New York, New York

Yesterday I stumbled across some interesting statistics about New York City. I have always thought that Americans who do not live in NYC do not give us enough credit over here in the "Big Apple." I was especially infuriated, as most New Yorkers were, over the red state/ blue state debacle in the 2004 Presidential Election. It's time for New York to begin asserting herself and demanding respect from the rest of the nation. The US depends on New York and it is time that the people in the backwoods of Arkansas start to realize that.
With 8.1 million people, New York is the most populous city in the United States and the most densely populated municipality in all of North America. Each of the five boroughs of New York City, except for Staten Island, contains over one million people and would each be among the nation's largest cities if considered independently. Even with all of these people living on top of one another in 321 square miles, New York has the lowest crime rate of any major American city. In 2004, NYC had 2,800 crimes per 100,000 people compared to 8,960 per 100,000 people in Dallas, Texas.
New York City undeniably is the driving force behind the US economy. New York City's estimated gross metropolitan product of $488.8 billion in 2003 was the largest of any city in the United States and would be the sixth largest if the city were one of the 50 states. If it were a nation, the city would have the 17th highest gross domestic product in the world, exceeding that of Switzerland ($377 billion), and at $59,000 per person would have the second highest per capita GDP in the world, after Luxembourg.
It's time to get serious with the rest of the nation. If you don't come through with what NYC needs, maybe it's time that we do become our own nation with the second highest per capita GDP in the world.

For more information, visit Wikipedia.