Manhattan

Trip Planning

In all my travels over the years, I have only spent one afternoon in Manhattan. The Greek Olympic Airlines I was flying on from New York City to Athens Greece and then on to Cairo Egypt was canceled. We got on the airplane at 2 a.m. but because of engine problems, they put us in buses and off we went to Manhattan. I had been up for almost 24 hours so I went to bed and that was it. I did walk through Grand Central Terminal before we got on the bus to go back to the airport but that was my first and only time in Manhattan!

The back half of the plane was smoking and almost everyone was Greek and men and women all smoked those little cigars/cigarettes. Toilets backed up and service was in short demand. Worse than the flight on a Russian aircraft from Xi'an (Terrocotta Wariors) to Beijing China. Check out my musings about the flight many years ago.

Olympic Epic Flight to Cairo - 1984

I think I will try to setup the entire trip by myself like I did for my birthday in 2025 in Iceland!

Map of the Boroughs

The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that comprise New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.

All five boroughs of New York came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (then including the Bronx), Kings County, Richmond County, and part of Queens County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter. All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were dissolved.

New York City was originally confined to Manhattan Island and the smaller surrounding islands that formed New York County. As the city grew northward, it began annexing areas on the mainland, absorbing territory from Westchester County into New York County in 1874 (West Bronx) and 1895 (East Bronx). During the 1898 consolidation, this territory was organized as the Borough of the Bronx, though still part of New York County. In 1914, Bronx County was split off from New York County so that each borough was then coterminous with a county.

When the western part of Queens County was consolidated with New York City in 1898, that area became the Borough of Queens. In 1899, the remaining eastern section of Queens County was split off to form Nassau County on Long Island, thereafter making the borough and county of Queens coextensive with each other.

Islands Around the World

As you can see I have been to many islands around the world but forgot that Manhattan was an island so I had to add it to my listing of islands I have visited! I was surprised as to how many islands are in New York City!

New York City contains an estimated 36 to 42 islands, but the exact number varies depending on how one counts, with some islands being very small or uninhabited. These islands are part of a larger archipelago that forms the basis of the city, with four of its five boroughs located on islands: Manhattan, Staten Island, and the western parts of Long Island (which contains Brooklyn and Queens). The Bronx is the only borough located on the mainland.

The first time I went to an island was in December of 1961, over Christmas and the New Year, 1962, from the midwest to the Bahamas! Now I have multiple islands to view as I look at the San Francisco Bay!