Santa recently brought me the Almanac of New York City which is filled with facts that I find FASCINATING and which I will be flinging at all incoming groups and plastering all over this blog. For today, a potluck quiz of miscelleny:
--What is clearly the most popular name for boy babies in New York City? (The Almanac gives the years 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, and 1997-2005 and this name ranks first every single time.)
--What is the most frequently performed work at the Metropolitan Opera?
--What are the three best attended cultural institutions in the five boroughs? Hint: These were the only institutions with more than 1 million attendees in the year 2003. (2003? This almanac came out this year and the most recent records are from 2003?)
--Of the many skyscrapers we have in the city, which are the only four taller than 1000 feet?
Most popular name for boys in NYC? MICHAEL. For 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, and 1997, Michael was also the most popular name for boy babies in the United States. For the rest of the years listed, Michael fell second to Jacob nationally. On the girls' side, Ashley and Emily are the frontrunners in New York. (Source: U.S. Social Security Administration; NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Bureau of Vital Statistics.)
Most performed opera at the Met? The figures, through the end of the 2005-2006 season, rank Carmen at 3rd (936 performances since 1884), Aida by Verdi is 2nd (1093 performances since 1886), and the drumroll......La Boheme by Puccini (1178 performances since 1900). [An obvious typo in the Almanac claims La Boheme was first performed at the Met in the year 2000, which would mean almost 200 performances a year.]
According to the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the most visited attractions were the Metropolitan Museum of Art with 4,937,502, the American Museum of Natural History with 2,546,101 and the Wildlife Conservation Society (the Bronx Zoo) with 1,707,474. (Problem: Noticeably absent from the list is the Museum of Modern Art, which attracts almost 2 million annually, so I don't know why that's not on the list. And where the heck is the Guggenheim and the Frick? Hm.)
The only NYC buildings taller than 1000 feet? The Empire State Buiding (1250'), the Bank of America Tower (1200'), the Chrysler Building (1046') and the New York Times Tower (1046'). (Two of these were built at the opening of the Great Depression; the other two were completed in 2007 and 2008...at the dawn of our current crisis.)
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