Pbenjay's Blog

 The western ramp and pylon of Brooklyn Bridge, New York City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I live in a strange and wondrous place.  My City never sleeps which means should I get a craving for anything in the middle of the night, I can either go downstairs to the 24 hour Duane Reade (drugstore++) or across the street to the 24 hour diner and eat another dinner or breakfast.  I can go to the Opera, the Philarmonic or the theater any night of the week. I can eat any ethnic food any day and visit at least 10 museums anytime.  I can see wonderful, colorful parades on most Sundays in the Spring, and Summer and watch the world go by as Israelis, Pakistanis, Irish, Indians and more walk along Fifth Ave.  That’s just a tiny bit of what makes New York City a wonderful place to experience life. BUT there’s so many things about this city that I didn’t know and here are some of those strange and interesting facts.

1. In 1857, toilet paper was invented by Joseph C. Gayetty in NYC.
2. The Jewish population in NYC is the largest in the world outside of Israel.
3. The city of New York will pay for a one-way plane ticket for any homeless person if they have a guaranteed place to stay.
4. Pinball was banned in the city until 1978.  The NYPD even held “Prohibition-style” busts.
5. Albert Einstein’s eyeballs are stored in a safe deposit box in the city.
6. There’s a wind tunnel near the Flat Iron building that can raise women’s skirts.  Men used to gather outside the Flat Iron building to watch.
7. New York City has more people than 39 of the 50 states in U.S.
8. There is a birth in New York City every 4.4 minutes.
9. There is a death in New York City every 9.1 minutes.
10. PONY means Product of New York.
11. The borough of Brooklyn on its own would be the fourth largest city in the United States. Queens would also rank fourth nationally.
12. New York City has the largest Chinese population of any city outside of Asia.
13. It can cost over $289,000 for a one-year hot dog stand permit in Central Park.
14. In 1920, a horse-drawn carriage filled with explosives was detonated on Wall Street killing 30 people. No one was ever caught, and it is considered to be one of the first acts of domestic terrorism.
15. In nine years, Madison Square Garden’s lease will run out and it will have to move.
16. Sixty percent of cigarettes sold in NYC are illegally smuggled from other states.
17. Chernobyl is closer to New York than Fukushima is to L.A.
18. The Empire State building has its own zip code.
19. The East River is not a river, it’s a tidal estuary.
20. There are 20,000 bodies buried in Washington Square Park alone.