The Museum of the City of New York’s “Four Hundred” are far more democratic and eclectic than the original list of blue bloods. Clockwise from top left: Berenice Abbott, Mel Brooks, Alexander Hamilton, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ethel Merman and Meyer Lansky.The Museum of the City of New York has compiled an eclectic list of 400 movers and shakers who have made a difference in the 400 years since Henry Hudson arrived in 1609.

The nomination of one of their own to the nation’s highest court is a watershed event for Puerto Rican New York.

Where the uniquely American journey of a Supreme Court nominee started, children set out anew to pursue their own dreams.

From pupils at a Bronx elementary school, echoes can be heard of a Supreme Court nominee’s high aspirations.

The junior senator from New York, known for speaking at length, is cut short at the Sotomayor confirmation hearing.

While the Senate deals with lofty issues at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation, the Bronx County Courthouse, in her home borough, deals with the mundane.

While the Senate deals with lofty issues at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation, the Bronx County Courthouse, in her home borough, deals with the mundane.

As the Senate Judiciary Committee debated lofty principles of law at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation, judges in the Bronx County Courthouse handled issues more mundane.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor leaving her Greenwich Village apartment building in May.The Supreme Court nominee revels in the city’s kaleidoscopic spin even as her professional life is so consuming that she has spoken of forgoing traditional markers of personal success.

While serving as an assistant district attorney, the future Supreme Court nominee operated a law practice as a side job.