened out, especially in Manhattan.^[166]

The city’s total area is 468.484 square miles (1,213.37 km²). 302.643 sq mi (783.84 km²) of the city is land and 165.841 sq mi (429.53 km²) of it is water.^[167][168] The highest point in the city is Todt Hill on Staten Island, which, at 409.8 feet (124.9 m) above sea level, is the highest point on the eastern seaboard south of Maine.^[169] The summit of the ridge is mostly covered in woodlands as part of the Staten Island Greenbelt.^[170]

Boroughs

Main articles: Boroughs of New York City and Neighborhoods in New York City

New York City is sometimes referred to collectively as the Five Boroughs.^[171] Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City one of the U.S. municipalities in multiple counties.

Manhattan (New York County) is the geographically smallest and most densely populated borough. It is home to Central Park and most of the city’s skyscrapers, and is sometimes locally known as The City.^[172] Manhattan’s population density of 70,450.8 inhabitants per square mile (27,201.2/km²) in 2022 makes it the highest of any county in the United States and higher than the density of any individual American city.^[173] Manhattan is the cultural, administrative, and financial center of New York City and contains the headquarters of many major multinational corporations, the United Nations headquarters, Wall Street, and a number of important universities. The borough is often described as the financial and cultural center of the world.^[174][175]

Brooklyn (Kings County), on the western tip of Long Island, is the city’s most populous borough. Brooklyn is known for its cultural, social, and ethnic diversity, an independent art scene, distinct neighborhoods, and a distinctive architectural heritage. Downtown Brooklyn is the largest central core neighborhood in the Outer Boroughs. The borough has a long beachfront shoreline including Coney Island, established in the 1870s as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the United States^[176] Marine Park and Prospect Park are the two largest parks in Brooklyn.^[177] Since 2010, Brooklyn has evolved into a thriving hub of entrepreneurship and high technology startup firms,^[178][179] and of postmodern art and design.^[179][180] Brooklyn is also home to Fort Hamilton, the U.S. military’s only active duty installation within New York City,^[181] aside from Coast Guard operations. The facility was established in 1825 on the site of a battery used during the American Revolution, and it is one of America’s longest-serving military forts.^[182]

Queens (Queens County), on Long Island north and east of Brooklyn, is geographically the largest borough, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States,^[183] and the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world.^[184][185] Queens is the site of the Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, and hosts the annual US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, with plans to build Etihad Park, a soccer-specific stadium for New York City FC.^[186] Additionally, two of the three busiest airports serving the New York metropolitan area, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, are in Queens.^[187]

The Bronx (Bronx County) is both New York City’s northernmost borough and the only one that is mostly on the U.S. mainland. It is the location of Yankee Stadium, the baseball park of the New York Yankees, and home to the largest cooperatively-owned housing complex in the United States, Co-op City.^[188] It is home to the Bronx Zoo, the world’s largest metropolitan zoo,^[189] which spans 265 acres (1.07 km²) and houses more than 6,000 animals.^[190] The Bronx is the birthplace of hip hop music and its associated culture.^[191] Pelham Bay Park is the largest park in New York City, at 2,772 acres (1,122 ha).^[192]

Staten Island (Richmond County) is the most suburban in character of the five boroughs. It is connected to Brooklyn by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and to Manhattan by way of the free Staten Island Ferry. In central Staten Island, the Staten Island Greenbelt spans approximately 2,500 acres (10 km²), including 28 miles (45 km) of walking trails and one of the last undisturbed forests in the city.^[193] Designated in 1984 to protect the island’s natural lands, the Greenbelt comprises seven city parks.

Climate

Main article: Climate of New York City

New York
Climate chart (explanation)
JFMAMJJASOND3.640283.242304.350364.16246471554.580644.685704.683694.376624.465513.654424.44434█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F█ Precipitation totals in inchesSource: “New York City Weatherbox NOAA”
showMetric conversion

Under the Köppen climate classification, New York City has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), and is the northernmost major city on the North American continent with this categorization. The suburbs to the immediate north and west are in the transitional zone between humid subtropical and humid continental climates (Dfa).^[194][195] The city receives an average of 49.5 inches (1,260 mm) of precipitation annually, which is relatively evenly spread throughout the year. New York averages over 2,500 hours of sunshine annually.^[196]

Winters are chilly and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blow sea breezes offshore temper the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean; yet the Atlantic and the partial shielding from colder air by the Appalachian Mountains keep the city warmer in the winter than inland North American cities at similar or lesser latitudes.^[197] The daily mean temperature in January, the area’s coldest month, is 33.3 °F (0.7 °C).^[198] Temperatures usually drop to 10 °F (−12 °C) several times per winter,^[199] yet can also reach 60 °F (16 °C) for several days even in the coldest winter month. Spring and autumn are unpredictable and can range from cool to warm, although they are usually mild with low humidity. Summers are typically hot and humid, with a daily mean temperature of 77.5 °F (25.3 °C) in July.^[198]

Nighttime temperatures are 9.5 °F (5.3 °C) degrees higher for the average city resident due to the urban heat island effect, caused by paved streets and tall buildings.^[200] Daytime temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on average of 17 days each summer and in some years exceed 100 °F (38 °C), although this is a rare occurrence, last noted on July 18, 2012.^{[201][202][203][204]} Similarly, readings of 0 °F (−18 °C) are extremely rare, last occurring on February 14, 2016.^[205] Extreme temperatures have ranged from 106 °F (41 °C), recorded on July 9, 1936, down to −15 °F (−26 °C) on February 9, 1934;^[198] the coldest recorded wind chill was −37 °F (−38 °C) on the same day as the all-time record low.^[206] Average winter snowfall between 1991 and 2020 was 29.8 inches (76 cm); this varies considerably between years. The record cold daily maximum was 2 °F (−17 °C) on December 30, 1917, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum was 87 °F (31 °C), on July 2, 1903.^[201] The average water temperature of the nearby Atlantic Ocean ranges from 39.7 °F (4.3 °C) in February to 74.1 °F (23.4 °C) in August.^[207]

Hurricanes and tropical storms are rare in the New York area.^[208] Hurricane Sandy brought a destructive storm surge to New York City on the evening of October 29, 2012, flooding numerous streets, tunnels, and subway lines in Lower Manhattan and other areas of the city and cutting off electricity in many parts of the city and its suburbs.^[209] The storm and its profound impacts have prompted the discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of the city and the metropolitan area to minimize the risk of destructive consequences from another such event in the future.^[155]

showvteClimate data for New York (Belvedere Castle, Central Park), 1991–2020 normals,[c] extremes 1869–present[d]

Parks

Main articles: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and List of New York City parks

The city of New York has a complex park system, with various lands operated by the National Park Service, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. In its 2023 ParkScore ranking, the Trust for Public Land reported that the park system in New York City was the tenth-best park system among the most populous U.S. cities, citing the city’s park acreage, investment in parks and that 99% of residents are within ¹⁄₂ mile (0.80 km) of a park.^[211]

Gateway National Recreation Area contains over 26,000 acres (110 km²), most of it in New York City.^[212] In Brooklyn and Queens, the park contains over 9,000 acres (36 km²) of salt marsh, wetlands, islands, and water, including most of Jamaica Bay and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Also in Queens, the park includes a significant portion of the western Rockaway Peninsula, most notably Jacob Riis Park and Fort Tilden.^[213] In Staten Island, it includes Fort Wadsworth, with historic pre-Civil War era Battery Weed and Fort Tompkins, and Great Kills Park.^[214]

The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum are managed by the National Park Service and are in both New York and New Jersey. They are joined in the harbor by Governors Island National Monument. Historic sites under federal management on Manhattan Island include Stonewall National Monument; Castle Clinton National Monument; Federal Hall National Memorial; Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site; General Grant National Memorial (Grant’s Tomb); African Burial Ground National Monument; and Hamilton Grange National Memorial. Hundreds of properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places or as a National Historic Landmark.

There are seven state parks within the confines of New York City. They include: the Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve, a natural area that includes extensive riding trails; the Riverbank State Park, a 28-acre (11 ha) facility;^[215] and the Marsha P. Johnson State Park, a state park in Brooklyn and Manhattan that borders the East River renamed in honor of Marsha P. Johnson.^[216]

New York City has over 28,000 acres (110 km²) of municipal parkland and 14 miles (23 km) of public beaches.^[217] The largest municipal park in the city is Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, with 2,772 acres (1,122 ha),^[192][218] and the most visited urban park is the Central Park, and one of the most filmed and visited locations in the world, with 42 million visitors in 2023.^[219]

Environment

Main article: Environmental issues in New York City

Environmental issues in New York City are affected by the city’s size, density, abundant public transportation infrastructure, and its location at the mouth of the Hudson River. For example, it is one of the country’s biggest sources of pollution and has the lowest per-capita greenhouse gas emissions rate and electricity usage. Governors Island is planned to host a US$1 billion research and education center to make New York City the global leader in addressing the climate crisis.^[222]

As an oceanic port city, New York City is vulnerable to long-term manifestations of global warming like sea level rise exacerbated by land subsidence.^[223] Climate change has spawned the development of a significant climate resiliency and environmental sustainability economy in the city. New York City has focused on reducing its environmental impact and carbon footprint.^[224] Mass transit use is the highest in the country.

New York’s high rate of public transit use, more than 610,000 daily cycling trips as of 2022,^[225] and many pedestrian commuters make it the most energy-efficient major city in the United States.^[226] Walk and bicycle modes of travel account for 21% of all modes for trips in the city; nationally, the rate for metro regions is about 8%.^[227] In both 2011 and 2015, Walk Score named New York City the most walkable large city in the United States,^{[228][229][230]} and in 2018, Stacker ranked New York the most walkable American city.^[231] Citibank sponsored public bicycles for the city’s bike-share project, which became known as Citi Bike, in 2013.^[232] New York City’s numerical “in-season cycling indicator” of bicycling in the city had hit an all-time high of 437 when measured in 2014.^[233]

The New York City drinking water supply is extracted from the protected Catskill Mountains watershed.^[234] As a result of the watershed’s integrity and undisturbed natural water filtration system, New York is one of only four major cities in the United States the majority of whose drinking water is pure enough not to require water treatment.^[235] The city’s municipal water system is the nation’s largest, moving more than 1 billion U.S. gallons (3.8 billion liters) of water daily from a watershed covering 1,900 square miles (4,900 km²)^[236][237]

According to the 2016 World Health Organization Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database,^[238] the annual average concentration in New York City’s air of particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or less (PM_2.5) was 7.0 micrograms per cubic meter, or 3.0 micrograms within the recommended limit of the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for the annual mean PM_2.5.^[239] The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in partnership with Queens College, conducts the New York Community Air Survey to measure pollutants at about 150 locations.^[240]

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of New York City and Demographic history of New York City

Year	Pop.	±%
1698	4,937	—
1712	5,840	+18.3%
1723	7,248	+24.1%
1737	10,664	+47.1%
1746	11,717	+9.9%
1756	13,046	+11.3%
1771	21,863	+67.6%
1790	33,131	+51.5%
1800	60,515	+82.7%
1810	96,373	+59.3%
1820	123,706	+28.4%
1830	202,589	+63.8%
1840	312,710	+54.4%
1850	515,547	+64.9%
1860	813,669	+57.8%
1870	942,292	+15.8%
1880	1,206,299	+28.0%
1890	1,515,301	+25.6%
1900	3,437,202	+126.8%
1910	4,766,883	+38.7%
1920	5,620,048	+17.9%
1930	6,930,446	+23.3%
1940	7,454,995	+7.6%
1950	7,891,957	+5.9%
1960	7,781,984	−1.4%
1970	7,894,862	+1.5%
1980	7,071,639	−10.4%
1990	7,322,564	+3.5%
2000	8,008,288	+9.4%
2010	8,175,133	+2.1%
2020	8,804,190	+7.7%
2024 est.	8,478,072	−3.7%
[e]

New York City is the most populous city in the United States,^[244] with 8,804,190 residents as of the 2020 census, its highest decennial count ever, incorporating more immigration into the city than outmigration since the 2010 census.^{[4][245][246]} More than twice as many people live in New York City as in Los Angeles, the second-most populous American city.^[247] The city’s population in 2020 was 35.9% White, 22.7% Black, 14.6% Asian, 10.5% Mixed, 0.7% Native American and 0.1% Pacific Islander; 28.4% identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino.^[4]

Between 2010 and 2020, New York City gained 629,000 residents, more than the total gains over the same decade of the next four largest American cities (Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix) combined.^[248][249] The city’s population density of 27,744.1 inhabitants per square mile (10,712.1/km²) makes it the densest of any American municipality with a population above 100,000.^[173] Manhattan’s population density is 70,450.8 inhabitants per square mile (27,201.2/km²), the highest of any county in the United States.^[173]

Based on data from the 2020 census, New York City comprises about 43.6% of the state’s population of 20,202,320,^[4] and about 39% of the population of the New York metropolitan area.^[250] The majority of New York City residents in 2020 (5,141,539 or 58.4%) were living in Brooklyn or Queens, the two boroughs on Long Island.^[251] As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York,^{[23][252][253][254]} and the New York City metropolitan statistical area has the largest foreign-born population of any metropolitan region in the world. The New York region continues to be by far the leading metropolitan gateway for legal immigrants admitted into the United States, substantially exceeding the combined totals of Los Angeles and Miami.^[255] Nearly seven times as many young professionals applied for jobs in New York City in 2023 as compared to 2019, making New York the most popular destination for recent college graduates.^[256]

