Around 8 million people call the Big Apple home these days, but are you considering taking a trip there any time soon? If not, you might want to consider it. New York City is one of the most vibrant cities in the United States and is a center of global commerce. If there was ever a city that never sleeps, New York City is definitely it. With 8 million people, I guess it's to be expected that someone is always going to be out and about.

Since about the 1790's, it's been the largest city in the country and has been called an alpha world city, along with other global giants such as Tokyo, London, Paris, and others. So it should be, since it's one of the largest centers of media, education,entertainment, fashion, and politics on the planet. It is also the seat of the United Nations.

New York City has some of the landmarks that are known of all around the world, such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Ellis Island, Grand Central Station, and the New York Stock Exchange. The most visited park in the United States is also in New York, which is Manhattan's Central Park, whose construction began in the middle of the 1800's.

The city itself is composed of five different boroughs, including the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island, some of the most well known neighborhoods in the world.

The food culture of New York City is also vast and has been heavily influenced by immigrants coming over from across the pond over the past 200 years. Several foods have been made famous by the city, including New York-style pizza, and street vendors are not limited to hot dogs and pretzels anymore. If you can eat it, you'll probably find a street vendor selling it somewhere in New York.

The television industry is also a major employer within the city, since the whole industry initially developed there. Taking a tour of the many broadcast networks that exist in the United States, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX is possible in most cases.

Not interested in any of that? Try catching a football or a baseball game at one of the nearby stadiums, such as Yankee Stadium and the Giants Stadium. If sports isn't exactly your cup of tea, there are also many museums and entertainment hubs throughout the city that you can go to. Who knows, a play on Broadway just might be what you're looking for.