NEW YORK CITY IS AWESOME

 There seems to be a stalemate with Iran about war or peace.  

• The U.S. now has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, with the WTI price of petroleum stabilizing at around $93/barrel.  
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up past 50,000 in February, but had already settled to around 49,000 just as the war began, dropped further to 46,500 at the beginning of April, but rose to 48,218 yesterday, and seems to be settling at around that number, awaiting further news.

• 
  Gold hit an all-time high of $5,589/oz on January 28, dropped to $5,200/oz as the Iran war began, and has settled to $4,800/oz this month.
• Iran offered to delay nuclear development for five years, but the U.S. is demanding 20 years,
• I've long felt that invasion of Kharg Island was the key to disabling Iran into the future,  Watch this video,  Why here?  Read Wikipedia.

The Marriott Marquis charges a lot because of its location at Times Square,  However, we are provided free services here and there.  For example, we get  a $40/day food credit, a Marriott M Club privileges that serves a great breakfast, but not much more, and 3 hours free on the Hop-on / Hop-off BigBus, worth around $40/person.  We took this option yesterday.  Of course, first met by my Blue-Bar Pigeon, then on a tour throughout Manhattan:

Street scenes.

Wall Street Bull.

Had lunch next to the Empire State Building at Koku Ramen,

Saw lots of cherry and other blossoms.

Passed through the new World Trade Center area where there now stands the 1776-foot tall One World Trade Center.

Passed the waterfront with the USS Intrepid, followed by the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, where our Viking Octantis will pick us up.

Back to 7th Avenue and the Times Square area.

In 1920 New York City had ten times more tall buidings than any other city,  For most of the 20th century, New York had by far the largest concentration of skyscrapers (taller than 150 meters or 492 feet).  Today:

1. Hong Kong (China)  569
2. Shenzen (China)  469
3. New York City  324
4. Dubai  269
5. Guangzhou (China)  210
   
6. Wuhan (China)  209 (this is where the COVID Pandemic began)
7. Shanghai (China)  205

Hmm....does that say something about China?  A lot, but here are reasons why New York City is awesome and the best city in the world.

• Cuisine.
• Shopping.
• Cultural diversity.
• Literary scene,
• Museums.
• Central Park.
• Broadway,
• Film/television.
• Fashion.
• The laughs.
• Wall Street.

To make it official, the Oxford Economics' Global Cities Index confirmed so,

1. New York, US (100)
2. London, UK (98.5)
3. Paris, France (94.4)
4. San Jose, California, US (94.2)
5. Seattle, US (91.8)
6. Melbourne, Australia (90.7)
7. Sydney, Australia (90.6)
8. Boston, US (90.3)
9. Tokyo, Japan (90.3)
10. San Francisco, US (90.3).

One surprise to the above list,  San Jose as #4?  I recall my freshman room mate at Stanford being from there, and even he would agree that San Jose was a dump.  But that was 1958, and one result of Stanford creating Silicon Valley was that the largest nearby city was San Jose.  From a nothing to #4 best city in the world.  Also, the U.S. News and World Report ranks San Jose as the #4 spot best place to live in the USA for quality of life.

Finally, 10 Fun Facts about New York City.

1. Residents speak 800 languages.
2. Was once known as New Amsterdam.
3. The skyline lets the sun shine in.
4. Has the largest LGBTQIA+ population in the USA.
5. Largest store of gold in the world,  7,000 tons of bullion, or 5% of all the gold ever mined, is in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Wall Street.
6. 
   The Big Apple is named after horse racing.  Originated by African-American stablehands in New Orleans referring to New York City's major race track as the Big Apple, symbolizing a big prize.  The term Big Apple was in the 1970s adopted by a New York tourism campaign, and stuck.
7. Those living here have access to over 50 million free books.  All you need is a New York Public Library card.
8. Pearl Street used oyster shells to pave it.  Now the pearls are the street food vendors,
9. Cab drivers can be fined for honking their horns,
10. 
    New Yorkers drink 7 times more coffee than the rest of the U.S.  But, according to Google AI, this 2012 report was not based on a national census.  Other studies, like one from WalletHub, ranked New York City lower than Portland and Seattle.  However, that original sense was probably because New York City had 10-13 times the population of Portland or Seattle.  The reality is that NYC only ranks #19.

To end, watch in a minute and 25 seconds, New York City evolving for 400 years to what it is today,  Here is an Artificial Intelligence created New York City in the future.

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