Ethnicity and nationality

Main articles: Race and ethnicity in New York City and New York City ethnic enclaves

According to 2022 estimates from the American Community Survey, the largest self-reported ancestries in New York City were Dominican (8.7%), Chinese (7.5%), Puerto Rican (6.9%), Italian (5.5%), Mexican (4.4%), Irish (4.4%), Asian Indian (3.1%), German (2.9%), Jamaican (2.4%), Ecuadorian (2.3%), English (2.1%), Polish (1.9%), Russian (1.7%), Arab (1.4%), Haitian (1.4%), Guyanese (1.3%), Filipino (1.1%), and Korean (1.1%).^{[257][15][16]}

showHistorical demographics	2020[258]	2010[257]	1990[259]	1970[259]	1940[259]

Based on American Community Survey data from 2018 to 2022, approximately 36.3% of the city’s population is foreign born (compared to 13.7% nationwide),^[4] and 40% of all children are born to mothers who are immigrants.^[260] Throughout its history, New York has been a major port of entry for immigrants.^[261][262] No single country or region of origin dominates.^[261] Queens has the largest Asian American and Andean populations in the United States, and is also the most ethnically and linguistically diverse urban area in the world.^[263][185]

New York City ethnic enclaves

Little Fuzhou, Manhattan

Little Italy, Manhattan

Little Russia, Brooklyn

Little India, Queens

The metropolitan area has the largest Asian Indian population in the Western Hemisphere; the largest Russian American,^[264] Italian American, and African American populations; the largest Dominican American, Puerto Rican American, and South American^[264] and second-largest overall Hispanic population in the United States, numbering over 5 million. Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, and Brazil, are the top source countries from South America for immigrants to the New York City region; the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean; Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa from Africa; and El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala in Central America.^[265]

New York contains the highest total Asian population of any U.S. city proper.^[266] Asian Americans in New York City, according to the 2010 census, number more than 1.2 million,^[4] greater than the combined totals of San Francisco and Los Angeles.^[267] New York has the largest Chinese population of any city outside Asia,^[268] Manhattan’s Chinatown is the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere,^[269] and Queens is home to the largest Tibetan population outside Asia.^[270] Arab Americans number over 160,000 in New York City,^[271] with the highest concentration in Brooklyn. New York City has the highest Palestinian population in the United States.^[272] Central Asians, primarily Uzbek Americans, are a rapidly growing segment of the city’s non-Hispanic White population.^[273] The metropolitan area is home to 20% of the nation’s Indian Americans and at least twenty Little India enclaves, and 15% of all Korean Americans and four Koreatowns.^[274]

New York City has the largest European and non-Hispanic white population of any American city, numbering 2.7 million in 2012.^[275] The European diaspora residing in the city is very diverse and many European ethnic groups have formed enclaves.^{[276][277][278]} With 960,000 Jewish inhabitants as of 2023, New York City is home to the highest Jewish population of any city in the world,^[279] and its metropolitan area concentrated over 2 million Jews as of 2021, the second largest Jewish population worldwide after the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in Israel.^[280] In the borough of Brooklyn, an estimated one in four residents was Jewish as of 2018.^[281]

Sexual orientation and gender identity

Main articles: LGBTQ culture in New York City, Transgender culture of New York City, Same-sex marriage in New York, and NYC Pride March

Further information: New York City Drag March, Queens Pride Parade, List of LGBT people from New York City, and List of largest LGBT events

New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world’s largest LGBT populations and the most prominent.^[282] The New York metropolitan area is home to about 570,000 self-identifying gay and bisexual people, the largest in the country.^[283][284] Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults has been legal in New York since 1980’s New York v. Onofre case, which invalidated the state’s sodomy law.^[285] Same-sex marriage in New York was legalized on June 24, 2011, and were authorized to take place on July 23, 2011.^[286]

The annual NYC Pride March proceeds southward down Fifth Avenue and ends at Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan; the parade is the largest pride parade in the world, attracting tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June.^[287][288] The annual Queens Pride Parade is held in Jackson Heights and is accompanied by the ensuing Multicultural Parade.^[289]

Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 was the largest international Pride celebration in history, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, with 150,000 participants and five million spectators attending in Manhattan alone.^[290] New York City is home to the largest transgender population in the world, estimated at more than 50,000 in 2018, concentrated in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens; however, until the June 1969 Stonewall riots, this community had felt marginalized and neglected by the gay community.^[289][133] Brooklyn Liberation March, the largest transgender-rights demonstration in LGBT history, took place on June 14, 2020, stretching from Grand Army Plaza to Fort Greene, Brooklyn, focused on supporting Black transgender lives, drawing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 participants.^[291][292]

Religion

Further information: St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Midtown Manhattan), Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, Christmas in New York, Judaism in New York City, History of the Jews in New York, Jewish arrival in New Amsterdam, Islam in New York City, Hindu Temple Society of North America, Mahayana Buddhism North America, and Falun Gong

Christianity is the largest religion (59% adherent) in New York City,^[293] which is home to the highest number of churches of any city in the world.^[18] Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination (33%), followed by Protestantism (23%), and other Christian denominations (3%). The Latin Catholic population is primarily served by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Diocese of Brooklyn, while Eastern Catholics are divided into numerous jurisdictions throughout the city. Evangelical Protestantism is the largest branch of Protestantism in the city (9%), followed by Mainline Protestantism (8%), while the converse is usually true for other cities and metropolitan areas.^[294]

With 960,000 Jewish inhabitants as of 2023, Judaism is the second-largest religion practiced in New York City.^[279] Nearly half of the city’s Jews live in Brooklyn.^[295][296]

Islam ranks as the third-largest religion in New York City, following Christianity and Judaism, with estimates ranging between 600,000 and 1,000,000 observers of Islam, including 10% of the city’s public school children.^[297] 22.3% of American Muslims live in New York City, with 1.5 million Muslims in the greater New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan Muslim population in the Western Hemisphere^[298]—and the most ethnically diverse Muslim population of any city in the world.^[299] Powers Street Mosque in Brooklyn is one of the oldest continuously operating mosques in the United States, and represents the first Islamic organization in both the city and the state.^[300][301]

Following these three largest religious groups in New York City are Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and others. As of 2023, 24% of Greater New Yorkers identified with no organized religious affiliation, and 4% were self-identified atheists.^[302]

Economy

Main article: Economy of New York City

New York City is a global hub of business and commerce, sometimes called the “Capital of the World”.^[304] Greater New York is the world’s largest metropolitan economy, with a gross metropolitan product estimated at US$2.16 trillion in 2022.^[9][10] New York is a center for worldwide banking and finance, health care, and life sciences,^[305] medical technology and research, retailing, world trade, transportation, tourism, real estate, new media, traditional media, advertising, legal services, accountancy, insurance, and the arts in the United States; while Silicon Alley, metonymous for New York’s high technology sphere, continues to expand. The Port of New York and New Jersey is a major economic engine, benefitting post-Panamax from the expansion of the Panama Canal.^{[306][307][308]}

Many Fortune 500 corporations are headquartered in New York City,^[309] as are a large number of multinational corporations. New York City has been ranked first among cities across the globe in attracting capital, business, and tourists.^[310][311] New York City’s role as the top global center for the advertising industry is metonymously reflected as Madison Avenue.^[312] The city’s fashion industry provides approximately 180,000 employees with $11 billion in annual wages.^[313]

Significant other economic sectors include universities and non-profit institutions. Manufacturing declined over the 20th century but still accounts for significant employment. The city’s apparel and garment industry, historically centered on the Garment District in Manhattan, peaked in 1950, when more than 323,000 workers were employed in the industry in New York. In 2015, fewer than 23,000 New York City residents were employed in the industry, although revival efforts were underway,^[314] and the American fashion industry continues to be metonymized as Seventh Avenue.^[315] In 2017, the city had 205,592 employer firms, of which 22.0% were owned by women, 31.3% were minority-owned and 2.7% were owned by veterans.^[4]

In 2022, the gross domestic product of New York City was US$1.053 trillion, of which $781 billion (74%) was produced by Manhattan.^[9] Like other large cities, New York City has a degree of income disparity, as indicated by its Gini coefficient of 0.55 as of 2022.^[316][317] In November 2023, the city had total employment of over 4.75 million of which more than a quarter were in education and health services.^[318] Manhattan, which accounted for more than half of the city’s jobs, had an average weekly wage of $2,590 in the second quarter of 2023, ranking fourth-highest among the nation’s 360 largest counties.^[319] New York City is one of the relatively few American cities levying an income tax (about 3%) on its residents;^{[320][321][322]} despite this tax levy, New York City in 2024 was home by a significant margin to the highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, with a total of 110.^[35]

Wall Street

Main articles: Wall Street and Financial District, Manhattan

New York City’s most important economic sector lies in its role as a comprehensive financial center, metonymously known as Wall Street. Lower Manhattan is home to the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, representing the world’s largest and second largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured both by overall average daily trading volume and by total market capitalization of their listed companies in 2013.^[323][324] In fiscal year 2013–14, Wall Street’s securities industry generated 19% of New York State’s tax revenue.^[325]

New York City remains the largest global center for trading in public equity and debt capital markets.^{[326]: 31–32 [327]} New York also leads in hedge fund management; private equity; and the monetary volume of mergers and acquisitions. Several investment banks and investment managers headquartered in Manhattan are important participants in other global financial centers.^{[326]: 34–35} New York is the principal commercial banking center of the United States.^[328]

Manhattan contained over 500 million square feet (46.5 million m²) of office space in 2018,^[329] making New York City the largest office market in the world,^[330][331] while Midtown Manhattan, with 400 million square feet (37.2 million m²) in 2018,^[329] is the largest central business district in the world.^[332]

Tech and biotech

Further information: Tech:NYC, Tech companies in New York City, Biotech companies in New York City, and Silicon Alley

New York is a top-tier global technology hub.^[13][333] Silicon Alley, once a metonym for the sphere encompassing the metropolitan region’s high technology industries,^[334] is no longer a relevant moniker as the city’s tech environment has expanded dramatically both in location and in scope since at least 2003, when tech business appeared in more places in Manhattan and in other boroughs, and not much silicon was involved.^[334][335] New York City’s current tech sphere encompasses the array of applications involving universal applications of artificial intelligence (AI),^[336][337] broadband internet,^[338] new media, financial technology (fintech) and cryptocurrency, biotechnology, game design, and other fields within information technology that are supported by its entrepreneurship ecosystem and venture capital investments. Technology-driven startup companies and entrepreneurial employment are growing in New York City and the region. The technology sector has been claiming a greater share of New York City’s economy since 2010.^[339] Tech:NYC, founded in 2016, is a non-profit organization which represents New York City’s technology industry with government, civic institutions, in business, and in the media, and whose primary goals are to further augment New York’s substantial tech talent base and to advocate for policies that will nurture tech companies to grow in the city.^[340]

New York City’s AI sector raised US$483.6 million in venture capital investment in 2022.^[341] In 2023, New York unveiled the first comprehensive initiative to create both a framework of rules and a chatbot to regulate the use of AI within the sphere of city government.^[342]

The biotechnology sector is growing in New York City, based on the city’s strength in academic scientific research and public and commercial financial support. On December 19, 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced his choice of Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to build a $2 billion graduate school of applied sciences called Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island with the goal of transforming New York City into the world’s premier technology capital.^[343][344]

Real estate

New York City real estate is a safe haven for global investors.^[31] The total value of all New York City property was assessed at US$1.479 trillion for the 2017 fiscal year, an increase of 6.1% from the previous year. Of the total market value, single family homes accounted for $765 billion (51.7%); condominiums, co-ops, and apartment buildings totaled $351 billion (23.7%); and commercial properties were valued at $317 billion (21.4%).^[345][346] Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan commands the highest retail rents in the world, at $2,000 per square foot ($22,000/m²) in 2023.^[347]

New York City has one of the highest costs of living in the world, which is exacerbated by the city’s housing shortage.^[348][349] In 2023, one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan rented at a median monthly price of US$4,443.^[350] The median house price city-wide is over $1 million as of 2023.^[351] With 33,000 units available in 2023 among the city’s 2.3 million rentable apartments, the vacancy rate was 1.4%, the lowest level since 1968 and a rate that is indicative of a shortage of available units, especially among those with rents below a monthly rental of $1,650, where less than 1% of units were available.^[352] Perennially high demand from younger adults has pushed median monthly one-bedroom apartment rents in New York City over US$4,000 and two-bedroom rents over $5,000, by a significant margin the highest in the United States.^[33]

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in New York City

Tourism is a vital industry for New York City, and New York City Tourism + Conventions represents the city’s official bureau of tourism.^[353] New York has witnessed a growing combined volume of international and domestic tourists, with as many as 66.6 million visitors to the city per year, including as many as 13.5 million international visitors, with the highest numbers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and China.^[354] Multiple sources have called New York the most photographed city in the world.^{[355][356][357]} I Love New York (stylized I ❤ NY) is both a logo and a song that are the basis of an advertising campaign and have been used since 1977 to promote tourism in New York City,^[358] and later to promote New York State as well. The trademarked logo is owned by New York State Empire State Development.^[359]

