The campaign was a major strategic and tactical success for the British and a clear defeat for the Continental Army. British naval forces, led by Admiral Richard Howe, and the British Army, led by his brother William Howe, gained control of New York City, its harbor, and the surrounding agricultural areas. They would hold the city and Long Island for seven years, until 1783. The Americans, led by General George Washington lost a series of battles, took significant casualties, and lost important supplies. But Washington managed to withdraw the core of his Army, and avoided the decisive confrontation that could have ended the war.
The major engagements fought in the campaign were:
NewYork City emerged from World War II as the unquestioned leading city of the world, with Wall Street leading America's emergence as the world's dominant economic power, the United Nations headquarters (built in Manhattan in 1952) emphasizing its political influence, and the rise of Abstract Expressionism displacing Paris as center of the art world.
NewYork City is located at the center of the BosWash megalopolis, 218 miles (350 km) driving distance from Boston and 220 miles (353 km) from Washington, D.C. The city's total area is 468.9 square miles (1,214.4 km²), of which 35.31% is water.
NewYork City is a major center for international business and commerce and is one of three "command centers" for the global economy (along with Tokyo and London).