New York, or to give its full name "New York City", is the most populous city in the United States of America and the centre of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. A global city, New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. It consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, which were consolidated into a single city in 1898.
The city was founded as a trading post in 1624 by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named "New Amsterdam" in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. The most populous city in the country since the same date, the metropolitan area now has a population of 18.9 million people distributed over 6,720 square miles.
Ken Barlow was the first resident of Coronation Street to visit the city, having been given a grant to study technical education there for two months in October 1970 while it was the choice of honeymoon destination for Curly and Emma Watts in December 2000. Tony Gordon suggested the city as a holiday destination to Carla Connor in January 2008 but she was distracted by the condition of Liam Connor who had been injured while on a break in the Lake District. Nine months later, in September 2008, Tom Kerrigan visited a trade fair there in connection with his business at Underworld.
In November 2013 Todd Grimshaw was supposed to visit the city with boyfriend Alex Hughes but Todd dumped him by text while he was waiting at the airport. The following April, Stella Price did reach the city when she went there to visit a friend, feeling that there was nothing left for her in Coronation Street.