New York City has been a melting pot of cultures for centuries, and this diversity has had a remarkable effect on the city's culture. From the professional Yiddish theater that began in 1882 to the jazz music that emerged in the 1920s, New York has been a major contributor to American culture. The city's NBA teams, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks, as well as its women's NBA team, the New York Liberty, are all part of this cultural legacy. Harlem was a major destination for African Americans in the early 20th century, and by the 1920s two-thirds of the city's black population was living there.
This was also a major center for jazz music, with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra helping to invent swing music in 1923. Jewish-American literature and Puerto Rican poets and writers, known as Nuyoricans, also flourished in New York. The city's subway system is an important part of its culture, with many musicians performing on its platforms. The New York sound, which was slightly different from salsa music from Puerto Rico, was sung by Puerto Rican Americans from New York. The city was also home to many renowned artists and composers, such as Aaron Copland and Martha Graham.
New York has been featured in many films, from Woody Allen's sophisticated metropolis to Martin Scorsese's chaotic urban jungle in Taxi Driver. The city is also home to one of the world's leading art institutions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its permanent collection includes more than 1.5 million objects from ancient Egypt to contemporary art and art from many other cultures. The 1940s and 1950s saw the rise of Ayn Rand, who lived in New York for many years and whose novels The Spring and Atlas Rebellion were set in the city. This period also saw the emergence of nightclubs such as Paradise Garage, Danceteria and Studio 54, which attracted celebrities from the art world, fashion industry and high society. New York City has been profoundly shaped by its various cultural groups over time, from African Americans to Puerto Ricans to Jews.
This diversity has had a tremendous impact on American culture as a whole, from its music to its literature to its art.