Many districts and monuments in New York City are major landmarks, including three of the world’s ten-most-visited tourist attractions in 2023.^[360] A record 66.6 million tourists visited New York City in 2019, bringing in $47.4 billion in tourism revenue. Visitor numbers dropped by two-thirds in 2020 during the pandemic, rebounding to 63.3 million in 2023.^[354][361] Major landmarks in New York City include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Central Park.^[362] Times Square is the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District,^[363] and a major center of the world’s entertainment industry,^[364] attracting 50 million visitors annually to one of the world’s busiest pedestrian intersections.^[219] According to The Broadway League, shows on Broadway sold approximately US$1.54 billion worth of tickets in both the 2022–2023 and the 2023–2024 seasons. Both seasons featured theater attendance of approximately 12.3 million each.^[365]

Media and entertainment

Main article: Media in New York City

Further information: New Yorkers in journalism

New York City has been described as the entertainment^{[18][366][367]} and digital media capital of the world.^[368] It is a center for the advertising, music, newspaper, digital media, and publishing industries and is the largest media market in North America.^[369] Many of the world’s largest media conglomerates are based in the city, including Warner Bros. Discovery, the Thomson Reuters Corporation, the Associated Press, Bloomberg L.P., the News Corp, The New York Times Company, NBCUniversal, the Hearst Corporation, AOL, Fox Corporation, and Paramount Global. Seven of the world’s top eight global advertising agency networks have their headquarters in New York.^[370]

More than 200 newspapers and 350 consumer magazines have an office in the city,^[371] and the publishing industry employs about 11,500 people, with an economic impact of $9.2 billion.^[372] The two national daily newspapers with the largest daily circulations in the United States are published in New York: The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times broadsheets.^[373] With 132 awards through 2022, The Times has won the most Pulitzer Prizes for journalism^[374] and is considered the U.S. media’s newspaper of record.^[375] Tabloid newspapers in the city include the New York Daily News, which was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson,^[376] and the New York Post, founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton.^[377][378]

As of 2019, New York City was the second-largest center for filmmaking and television production in the United States, producing about 200 feature films annually. The industry employed more than 100,000 people in 2019, generating $12.2 billion in wages and a total economic impact of $64.1 billion.^[379] By volume, New York is the world leader in independent film production—one-third of all American independent films are produced there.^[380][371]

New York is a major center for non-commercial educational media. NYC Media is the official public radio, television, and online media network and broadcasting service of New York City,^[381] and has produced several original Emmy Award-winning shows covering music and culture in city neighborhoods and city government. The oldest public-access television channel in the United States is the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, founded in 1971.^[382] WNET is the city’s major public television station and produces a third of national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television programming.^[383] WNYC, a public radio station owned by the city until 1997,^[384] has the largest public radio audience in the United States.^[385]

Culture

Main article: Culture of New York City

New York City is frequently the setting for novels, movies, and television programs and has been described as the cultural capital of the world.^{[386][387][388][389]} The city is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the Harlem Renaissance in literature and visual art;^[390][391] abstract expressionism (known as the New York School) in painting; and hip-hop,^[191][392] punk,^[393] hardcore,^[394] salsa, freestyle, Tin Pan Alley, certain forms of jazz,^[395] and (along with Philadelphia) disco in music. New York City has been considered the dance capital of the world.^[396][397]

One of the most common traits attributed to New York City is its fast pace,^{[398][399][400]} which spawned the term New York minute.^[401] New York City’s residents are prominently known for their resilience historically, and more recently related to their management of the impacts of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[402][403][404]} New York was voted the world’s most resilient city in 2021 and 2022, per Time Out‘s global poll of urban residents.^[403]

Theater

Further information: Broadway theatre and Theater District, Manhattan

The central hub of the American theater scene is Manhattan, with its divisions of Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway.^[405] Many movie and television stars have gotten their big break working in New York productions.^[406]

Broadway theatre is one of the premier forms of English-language theatre in the world, named after Broadway, the major thoroughfare that crosses Times Square,^[407] sometimes referred to as “The Great White Way“.^{[408][409][410]}

Forty-one venues mostly in Midtown Manhattan’s Theatre District, each with at least 500 seats, are classified as Broadway theatres.^[411] The 2018–19 Broadway theatre season set records with total attendance of 14.8 million and gross revenue of $1.83 billion^[412] Recovering from closures forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022–23 revenues rebounded to $1.58 billion with total attendance of 12.3 million.^[413][414] The Tony Awards recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manhattan.^[415]

Accent and dialect

Main articles: New York City English and New York accent

The New York area is home to a distinctive regional accent and speech pattern called the New York dialect, alternatively known as Brooklynese or New Yorkese. It has been considered one of the most recognizable accents within American English.^[416] The traditional New York area speech pattern is known for its rapid delivery, and its accent is characterized as non-rhotic so that the sound [ɹ] does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant, therefore the pronunciation of the city name as “New Yawk”.^[417] The classic version of the New York City dialect is centered on middle- and working-class New Yorkers. The influx of non-European immigrants in recent decades has led to changes in this distinctive dialect,^[417] and the traditional form of this speech pattern is no longer as prevalent.^[417]

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of New York City

Further information: List of buildings, sites, and monuments in New York City and List of tallest buildings in New York City

New York has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a wide range of styles and from distinct time periods, from the Dutch Colonial Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, the oldest section of which dates to 1656, to the modern One World Trade Center, the skyscraper at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan and the most expensive office tower in the world by construction cost.^[418]

Manhattan’s skyline, with its many skyscrapers, has been recognized as an iconic symbol of the city,^{[419][420][421]} and the city has been home to several of the tallest buildings in the world. As of 2019, New York City had 6,455 high-rise buildings, the third most in the world after Hong Kong and Seoul.^[422]

The character of New York’s large residential districts is often defined by the elegant brownstone rowhouses and townhouses and shabby tenements that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930.^[423] Stone and brick became the city’s building materials of choice after the construction of wood-frame houses was limited in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1835.^[424]

In contrast, New York City also has neighborhoods that are less densely populated and feature free-standing dwellings. In neighborhoods such as Riverdale (in the Bronx), Ditmas Park (in Brooklyn), and Douglaston (in Queens), large single-family homes are common in various architectural styles such as Tudor Revival and Victorian.^{[425][426][427]}

Nine-mile (14 km) high-resolution panorama of Manhattan’s West Side, from 115th Street to The Battery, taken from Weehawken, New Jersey, on March 26, 2020. The Chrysler Building is blocked by One Vanderbilt.

Arts

Further information: List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City and Music of New York City

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, anchoring Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is home to numerous influential arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, and New York City Ballet, as well as the Vivian Beaumont Theater, the Juilliard School, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Alice Tully Hall. The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute is in Union Square, and Tisch School of the Arts is based at New York University, while Central Park SummerStage presents free concerts in Central Park.^[428]

New York City has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations and more than 500 art galleries.^[429] The city government funds the arts with a larger annual budget than the National Endowment for the Arts.^[429] The city is also home to hundreds of cultural institutions and historic sites. Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue running from 82nd to 105th streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan,^[430] in the upper portion of Carnegie Hill.^[431]

Nine museums occupy this section of Fifth Avenue, making it one of the densest displays of high culture in the world.^[432] Its art museums include the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neue Galerie New York, and The Africa Center. In addition to other programming, the museums collaborate for the annual Museum Mile Festival, held each year in June, to promote the museums and increase visitation.^[433] Many of the world’s most lucrative art auctions are held in New York City.^[434][435]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the largest art museum in the Americas. In 2022, it welcomed 3.2 million visitors, ranking it the third-most visited museum in the country, and eighth-most visited art museum in the world.^[436] Its permanent collection contains more than two million works across 17 curatorial departments,^[437] and includes works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt; paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters; and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art.^[438]

Cuisine

Main articles: Cuisine of New York City, List of restaurants in New York City, and List of Michelin starred restaurants in New York City

New York City’s food culture includes an array of international cuisines influenced by the city’s long immigrant history. Central and Eastern European immigrants, especially Jewish immigrants from those regions, brought New York-style bagels, cheesecake, hot dogs, knishes, and delicatessens (delis) to the city. Italian immigrants brought New York-style pizza and Italian cuisine into the city, while Jewish immigrants and Irish immigrants brought pastrami^[439] and corned beef,^[440] respectively. Chinese and other Asian restaurants, sandwich joints, trattorias, diners, and coffeehouses are ubiquitous throughout the city. Some 4,000 mobile food vendors licensed by the city, many immigrant-owned, have made Middle Eastern foods such as falafel and kebabs^[441] examples of modern New York street food. The city is home to “nearly one thousand of the finest and most diverse haute cuisine restaurants in the world”, according to Michelin.^[442] The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene assigns letter grades to the city’s restaurants based on inspection results.^[443] As of 2019, there were 27,043 restaurants in the city, up from 24,865 in 2017.^[444] The Queens Night Market in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park attracts more than ten thousand people nightly to sample food from more than 85 countries.^[288]

Fashion

Further information: New York Fashion Week and Met Gala

New York City is a global fashion capital, and the fashion industry employs 4.6% of the city’s private workforce.^[445] New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is a high-profile semiannual event featuring models displaying the latest wardrobes created by fashion designers worldwide in advance of these fashions proceeding to the marketplace.^[446]

NYFW sets the tone for the global fashion industry.^[447] New York’s fashion district encompasses roughly 30 city blocks in Midtown Manhattan,^[448] clustered around a stretch of Seventh Avenue nicknamed Fashion Avenue.^[449] New York’s fashion calendar also includes Couture Fashion Week to showcase haute couture styles.^[450] The Met Gala is often described as “Fashion’s biggest night”.^[451]

Parades

Further information: List of parades in New York City

New York City is well known for its street parades, the majority in Manhattan. The primary orientation of the annual street parades is typically from north to south, marching along major avenues. The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the world’s largest parade,^[452] beginning alongside Central Park and proceeding southward to the flagship Macy’s Herald Square store;^[453] the parade is viewed on telecasts worldwide and draws millions of spectators in person.^[452] Other notable parades including the annual New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade in March, the NYC LGBT Pride March in June, the LGBT-inspired Greenwich Village Halloween Parade in October, and numerous parades commemorating the independence days of many nations. Ticker-tape parades celebrating championships won by sports teams as well as other accomplishments march northward along the Canyon of Heroes on Broadway from Bowling Green to City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan.

Sports

Main articles: Sports in the New York metropolitan area and Traditional games of New York City

The US Open Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens

Citi Field, also in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, has been home to the New York Mets since 2009.

Yankee Stadium in The Bronx is home to the New York Yankees and New York City FC.

Barclays Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA and the New York Liberty of the WNBA

Madison Square Garden, home to the New York Knicks of the NBA and New York Rangers of the NHL

New York City is home to the headquarters of the National Football League,^[454] Major League Baseball,^[455] the National Basketball Association,^[456] the National Hockey League,^[457] and Major League Soccer.^[458]

New York City hosted the 1984 Summer Paralympics^[459] and the 1998 Goodwill Games.^[460] New York City’s bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics was one of five finalists, but lost out to London.^[461]

The city has played host to more than 40 major professional teams in the five sports and their respective competing leagues. Four of the ten most expensive stadiums ever built worldwide (MetLife Stadium, the new Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, and Citi Field) are in the New York metropolitan area.^[462]

The city is represented in the National Football League by the New York Giants and the New York Jets, although both teams play their home games at MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey,^[463] which hosted Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.^[464]

The city’s two Major League Baseball teams are the New York Mets, who play at 41,800-seat Citi Field in Queens and the New York Yankees, who play at 47,400-seat Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.^[465] The two rivals compete in four games of interleague play every regular season, called the Subway Series.^[466] The Yankees have won an MLB-record 27 championships,^[467] while the Mets have won the World Series twice.^[468] The city was once home to the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers), who won the World Series once,^[469] and the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants), who won the World Series five times. Both teams moved to California in 1958.^[470] There is one Minor League Baseball team in the city, the Mets-affiliated Brooklyn Cyclones,^[471] and the city gained a club in the independent Atlantic League when the Staten Island FerryHawks began play in 2022.^[472]

The city’s National Basketball Association teams are the New York Knicks, who play at Madison Square Garden, and the Brooklyn Nets, who play at the Barclays Center. The New York Liberty is the city’s Women’s National Basketball Association team. The first national college-level basketball championship, the National Invitation Tournament, was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.^[473]

The metropolitan area is home to three National Hockey League teams. The New York Rangers, one of the league’s Original Six, play at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. The New York Islanders, traditionally representing Long Island, play in UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, but played in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center from 2015 to 2020. The New Jersey Devils play at Prudential Center in nearby Newark, New Jersey.

