Bursting at the Seems?

New York City has 8.2 million people within its environs. That's bigger than 40 of our nation's 50 states and many other countries. NYC is twice as big as America's second largest city, LA. 

In short, we are truly America's premiere city.

Approximately 5 million people live in Brooklyn and Queens. Half a million people live on Staten Island. And about 1.5 million live in the Bronx, and 1.5 lives in Manhattan. And more and more people want to live in Manhattan.

That's not a surprise, but where will they all go?  

That's the subject of this big article today. From a distance, the idea of more and more people living on the skinny 13-mile island is horrifying, some kind of Malthusian nightmare. One person even speculates that, with more people in Manhattan, it'll be like living in a real-life "Blade Runner" world.

But fear not! Stunning as it may seem, Manhattan actually has plenty of room for more people. More buildings are rising. More housing is being built. And although 1.5 million people live in Manhattan, that's no where near to how many people lived here more than 100 years ago when close to 2.3 million people populated the borough. 

So, although Manhattan is getting more crowded, we can deal with it ... for now.

Also, there's this lovely article about the life of Scott Stringer, the Manhattan Borough President who is also, like yours truly, a new father. He may be the most prominent man in Manhattan, and I may be a nobody who lives in Queens, but it's great to know we're united by both of us having to get up at 5 AM for baby feedings.