Statue of liberty
UN HQ
Empire State Building
The Statue of Liberty has stood in New York Harbor for more
than 100 years. It was a gift of friendship from the people of
France in 1886, Its full name is "Liberty Enlightening the
World".. It is sometimes called "Lady Liberty."
Edouard-Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye, a French historian
and political leader suggested that the French and the
Americans build a monument together to celebrate the
friendship the two countries endured during the
American revolution. France had wanted to give the statue
to the United States on the one hundredth anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence -- July 4, 1876. But technical
problems and lack of money delayed the project.
Sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi immediately agreed
to design it. In 1875, the French established an organization
to raise money for Bartholdi's creation. Two years later, an
American group was formed to raise money to pay for a
pedestal to support the statue.
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24
October 1945, when a majority of the original 51
Member States had ratified the UN Charter.
America has fifty states. One of the oldest states is called
New York. It is in the eastern part of the United States.
New York is often called “The Empire State.”
The Aims of the United Nations :
 To keep peace throughout the world.
 To develop friendly relations between nations.
 To work together to help people live better lives, to
eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the
world,
 to stop environmental destruction and
 to encourage respect for each other's rights and
freedoms.
The Empire State Building is in Manhattan NYC, on 5th
Avenue between 33rd Street and 34th Street.
It is a business building where over 25,000 people work
every day. The Empire State Building is 102 stories tall.
From the top observation deck you can see for almost 320
kilo- meter far.
The statue also needed a structure that could hold its weight
of more than 200 tons. French engineer Alexandre
Gustave Eiffel created this new technology.The Statue of
Liberty is 46 meters tall from its base. It is made mostly of
copper.
The Statue of Liberty's face was created to look like the
sculptor's mother. Her right arm holds a torch with a flame
high in the air which represents liberty. Her left arm holds a
tablet with the date of the Declaration of Independence -July 4, 1776. On her head she wears a crown of seven
points.to represent the seven seas and seven continents
of the world. Twenty-five windows in the crown represent
gemstones found on Earth. A chain that represents
oppression lies broken at her feet.She rapidly became the
symbol of America itself because it was the first thing
immigrants saw when they arrived at the immigration center
on nearby Ellis Island.
Officials closed the Statue of Liberty following the terrorist
attacks in New York on September 11, 2001. It remained
closed until August, 2004. But the Statue continued to
attract visitors—more than three million a year, who climb
inside the statue all the way to the top. It is not an easy thing
to do. More than 350 steps lead to Lady Liberty's crown.
There are currently 192 Members of the United Nations.
They meet in the General Assembly, which is like a
parliament. Each country, large or small, rich or poor,
has a single vote.
The United Nations Headquarters is in New York City
but the land and buildings are international territory.
The United Nations has its own flag, its own post office
and its own postage stamps. Six official languages are
used at the United Nations - Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish.
The senior officer of the United Nations Secretariat is
the Secretary-General. The current Secretary-General
is Ban Ki-moon, who took over from Kofi Annan in
2007 and has been elected for a second term to
conclude at the end of 2016. Before becoming
Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South
Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United
Nations.
The Principles of the United Nations:
 All Member States have sovereign equality.
 All Member States must obey the Charter
 .Countries must try to settle their differences by
peaceful means
 .Countries must avoid using force or threatening
to use force.
 The UN may not interfere in the domestic
affairs of any country.
 Countries should try to assist the United
Nations.
The Empire State Building was built between 1930 and
1931 during the Great Depression. At that time, it was
difficult to find a job. People were very poor and many
did not have enough to eat. The construction of the
Empire State Building provided many jobs. For many
New Yorkers, the new skyscraper became a symbol of
hope that some day America would be strong again.
For many years it was the tallest building in the world.
Soon, it will be one of the world's greenest. The owners of
the historic building say a planned make-over will reduce
energy use in the building by thirty-eight percent. They
say it will save more than four million dollars a year in
energy costs.
The Empire State Building has six thousand five
hundred windows. New, special, thick glass will replace
the glass currently in the windows. This insulated glass
will make the inside of the building cooler in summer and
warmer in winter.
Workers will also add energy efficient lights and
improved building control systems. These will include
more modern air cooling and heating systems. The effort
will help reduce carbon dioxide releases from the Empire
State Building by more than one hundred thousand tons
a year.
Building owners say such make-overs are very important
to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in New York. They
say eighty percent of these gases come from city
buildings.The first improvements will cost twenty million
dollars.
ELLIS Island
CENTRAL PARK
ONE World Trade Center
New York's Ellis Island is one of the most popular attractions
for those visiting Manhattan and its surrounding areas,
second only to landmarks like the Empire State Building and
Statue of Liberty.
