The total land area of New York City is 303 square miles (785.5 km). Its highest point is Todt Hill on Staten Island, which is at the same time the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of Maine. The summit of the ridge is largely covered in woodlands as the part of the Staten Island Greenbelt.

New York City is the largest city in New York State, the third populous state in the USA. New York City is located on the coast of the Northeastern US, about 1000 miles north of Florida and 200 miles south of Boston Massachusetts. at the mouth of the Hudson River. The geography is maintained by the costal position of the city, where the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean meet in the naturally sheltered harbor. The land around New York City is part of the eastern continental shelf, so it tends to be rather flat with sandy soil. As you drive inland, the countryside slowly turns into gently rolling hills. There are sandy beaches on Long Island and along the New Jersey shore to the south. The area for many miles around New York City is highly urban with a lot of residential housing and industrial development. Due to its location New York became the great trading point. New York occupies three islands: Manhattan, Staten Island, and western Long Island and has the system of transport communication.

The Hudson River flows into New York Bay and turns into the estuary, which separates New York from New Jersey. The main tidal straits are the East River, which separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island, and the Harlem River, which separates Manhattan from the Bronx.