For other uses, see Liberty City.
The City of Liberty, commonly known as Liberty City or simply Liberty, is a city featured in the original Grand Theft Auto. It is the first city that the player must play in before they may go on to unlock the other two cities (San Andreas and Vice City).
History[]
"The so-called "gateway to freedom", where millions of Europeans first entered the USA, is everything you imagined it could be and more. Glamorous and cynical, hard-edged and soft-livered, beautiful and damned, it is a city living on the edge. From the glamor of Island City to the down at heel bums of The Brix, this is truly the city that sleeps with one eye open. Founded on land bought from Native Americans for just $37, a barrel of mead and a sack of feathers by Belgian settlers in 1603, the ancient 5 boroughs of Liberty Island (incorporating Nixon Island and Law Island), The Brix, Estoria, Kings and Brocklyn have effectively been joined in the metropolitan area by urban areas from the neighboring state of New Guernsey.
Whether you have lived in Liberty all your life, or are visiting for the first time, there is always something new to see. From the tragedy of Law Island, where a plague out break once killed a million immigrants awaiting transfers to the mainland, to the ethnic charm of Island Heights, to the galleries and sky scrapers of downtown Island City, there is so much to see and do.
What really makes Liberty City, though, is the people who choose to live there. From plague to city-wide bankruptcy in the 1970s, from new dawns to broken promises, these people have lived through it all, secure in the knowledge that as long as they have coffee in the morning and an easy buck to make, things can't be that bad. Liberty City has acquired a terrible reputation for violent, organized crime over the years. Yet, as the mayor's office spokesman says, "Liberty City used to be a very violent place, but since we took office, it now has the 47th lowest murder rate of any cite on the eastern sea board". Nonetheless, inexperienced visitors are advised to avoid The Park at night, when drug-addled squirrels run wild, keep out of Kings at day or night, and to avoid The Brix at any given time."
Influence[]
The city is based on New York City. The name appears to be a nod to the real-life Liberty Island and its landmark, the Statue of Liberty. The in-universe counterpart of Manhattan is named Liberty Island.
Geography[]
Weighing against its later counterpart, the city's geography and alignment of districts in the game are much more reminiscent of New York City, featuring two major mainlands with a Manhattan-like central island named Liberty Island [1] (which contains a large park at the center, a reference to Central Park), and several smaller islands along a river of the city, with the mainlands and islands connected primarily by road bridges. Neighboring New Jersey and surrounding boroughs in New York City are also spoofed, the former described as being in a separate state (New Guernsey) of its own (similar to Alderney in Grand Theft Auto IV).
Like New York City, Liberty City is designed as heavily urbanized city with vast numbers of buildings and only a minimal number of parks and greenery. A looping train line, running along elevated and underground lines, also services locations all across the city.
Districts[]
Liberty City has the largest number of districts among the three in the game, with a total of 14. The districts are evidently based on real life areas in New York City, while their names are wordplay's of those from their real life counterparts:
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Crime[]
Various areas in Liberty City suffer from high crime rates, most likely brought about by the rivalry between the Mafia families from Liberty and New Guernsey – the Vercotti Crime Family and the Sonetti Crime Family, respectively. The Sonetti Crime Family is known to use the Liberty City subway system to smuggle their merchandise, presumably drugs, across the state.
The two families fight over the drugs trade and other businesses in Liberty City for money and power. Aside from the gang violence and drug trafficking, other crimes and social problems such as car theft, kidnapping, arms trafficking, drug smuggling, and police corruption also plague certain districts and neighborhoods.
On the game's promotional website, the mayor's office spokesman claims that the city used to be a very violent place, but since they took office, it now has the 47th lowest murder rate of any city on the eastern sea board. The visitor guide warns inexperienced visitors to avoid The Park at night, when drug-addled squirrels run wild, to keep out of Kings at day or night, and to avoid The Brix at any given time.
By 1997, a hired gun from the Vercottis engaged in a major gang war against the Sonettis, which resulted in the death of Don Sonetti and the fall of the Sonetti Crime Family. The same person was also involved in two bombing attacks in the Liberty City subway system, destroying two subway trains, one of them resulting in over a hundred casualties.
Transportation[]
Liberty City has a subway system that connects the many areas of Brocklyn, Kings, Liberty Island, and Brix via rail bridges and tunnels. The subway also reaches a few areas of the neighbouring New Guernsey State, including Fort Law and Guernsey City.
In the Game Boy Color port of Grand Theft Auto, the subway trains, rail bridges and tunnels are absent due to hardware limitations, while subway station platforms are replaced by buildings with a "subway" sign, which are used as a fast travel point to each station.
Public Service[]
Police Stations[]
- Brix Police Station
- Estoria Police Station
- North Island City Police Station
- Southwest Island City Police Station
- East Kings Police Station
- Southeast Kings Police Station
- No Law Police Station
- Tellburg Police Station
Fire Stations[]
Hospitals[]
Gallery[]
See Also[]
- Liberty City
- Liberty City (3D Universe) – 3D Universe counterpart of Liberty City that appears in Grand Theft Auto III, inspired by several East Coast and Midwestern cities.
- Liberty City (HD Universe) – HD Universe counterpart of Liberty City that appears in Grand Theft Auto IV, also inspired by New York City.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "... Founded on land bought off native Indians for just $37, a barrel of mead and a sack of feathers by Belgian settlers in 1603, the ancient 5 boroughs of Liberty Island (incorporating Nixon Island and Law Island), The Brix, Estoria, Kings and Brocklyn have effectively been joined in the metropolitan area by urban areas from the neighbouring state of New Guernsey... " - Official GTA website -> Cities -> Liberty City