New York City is represented by New York City FC of Major League Soccer, who play their home games at Yankee Stadium^[474] and the New York Red Bulls, who play their home games at Sports Illustrated Stadium in nearby Harrison, New Jersey.^[475] NJ/NY Gotham FC in the National Women’s Soccer League plays their home games in Sports Illustrated Stadium. Brooklyn FC is a professional soccer club based in that borough, fielding a women’s team in the first-division USL Super League starting in 2024 and a men’s team in the second-division USL Championship in 2025.^[476] New York was a host city for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, with matches being played at Giants Stadium in neighboring East Rutherford, New Jersey.^[477] New York City will be one of eleven host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the final set to be played at MetLife Stadium.^[478][479]

The annual US Open is one of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments and is held at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park.^[480] The New York City Marathon, which courses through all five boroughs, is the world’s largest running marathon, with 51,402 finishers in 2023, who came from all 50 states and 148 nations.^[481] The Millrose Games is an annual track and field meet held at the Fort Washington Avenue Armory, whose featured event is the Wanamaker Mile.^[482] Boxing is a prominent part of the city’s sporting scene, with events like the New York Golden Gloves held at Madison Square Garden each year.^[483]

Human resources

Education

Main article: Education in New York City

New York City has the largest educational system of any city.^[18] The city’s educational infrastructure spans primary education, secondary education, higher education, and research. The New York City Public Schools system, managed by the New York City Department of Education, is the largest public school system in the United States, serving about 1.1 million students in approximately 1,800 separate primary and secondary schools, including charter schools, as of 2017–2018.^[484] There are approximately 900 additional privately run secular and religious schools.^[485]

The New York Public Library (NYPL) has the largest collection of any public library system in the United States.^[486] Queens is served by the Queens Borough Public Library (QPL), the nation’s second-largest public library system, while the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) serves Brooklyn.^[486]

More than a million students, the highest number of any city in the United States,^[487] are enrolled in New York City’s more than 120 higher education institutions, with more than half a million in the City University of New York (CUNY) system alone as of 2020.^[488] According to Academic Ranking of World Universities, New York City has, on average, the best higher education institutions of any global city.^[489]

The public CUNY system comprises 25 institutions across all five boroughs. The public State University of New York (SUNY) system’s campuses in New York City include SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY Maritime College, and SUNY College of Optometry. New York City is home to such notable private universities as Barnard College, Columbia University, Cooper Union, Fordham University, New York University, New York Institute of Technology, Rockefeller University, Mercy University, Cornell Tech and Yeshiva University; several of these are ranked among the top universities in the world,^[490][491] while some of the world’s most prestigious institutions like Princeton University and Yale University remain in the New York metropolitan area.

Much of the scientific research in the city is done in medicine and the life sciences. In 2019, the New York metropolitan area ranked first by share of published articles in life sciences.^[492] New York City has the most postgraduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, and in 2012, 43,523 licensed physicians were practicing in New York City.^[493] There are 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions as of 2004.^[494]

Health

Main articles: Healthcare in New York City, NYC Health + Hospitals, and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

New York City is a center for healthcare and medical training, with employment of over 750,000 in the city’s health care sector.^[496][497] Private hospitals in New York City include the Hospital for Special Surgery, Lenox Hill Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and NYU Langone Health.^[498] Medical schools include SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, and CUNY School of Medicine, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Weill Cornell Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and New York University School of Medicine in Manhattan.^[499]

NYC Health + Hospitals (HHC) is a public-benefit corporation established in 1969 which operates the city’s public hospitals and a network of outpatient clinics.^[500][501] As of 2021, HHC is the largest American municipal healthcare system with $10.9 billion in annual revenues.^[502] HHC serves 1.4 million patients, including more than 475,000 uninsured city residents.^[503] HHC operates eleven acute-care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six diagnostic and treatment centers, and more than 70 community-based primary care sites, serving primarily the city’s poor and working-class residents.^[504][505] HHC’s MetroPlus Health Plan is one of New York City’s largest providers of government-sponsored health insurance, enrolling 670,000 city residents as of June 2022.^[506]

HHC’s facilities annually provides service to millions of New Yorkers, interpreted in more than 190 languages.^[507] The best-known hospital in the HHC system is Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in the United States, established in 1736.^[508] Bellevue is the designated hospital for treatment of the president and other world leaders should they require care while in New York City.^[509]

The city banned smoking in most parts of restaurants in 1995 and prohibited smoking in bars, restaurants and places of public employment in 2003.^[510] Pharmacies are banned from selling smoked and vaped products in New York State.^[511]

New York City enforces a right-to-shelter law guaranteeing shelter to anyone who needs it, regardless of their immigration, socioeconomic, or housing status, which entails providing adequate shelter and food.^[512] As a result, while New York has the highest total homeless population of American cities, only 5% were unsheltered by the city, representing a significantly lower percentage of outdoor homelessness than in other cities.^[513] As of 2023, there were 92,824 homeless people sleeping nightly in the shelter system.^[514]

Public safety

Main articles: New York City Police Department, New York City Fire Department, Crime in New York City, and Law enforcement in New York City

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is the largest police force in the United States, with more than 36,000 sworn officers.^[515] Members of the NYPD are frequently referred to by politicians, the media, and their own police cars by the nickname, New York’s Finest.^[516]

The city saw a spike in crime in the 1970s through 1990s.^[517] Crime overall has trended downward in New York City since the 1990s;^[518] violent crime decreased more than 75% from 1993 to 2005, and continued decreasing during periods when the nation as a whole saw increases.^[519] The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program was declared unconstitutional in 2013 as a “policy of indirect racial profiling” of Black and Mixed residents,^[520] although claims of disparate impact continued in subsequent years.^[521] The stop-and-frisk program had been widely credited as being behind the decline in crime, though rates continued dropping in the years after the program ended.^[522][523]

The city set a record high of 2,245 murders in 1990 and hit a near-70-year record low of 289 in 2018.^[524] The number of murders and the rate of 3.3 per 100,000 residents in 2017 was the lowest since 1951.^[525] New York City recorded 386 murders in 2023, a decline of 12% from the previous year.^[526][527] New York City had one of the lowest homicide rates among the ten largest U.S. cities at 5.5 per 100,000 residents in 2021.^[528]

New York City has stricter gun laws than most other cities in the United States—a license to own any firearm is required, and the NY SAFE Act of 2013 banned assault weapons. New York State had the fifth-lowest gun death rate of the states in 2020.^[529]

Organized crime has long been associated with New York City, beginning with the Forty Thieves and the Roach Guards in the Five Points neighborhood in the 1820s, followed by the Tongs in the same neighborhood, which ultimately evolved into Chinatown, Manhattan. The 20th century saw a rise in the Mafia, dominated by the Five Families, as well as in gangs, including the Black Spades.^[530] The Mafia and gang presence has declined in the city in the 21st century.^[531][532]

The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) provides fire protection, technical rescue, primary response to biological, chemical, and radioactive hazards, and emergency medical services. FDNY faces multifaceted firefighting challenges in many ways unique to New York. In addition to responding to building types that range from wood-frame single family homes to high-rise structures, the FDNY responds to fires that occur in the New York City Subway.^[533] Secluded bridges and tunnels, as well as large parks and wooded areas that can give rise to brush fires, also present challenges. The FDNY is headquartered at 9 MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn,^[534] and the FDNY Fire Academy is on Randalls Island.^[535]

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in New York City

Rapid transit

Mass transit in New York City, most of which runs 24 hours a day, accounts for one in every three users of mass transit in the country, and two-thirds of the nation’s rail riders live in the New York City metropolitan area.^[538][539]

Buses

New York City’s public bus fleet runs 24/7 and is the largest in North America.^[540] The New York City bus system serves the most passengers of any city in the nation: In 2022, MTA New York City Transit‘s buses served 483.5 million trips, while MTA Regional Bus Operations handled 100.3 million trips.^[541]

The Port Authority Bus Terminal is the city’s main intercity bus terminal and the world’s busiest bus station, serving 250,000 passengers on 7,000 buses each workday in a building opened in 1950 that was designed to accommodate 60,000 daily passengers. A 2021 plan announced by the Port Authority would spend $10 billion to expand capacity and modernize the facility.^{[537][542][536]} In 2024, the Port Authority announced plans for a new terminal that would feature a glass atrium at a new main entrance on 41st Street.^[543][544]

Rail

Main article: New York City Subway

The New York City Subway system is the largest rapid transit system in the world when measured by stations in operation, with 472, and by length of routes. Nearly all of New York’s subway system is open 24 hours a day, in contrast to the overnight shutdown common to most subway systems.^[545] The New York City Subway is the busiest metropolitan rail transit system in the Western Hemisphere,^[546] with 1.70 billion passenger rides in 2019.^[547]

Public transport is widely used in New York City. 54.6% of New Yorkers commuted to work in 2005 using mass transit.^[548] This is in contrast to the rest of the country, where 91% of commuters travel in automobiles to their workplace.^[549] According to the New York City Comptroller, workers in the New York City area spend an average of 6 hours and 18 minutes getting to work each week, the longest commute time in the nation among large cities.^[550] New York is the only American city in which a majority (52%) of households do not have a car; only 22% of Manhattanites own a car.^[551] Due to their high usage of mass transit, New Yorkers spend less of their household income on transportation than the national average, saving $19 billion annually on transportation compared to other urban Americans.^[552]

New York City’s commuter rail network is the largest in North America.^[538] The rail network, connecting New York City to its suburbs, consists of the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, and New Jersey Transit. The combined systems converge at Grand Central Terminal and New York Penn Station and contain more than 250 stations and 20 rail lines.^[538] The elevated AirTrain JFK in Queens connects JFK International Airport to the New York City Subway and the Long Island Rail Road.^[553] For inter-city rail, New York City is served by Amtrak, whose busiest station by a significant margin is Penn Station on the West Side of Manhattan, from which Amtrak provides connections to Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. along the Northeast Corridor, and long-distance train service to other North American cities.^[554]

The Staten Island Railway rapid transit system solely serves Staten Island, operating 24 hours a day, with access to Manhattan from the St. George Terminal via the Staten Island Ferry.^[555] The PATH train links Midtown and Lower Manhattan with Hoboken Terminal and Newark Penn Station in New Jersey, and then those stations with the World Trade Center Oculus across the Hudson River.^[556] Like the New York City Subway, the PATH operates 24 hours a day, meaning three of the five American rapid transit systems which operate on 24-hour schedules are wholly or partly in New York.^[557] Grand Central Terminal is the world’s largest train station by number of rail platforms and acres occupied.^[558]

Multibillion-dollar heavy rail transit projects under construction in New York City include the Second Avenue Subway.^[559]

Air

Main article: Aviation in the New York metropolitan area

New York’s airspace is the busiest in the United States and one of the world’s busiest air corridors. The three busiest airports in the New York metropolitan area are John F. Kennedy International Airport (with 55.3 million passengers), Newark Liberty International Airport (43.6 million) and LaGuardia Airport (29.0 million); 127.9 million travelers used these three airports in 2022.^[560] JFK and Newark Liberty were the busiest and fourth-busiest U.S. gateways for international air passengers, respectively, in 2023.^[561] As of 2011, JFK was the busiest airport for international passengers in North America.^[562]

Described in 2014 by then-Vice President Joe Biden as the kind of airport travelers would see in “some third world country”, LaGuardia Airport has undergone an $8 billion project with federal and state support that has replaced its aging facilities with modern terminals and roadways.^{[563][564][565][566]} Plans have advanced to expand passenger volume at a fourth airport, Stewart International Airport, near Newburgh, New York, by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.^[567] Other commercial airports in or serving the New York metropolitan area include Long Island MacArthur Airport, Trenton–Mercer Airport and Westchester County Airport. The primary general aviation airport serving the area is Teterboro Airport.