That's probably because millions of Americans have a
connection to the island, through which their ancestors
passed on the way from their homeland to their brand new
home in America. Records indicate that more than half of all
Americans had a relative who passed through Ellis Island.
Central Park is one of those places that make New York
such a great place to live. The huge park, 341 hectare
large (843 acres), is located in the center of
Manhattan. Its design has served as an example for
city parks around the world.
There are several lakes, theaters, ice rinks,
fountains, tennis courts, baseball fields, many
playgrounds and other facilities. It is also home to the
Central Park Zoo and the Metropolitan Museum of
Art (one of the world's most important museums, with
an enormous collection of artwork from all continents,
covering a period from prehistory to today.)
Especially during the weekends, when cars are not
allowed into the park, Central Park is a welcome oasis
in this hectic city.
One World Trade Center (also 1 World Trade Center or 1
WTC, formerly known as the Freedom Tower) is the
primary building of the new World Trade Center complex
in New York City's Lower Manhattan.
The 104-story skyscraper stands on the northwest
corner of World Trade Center site, on the site of the
original World Trade Center
.
The new World Trade Center complex will also feature
three other high-rise office buildings, located along
Greenwich Street, and the National September 11
Memorial & Museum, located just south of One World
Trade Center, where the Twin Towers once stood. The
construction is part of an effort to memorialize and
rebuild following the destruction of the original World
Trade Center complex during the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001.
From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island was the immigrant gateway
to America. More than 12 million people would arrive here
on the way to their new life in a new country. Many had little
or no money, some were ill, others had family waiting for
them on the other side of the gate. The stories are many and
varied, but all arrived hoping for something different and
better than what they had in their homeland.
The 27.5-acre (11 hectare) site is located just off the
southern tip of Manhattan, within viewing distance of the
Statue of Liberty.
It was originally built just prior to the War of 1812 to serve as
a coastal fortification, known as Fort Gibson.
Immigrants who arrived here (Italy and Austro-Hungary had
the largest numbers of immigrants) in possession of a first or
second class ticket were given cursory examinations
shipboard and allowed to enter America with little delay.
Steerage - or poorer passengers - were subject to more
rigorous examinations and were denied entry if obviously
ill. In all, only 2% of all arrivals were sent back to their
countries.
Today, Ellis Island is an Immigration Museum and is part of
the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Visitors may enjoy
self-guided tours of the museum, located in the main
building, where they can view artifacts, photographs, prints,
videos, interactive displays, oral histories, and temporary
exhibits. The American Immigrant Wall of Honor exhibits the
names of 600,000 men and women who passed through Ellis
Island on the way to their new home. Descendants of the
immigrants paid $100 each to have their relative's name
placed on the wall.
When the terrain for Central Park was bought by the
City of New York in 1853, it was far away from
civilization, somewhere between the City of New York
and the village Harlem. The area contained sheds from
colonists, quarries, pig farms and swamps.
In 1857, the city of New York organized a competition
for the design of this new park, which had to rival with
the great parks in London and Paris. A design by
Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, named 'the
Greensward Plan' was chosen.
To convert the swampy area into the park the designers
had envisioned, several hundred thousand trees were
planted, more than 3 million cubic yards of soil was
moved, roads and bridges were constructed and a large
reservoir was dug out. It took more than 15 years
before the 20,000 workers had completed the park.
Central Park immediately became a popular place for
all New Yorkers, attracting millions of visitors each year.
There's plenty to see and do in Central Park: most of
the interesting sights are found in the lower half of
Central Park.
You'll come across historical buildings (Belvedere
Castle) statues, (Alice in Wonderland, Balto, a Siberian
Husky sled dog) monuments, beautiful bridges, and of
course plenty of nature. There are eighteen gated
entrances to the park. Each of them has its own name.
Central Park is a relatively clean and safe place, visited
by more than 30 million people each year.
Construction on below-ground utility relocations, footings,
and foundations for the building began on April 27, 2006.
The tower's steel structure topped out on August 30, 2012.
On May 10, 2013, the final component of the
skyscraper's spire was installed, making One World
Trade Center the tallest building in the Western
Hemisphere and the fourth-tallest skyscraper in the world
by pinnacle height.
It has been the tallest building in New York City since
April 30, 2012, when it surpassed the height of the
Empire State Building
Its spire reaches a symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541 m)
in reference to the year of the United States Declaration
of Independence.
Designed by David Childs, of Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, LLP, One World Trade Center incorporates new
architectural and environmental standards.
It will feature 3 million square feet of office space on 71
office floors, a grand public lobby, and an observation
deck offering unparalleled views of the region