Fairfield County, Connecticut in the context of "Gold Coast (Connecticut)"

The Connecticut panhandle is the southwestern appendage of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State. It is contained entirely in Fairfield County and the Western Connecticut Planning Region, and includes all of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien, as well as parts of Norwalk and Wilton. It has some of the most expensive residential real estate in the United States.

The irregularity in the boundary is the result of territorial disputes in the late 17th century between the British colonies of New York and Connecticut. In an agreement on November 28, 1683, that established the New York–Connecticut border as 20 miles (32 km) east of the Hudson River, New York gave up its claim to this area of 61,660 acres (249.5 km) east of the Byram River, whose residents considered themselves part of Connecticut. In exchange, New York received an equivalent area consisting of a 1.81-mile-wide (2.91 km) strip of land known as the "Oblong" running northwards from Ridgefield, Connecticut to the Massachusetts border, alongside the New York counties of Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess. New York was also given undisputed claim to Rye, New York.

Putnam County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,668. The county seat is Carmel, within one of the county's six towns. The county is part of the Hudson Valley region of the state.

Putnam County is bordered by Dutchess County to the north, Connecticut and its county of Fairfield to the east, Westchester County to the south, and the Hudson River and Orange County to the west. Midtown Manhattan is around a one-hour drive, and the county is included in the New York metropolitan area.

Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Island Sound, it is a port city 60 miles (97 km) from Manhattan and 40 miles (64 km) from The Bronx. It borders the towns of Trumbull to the north, Fairfield to the west, and Stratford to the east. Bridgeport and other towns in Fairfield County make up the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, as well as the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolitan statistical area, the second largest metropolitan area in Connecticut. The Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolis forms part of the New York metropolitan area.

Inhabited by the Paugussett Native American tribe until English settlement in the 1600s, Bridgeport was incorporated in 1821 as a town, and as a city in 1836. Showman P. T. Barnum was a resident of the city and served as the town's mayor (1871). Barnum built four houses in Bridgeport and housed his circus in town during winter. The city in the early 20th century saw an economic and population boom, becoming by all measures Connecticut's chief manufacturing city by 1905. Bridgeport was the site of the world's first mutual telephone exchange (1877), the first dental hygiene school (1949), and the first bank telephone bill service in the US (1981). Inventor Harvey Hubbell II invented the electric plug outlet in Bridgeport in 1912. The Frisbie Pie Company was founded and operated in Bridgeport. The world's first Subway restaurant opened in the city's North End in 1965. After World War II, industrial restructuring and suburbanization caused the loss of many large companies and affluent residents, leaving Bridgeport struggling with issues of poverty and violent crime.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey, Fairfield County in Connecticut, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Located at 33 Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan, it is the largest (by assets), the most active (by volume), and the most influential of the Reserve Banks.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is uniquely responsible for implementing monetary policy on behalf of the Federal Open Market Committee and acts as the market agent of the entire Federal Reserve System (as it houses the Open Market Trading Desk and manages System Open Market Account). It is also the sole fiscal agent of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the bearer of the Treasury's General Account, and the custodian of the world's largest gold storage reserve. Aside from these distinct functions, the New York Fed also performs the same responsibilities and tasks as the other Reserve Banks do, such as supervision and research.

The Tribute in Light is an art installation created in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It consists of 88 vertical searchlights arranged in two columns of light to represent the Twin Towers. It stands six blocks south of the World Trade Center on top of the Battery Parking Garage in New York City. Tribute in Light began as a temporary commemoration of the attacks in early 2002, but it became an annual event, currently produced on September 11 by the Municipal Art Society of New York. The Tribute in Light was conceived by artists John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian LaVerdiere, and Paul Myoda, and lighting consultant Paul Marantz.

The Tribute's illumination begins at dusk and ends at dawn, with the lights being turned off for 20-minute periods to allow migratory birds to escape as needed. On clear nights, the lights can be seen from 60 miles (97 km) away, visible in all of New York City and most of suburban Northern New Jersey and Long Island. The lights can also be seen in Fairfield County, Connecticut, as well as Westchester, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York.

Greenwich (/ˈɡrɛnɪtʃ/ GREN-itch) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Connecticut's affluent Gold Coast. Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and financial services firms due to its residential setting and proximity to Manhattan.

Greenwich is a principal community of the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolitan statistical area, which comprises all of Fairfield County, and is part of both the greater New York metropolitan area and the Western Connecticut Planning Region. The town is the southwesternmost municipality in both the State of Connecticut and the six-state region of New England. The town is named after Greenwich, a royal borough of London in the United Kingdom.

Stamford (/ˈstæmfərd/) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, 34 miles (55 kilometers) outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, and Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 census. It is in the Bridgeport–Stamford–Danbury metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the New York City metropolitan area (specifically, the New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area).

As of 2023, Stamford is home to eight Fortune 500 companies and numerous divisions of large corporations. This gives it the largest financial district in the New York metropolitan region outside New York City and one of the nation's largest concentrations of corporations. Dominant sectors of Stamford's economy include financial management and real estate, tourism, information technology, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, and retail. Its metropolitan division is home to colleges and universities including UConn Stamford and Norwalk Community College.

Westport is a town in the Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is 48 miles (77 km) northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region.