Boroughs of New York City the term is used to refer to New York City as a whole unambiguously, avoiding confusion with any particular borough or with the Greater New York metropolitan area. The term is also used by politicians to counter a frequent focus on Manhattan and thereby to place all five boroughs on equal footing. In the same vein, the term "outer boroughs" refers to all of the boroughs excluding Manhattan, even though the geographic center of the city is along the Brooklyn–Queens border. All five boroughs were created in 1898 during consolidation, when the city's current boundaries were established. The Bronx originally
Flags of New York City to which is added an arc of five five-pointed stars (representing each of the five boroughs) in blue above the seal. The dimensions of the Mayor's flag are set at 33 inches by 44 inches. The New York City Council uses a variant of the city flag, with the word "COUNCIL" underneath the seal. Currently, only Brooklyn and the Bronx have official borough flags. The other three boroughs have standard designs in current use, though they have never been officially adopted. Staten Island borough lawmakers pushed to have their flag officially recognized by the state in the 1990s and early