History of New York City (1784–1854) as the financial and mercantile capital of the western hemisphere. The Great New York City Fire of 1845 destroyed 345 wooden buildings in the Financial District. The Hudson River Railroad (which grew into the New York Central) opened October 3, 1851; it extended the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the first railroad built in the state, south to New York City. The city and its nearby suburbs grew rapidly for several reasons. The natural harbor at the base of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the New Jersey ports at Newark and Elizabeth provided almost unlimited capacity for trading ships and protection from storms.
West New York, New Jersey Bus Station, the Newport Centre and other local destinations. The county's most frequent route for dollar buses, jitneys operate along Bergenline Avenue as frequently as one bus every minute. The closest airport in New Jersey with scheduled passenger service is Newark Liberty International Airport, located away in Newark / Elizabeth. New York City's LaGuardia Airport is away in Flushing, Queens via the Lincoln Tunnel. West New York is located within the New York media market, with most of its daily papers available for sale or delivery. "The Jersey Journal" is a local daily paper based in Jersey City. Local weeklies