The paper focuses on New York City’s arts and culture and their contribution to the city’s economy. By giving the cultural background, which consists of overall historical background, as well as the city’s current state (in terms of geography, demographics and economy) and describing the distinctions of the five boroughs, the paper answers whether the city is a cultural magnet. Furthermore, an insight in New York City’s arts and culture is given in all of aesthetic aspects of culture, through describing the most important historical events, movements and individuals, today’s institutions, organization, programs and happenings in the city that have contributed to and are shaping the city’s culture. In addition, the most visited arts and cultural sights and iconic venues are introduced that attract visitors to the city and that consequently constitute city’s arts and culture industry. Moreover, economic impact of these industries is analyzed and how their touristic aspects affect the economy by providing data from relevant studies of organizations and institutions, both domestic and international. The aim of this paper is to define New York City’s arts and cultural industry, what constitutes them and how they are managed with the purpose to quantify their effect on the city’s economy, mainly through touristic activities.