New York-Jersey Metroplex

New York-Jersey Metroplex, sometimes called Jerhattan, is a huge megacity covering much of the eastern North American Republic, Earth.

Description
New York-Jersey Metroplex evolved out of a growing urban conurbation stretching from Boston to Washington D.C., which took form in the 21st century to cope with the escalating population crisis in North America. Established in 2032, New York-Jersey Metroplex was conceived as an answer to the massive overcrowding plaguing the cities of North America. The construction of New York-Jersey Metroplex was intended to be a solution to improving the employment and quality of life of its projected population of 350 million citizens. However, due to extensive advertising and perceived job opportunities, migration to New York-Jersey Metroplex caused the population to rapidly outmatch the infrastructure, the population swelled to an astounding 800-million people. This resulted in housing and crime epidemics that ultimately lead to the forming of the "Judge System" to adequately manage and police the city.

Eventually, New York-Jersey Metroplex stretched all the way down to Miami, Florida, which became a holiday resort, and spread west into Ohio and West Virginia. The megacity was built over the top of the old cities and the polluted Ohio River, creating the lawless Undercity, though a few historical buildings like the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty were moved to New York-Jersey Metroplex for the tourists. It stretched roughly from southern Maine down through Florida and to the north-east has absorbed the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor in Canada. 800 million citizens lived in the city at this point.

New York-Jersey Metroplex has a far greater population density than any city on Earth. Most residents live in huge apartment blocks (50,000+).

For administrative purposes the city is divided into 305 sectors, most of them renamed to fit the new size of the city and clumped into


 * Central New York-Jersey Metroplex (Sectors 1 - 20)


 * North New York-Jersey Metroplex (Sectors 241 - 300)


 * South New York-Jersey Metroplex (Sectors 109 - 160)


 * East New York-Jersey Metroplex (Sectors 21 - 108)


 * West New York-Jersey Metroplex (Sectors 161 - 240)

Notable Sectors

 * Sector 301: Called 'The Pit', is considered the worst sector in the city, due to its high crime rate, until Criminal Purges of 2118. Chief Judge McGruder began a program of assigning underperforming or suspect judges to its station under the supervision of Judge Dredd. Those who were considered worthy were returned to regular duties.
 * Sector 44: Home to the Grand Hall of Justice and the Academy of Law.
 * Sector 245: Seat and most populus sector of this Zone is the former city of Boston, Massachusetts.

City Blocks
Blocks are huge and can be considered to be a small town in themselves. Each one will typically possess a hospital, gymnasium, school, and shopping district. A citizen can quite literally live their whole lives without leaving their block. Due to the high unemployment rate, boredom is rife among citizens — this, coupled with the high loyalty citizens develop to their blocks, along with a city-defence militia for most city blocks, leads to many "Block Wars", riots (more like small wars) between two or more blocks.

Law
New York-Jersey Metroplex's laws are harsh and controversial but have showed a level of success given its size. Possession of sugar, for example, is illegal, as is the smoking of tobacco outside of licensed Smokatoriums, and coffee is banned as an illegal stimulant.

The laws are enforced by the Judges, who are a combination of judge and police officer. Ordinary laws are enforced more harshly than the present day, reflecting the crime rate. Judges impose immediate sentences on the spot, usually lengthy sentences of imprisonment. In extreme cases even the death penalty may be imposed, although relatively sparingly. In contrast many criminals are shot to death while resisting arrest, and resisters who survive Judge assault often receive a life sentence or ten years hard labor in the mines of Mercury or the Sol Asteroid Belt.

The Judges themselves are not exempt from the law; they are expected to obey it more strictly than any other. A violation that would earn a citizen a few months in an Iso-Cube would get a Judge a twenty-year sentence, served as hard labor on Jupiter's moon, Titan, after surgical modification to enable the convict to survive outside there without needing an expensive space suit.

Most ordinary citizens are sent to the Iso-Cubes, tiny cells located within huge prisons. These are designed for maximum rehabilitation in the shortest time possible, but ultimately the decision as to sentence rests with the judges. Sentences are usually very long. However, the death penalty is not in wide use, and is reserved for mass murder or endangering the security of the city. In spite of this judges do regularly shoot perps dead in the course of combat.

Firearm possession is only legal with the right firearms permit, which is very hard to obtain. In spite of this many firearms are in circulation; some are sold on the black market while others are left over from the Second North American War.

