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THE COMPASS

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New York City

New York is the most populous and tallest city in the United States. With its gleaming skyscrapers and buzzing city streets across hundreds of diverse neighborhoods, the Big Apple has something for everyone. Join us this week as we learn how Ellis Island shepherded millions of immigrants into America, discover why cemeteries in the city are a surprising source of life, and see how humpbacks whales are making a splash in New York Harbor.
Let's explore New York City.

HISTORY & CULTURE

In the main hall of the immigration station on Ellis Island, immigrants wait for the next phase of inspection. On some days, more than 5,000 people filled this room.

PHOTOGRAPH BY WILLIAM WILLIAMS, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

How Ellis Island shepherded millions of immigrants into America

Entrance through this New York immigration epicenter usually took only a few hours—no passports or visas required.

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In 1664, the British captured New Amsterdam. An unknown draftsman prepared this pictorial map of the new New York. The wall visible on the north side of the settlement is where Wall Street is today.

MAP COURTESY GEORGE HAYWARD, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

Charming illustrated maps illuminate the character of New York City

A new exhibit highlights beautiful, funny, and intriguing illustrated maps of the Big Apple from New York Public Library's huge collection.

"The Tables" by filmmaker Jon Bunning.

VIDEO BY JON BUNNING

United by ping pong, these players find community in a New York park

A powerful look at how outdoor ping pong tables, set up in the heart of New York City, are welcoming players from all walks of life.

Fire hoses spray the upper floors of the Asch Building—headquarters to the Triangle Shirtwaist Company—during the 1911 fire in New York City that shocked the U.S. into developing new worker safety standards.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KEYSTONE, GETTY

How a tragedy transformed protections for American workers

The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire—which killed 146 garment workers—shocked the public and galvanized the labor movement.

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ANIMALS

Two red-eared sliders—likely former pets—bask on the stones lining Morningside Pond in Manhattan's Upper West Side.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CAROLINE HOPKINS

New York City has a turtle problem

Abandoned pets are wreaking havoc on city parks.

Green-Wood cemetery has 7,000 trees of more than 700 different species, making it a haven for biodiversity in the concrete jungle.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEENAH MOON, THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX

Why cemeteries are a surprising source of life

American graveyards have become urban havens for plants and animals—like a new beetle species discovered in New York City.

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Normally, lanes would be jammed with traffic around the Lincoln Tunnel, which joins New York and New Jersey. But during the COVID-19 lockdown, this was the view at an evening rush hour in early April 2020.

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEPHEN WILKES

At the height of the pandemic, see New York City's empty streets from above

From a helicopter, photographer Stephen Wilkes captured the startling stillness of New York City under lockdown to fight the coronavirus.

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STONEWALL INN, 1969— When lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people resisted a police raid at this Greenwich Village tavern, they brought a growing liberation movement to light. Today, LGBTQ cultural life in New York City is more visible than ever, and researchers are reconstructing its hidden history.

RILEY D. CHAMPINE, NGM STAFF. SOURCES: JEFF FERZOCO, OUTGOING NYC; GEORGE CHAUNCEY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

See 100 years of LGBTQ history mapped across New York City

The liberation movement has evolved in parks, factories, and dance halls—in secret and in the open.

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TRAVEL

DREAM NOW, GO LATER

In July 2018, humpback whale NYC0082 feeds on menhaden—a prime food source and a key species in Atlantic ecosystems—in New York Bay.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CELIA ACKERMAN, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, GOTHAM WHALE

Why whale watching is having a moment—in New York City

With cleaner waters and more available food, humpbacks are making a splash in the Big Apple to the delight of whale watchers and conservationists.

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The sun sets over the Empire State Building.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF MAURITZEN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Weekend itinerary for the explorer in Manhattan

See this iconic city like an insider.

Central Park West

PHOTOGRAPH BY SUE BAILEY

The singular drama of New York trees

Illuminated by the city lights, these trees take on new life.

WHERE WILL WE JOURNEY TO NEXT?

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