Ferries, taxis and trams

Main articles: Staten Island Ferry, NYC Ferry, Taxis of New York City, and Roosevelt Island Tramway

The Staten Island Ferry is the world’s busiest ferry, carrying more than 23 million passengers from July 2015 through June 2016 on a 5.2-mile (8.4 km) route between Staten Island and Lower Manhattan and running 24/7.^[568][569] Other ferry systems shuttle commuters between Manhattan and other locales within the city and the metropolitan area. NYC Ferry, a NYCEDC initiative with routes planned to travel to all five boroughs, was launched in 2017.^[570]

Identified by their color and taxi medallion, the city’s 13,587 yellow taxicabs are the only vehicles allowed to pick up riders making street hails throughout the city.^[571] Apple green-colored boro taxis can pick up street hails in Upper Manhattan and the four outer boroughs.^[572] Long dominated by yellow taxis, high-volume for-hire vehicles from Uber and Lyft have provided the most trips in the city since December 2016, when the for-hire vehicles and cabs each had about 10.5 million trips. By October 2023, the 78,000 vehicles-for-hire combined for 20.3 million trips, while 3.5 million trips were in yellow taxis.^[573][574]

The Roosevelt Island Tramway, an aerial tramway that began operation in 1976,^[575] transports 2 million passengers per year the 3,140 feet (960 m) between Roosevelt Island and 59th Street and Second Avenue on Manhattan Island.^[576]

Cycling network

Main article: Cycling in New York City

New York City has mixed cycling conditions which include urban density, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and many pedestrians. The city’s large cycling population includes utility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; recreational cycling clubs; and an increasing number of commuters. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2022 there were approximately 61,200 people who commuted daily using a bicycle and 610,000 daily bike trips, both nearly doubling over the previous decade.^[225] As of 2022, New York City had 1,525 miles (2,454 km) of bike lanes, including 644 miles (1,036 km) of segregated or “protected” bike lanes citywide.^[225]

Streets and highways

Streets are also a defining feature of the city. New York has been found to lead the world in urban automobile traffic congestion.^[30] The Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 greatly influenced its physical development. New York City has an extensive web of freeways and parkways, which link the city’s boroughs to each other and to North Jersey, Westchester County, Long Island, and southwestern Connecticut through bridges and tunnels. Because these highways serve millions of outer borough and suburban residents who commute into Manhattan, it is common for motorists to be stranded for hours in dense traffic congestion that is a daily occurrence, particularly during rush hour.^[577][578] Congestion pricing in New York City was activated in January 2025, applying to most motor vehicular traffic using the area of Manhattan south of 60th Street, in an effort to encourage commuters to use rapid transit instead.^[579] Unlike the rest of the country, New York State prohibits turns on red lights in cities with a population greater than one million, to reduce collisions and increase pedestrian safety. In New York City, therefore, all turns on red lights are illegal unless a sign permitting such maneuvers is present.^[580]

Bridges and tunnels

Further information: List of bridges and tunnels in New York City and Commissioners’ Plan of 1811

The boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island are located on islands with the same names, while Queens and Brooklyn are at the west end of the larger Long Island, and the Bronx is on New York State’s mainland. Manhattan Island is linked to the outer boroughs and to New Jersey by an extensive network of bridges and tunnels. The 14-lane George Washington Bridge, connecting Manhattan to New Jersey across the Hudson River, is the world’s busiest motor vehicle bridge.^[581][582] The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, spanning the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island, is the longest suspension bridge in the Americas and one of the world’s longest.^[583][584] The Brooklyn Bridge, with its stone neo-Gothic suspension towers, is an icon of the city; opened in 1883, it was the first steel-wire suspension bridge and was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1903.^[585][586] The Queensboro Bridge “was the longest cantilever span in North America” from 1909 to 1917.^[587] The Manhattan Bridge, opened in 1909, “is considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges”, and its design “served as the model for the major long-span suspension bridges” of the early 20th century.^[588] The Throgs Neck Bridge and Whitestone Bridge connect Queens and the Bronx, while the Triborough Bridge connects Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.

The Lincoln Tunnel, which carries 120,000 vehicles a day under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan, is the busiest vehicular tunnel in the world.^[589] The tunnel was built instead of a bridge to allow unfettered passage of large passenger and cargo ships that sailed through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River to Manhattan’s piers. The Holland Tunnel, connecting Lower Manhattan to Jersey City, New Jersey, was the first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel when it opened in 1927.^[590][591] The Queens–Midtown Tunnel, built to relieve congestion on the bridges connecting Manhattan with Queens and Brooklyn, was the largest non-federal project in its time when it was completed in 1940.^[592] The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel (officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) is the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in North America and runs underneath Battery Park, connecting the Financial District, Manhattan, to Red Hook, Brooklyn.^[593]

Government and politics

Main articles: Government of New York City, Politics of New York City, and Elections in New York City

Government

New York City is a metropolitan municipality with a strong mayor–council form of government.^[594] The city government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services.

The City Council is a unicameral body of 51 council members whose districts are defined by geographic population boundaries.^[595] Each term for the mayor and council members lasts four years and has a two consecutive-term limit,^[596] (reset after a four-year break). The New York City Administrative Code, the New York City Rules, and The City Record are the code of local laws, compilation of regulations, and official journal, respectively.^[597][598]

Each borough is coextensive with a judicial district of the state Unified Court System, of which the Criminal Court and the Civil Court are the local courts, while the New York Supreme Court conducts major trials and appeals. Manhattan hosts the First Department of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, while Brooklyn hosts the Second Department. There are several extrajudicial administrative courts, which are executive agencies and not part of the state Unified Court System.

New York City is divided between, and is host to the main branches of, two different U.S. district courts: the District Court for the Southern District of New York, whose main courthouse is on Foley Square in Manhattan and whose jurisdiction includes Manhattan and the Bronx;^[599] and the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, whose main courthouse is in Brooklyn and whose jurisdiction includes Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.^[600] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and U.S. Court of International Trade are also based on Foley Square.^[601][602]

Politics

The city’s mayor is Eric Adams, a Democrat who was elected in 2021.^[603] The Democratic Party holds the majority of public offices. As of November 2023, 67% of active registered voters in the city are Democrats and 10.2% are Republicans.^[604] New York City has not been carried by a Republican presidential candidate since 1924, and no Republican candidate for statewide office has won all five boroughs since the city was incorporated in 1898. In redistricting following the 2020 census, 14 of New York’s 26 congressional districts include portions of New York City.^[605]

New York City is a significant source of political fundraising.^[606] The city has a strong imbalance of payments with the national and state governments. It receives 83 cents in services for every $1 it sends to the federal government in taxes (or annually sends $11.4 billion more than it receives back). City residents and businesses also sent an additional $4.1 billion in the 2009–2010 fiscal year to the state than the city received in return.^[607]

International relations

Main article: List of sister cities of New York City

In 2006, the sister city program^[608] was restructured as New York City Global Partners. New York’s historic sister cities are denoted below by the year they joined New York City’s partnership network

Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent’s court. The object is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. If a player is unable to return the ball successfully, the opponent scores a point.^[1][2]

Playable at all levels of society and at all ages, tennis can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The original forms of tennis developed in France during the late Middle Ages.^[3] The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis.^[4] It had close connections to various field (lawn) games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis.^[5]

The rules of modern tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that until 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times,^[6][7] and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s.^[8] A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point-challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-Eye.^[9][10]

Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is a popular worldwide spectator sport.^[11] The four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the majors) are especially popular and are considered the highest level of competition for the sport. These tournaments are the Australian Open, played on hardcourts; the French Open, played on red clay courts; Wimbledon, played on grass courts; and the US Open, also played on hardcourts.^[12] Additionally, tennis was one of the original Olympic sports, and has been consistently competed in the Summer Olympic Games since 1988.

History

Main article: History of tennis

Predecessors

Historians believe that the game’s ancient origin lay in 12th-century northern France, where a ball was struck with the palm of the hand.^[13] Louis X of France was a keen player of jeu de paume (“game of the palm”), which evolved into real tennis, and became notable as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts made in Paris “around the end of the 13th century”.^[14] In due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe.^[14] In June 1316 at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, and following a particularly exhausting game, Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine and subsequently died of either pneumonia or pleurisy, although there was also suspicion of poisoning.^[15] Because of the contemporary accounts of his death, Louis X is history’s first tennis player known by name.^[15] Another of the early enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France, who had a court set up at the Louvre Palace.^[16]

The word tennis probably comes from the French term tenez, which can be translated as “hold!”, “receive!” or “take!”, an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent.^[17] It was popular in England and France, although the game was only played indoors, where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, which is now known as real tennis.^[18]

An epitaph in St Michael’s Church, Coventry, written c. 1705, read, in part:^[19]

Here lyes an old toss’d Tennis Ball:
Was racketted, from spring to fall,
With so much heat and so much hast,
Time’s arm for shame grew tyred at last.

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England.^[20]

The invention of the first lawn mower in Britain in 1830 is believed to have been a catalyst for the preparation of modern-style grass courts, sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches, greens, etc. This in turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls and others.^[21]

Origins of the modern game

Between 1859 and 1865, Harry Gem, a solicitor, and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of racquets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera’s croquet lawn in Birmingham, England.^[22][23] In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world’s first tennis club on Avenue Road, Leamington Spa.^[24] This is where “lawn tennis” was used as the name of an activity by a club for the first time.

In Tennis: A Cultural History, Heiner Gillmeister reveals that on 8 December 1874, British army officer Walter Clopton Wingfield wrote to Harry Gem, commenting that he (Wingfield) had been experimenting with his version of lawn tennis “for a year and a half”.^[25] In December 1873, Wingfield designed and patented a game which he called sphairistikè (Greek: σφαιριστική, meaning “ball-playing”), and which was soon known simply as “sticky” – for the amusement of guests at a garden party on his friend’s estate of Nantclwyd Hall, in Llanelidan, Wales.^[26] According to R. D. C. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, “Sports historians all agree that [Wingfield] deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis.”^[20][27] According to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield “popularized this game enormously. He produced a boxed set which included a net, poles, rackets, balls for playing the game – and most importantly you had his rules. He was absolutely terrific at marketing and he sent his game all over the world. He had very good connections with the clergy, the law profession, and the aristocracy and he sent thousands of sets out in the first year or so, in 1874.”^[28] The world’s oldest annual tennis tournament took place at Leamington Lawn Tennis Club in Birmingham in 1874.^[29] This was three years before the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club would hold its first championships at Wimbledon, in 1877. The first Championships culminated in a significant debate on how to standardise the rules.^[28]

In the United States in 1874, Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda with a sphairistikè set. She became fascinated by the game of tennis after watching British army officers play.^[30] She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club at Camp Washington, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York. The first American National championship was played there in September 1880. An Englishman named O.E. Woodhouse won the singles title, and a silver cup worth $100, by defeating Canadian I. F. Hellmuth.^[31] There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. There were different rules at each club. The ball in Boston was larger than the one normally used in New York.

On 21 May 1881, the oldest nationwide tennis organization in the world^[32] was formed, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) in order to standardize the rules and organize competitions.^[33] The US National Men’s Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at the Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island.^[34] The US National Women’s Singles Championships were first held in 1887 in Philadelphia.^[35]

Tennis also became popular in France, where the French Championships date to 1891, although until 1925 they were open only to tennis players who were members of French clubs.^[36] Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis.^[37][38] Together, these four events are called the Majors or Slams (a term borrowed from bridge rather than baseball).^[39]

In 1913, the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), now the International Tennis Federation (ITF), was founded and established three official tournaments as the major championships of the day. The World Grass Court Championships were awarded to Great Britain. The World Hard Court Championships were awarded to France; the term “hard court” was used for clay courts at the time. Some tournaments were held in Belgium instead. And the World Covered Court Championships for indoor courts were awarded annually; Sweden, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Switzerland and Spain each hosted the tournament.^[40] At a meeting held on 16 March 1923 in Paris, the title “World Championship” was dropped and a new category of “Official Championship” was created for events in Great Britain, France, the US and Australia ^[41] – today’s Grand Slam events.^[40][42] The impact on the four recipient nations to replace the “world championships” with “official championships” was simple in a general sense: each became a major nation of the federation with enhanced voting power, and each now operated a major event.^[40]

The comprehensive rules promulgated in 1924 by the ILTF have remained largely stable in the ensuing 80 years, the one major change being the addition of the tiebreak system designed by Jimmy Van Alen.^[43] That same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games, but returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under demonstration event in 1984. This reinstatement was credited by the efforts of then ITF president Philippe Chatrier, ITF general secretary David Gray and ITF vice president Pablo Llorens, with support from International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The success of the event was overwhelming, and the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a full-medal sport at Seoul in 1988.^[44][45]

The Davis Cup, an annual competition between men’s national teams, dates to 1900.^[46] The analogous competition for women’s national teams, the Fed Cup, was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF.^[47]

In 1926, promoter C. C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences.^[38][48] The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen.^[38][49] Players turned pro would no longer be permitted to compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.^[38]

In 1968, commercial pressures and rumours of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the Open Era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis.^[50] With the beginning of the Open Era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis’s popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its middle-class English-speaking image^[51] (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).^[51][52]

In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a nonprofit museum in Newport, Rhode Island.^[53] The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honouring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world.^[54]

Equipment

Main article: Tennis technology

Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment required for play. Beginners need only a racket and balls.^[1]

Rackets

Main article: Racket (sports equipment) § Tennis

The components of a tennis racket include a handle, known as the grip, connected to a neck which joins a roughly elliptical frame that holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings. For the first 100 years of the modern game, rackets were made of wood and of standard size, and strings were of animal gut. Laminated wood construction yielded more strength in rackets used through most of the 20th century until first metal and then composites of carbon graphite, ceramics, and lighter metals such as titanium were introduced. These stronger materials enabled the production of oversized rackets that yielded yet more power. Meanwhile, technology led to the use of synthetic strings that match the feel of gut yet with added durability.

Under modern rules of tennis, the rackets must adhere to the following guidelines;^[55]

• The hitting area, composed of the strings, must be flat and generally uniform.
• The frame of the hitting area may not be more than 29 inches (74 cm) in length and 12.5 inches (32 cm) in width.
• The entire racket must be of a fixed shape, size, weight, and weight distribution. There may not be any energy source built into the rackets.
• The rackets must not provide any kind of communication, instruction or advice to the player during the match.

The rules regarding rackets have changed over time, as material and engineering advances have been made. For example, the maximum length of the frame had been 32 inches (81 cm) until 1997, when it was shortened to 29 inches (74 cm).^[56]

Many companies manufacture and distribute tennis rackets. Wilson, Head and Babolat are three of the most commonly used brands; however, many more companies exist.^[57] The same companies sponsor players to use these rackets in the hopes that the company name will become better known by the public.

