New York City is a celebration of culture – everyone’s culture! It doesn’t matter where you came from, once you step foot on the Apple, the only thing that matters is making a part of it yours. The fact that this is everybody’s home makes the metropolis one of the most culturally rich and ethnically abundant in the world.
This is home to some of the world’s cultural elite, from the Algonquin Round Table (humble beginnings of the renowned New Yorker magazine) to icons like Truman Capote, Jackson Pollack, Allen Ginsberg, John Lennon and Herman Melville – all have gravitated around the Big Apple and helped shape the global art scene.
The city’s liberal attitude towards ethnic blending and acceptance of the unorthodox make it a fertile ground for creativity. Art galleries, museums, theatre and film are all here in an abundant tribute to all things cultural.

Race Relations
From its earliest days, the city has attracted a eclectic mix of people and has a larger range of ethnicities than most of other places on earth. Race relations in the city have twisted and turned along a turbulent timeline. However, considering the number of different cultures living together on one tiny island (and the boroughs), it’s a relatively perfect example of how human beings can live in harmony despite their differences.
Of course there have been moments in history when racial tension has bubbled over into racially motivated violence. The Draft Riots led to the Mayor’s Committee on Unity by Executive Order, which eventually became today’s Commission on Human Rights. The Crown Heights Riots of August 1991 saw violence and general havoc as Jews and African Americans living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, got a bit hot under the collar because of perceived discrimination issues.