Report Example on Geography of New York City

Introduction

New York City, officially called the City of New York, is the most populated city in America and North America. The city is centered in entertainment, politics, international finance, and is one of the globe's biggest cities. New York City entails the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island. Brooklyn and Queens are a part of Long Island, while Staten Island is on their islands (New York, 2009). Long Island can be interpreted as a portion of an island that can be accessed outside of the boundaries of the city. This essay focuses on analyzing the geography of New York City by describing its physical geography, climate, and transportation network. The paper also discusses how the physical geography, climate, and transportation network contribute to housing segregation and income inequalities.

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New York Landforms

New York has various distinct landforms, including hills, mountains, and plains. Some landforms in New York City were established through the glacier's movement many years ago (New York, 2009). There exist mountains in the northeastern and Adirondack parts of the state. There also exists excellent farming soil in the Erie-Ontario Lowland along the Great Lakes; the most massive land region in this state is the Appalachian Plateau, and the flat ground that exists in the south-eastern part of the state incorporates the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

Water Bodies

New York is a good place for travel and trade due to its many lakes and rivers, and its location between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Towns near essential waterways such as the Hudson rivers and Mohawk were built by early settlers New York, 2009). a part of New York's northern border comprises Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and St. Lawrence River. The city also includes the islands of Manhattan, a part of the long island and Staten island.

A Description of the Climate

New York City has an overall humid temperature based on its closeness to the Tropic of Cancer. By being near water, the city encounters adverse fewer temperature fluctuations than in inland areas. According to some, the state is very uncomfortable during summer since its average temperatures range from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius at this time (New York, 2009). In winter seasons, New York undergoes 35 to 45 days of lower than zero temperatures (New York, 2009). It snows each year in the city due to the low temperatures, including; the warmest month of July, the Coolest month of January, the wettest month of April, and the driest month of October. New York winters are commonly cold, although temperatures below 0 degrees only occur once a decade on average. It is common to have temperatures in the 10 degrees to 20 degrees at the height of winter, and New York winters might feature snowstorms at times, which paralyzes the city with over 30cm of snow (New York, 2009). One of these snow instances is that of Blizzard in 1888 that resulted in the city’s telegraph and telephone lines moving underground. Autumns in New York are usually comfortable and similar to spring regarding temperature.

A Description of the Transportation Network

In most New York City residents, the most common mode of travel is public transportation; this is unlike other car-oriented urban areas in America. By 2001, at least 20 percent of the New York City residents accessed vehicles, most of whom resided in Manhattan, compared to 91 percent in the whole of America. The city has an extensive network of expressways and parkways, and it boats the most comprehensive public transportation network in America.

Transportation determines mobility as its core component of economic benefit. Variations in mobility have substantial impacts on the social opportunities of individuals, their education, and employment. Mobility establishes gaps in income generation, including inequalities in accessing opportunities such as employment. Some car owners can easily access places that public transportation cannot (Jackson, 2007). When it comes to climate, the combination of heat from the island and the rising of temperature inequitably impacts the socially vulnerable population that lives in the city's urban areas.

The physical geography, transportation, and climate in New York have attracted people worldwide to see the city's renaissance; this has brought in revenue for New York but has made housing affordable for the rich but very costly for the disadvantaged (Meyers, 2007). Many areas of the island in Manhattan offer peaceful havens to contented wealthy residents, including the ethnic enclaves like Yorkville, Chinatown, and Black Harlem. In Manhattan, the concentration of both industry and exchange produced the distribution of both workers and goods. With Manhattan's commercial and productive activities requiring more commutes, there were higher prices for goods and more massive public infrastructure investments (Meyers, 2007). With the high pricing of goods and housing, people who could not afford it end up living in slums.

Conclusion

From the analysis of New York City's geography, it is evident that geography is not a neutral entity, and environments can establish the influence of the existence of humans and human activities scan modify the physical landscape. New York possesses natural beauty and aspects that make it an ideal residence and vacation destination. However, the city's many defining attributes of many outsiders and locals make ignoring of finger Lake's fruits easy, which are only shared among a small number of individuals.

References

Jackson, K. T. (2007). New York, New York. In D. Goldfield (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American Urban History (Vol. 2, pp. 541-544). SAGE Reference.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3470500319/GVRL?u=chic13716&sid=GVRL&xid=9faa51ec

Meyers, A. (2007). Regional Planning. In D. Goldfield (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American Urban History (Vol. 2, pp. 661-666). SAGE Reference.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3470500377/GVRL?u=chic13716&sid=GVRL&xid=68b6a810

New York. (2009). In Cities of the United States (6th ed., Vol. 4, pp. 327-344). Gale.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3234000240/GVRL?u=chic13716&sid=GVRL&xid=6166422f.