New York City

"If you got nothing, go to New York. That way, if you leave with nothing, people don't ask why. And if you leave with something, then you are one lucky son of a bitch."

―A man's advice for Desmond Miles.

New York at night

New York City is the most densely populated city in the United States of America. During the American Revolutionary War, New York was a stronghold of the British Army.

History

American Revolution

The Assassin Connor came to New York with Benjamin Tallmadge in 1776, to investigate a plot to murder George Washington. Tallmadge learned the Templar and Continental soldier Thomas Hickey was involved: Connor tracked Hickey by following members of his counterfeiting racket. Unfortunately, Connor was arrested along with Hickey by soldiers who mistook him for a fellow counterfeiter, and was thrown into Bridewell Prison. The Templars framed Connor for the plot and planned to have him executed outside City Hall, with Washington attending. The Assassins - and Connor's father, Grand Master Haytham Kenway - stopped the hanging, and Connor assassinated Hickey for trying to kill Washington.

Afterwards, the east side of the city was greatly damaged due to the Great Fire, and New York passed from American control to the British. In the meantime, Connor recruited Deborah Carter, Jacob Zenger and Jamie Colley to the Assassins after they helped him stop Templars taking advantage of these events. In 1778, Connor met with Haytham to find Benjamin Church, who had betrayed the Templar Order and the Continental Army, but discovered he had left New York for Martinique. Later, they worked together to find out British troop movements, learning the British planned to march on Monmouth.

In 1781, the disgraced American general Charles Lee was living in Fort George. Connor planned to infiltrate the fort while the French Navy bombarded the fort, so he could find and assassinate Lee during the chaos. However, Connor found that Haytham had sent Lee away, and the Templar, no longer willing to reconcile with his son, attempted to kill him. Connor assassinated his father. A year later, Connor found Lee presiding over Haytham's funeral. Lee escaped, but by eavesdropping on an accomplice on the HMS Jersey, learned he had left for Boston. A year later, after killing Lee, Connor watched the British depart on Evacuation Day, and met with Washington to discuss the country's future.

Modern times

In 2003, after having fled from the Farm, Desmond ended up living in New York City, working as a bartender at a successful nightclub named Bad Weather. He would later revisit New York in 2012, specifically a Manhattan office, to recover a power source for the Grand Temple, though he came across opposition in the form of Daniel Cross.

Trivia

• It was intended for Connor be present in New York during the Great Fire of 1776, but it was too difficult to program civilians to react to the burning part of the city, so the event was left out of Assassin's Creed III. The linearity of sequence 8 means the player avoids seeing the burned areas of the map until the game moves forward to 1777.

Gallery

New York after the Great Fire

New York City's skyscrapers, as depicted in the Black Room

The Black Room version of a New York street

New York streets during the American Revolution

Concept art of New York after the great fire

Concept illustration of New York City

Concept art of the New York Broadway district

Concept art of Connor standing in the New York Arcade

New York poor district

Connor on horseback in the North district

New York's Wall Street

Fort George's courtyard