Oh come on. The US is the global hegemon and the New York Times is by an overwhelming margin the most respected newspaper in the country. I know the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times exist and I have occasionally read stuff from the WSJ and the Washington Post but the New York Times has a global brand in the same way Le Monde has for the Francophone world or Der Spiegel does where German is spoken.

The only comparable publications are in adjacent niches, not the same one; the Economist, and, and ...

This is largely subjective.

The largest circulated newspapers in the world are Japanese, the largest English is The Times of India, and the largest US are the WSJ and USA Today.

For online publications by readership, the Daily Mail from the UK often beats the NYT, depending on who is counting.

With regards to being respected, it depends on where you are from, but from where I am standing the British press often attracts more respect in the English speaking world than any US publications.

>>>The largest circulated newspapers in the world are Japanese, the largest English is The Times of India, and the largest US are the WSJ and USA Today.

Influence > popularity.

Do a few google searches and you'll see a broad range of newspapers cited as the best in the world. Search in a few different languages and you'll get an even wider variety. My search brought up The London Times as a contender for prestige. Wikipedia cites "Yomiuri Shimbun" as the newspaper with the largest circulation. If you were to survey people in varying countries they would give varying answers. Unless you state specific metrics it is very difficult to choose a "best" anything.

The Times/Sunday Times?

The Guardian.

But... the USA is the greatest country in the world by a lot of metrics... and it isn't a stretch to say NYC is the greatest city in the USA.

Not according to the HDI, on the inequality-adjusted HDI it's not even in the top ten. Not in the top ten for literacy rates. Not in the top 5 for GDP/Capita. I'm sure there are tons of other metrics as where they fail as well, those were just a few that I googled. They have a lot going for them though, a strong economy and military, a incredibly strong media industry that is affecting the culture of countries throughout the world, an innovative technology sector etc. Greatest as a broad label however cannot be applied to any area without very specific metrics.

New York has a military? Sweet!

Perhaps Mister Bridges can take this one :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=16K6m3Ua2nw‎

FWIW, that's Jeff Daniels not Jeff Bridges ;)

Dammit! I suck at Jeffs :( I should stick to my strengths.

Ha. I remember the facebook posts from several fans declaring the Baltimore Ravens the "World Champions". Er, no.

This is splitting hairs a bit. They are, for all intents and purposes, world champions.

Yes, in the sense that I could create a new sport that hardly anyone else plays and declare myself world champion.

Best comment on HN in ages!

I'm the greatest white-hat troll[0] in the world. I'm the greatest white-hat troll on the most interesting Internet forum in the world.

[0] Actually, I'm only 15% troll. The 85% of my activity that is legit gives a scary credibility to the other 15%.

>I'm the greatest white-hat troll on the most interesting Internet forum in the world

Wrong. And that's because we don't give you access to it, because of your puerile ego-driven behavior, kiddo.