Strings

Main article: Strings (tennis)

There are multiple types of tennis strings, including natural gut and synthetic stings made from materials such as nylon, kevlar, or polyester.^[58]

Natural gut

The first type of tennis strings available were natural gut strings, introduced by Babolat. They were the only type used until synthetic strings were introduced in the 1950s. Natural gut strings are still used frequently by players such as Roger Federer. They are made from cow intestines, and provide increased power, and are easier on the arm than most strings.^[59]

Synthetic

Most synthetic strings are made from monofilament or multifiliament nylon strings. Monofilament strings are cheap to buy, and are used widely by many recreational level players for their all round performance, while multifilament strings are created to mimic natural gut more closely by weaving together fibres, but are generally more expensive than their monofilament counterparts.^[58] Polyester strings allow for more spin on the ball than any other string, due to their firm strings, while keeping control of the ball, and this is why many players use them, especially higher player ones.^[60] Kevlar tennis strings are highly durable, and are mostly used by players that frequently break strings, because they maintain tension well, but these strings can be stiff on the arm.^[61]

Hybrid strings

Hybrid stringing is when a tennis racket is strung with two different strings for the mains (the vertical strings) and the crosses (the horizontal strings). This is most commonly done with two different strings that are made of different materials, but can also be done with two different types of the same string. A notable example of a player using hybrid strings is Roger Federer, using natural gut strings in his mains and polyester strings in his crosses.^[62]

Balls

Main article: Tennis ball

Tennis balls were originally made of cloth strips stitched together with thread and stuffed with feathers.^[63] Modern tennis balls are made of hollow vulcanized rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant colour was gradually changed to optic yellow in the latter part of the 20th century to allow for improved visibility. Tennis balls must conform to certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce to be approved for regulation play. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) defines the official diameter as 65.41–68.58 mm (2.575–2.700 in). Balls must weigh between 56.0 and 59.4 g (1.98 and 2.10 oz).^[64] Tennis balls were traditionally manufactured in the United States and Europe. Although the process of producing the balls has remained virtually unchanged for the past 100 years, the majority of manufacturing now takes place in the Far East. The relocation is due to cheaper labour costs and materials in the region.^[65] Tournaments that are played under the ITF Rules of Tennis must use balls that are approved by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and be named on the official ITF list of approved tennis balls.^[66]

Manner of play

For individual terms, see Glossary of tennis terms.

Court

Main article: Tennis court

Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface. The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.2 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (11 m) for doubles matches.^[67] Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. It is held up by either a cord or metal cable of diameter no greater than 0.8 cm (¹⁄₃ in).^[66] The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (0.91 m) high in the centre.^[67] The net posts are 3 feet (0.91 m) outside the doubles court on each side or, for a singles net, 3 feet (0.91 m) outside the singles court on each side.

The modern tennis court owes its design to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield. In 1873, Wingfield patented a court much the same as the current one for his stické tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield’s version, but with the hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle.^[68]

Tennis is unusual in that it is played on a variety of surfaces.^[69] Grass, clay, and hard courts of concrete or asphalt topped with acrylic are the most common. Occasionally carpet is used for indoor play, with hardwood flooring having been historically used. Artificial turf courts can also be found.

Lines

The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The short mark in the centre of each baseline is referred to as either the hash mark or the centre mark. The outermost lines that make up the length are called the doubles sidelines; they are the boundaries for doubles matches. The lines to the inside of the doubles sidelines are the singles sidelines, and are the boundaries in singles play. The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest singles sideline is called the doubles alley, playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the centre of a player’s side of the court is called the service line because the serve must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally stands when making a serve.^[70]

The line dividing the service line in two is called the centre line or centre service line. The boxes this centre line creates are called the service boxes; depending on a player’s position, they have to hit the ball into one of these when serving.^[71] A ball is out only if none of it has hit the area inside the lines, or the line, upon its first bounce. All lines are required to be between 1 and 2 inches (25 and 51 mm) in width, with the exception of the baseline which can be up to 4 inches (100 mm) wide, although in practice it is often the same width as the others.^[70]

Play of a single point

Main article: Point (tennis)

The players or teams start on opposite sides of the net. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player is the receiver. The choice to be server or receiver in the first game and the choice of ends is decided by a coin toss before the warm-up starts. Service alternates game by game between the two players or teams. For each point, the server starts behind the baseline, between the centre mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server.

For a service to be legal, the ball must travel over the net without touching it into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service box, this is a let or net service, which is void, and the server retakes that serve. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. A fault is a serve that falls long or wide of the service box, or does not clear the net. There is also a “foot fault” when a player’s foot touches the baseline or an extension of the centre mark before the ball is hit. If the second service, after a fault, is also a fault, the server double faults, and the receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a legal service.

A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of a player hitting the ball so that it falls in the server’s court, before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures except the net. A player or team cannot hit the ball twice in a row. The ball must travel over or round the net into the other players’ court. A ball that hits the net during a rally is considered a legal return as long as it crosses into the opposite side of the court. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point. The server then moves to the other side of the service line at the start of a new point.^[72]

Scoring

Main article: Tennis scoring system

“Break point” redirects here. For the software term, see Breakpoint.

Game, set, match

Game

A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three points are described as “love”, “15”, “30”, and “40”, respectively. If at least three points have been scored by each player, making the player’s scores equal at 40 apiece, the score is not called out as “40–40”, but rather as “deuce”. If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is “advantage” for the player in the lead. During informal games, advantage can also be called “ad in” or “van in” when the serving player is ahead, and “ad out” or “van out” when the receiving player is ahead; alternatively, either player may simply call out “my ad” or “your ad”.

The score of a tennis game during play is always read with the serving player’s score first. In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., “15–love”) after each point. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score.^[73]

Set

A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the trailing player wins the game (tying the set 6–6) a tiebreak is played. A tiebreak, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7–6. A tiebreak game can be won by scoring at least seven points and at least two points more than the opponent. In a tiebreak, two players serve by ‘ABBA’ system which has been proven to be fair.^[74] If a tiebreak is not played, the set is referred to as an advantage set, where the set continues without limit until one player leads by a two-game margin. A “love set” means that the loser of the set won zero games, colloquially termed a “jam donut” in the US.^[75] In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score. The final score in sets is always read with the winning player’s score first, e.g. “6–2, 4–6, 6–0, 7–5”.

Match

A match consists of a sequence of sets. The outcome is determined through a best of three or five sets system. On the professional circuit, men play best-of-five-set matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments, Davis Cup, and the final of the Olympic Games and best-of-three-set matches at all other tournaments, while women play best-of-three-set matches at all tournaments. The first player to win two sets in a best-of-three, or three sets in a best-of-five, wins the match.^[76] Only in the final sets of matches at the Olympic Games and Fed Cup are tiebreaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two-game lead, occasionally leading to some remarkably long matches.

In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase “Game, set, match” followed by the winning person’s or team’s name.

Special point terms

Game point

A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40–love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play.

Break point

A break point occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a chance to win the game with the next point. Break points are of particular importance because serving is generally considered advantageous, with servers being expected to win games in which they are serving. A receiver who has one (score of 30–40 or advantage), two (score of 15–40) or three (score of love–40) consecutive chances to win the game has break point, double break point or triple break point, respectively. If the receiver does, in fact, win their break point, the game is awarded to the receiver, and the receiver is said to have converted their break point. If the receiver fails to win their break point it is called a failure to convert. Winning break points, and thus the game, is also referred to as breaking serve, as the receiver has disrupted, or broken the natural advantage of the server. If in the following game the previous server also wins a break point it is referred to as breaking back. Except where tiebreaks apply, at least one break of serve is required to win a set (otherwise a two-game lead would never occur).

Rule variations

See also: Types of tennis match

• No ad

From ‘No advantage’. Scoring method created by Jimmy Van Alen. The first player or doubles team to win four points wins the game, regardless of whether the player or team is ahead by two points. When the game score reaches three points each, the receiver chooses which side of the court (advantage court or deuce court) the service is to be delivered on the seventh and game-deciding point. Utilized by World Team Tennis professional competition, ATP tours, WTA tours, ITF Pro Doubles and ITF Junior Doubles.^[77][78]

• Pro set

Instead of playing multiple sets, players may play one pro set. A pro set is first to 8 (or 10) games by a margin of two games, instead of first to 6 games. A 12-point tiebreak is usually played when the score is 8–8 (or 10–10). These are often played with no-ad scoring.

• Match tiebreak

This is sometimes played instead of a third set. A match tiebreak (also called super tiebreak) is played like a regular tiebreak, but the winner must win ten points instead of seven. Match tiebreaks are used in the Hopman Cup, Grand Slams (excluding Wimbledon) and the Olympic Games for mixed doubles; on the ATP (since 2006), WTA (since 2007) and ITF (excluding four Grand Slam tournaments and the Davis Cup) tours for doubles and as a player’s choice in USTA league play.

• Fast4

Fast4 is a shortened format that offers a “fast” alternative, with four points, four games and four rules: there are no advantage scores, lets are played, tiebreakers apply at three games all, with it being first to five points with a “sudden death” point at four points all, and the first to four games wins the set. In the event of a no advantage deuce, the receiver gets to choose the service side. If a let occurs, the point continues as normal, and the non-receiver (in a doubles game) is permitted to return the serve. When players swap sides, they are not permitted to sit down and must be ready to play within sixty seconds. Between sets, players are permitted to sit down, and must be ready to play within ninety seconds.^[79][80]

Another, however informal, tennis format is called Canadian doubles. This involves three players, with one person playing against a doubles team. The single player gets to utilize the alleys normally reserved only for a doubles team. Conversely, the doubles team does not use the alleys when executing a shot. The scoring is the same as for a regular game. This format is not sanctioned by any official body.

“Australian doubles”, another informal and unsanctioned form of tennis, is played with similar rules to the Canadian doubles style, only in this version, players rotate court position after each game, each player taking a turn at playing alone against the other two. As such, each player plays doubles and singles over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving. Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2 points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she holds serve and the doubles team each taking one if they break serve.

Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as people who require a wheelchair for mobility. An extra bounce is permitted. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and able-bodied matches. It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a wheelchair player and an able-bodied player (referred to as “one-up, one-down”), or for a wheelchair player to play against an able-bodied player. In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair users only.

Match play

Continuity

A tennis match is intended to be continuous.^[81] Because stamina is a relevant factor, arbitrary delays are not permitted. In most cases, service is required to occur no more than 20 seconds after the end of the previous point.^[81] This is increased to 90 seconds when the players change ends (after every odd-numbered game), and a 2-minute break is permitted between sets.^[81] Other than this, breaks are permitted only when forced by events beyond the players’ control, such as rain, damaged footwear, damaged racket, or the need to retrieve an errant ball. Should a player be deemed to be stalling repeatedly, the chair umpire may initially give a warning followed by subsequent penalties of “point”, “game”, and default of the match for the player who is consistently taking longer than the allowed time limit.^[82]

In the event of a rain delay, darkness or other external conditions halting play, the match is resumed at a later time, with the same score as at the time of the delay, and each player at the same end of the court as when rain halted play, or as close to the same relative compass point if play is resumed on a different court.

Ball changes

Balls wear out quickly in serious play and, therefore, in ATP and WTA tournaments, they are changed after every nine games with the first change occurring after only seven games, because the first set of balls is also used for the pre-match warm-up.^[64] In ITF tournaments like Fed Cup, the balls are changed after every eleven games (rather than nine) with the first change occurring after only nine games (instead of seven). An exception is that a ball change may not take place at the beginning of a tiebreaker, in which case the ball change is delayed until the beginning of the second game of the next set.^[66] As a courtesy to the receiver, the server will often signal to the receiver before the first serve of the game in which new balls are used as a reminder that they are using new balls. Continuity of the balls’ condition is considered part of the game, so if a re-warm-up is required after an extended break in play (usually due to rain), then the re-warm-up is done using a separate set of balls, and use of the match balls is resumed only when play resumes.

On-court coaching

A recent rule change is to allow coaching on court on a limited basis during a match.^{[83][84][85][86]} This has been introduced in women’s tennis for WTA Tour events in 2009 and allows the player to request her coach once per set.^[87]

Stance

Stance refers to the way a player prepares themselves in order to best be able to return a shot. Essentially, it enables them to move quickly in order to achieve a particular stroke. There are four main stances in modern tennis: open, semi-open, closed, and neutral. All four stances involve the player crouching in some manner: as well as being a more efficient striking posture, it allows them to isometrically preload their muscles in order to play the stroke more dynamically. What stance is selected is strongly influenced by shot selection. A player may quickly alter their stance depending on the circumstances and the type of shot they intend to play. Any given stance also alters dramatically based upon the actual playing of the shot with dynamic movements and shifts of body weight occurring.^[88][89]

Open stance

This is the most common stance in tennis. The player’s feet are placed parallel to the net. They may be pointing sideways, directly at the net or diagonally towards it. This stance allows for a high degree of torso rotation which can add significant power to the stroke. This process is sometimes likened to the coiling and uncoiling of a spring. i.e. the torso is rotated as a means of preloading the muscular system in preparation for playing the stroke: this is the coiling phase. When the stroke is played the torso rotates to face forwards again, called uncoiling, and adds significant power to the stroke. A disadvantage of this stance is that it does not always allow ‘for proper weight transfer and maintenance of balance’^[88] when making powerful strokes. It is commonly used for forehand strokes; double-handed backhands can also be made effectively from it.

