George Washington is inaugurated as the first U.S. President at Federal Hall on Wall Street. New York City was the capital city of the U.S. until 1790, when the government moved to Philadelphia. The original building at Federal Hall was torn down in 1812, and the current one was built in 1842 and features a bronze statue of George Washington that was unveiled in 1883. The inauguration came just days after George Washington had moved into the first Presidential Mansion, the Samuel Osgood House near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Washington lived in the Osgood House until February 1790 when he moved to the larger Alexander Macomb House in Lower Manhattan. Both the first and second presidential mansions have since been demolished.

The first New York World's Fair opens at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Over a year and a half, 44.9 million people would attend the fair.