15 unusual facts about New York City

1. The first pizzeria in the United States was opened in NYC in 1895.

2. In 1857, toilet paper was invented by Joseph C. Gayetty in NYC.

3. Up until World War II, everyone in the entire city who was moving apartments had to move on May 1.

4. The city of New York will pay for a one-way plane ticket for any homeless person if they have a guaranteed place to stay.

5. New York City taxi cabs are yellow because according to car salesman John Hertz (1907), yellow is the easiest color to spot at a distance.

6. New York City has more people than 39 of the 50 states in the U.S.

7. There is a birth in New York City every 4.4 minutes.

8. The borough of Brooklyn on its own would be the fourth largest city in the United States.

9. New York City has the largest Chinese population of any city outside of Asia.

10. New York has the largest Puerto Rican population of any city in the world.

11. New York City’s 520-mile coastline is longer than those of Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco combined.

12. There is a secret train platform in the Waldorf Astoria hotel.

13. Times Square is named after the New York Times. It was originally called Longacre Square until 1904 when the NYT moved there.

14. It would cost approx. US $17,000 to take a cab from NYC to L.A.

15. More than 47 percent of New York City’s residents over the age of 5 speak another language other than English.

Have you heard of any other fun facts about the big apple that we can add to the list?

As the most populous city in the USA, New York is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. If you haven’t yet visited (or are planning on a repeat trip), there are plenty of affordable flights from Perth to New York floating around on the web, so get searching!