Semi-open stance

This stance is somewhere between open and closed and is a very flexible stance. The feet are aligned diagonally towards the net. It allows for a lot of shoulder rotation and the torso can be coiled, before being uncoiled into the shot in order to increase the power of the shot. It is commonly used in modern tennis especially by ‘top professional players on the forehand’.^[88] Two-handed backhands can also be employed from this stance.

Closed stance

The closed stance is the least commonly used of the three main stances. One foot is placed further towards the net with the other foot further from it; there is a diagonal alignment between the feet. It allows for effective torso rotation in order to increase the power of the shot. It is usually used to play backhand shots and it is rare to see forehand shots played from it. A stroke from this stance may entail the rear foot coming completely off the floor with bodyweight being transferred entirely to the front foot.^[88] [89]

Neutral stance

This is sometimes also referred to as the square stance. One foot is positioned closer to the net and ahead of the other which is behind and in line with it. Both feet are aligned at a 90 degree angle to the net. The neutral stance is often taught early because ‘It allows beginners to learn about shifting weight and rotation of the body.’^[89] Forehands and backhands may be made from it.^[90]

Shots

Main article: Tennis shots

Competent tennis players have eight basic shots in their repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob.

Grip

Main article: Grip (Tennis)

A grip is a way of holding the racket in order to hit shots during a match. The grip affects the angle of the racket face when it hits the ball and influences the pace, spin, and placement of the shot. Players use various grips during play, including the Continental (The “Handshake Grip”), Eastern (either semi-eastern or full eastern, usually used for backhands), and Western (semi-western or full western, usually for forehand grips) grips. Most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting; for example, slice shots and serves call for a Continental grip.^[91]

Serve

Main article: Serve (tennis)

A serve (or, more formally, a “service”) in tennis is a shot to start a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The serve may be hit under- or overhand although underhand serving remains a rarity.^[92] If the ball hits the net on the first serve and bounces over into the correct diagonal box then it is called a “let” and the server gets two more additional serves to get it in. There can also be a let if the server serves the ball and the receiver isn’t prepared.^[66] If the server misses his or her first serve and gets a let on the second serve, then they get one more try to get the serve in the box.

Experienced players strive to master the conventional overhand serve to maximize its power and placement. The server may employ different types of serve including flat serve, topspin serve, slice serve, and kick (American twist) serve. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness. If the ball is spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter’s point of view and curve left if spinning clockwise.^[93]

Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an “ace”.

Forehand

Main article: Forehand

For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on the right side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the left side of the body. There are various grips for executing the forehand, and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the continental, the eastern, the semi-western, and the western. For a number of years, the small, frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players. No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racket, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In the 1940s and 50s, the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to achieve a devastating effect against larger, more powerful players. Players such as Monica Seles or France’s Fabrice Santoro and Marion Bartoli are also notable players known for their two-handed forehands.^[94]

Backhand

Main article: Backhand

For right-handed players, the backhand is a stroke that begins on the left side of their body, continues across their body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of their body. It can be executed with either one hand or with both and is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. For most of the 20th century, the backhand was performed with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich, but they were lone exceptions. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, and later Mats Wilander and Marat Safin used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large number of the world’s best players, including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.^[95]

Two hands give the player more control, while one hand can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. Reach is also limited with the two-handed shot. The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, had a powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and 1940s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a very accurate slice backhand through the 1950s and 1960s. A small number of players, notably Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides.

Other shots

A volley is a shot returned to the opponent in mid-air before the ball bounces, generally performed near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent’s court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, also generally in the vicinity of the net, and played with the racket close to the ground.^[96] The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player approaches the net. It is an offensive shot used to take preparation time away from the opponent, as it returns the ball into the opponent’s court much faster than a standard volley.

From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon, hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent’s court to either enable the lobber to get into better defensive position or to win the point outright by hitting it over the opponent’s head. If the lob is not hit deeply enough into the other court, however, an opponent near the net may then hit an overhead smash, a hard, serve-like shot, to try to end the point.

A difficult shot in tennis is the return of an attempted lob over the backhand side of a player. When the contact point is higher than the reach of a two-handed backhand, most players will try to execute a high slice (under the ball or sideways). Fewer players attempt the backhand sky-hook or smash. Rarely, a player will go for a high topspin backhand, while themselves in the air. A successful execution of any of these alternatives requires balance and timing, with less margin of error than the lower contact point backhands, since this shot is a break in the regular pattern of play.

If their opponent is deep in their court, a player may suddenly employ an unexpected drop shot, by softly tapping the ball just over the net so that the opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it. Advanced players will often apply back spin to a drop shot, causing the ball to “skid” upon landing and bounce sideways, with less forward momentum toward their opponent, or even backwards towards the net, thus making it even more difficult to return.

Tournaments

See also: List of tennis tournaments

Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men’s singles, women’s singles, and doubles, where two players play on each side of the net. Tournaments may be organized for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. Example of this include the Orange Bowl and Les Petits As junior tournaments. There are also tournaments for players with disabilities, such as wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis.^[97] In the four Grand Slam tournaments, the singles draws are limited to 128 players for each gender.

Most large tournaments seed players, but players may also be matched by their skill level. According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, a player is given a rating that is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive matches. For example, the United States Tennis Association administers the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP), which rates players between 1.0 and 7.0 in 1/2 point increments. Average club players under this system would rate 3.0–4.5 while world class players would be 7.0 on this scale.

Grand Slam tournaments

The four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis events in the world. They are held annually and comprise, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Apart from the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).^[98] The ITF’s national associations, Tennis Australia (Australian Open), the Fédération Française de Tennis (French Open), the Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon) and the United States Tennis Association (US Open) are delegated the responsibility to organize these events.^[98]

Aside from the historical significance of these events, they also carry larger prize funds than any other tour event and are worth double the number of ranking points to the champion than in the next echelon of tournaments, the ATP Masters 1000 (men) and Premier events (women).^[99][100] Another distinguishing feature is the number of players in the singles draw. There are 128, more than any other professional tennis tournament. This draw is composed of 32 seeded players, other players ranked in the world’s top 100, qualifiers, and players who receive invitations through wild cards. Grand Slam men’s tournaments have best-of-five set matches while the women play best-of-three. Grand Slam tournaments are among the small number of events that last two weeks, the others being the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters.

Currently, the Grand Slam tournaments are the only tour events that have mixed doubles contests. Grand Slam tournaments are held in conjunction with wheelchair tennis tournaments and junior tennis competitions. These tournaments also contain their own idiosyncrasies. For example, players at Wimbledon are required to wear predominantly white. Andre Agassi chose to skip Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 citing the event’s traditionalism, particularly its “predominantly white” dress code.^[101] Wimbledon has its own particular methods for disseminating tickets, often leading tennis fans to follow complex procedures to obtain tickets.^[102]

Grand Slam	First held	Held	Location	Surface	Date	Prize money
Australian Open	1905	111 times	Melbourne	Hard	January–February	A$76,500,000 (2023)
French Open	1891*	93 times	Paris	Clay	May–June	€49,600,000 (2023)
Wimbledon	1877	136 times	London	Grass	June–July	£44,700,000 (2023)
US Open	1881	143 times	New York City	Hard	August–September	US$65,000,000 (2023)

• The French Open became an international tournament in 1925.

Men’s tournament structure

ATP 1000

The ATP Masters 1000 is a group of nine tournaments that form the second-highest echelon in men’s tennis. Each event is held annually, and a win at one of these events is worth 1000 ranking points. When the ATP, led by Hamilton Jordan, began running the men’s tour in 1990, the directors designated the top nine tournaments, outside of the Grand Slam events, as “Super 9” events.^[103] In 2000 this became the Tennis Masters Series and in 2004 the ATP Masters Series. In November at the end of the tennis year, the world’s top eight players compete in the ATP Finals, a tournament with a rotating locale. It is currently held in Turin.^[104]

In August 2007 the ATP announced major changes to the tour that were introduced in 2009. The Masters Series was renamed to the “ATP Masters 1000”, the addition of the number 1000 referring to the number of ranking points earned by the winner of each tournament. Contrary to earlier plans, the number of tournaments was not reduced from nine to eight and the Monte-Carlo Masters remains part of the series although, unlike the other events, it does not have a mandatory player commitment. The Hamburg Masters has been downgraded to a 500-point event. The Madrid Masters moved to May and onto clay courts, and a new tournament in Shanghai took over Madrid’s former indoor October slot. As of 2011 six of the nine “1000” level tournaments are combined ATP and WTA events.^[105]

500 and 250 series

The third and fourth tier of men’s tennis tournaments are formed by the ATP 500 series, consisting of 11 tournaments, and the ATP 250 series with 40 tournaments.^[106] Like the ATP Masters 1000, these events offer various amounts of prize money and the numbers refer to the number of ranking points earned by the winner of a tournament.^[99] The Dubai Tennis Championships offer the largest financial incentive to players, with total prize money of US$2,313,975 (2012).^[107] These series have various draws of 28, 32, 48 and 56 for singles and 16 and 24 for doubles. It is mandatory for leading players to enter at least four 500 events, including at least one after the US Open.

Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments

The Challenger Tour for men is the lowest level of tournament administered by the ATP. It is composed of about 150 events and, as a result, features a more diverse range of countries hosting events.^[108] The majority of players use the Challenger Series at the beginning of their career to work their way up the rankings. Andre Agassi, between winning Grand Slam tournaments, plummeted to World No. 141 and used Challenger Series events for match experience and to progress back up the rankings.^[109] The Challenger Series offers prize funds of between US$25,000 and US$150,000.

Below the Challenger Tour are the Futures tournaments, events on the ITF Men’s Circuit. These tournaments also contribute towards a player’s ATP rankings points. Futures Tournaments offer prize funds of between US$10,000 and US$15,000.^[110] Approximately 530 Futures Tournaments are played each year.

Women’s tournament structure

In 2021, the WTA rebranded, resembling the men’s tournament series, and also providing extra simplicity for fans and consumers. The numbers do not indicate ranking points, or prize money, but is a system to help define different levels of women’s tennis.

WTA 1000

The WTA 1000 Tournaments (formerly the Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 Tournaments), are a series of seven tournaments that are part of the second-highest tier in women’s tennis.^[111][112]

500 and 250 Series

The third and fourth tier of women’s tennis tournaments are formed from the WTA 500 Series (formerly Premier 700), with fifteen tournaments, and the WTA 250 Series (formerly International), consisting of thirty tournaments.^[111][113]

WTA 125

The WTA 125 Series (formerly 125K Series), is the lowest tier of women’s tennis, with fourteen tournaments.^[113]

Players

Professional players

Professional tennis players enjoy the same relative perks as most top sports personalities: clothing, equipment and endorsements. Like players of other individual sports such as golf, they are not salaried, but must play and finish highly in tournaments to obtain prize money.

In recent years,^[when?] professional tennis players have been mocked by tabloids and fans for the involuntary or deliberate noise caused by players’ grunting. This controversy has spurred the Grand Slam Committee, the International Tennis Association, and the Women’s Tennis Association to teach players techniques to avoid grunting.^[114]

Singles and doubles professional careers

While players are gradually less competitive in singles by their late 20s and early 30s, they can still continue competitively in doubles (as instanced by Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe, who won doubles titles in their 40s).

In the Open Era, several female players such as Martina Navratilova, Margaret Court, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams (the latter two sisters playing together) have been prolific at both singles and doubles events throughout their careers. John McEnroe is one of the very few professional male players to be top ranked in both singles and doubles at the same time,^{[115][116][117]} and Yevgeny Kafelnikov is the most recent male player to win multiple Grand Slams in both singles and doubles during the same period of his career.

