Why is New York City different December 16 2014

New York City has many nicknames, The Big Apple, The City That Never Sleeps, Gotham, The Capital of the World. Other cites like Shanghai have a breathtaking skyline, Paris has it's beauty and elegance, Rom the culture and the history, Rio de Janeiro the incredible parties and nightlife, Tokyo the advanced technology but one nickname in particular describes New York's character and explains what is so special about this place and why there is no other city like New York. It's the nickname "The Melting Pot".

The poem of Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty "The New Colossus" might not apply to the US anymore or at least not as much as in the past but it still represents New York which in many ways is its own country anyway. 

Over 37 percent of New York City residents were born in an another country. 3.07 million foreign-born immigrants live in New York City, more than in any other city in the world. 

The largest Chines community outside China is China Town in Manhattan, the second is Flushing in Queens. Over 70 percent of the Queens neighborhood Elmhurst population is born outside the US. 

This "tiered, poor and huddled masses" are unlike everywhere else on this planet embraced and welcomed, treated form day one as one of their own and equal, and they value it and return the favor to their fellow New Yorkers. In New York, immigrants are not only more likely to own small businesses than the native born, they are also more likely to be working. In fact, such is the immigrant role in New York’s economy that they dominate whole industries, from dry cleaners and grocery stores to taxi services and day care.

The diverse cultures are what creates the special spirit, the energy, the charisma and the way of life in New York. This is unique and one-of-a-kind and impossible to clone which makes the city original and at last different.