Government
When first established, New York-Jersey Metroplex was operated by a municipal government much like cities and colonies, but this was shortly replaced by the Judges in order to combat the social problems the city was facing, with the Chief Judge answerable only to the President of the North American Republic. The Judges, organized into the Justice Department of New York-Jersey Metroplex, are responsible for seeing to the total welfare of the citizens of New York-Jersey Metroplex, overseeing welfare and housing programs as well as collecting taxes, governing businesses, and the necessary duties of policing and sentencing. However, for more mundane and non-essential tasks the Justice Department created and still maintains a municipal council that is lead by the Mayor of New York-Jersey Metroplex. The municipal council of New York-Jersey Metroplex is responsible for such tasks as the daily weather vote held as the Weather Congress.

Crimes
Many crimes in New York-Jersey Metroplex are controlled by flamboyant mob bosses:


 * Blitzers: hitmen with self-destruct bombs implanted inside them which detonate if they surrender when apprehended.


 * Body-Sharking: loaning money to people willing to put a loved one into cryonic storage for collateral.


 * Chump-Dumping: conning aliens into believing Earth is a paradise, taking their money, and then dumping them into space.


 * Face Changing Crimes: the illicit use of face changing machines to commit crimes and fraud.


 * Futsies: People who can no longer handle the fast pace of life begin to suffer from "Future Shock," become psychotic and begin to commit crimes.


 * Numbers Racket: buying computer passcodes for industrial theft.


 * Organ Leggers: those who cut up citizens and sell their organs on the black market.


 * Perp Running: transporting felons off-world to the outer colonies.


 * Psycos: telepathic protection rackets.


 * Umpty-Baggers: pushers of umpty, a candy that tastes so good it forms an instant psychological addiction.

Transportation
Transportation systems exist in New York-Jersey Metroplex that accomodate every way of travel, from pedestrian to public transit to hover vehicles.

Leisure
New York-Jersey Metroplex has developed a rich history since its establishment, and as such has a wide variety of landmarks and attractions for tourists and citizens alike to visit and enjoy.

Most work in New York-Jersey Metroplex is carried out by non-sentient robots; this has led to problems with boredom and unemployment. Boredom has fostered many problems in the city, with citizens spending their leisure time rioting over jobs, experimenting on their neighbors, and running amok in the streets.

Leisure in New York-Jersey Metroplex consists of a number of weird hobbies and attractions, including:


 * The Fives are the most icon landmark in the city, composed of the original rebuilt Statue of Liberty which was destroyed in a 2050 terrorist attack, joined by four more statues, the Statue of Justice, Statue of Life, Statue of Speech and Statue of Equality.
 * The Aggro Dome was conceived as a way for frustrated citizens to let off steam without endangering their fellow Meggers. Within the domes, citizens can vent their anger on robots, mock storefronts, and parked vehicles.


 * The Brooklyn Zoo of Xeno-Fauna is ever-popular attraction, featuring the most bizarre creatures from the Milky Way. A serious concern however is escaped non-Earth species breeding, resulting in Krovill from Vulcan and Hellion Prime butterflies.
 * Grand Hall of Justice, the headquarters of the New York-Jersey Metroplex Justice Department and the New York-Jersey Metroplex Grand Hall has become a tourist attraction in and of itself, surrounded by a variety of memorial plazas, and boasting such attractions within its walls as the Hall of Heroes and The Black Museum.
 * Academy of Law, where all Judges begin the long, grueling journey towards becoming full Judges. The largest part of the interior of the Academy is life-size reproduction of New York-Jersey Metroplex known as the Street-Sim where cadets are able to practice their skills.
 * The Central New York-Jersey Metroplex Library is open free of charge to the public and is the largest storehouse of digital information on Earth. Late fees are very high.
 * The Dream Palace is a popular leisure activity and the ultimate in escapism. Customers are plugged into dream machines where their dreams are made real.
 * The New York-Jersey Metroplex Museum is one of the tallest buildings in New York-Jersey Metroplex. It specializes in the history of New York-Jersey Metroplex.


 * The Smokatoriums are giant domes—the only locations within New York-Jersey Metroplex limits where it is legal to smoke tobacco and nicotine-related products.


 * Sky surfing where citizens use powered, floating surfboards to race and perform stunts.


 * Batgliding, in which citizens don winged bat suits to fly on the thermals above New York-Jersey Metroplex.

Notable Residence

 * Vice Admiral Jonathan Archer: Born in North New York-Jersey Metroplex in 2112.
 * Captain Kevin Manke: Born in West New York-Jersey Metroplex in 2099.