Italian pizza, Japanese rolls, hot dogs, and even basketball – all of this was reinvented in New York and became part of American culture and the whole world. New York’s great and multicultural history has made it “their own” in many countries. Now, on its 400th anniversary, people from all over the world are eager to come here to become part of this grand celebration, touch the city’s history, and feel the atmosphere of a place that unites entire generations and cultures.
Throughout 2025, New York City will celebrate its 400th anniversary as part of the Founded By NYC campaign. On September 7, 2025, a free concert will be held in Times Square. This will be the official start of all subsequent festive events and thousands of local performances and parties that will smoothly transition into the Christmas holidays and the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, which the city will also celebrate in 2026.
So, what do we know about NYC?
What is it famous for around the world, and what is New York style?
The first settlement on the territory of modern Manhattan received the status of a city in 1653 and was called New Amsterdam. The English captured the city in 1664 and renamed it New York in honor of the Duke of York. In 1811, the Manhattan street grid plan was adopted, which still determines the city’s structure.
New York City (NYC) is more often associated with Manhattan in the modern world, although this is not entirely true. In fact, since 1898, New York expanded to Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island and became a single city called New York.
Regular readers of LocalGuideBlog.com have long known that all the fun is not on the expensive streets of Manhattan, but on the other side of the East River.
Start exploring Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, and New York will open up in a new way and pleasantly surprise you.
For example, one of the most famous craft breweries in New York has been operating since 1988 and is located in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Brewery has become a symbol of the revival of local beer culture after Prohibition and is the center of the cultural craft movement, combining art, music, and gastronomy. It is actively involved in the city’s life: it organizes tours, tastings, concerts, and festivals.
Walking around Brooklyn, exploring the Brooklyn Bridge, you will find dozens of cozy restaurants with friendly prices and an excellent menu.
Children and teenagers will be delighted with Coney Island, the world’s first amusement park. Of course, the Bronx Zoo, one of the largest zoos in the world, opened in 1899.
Be sure to visit one of the oldest and largest museums in the United States – the Brooklyn Museum, opened in 1895 – and Historic Richmond Town, an open-air museum where houses from the 17th to 19th centuries have been preserved.
Jazz lovers should not miss the iconic places in Queens: Terraza 7, a great jazz club, and the Louis Armstrong House Museum, the house-museum of the famous jazz musician Louis Armstrong.
If you plan your visit in advance, study the calendar of events of the Queens Jazz Trail / Kupferberg Center. This summer open-air jazz festival is held for free in various parks of Queens, including Astoria Park, Forest Park, Flushing Meadows, and others.
To experience authentic jazz, visit the Village Vanguard (1935) or Minton’s Playhouse (1938), the oldest jazz clubs.
New York is the oldest multicultural city. It never sleeps, and the subway works 24/7. It is not easy to please it. Enterprising migrants from around the world adapted national recipes and came up with multicultural alternatives. Competition and a lack of resources encouraged people to eliminate everything unnecessary and save only the best.
It was in this bustle that the famous New York style was born, combining neo-minimalism and harmonious modernism.
For example, the first Italian pizzerias in Manhattan produced pizza on a thin elastic crust that could be easily folded in half. The classic Italian pizza recipe is more like a pie and contains a variety of ingredients. In New York, pizza used simple combinations and then opened up the possibility of customization.
The earliest documented pizzeria is Lombardi’s, which opened in 1905 at 32 Spring Street NY 10012. It is the first pizzeria that apparently fed everyone in the central part of New York.
In the 1960s and 1970s, with the growth of Japanese restaurants, chefs had to think about transforming the classic serving, which at that time consisted of nigiri and maki. As a result of the search, California rolls were invented, as well as the first pioneers of fusion sushi, combining Japanese techniques with local products.
One of the first restaurants to popularize this approach was Sushi Samba, which opened in 1988. They started using new ingredients: cream cheese, avocado, mango, and hot sauces. Over time, they expanded the menu and offered visitors Japanese, Brazilian, and Peruvian Cuisine. In 2018, the restaurant closed due to the non-renewal of the lease. Now, it operates in Las Vegas, Dubai, and London.
However, the hot dog is the most popular in New York, and it has been feeding city residents and tourists worldwide for 157 years. It has become a calling card and is part of street culture, just like basketball. This sport was invented in 1891 in Springfield (Massachusetts, USA). It was invented by a Canadian immigrant, physical education teacher James Naismith, so that students could play sports in the gym in the winter. But it was in New York, in Harlem, that it became widespread and acquired its own “street” culture.
Basketball, like the hot dog, appeared in America thanks to immigrants who brought and adapted their traditional recipes at the end of the 19th century. The hot dog has its roots in German immigrants who brought Frankfurt sausages and Vienna sausages. It is believed that in 1867, Charles Feltman, a German by origin, opened a cart on Coney Island (Brooklyn), selling sausages in a bun. Since then, hot dog sales have only grown and become popular worldwide. On the Fourth of July, it is Nathan’s Famous that holds the famous hot dog eating championship.
The main secret of New York hot dogs is the sausage – it sets the taste. In the New York version, it is a tender and juicy beef sausage with a light smoky note, elastic to the bite, and rich in spices but not unnecessarily heavy. Usually, it is served with mustard, sauerkraut, and onions, sometimes with a sauce of tomatoes and spices.
Be sure to try a hot dog and start to explore New York City without haste and fuss. It will open up a soul that cannot be read about and can only be felt in the details, tastes, and rhythm of its streets.
