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1.
Has hosted the Olympic Games
Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics twice and will again in 2028
2.
Its last three mayors where all Democrats
3.
Is located closer to St. Louis as the crow flies
4.
Setting of the movie "Chinatown"
5.
Where John Lennon was killed
6.
Is located closer to its state's capital
7.
Was settled by the European colonizers first
Los Angeles was settled about 100 years later than New York
8.
Home to the world's fourth-busiest airport
9.
Lost the greatest number of people via domestic migration between 2010–2020
10.
Non-Hispanic whites are the largest proportion of the population
They make up 30.9% of NYC's population and 28.9% of LA's. Meanwhile the Latinos make up 46.9% of LA's population
11.
Has a higher average elevation than the other
12.
Where MLB's Dodgers call home
13.
Has a busier container port
14.
Where Rodney King was beaten by the police in 1991
15.
Its modern-day name was NOT included in its original name
NYC was formerly called "Nieuw Amsterdam", and LA was called "El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Angeles"
Neither historian claims that the original name was simply "Los Angeles".
On another note, I would suggest changing 'major' to 'navigable' in the river question.