In terms of public attention and earnings (see below), singles champions have far surpassed their doubles counterparts. The Open Era, particularly the men’s side, has seen many top-ranked singles players that only sparingly compete in doubles, while having “doubles specialists” who are typically being eliminated early in the singles draw but do well in the doubles portion of a tournament. Notable doubles pairings include The Woodies (Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde) and the Bryan brothers (identical twin brothers Robert Charles “Bob” Bryan and Michael Carl “Mike” Bryan). Woodbridge has disliked the term “doubles ‘specialists’”, saying that he and Woodforde “set a singles schedule and doubles fitted in around that”, although later in Woodbridge’s career he focused exclusively on doubles as his singles ranking fell too low that it was no longer financially viable to recover at that age. Woodbridge noted that while top singles players earn enough that they do not need to nor want to play doubles, he suggested that lower-ranked singles players outside the Top Ten should play doubles to earn more playing time and money.^[118][119]

Olympics

The Olympics doubles tennis tournament necessitates that both members of a doubles pairing be from the same country, hence several top professional pairs such as Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares cannot compete in the Olympics. Top-ranked singles players that are usually rivals on the professional circuit, such as Boris Becker and Michael Stich, and Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have formed a rare doubles partnership for the Olympics. Unlike professional tennis tournaments (see below) where singles players receive much more prize money than doubles players, an Olympic medal for both singles and doubles has similar prestige. The Olympics is more of a priority for doubles champions while singles champions often skip the tournament.^[118][119] While the ATP has voted for Olympic results to count towards player ranking points, WTA players voted against it.^[120]

For the 2000 Olympics, Lisa Raymond was passed over for Team USA in favour of Serena Williams by captain Billie Jean King, even though Raymond was the top-ranked doubles player in the world at the time, and Raymond unsuccessfully challenged the selection.^[120]

Prize money

In professional tennis tournaments such as Wimbledon, the singles competition receives the most prize money and coverage, followed by doubles, and then mixed doubles usually receive the lowest monetary awards.^[121] For instance in the US Open as of 2018, the men’s and women’s singles prize money (US$40,912,000) accounts for 80.9 percent of total player base compensation, while men’s and women’s doubles (US$6,140,840), men’s and women’s singles qualifying (US$3,008,000), and mixed doubles (US$505,000) account for 12.1 percent, 5.9 percent, and 1.0 percent, respectively. The singles winner receives US$3,800,000, while the doubles winning pair receives $700,000 and the mixed doubles winning pair receives US$155,000.^[122]

Grand Slam tournament winners

See also: Lists of tennis records and statistics

The following players have won at least five singles titles at Grand Slam tournaments (active players in bold):

MenTitles Novak Djokovic24 Rafael Nadal22 Roger Federer20 Pete Sampras14 Roy Emerson12 Rod Laver11 Björn Borg Bill Tilden10 Fred Perry8 Ken Rosewall Jimmy Connors Ivan Lendl Andre Agassi William Renshaw7 Richard Sears William Larned Henri Cochet René Lacoste John Newcombe John McEnroe Mats Wilander Laurence Doherty6 Anthony Wilding Donald Budge Jack Crawford Boris Becker Stefan Edberg Frank Sedgman5 Tony Trabert

WomenTitles Margaret Court24 Serena Williams23 Steffi Graf22 Helen Wills Moody19 Chris Evert18/ Martina Navratilova Billie Jean King12 Maureen Connolly Brinker9/ Monica Seles/ Molla Bjurstedt Mallory8 Suzanne Lenglen Dorothea Lambert Chambers7 Maria Bueno Evonne Goolagong Cawley Venus Williams Justine Henin Blanche Bingley Hillyard6 Doris Hart Margaret Osborne duPont Nancye Wynne Bolton Louise Brough Clapp Lottie Dod5 Charlotte Cooper Sterry Daphne Akhurst Cozens Helen Jacobs Alice Marble Pauline Betz Addie Althea Gibson Martina Hingis Maria Sharapova

Greatest male players

Further information: Tennis male players statistics and World number one male tennis player rankings

A frequent topic of discussion among tennis fans and commentators is who was the greatest male singles player of all time. By a large margin, an Associated Press poll in 1950 named Bill Tilden as the greatest player of the first half of the 20th century.^[123] From 1920 to 1930, Tilden won singles titles at Wimbledon three times and the US Championships seven times. In 1938, however, Donald Budge became the first person to win all four major singles titles during the same calendar year, the Grand Slam, and won six consecutive major titles in 1937 and 1938. Tilden called Budge “the finest player 365 days a year that ever lived.”^[124] In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer said that, based on consistent play, Budge was the greatest player ever.^[125] Some observers, however, also felt that Kramer deserved consideration for the title. Kramer was among the few who dominated amateur and professional tennis during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Tony Trabert has said that of the players he saw before the start of the Open Era, Kramer was the best male champion.^[126]

By the 1960s, Budge and others had added Pancho Gonzales and Lew Hoad to the list of contenders. Budge reportedly believed that Gonzales was the greatest player ever.^[127] Gonzales said about Hoad, “When Lew’s game was at its peak nobody could touch him. … I think his game was the best game ever. Better than mine. He was capable of making more shots than anybody. His two volleys were great. His overhead was enormous. He had the most natural tennis mind with the most natural tennis physique.”^[128]

Before and during the Open Era, Rod Laver remains the only male player in history to have won the calendar year Grand Slam twice in 1962 and 1969 ^[129] and also the calendar year Professional Grand Slam in 1967.^[130]

Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg, and John McEnroe had a fierce rivalry in the late 1970s and early 1980s that propelled “the men’s game to new heights of popularity”.^[131] Connors had a long and prolific career and holds the Open Era men’s singles records of 109 titles including eight Grand Slams, 1,557 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. Borg was regarded by his contemporaries as among the greatest ever, having a calm court demeanor and unrivalled physical conditioning, winning six French Opens and five straight Wimbledon titles, retiring at age 26 when he was still in his prime. McEnroe attained the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, finishing his career with 77 singles and 78 doubles titles; this remains the highest men’s combined total of the Open Era.^[132]

The Agassi–Sampras rivalry showcased the two best players in the 1990s.^[133] Sampras had a precise and powerful serve while Agassi was considered to be one of the best service returners in the history of the game.^{[134][135][136]} By the early 2000s, Pete Sampras had won a then-record of 14 Grand Slam titles which was by far the most among his contemporaries. Sampras also held the record for most weeks at No. 1 with 286 until it was broken a decade later by Federer and Djokovic after that. Andre Agassi, was the first player to complete the Career Grand Slam on all modern three surfaces (hard, grass, and clay courts) as previous winners of Grand Slam tournaments played in an era of grass and clay only (Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall also won major Pro tournaments on the three surfaces). Agassi also is the only player to win all four Grand Slam titles along with the year-end championships and the olympics. Both Sampras and Agassi are regarded to be among the greatest players of all time.^{[134][137][138]}

By the early twenty-first century, the ‘Big Three‘ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated men’s singles tennis for two decades,^[139][140] collectively winning 66 major singles tournaments; Djokovic with an all-time record 24 titles, Nadal with 22 and Federer with 20. They have been ranked as world No. 1s in singles for a total 947 weeks (equivalent to 18 years); Djokovic for a record 428 weeks, Federer for 310, and Nadal for 209.

Greatest female players

Further information: World number 1 women tennis players and List of WTA number 1 ranked players

As with the men there are frequent discussions about who is the greatest female singles player of all time with Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams being the three players most often nominated.

In March 2012 the Tennis Channel published a combined list of the 100 greatest men and women tennis players of all time.^[141] It ranked Steffi Graf as the greatest female player (in 3rd place overall), followed by Martina Navratilova (4th place) and Margaret Court (8th place). The rankings were determined by an international panel.

Sportswriter John Wertheim of Sports Illustrated stated in an article in July 2010 that Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player ever with the argument that “Head-to-head, on a neutral surface (i.e. hard courts), everyone at their best, I can’t help feeling that she crushes the other legends.”.^[142] In a reaction to this article Yahoo sports blog Busted Racket published a list of the top-10 women’s tennis players of all time placing Martina Navratilova in first spot.^[143] This top-10 list was similar to the one published in June 2008 by the Bleacher Report who also ranked Martina Navratilova as the top female player of all time.^[144]

Steffi Graf is considered by some to be the greatest female player. Billie Jean King said in 1999, “Steffi is definitely the greatest women’s tennis player of all time.”^[145] Martina Navratilova has included Graf on her list of great players.^[145] In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by the Associated Press.^[146] Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named her as the best female player of the 20th century, directly followed by Martina Navratilova.^[147]

Tennis magazine selected Martina Navratilova as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005.^[148][149] Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilova “arguably, the greatest player of all time.”^[150] Billie Jean King said about Navratilova in 2006, “She’s the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who’s ever lived.”^[151]

In 2018, a Tennis.com panel selected Serena Williams as the greatest female tennis player in the Open Era.^[152] In May 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the greatest female tennis player of all time.^[153]

In November 2018, Tennis.com polled its readers to choose the greatest women’s tennis player of all time and Graf came in first.^[154] In July 2020, The Guardian polled its readers to determine the greatest female tennis player of the past 50 years, and Graf was the clear favorite, picking up nearly twice as many votes as any other player.^[155]

Officials

Main article: Official (tennis)

In most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an officiating head judge or chair umpire (usually referred to simply as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make factual determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines whether the ball has touched the net during service. The umpire has the right to overrule a line judge or a net judge if the umpire is sure that a clear mistake has been made.^[156]

In past tournaments, line judges tasked with calling the serve were sometimes assisted by electronic sensors that beeped to indicate an out-of-bounds serve; one such system was called “Cyclops“.^[157] Cyclops has since largely been replaced by the Hawk-Eye system.^[158][159] In professional tournaments using this system, players are allowed three unsuccessful appeals per set, plus one additional appeal in the tiebreak to challenge close line calls by means of an electronic review. The US Open, Miami Masters, US Open Series, and World Team Tennis started using this challenge system in 2006 and the Australian Open and Wimbledon introduced the system in 2007.^[160] In clay-court matches, such as at the French Open, a call may be questioned by reference to the mark left by the ball’s impact on the court surface.

The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or team captain, the referee may overrule the umpire’s decision if the tennis rules were violated (question of law) but may not change the umpire’s decision on a question of fact. If, however, the referee is on the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire’s decision. (This would only happen in Davis Cup or Fed Cup matches, not at the World Group level, when a chair umpire from a non-neutral country is in the chair.)^[156]

Junior tennis

Main article: Junior tennis

In tennis, a junior is a player under 18 who is still legally protected by a parent or guardian. Players on the main adult tour who are under 18 must have documents signed by a parent or guardian. These players, however, are still eligible to play in junior tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducts a junior tour that allows juniors to establish a world ranking and an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. Most juniors who enter the international circuit do so by progressing through ITF, Satellite, Future, and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit. The latter three circuits also have adults competing in them. Some juniors, however, such as Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman Gaël Monfils, have catapulted directly from the junior tour to the ATP tour by dominating the junior scene or by taking advantage of opportunities given to them to participate in professional tournaments.

In 2004, the ITF implemented a new rankings scheme to encourage greater participation in doubles, by combining two rankings (singles and doubles) into one combined tally.^[161] Junior tournaments do not offer prize money except for the Grand Slam tournaments, which are the most prestigious junior events. Juniors may earn income from tennis by participating in the Future, Satellite, or Challenger tours. Tournaments are broken up into different tiers offering different amounts of ranking points, culminating with Grade A.

Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions. To succeed in tennis often means having to begin playing at a young age. To facilitate and nurture a junior’s growth in tennis, almost all tennis playing nations have developed a junior development system. Juniors develop their play through a range of tournaments on all surfaces, accommodating all different standards of play. Talented juniors may also receive sponsorships from governing bodies or private institutions.

Injuries

Main article: Tennis injuries

Muscle strain is one of the most common injuries in tennis.^[162] When an isolated large-energy appears during the muscle contraction and at the same time body weight apply huge amount of pressure to the lengthened muscle, muscle strain can occur.^[163] Inflammation and bleeding are triggered when muscle strain occurs, which can result in redness, pain and swelling.^[163] Overuse is also common in tennis players of all levels. Muscle, cartilage, nerves, bursae, ligaments and tendons may be damaged from overuse. The repetitive use of a particular muscle without time for repair and recovery is the most common cause of injury.^[163]

In popular culture

• “Tennis balles” are mentioned by William Shakespeare in his play Henry V (1599), when a basket of them is given to King Henry as a mockery of his youth and playfulness.
• David Foster Wallace, an amateur tennis player himself at Urbana High School in Illinois,^[164] included tennis in many of his works of non-fiction and fiction including “Tennis Player Michael Joyce’s Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness”, the autobiographical piece “Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley”, and Infinite Jest, which is partially set at the fictional “Enfield Tennis Academy” in Massachusetts.
• Japanese manga series The Prince of Tennis revolves around the tennis prodigy Echizen Ryoma and tennis matches between rival schools.
• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) is a film that features Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson), a tennis pro who suffers from depression and has a breakdown on court in front of thousands of fans.^[165]
• Wimbledon (2004) is a film about a discouraged pro tennis player (Paul Bettany) who meets a young woman on the women’s tennis circuit (Kirsten Dunst) who helps him find his drive to go and win Wimbledon.^[166]
• In The Squid and the Whale (2005), Joan (Laura Linney) has an affair with her kids’ tennis coach, Ivan (William Baldwin). In a symbolic scene, Joan’s ex-husband, Bernard (Jeff Daniels), loses a tennis match against Ivan in front of the kids.^[167]
• Woody Allen‘s Match Point (2005) features a love affair between a former tennis pro, Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and his best friend’s fiancé, Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). A scene of the movie includes a brief comparison between Andre Agassi and Tim Henman, with Chris Wilton calling both of them “geniuses”.^[168]
• Confetti (2006) is a mockumentary which sees three couples competing to win the title of “Most Original Wedding of the Year”. One competing couple (Meredith MacNeill and Stephen Mangan) are a pair of hyper-competitive professional tennis players holding a tennis-themed wedding.^[169]
• There are several tennis video games including the Mario Tennis series, the TopSpin series, the Virtua Tennis series, Sega Superstars Tennis, Grand Slam Tennis and Wii Sports.^[170][171]
• Challengers, a 2024 film by director Luca Guadagnino, centers around a trio of tennis players, and their relationship with one another, romantic and otherwise. It was nominated four times at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, where it won Best Original Score