socioeconomic effects of Manhattan on the surrounding boroughs

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Economic Geography, grade: 3.5, , course: Economic Geography, language: English, abstract: New York had just under 20 million residents as of 20101, with nearly eight and a half million living in the city of New York City2, resulting in the largest city, population wise, in all of the United States. Manhattan has only one and a half million residents, yet it has multi-billion dollar buildings, the location of the two largest stock exchanges, NASDAQ and NYSE, and one of the best mass transit systems in America. Looking a bit to the east across the East River are the five boroughs of New York City, lacking any skyscrapers, or the subway which Manhattan has and substituting it with an elaborate bus system, and not even a single national landmark on the same scale as Grand Central. The question is, how has this small yet extremely influential island changed the area around it, and if it has been for the better or worse.