Neighborhood Guide
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Roll over the neighborhoods above for a quick guide, or click on a neighborhood for more detailed information.
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West HarlemHarlem has long been famous as the epicenter of African American life and culture. The 1920s were a prosperous time for this neighborhood, giving birth to the Harlem Renaissance: a period when this area was a cultural hotspot for art, literature and music. Famous literary figures such as Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison called Harlem their home. Read more > Hamilton HeightsHamilton Heights derives its name from Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who lived the last two years of his life in the area when it was still largely farmland. Most of the elegant housing that Hamilton Heights is now famous for date from the extension of the Elevated and Subway lines at the end of the 19th Century. Read more > Morningside HeightsTo the west of Harlem, near the Hudson River, is beautiful, quiet neighborhood of Morningside Heights. Rising up on a 135 foot bluff, it is the home of Morningside Park on the east side, and Riverside Park on the west. It is known as the academic quarter of the city, as the Columbia University campuses and much of the faculty housing is there. Read more > East HarlemEast Harlem, famously known as El Barrio and Spanish Harlem, is a dynamic New York neighborhood. Spanish Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, and still harbors a small Italian American population along Pleasant Avenue. Read more > Upper West SideThe Upper West Side is one of the city's most comfortable and affluent neighborhoods. Gracious apartment buildings march down the avenues and the majority of the cross-streets are lined with brownstones. It has the reputation of being a liberal bastion - home to many of New York City's cultural and artistic workers, and with many famous residents. Read more > Upper East SideWith the creation of Central Park making this area fashionable, and the availability of undeveloped land making the construction of large residences possible, the beginning of the 20th Century saw New York society making the pilgrimage to the Upper East Side. Many of the mansions built at the time by architects like McKim Mead and White, Grosvenor Atterbury and Harry Allan Jacobs still stand on the streets off Fifth Avenue. Read more > Midtown WestPerhaps nowhere in the city can a visitor find a higher concentration of tourist "must sees" than in this neighborhood. The center of all the action is the newly revitalized Times Square, named for the New York Times Tower which opened in 1906, with its sea of brightly lighted advertisements that turn night into day every evening. Read more > ChelseaChelsea is well-known for its teeming art scene, shops, restaurants and galleries. Part of its transformation over the last decade has been due to the area's architecture. Chelsea contains an eclectic mix of 19th century townhouses, high rise luxury residential buildings and old warehouses that have been converted into ultra trendy lofts and art galleries. Read more > ClintonClinton is also known as Midtown West (for its geography), and more colorfully, as Hell's Kitchen (for its storied past). The name Clinton comes from the Dewitt Clinton Park at 52nd St and 11th Avenue. Throughout its history, Hell's Kitchen has figured prominently in the New York City underworld, especially in Irish-American organized crime circles. Read more > FlatironThe Flatiron District's name comes from the iconic Flatrion building, subject of so many famous photographs. Until the mid 1980s, the area was mostly commercial, but it is now home to an increasing number of residents attracted by its expansive loft living spaces and the feeling of being literally in the middle of the city. Read more > GramercyGramercy, also called Gramercy Park, is focused around Gramercy Park, the private park between East 20th and 21st Streets at the foot of Lexington Avenue. The area is named for a stream which meandered like a 'crooked little knife,' or 'Crom messie' in old Dutch. Gramercy, particularly the area immediately around Gramercy Park itself, is a quiet and elegant area. Read more > Murray HillMurray Hill takes its name from Robert Murray, a Quaker merchant who moved from Pennsylvania to New York in 1753 and built a farmhouse at what is now the corner of 37th Street and Park Avenue. Grand Central Terminal was built on what was the Murray cornfield. Today it is an unassuming neighborhood, full of quiet apartment buildings, townhouses and many trees. Read more > West VillageThe Village's random patchwork of streets hints at the fact that this area was once a small country village on the outskirts of town; the streets mark the boundaries of the farms that used to occupy the land. But the West Village is best known as the home of the bohemian. Artists, writers, intellectuals, radicals, and entertainers gave the neighborhoods its hip reputation. Read more > East VillageDespite gentrification, the East Village still retains its edgy, hip feel. Full of trendy cafes, bars and boutiques, it is a culturally and economically diverse neighborhood. The home of Alphabet City (named for the four avenues A, B, C and D along the neighborhood's east side) this is the part of town where the fringe, outsider artists and performers have made a name for themselves. Read more > SohoSoHo is synonymous with some of the city's most expensive real estate and boutiques. It is a mecca for both New Yorkers and tourists alike, with the streets filled with vendors and artists. It was formerly an industrial district, but was saved from the wrecking ball in the 1960s, when preservationists recognized the uniqueness of the cast iron fronted warehouses that make up the architecture. Read more > TribecaTribeca's unusual name is an abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street", literally denoting its geographic borders. It runs roughly from Canal Street south to Chambers Street, and from the Hudson River east to Broadway. TriBeCa was once an industrial district dominated by warehouses. The last ten years have seen it undergo a major revitalization. Read more > BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. Its name comes from the Dutch town of Breukelen, and many of its original settlers were Dutch. Brooklyn's most famous symbol is the Brooklyn Bridge, which connects downtown Manhattan to its neighbor. Brooklyn is on the western tip of Long Island and it was an independent and distinct city until its consolidation into New York in 1898. Read more > QueensThe sprawling borough of Queens – over the East River from Manhattan - has a long and distinguished history. The village of Queens was settled in 1678, but even before that it was a large Dutch settlement. Queens derives its name from Queen Catherine of Braganza. Today it lays claim to being one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse populations in America. Read more > Inwood / Washington HeightsThese neighborhoods have a more relaxed, suburban feel and offer little of the hustle and bustle of the heart of Manhattan. Traditionally a haven for artists, musicians and performers, this area has long offered buyers and renters lower real estate prices than the rest of the island. It is also a historically Hispanic neigborhood, with a dynamic mix of cultures evident in its cuisine. Read more > Midtown East / Sutton Area / BeekmanMidtown Manhattan, just north of Murray Hill (named for the peaceful country estate that once occupied it) is notable as one of the city's more bustling business centers. Many of the world's business giants are headquartered in this part of town. Skyscrapers, such as the Chrysler, Citicorp, and MetLife Buildings dot the skyline of this area. Read more > Lower East Side / Nolita / Little Italy / ChinatownTo the east of SoHo and TriBeCa are the neighborhoods of Little Italy and NoLIta. The heart of Little Italy is Mulberry Street, which is intimately connected to New York's Italian-American population. Italian bakeries and restaurants line the street and every September the community renames the street Via San Gennaro and invites the whole city to celebrate the ten-day Feast of San Gennaro with parades, games, entertainment and plenty of food. Read more > Battery Park City / Financial DistrictThe south end of Manhattan Island, the nation's first capital and the embryo from which New York City grew, contains an architectural blend of the very old and the very new. Originally called Nieuw Amsterdam by its Dutch settlers, today you find a contrast of colonial buildings and relics of the country's earliest days nestled in the shadows of the massive skyscrapers that now rise at the tip of Manhattan Island. Read more > RiverdaleRiverdale is a special neighborhood. A blend of the urban and suburban - leafy, green, clean and only 22 minutes from Midtown on the train. Predictably, it is one of the city's most highly desirable neighborhoods. Riverdale has a great deal of architecturally distinguished houses built in the early 20th century, mostly in Georgian and Tudor revival styles, some designed by well-known architects. Read more > |
