# Why and How did New York (Manhattan, specifically) become the greatest city on earth?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-and-how-did-new-york-manhattan-specifically-become-the-greatest-city-on-earth/555674>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 30, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-and-how-did-new-york-manhattan-specifically-become-the-greatest-city-on-earth/555674 "2010-09-30T23:40:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-and-how-did-new-york-manhattan-specifically-become-the-greatest-city-on-earth/555674/61 "2020-07-19T21:57:05Z")

</div>

I thought that was the purpose of all the murders.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-and-how-did-new-york-manhattan-specifically-become-the-greatest-city-on-earth/555674/62 "2020-07-20T00:12:59Z")

</div>

Well, you have to have a back up plan.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-and-how-did-new-york-manhattan-specifically-become-the-greatest-city-on-earth/555674/63 "2020-07-20T00:58:34Z")

</div>

> [@mhendo](#):
>
> > [@Annie-Xmas](#):
> >
> > Because when you are there, you know you are there. Seriously. When you say “New York is the greatest city in the world,” you are really referring to the island of Manhattan. An insulated community unlike any other, filled with so much you could not possibly get to all of it in two lifetimes.
> 
> I get what you mean, but i don’t completely agree. I’ve spent time in Brooklyn and Queens and the Bronx (never Staten Island), and they all feel very much like New York to me.

I would agree with this as well. The “greatness” of New York is more than just Midtown and select neighborhoods in Manhattan.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-and-how-did-new-york-manhattan-specifically-become-the-greatest-city-on-earth/555674/64 "2020-07-20T17:26:25Z")

</div>

New York is one of the greatest cities in the world along with London, Hong Kong and Singapore because their multiculturalism. Hong Kong may lose its place in this group, because of the CPC and the changes that are being made there. All of these cities are true melting pots of different ethnicities and culture. The food, the languages spoken, the culture are global in nature, that cities like Buenos Aries, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Berlin, New Delhi, etc. can’t even come close to comparing.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-and-how-did-new-york-manhattan-specifically-become-the-greatest-city-on-earth/555674.md?page=3)