While to many people New York is synonymous with New York City, the vast majority of the state consists of rolling farmland, forests, rivers, lakes and mountains. The Empire State boasts of the first state park in America at Niagara Falls and the largest, Adirondack Park, which at 6.1 million acres is larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier in Montana, and Olympic National Parks combined. Adirondack Park contains Lake Placid named for the village of Lake Placid, a two-time site of the Winter Olympic Games.
New York’s GSP is third in the nation behind only California and Texas. Its $1.1 trillion annual product includes goods the state exports such as foodstuffs, commodities, minerals, computers and electronics, and cut diamonds. Largest among those exports are such items as gold, aluminum, and lumber. Surprising to many, New York is a major agricultural producer ranking in the Top 5 among states for the production of dairy, apples, cherries, and potatoes. New York City is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in America and is home to the New York Stock Exchange, the world’s largest stock exchange. Many of the world’s largest corporations have a New York City address.
Roads
Interstate 88: Contained entirely within the state of New York, I-88 runs from its western terminus at I-81 in Binghampton to its eastern one at I-90 in Schenectady and serves as a major link between Albany and Binghampton.
Interstate 87: Like I-88 (see above), I-87 is contained entirely within the state of New York. Its 333 miles run from The Bronx in the south to Champlain in the north at the Canadian border.
Interstate 90: Most of I-90’s 385 miles are part of the New York State Thruway and run parallel to the former Erie Canal route. I-90 runs from the Pennsylvania border to Massachusetts border.
Interstate 495: This 71-mile stretch of highway is better known to New Yorkers as the Long Island Expressway or L.I.E. and connects Manhattan (through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel) to Long Island.
Interstate 81: Spanning 183 miles from the border with Pennsylvania to the border with Canada, I-81 links the towns of Binghampton, Syracuse, and Watertown along its way.
New York Thruway: Officially the Thomas E. Dewey Thruway, this highway is the longest toll road in America. Its 496 miles extend from the Pennsylvania border in the west, to Albany in the east, and New York City to the south.