Manhattan is New York City’s core—and it’s not one place, really. It’s dozens. Walk five blocks in any direction and the whole character of the street changes. Different languages, different architecture, different food, different everything. If you’re trying to make sense of this island, understanding its neighborhoods is where you start.
Reddit user: Joker042
Those maps give you the layout, but let me walk you through some of the neighborhoods that really define Manhattan:
Chinatown: This is one of the oldest ethnic neighborhoods in America, and it holds the largest Chinese population in the Western Hemisphere. The streets are narrow, packed, and loud in the best way. You’ll find restaurants where the menu isn’t in English, herbal medicine shops that have been there for generations, and landmarks like the Mahayana Buddhist Temple tucked between tenements.
Harlem: Harlem’s history runs deep—jazz, the Apollo Theater, the civil rights movement, all of it. The neighborhood has changed a lot in recent decades, with new development and rising rents, but walk along 125th Street or through Marcus Garvey Park and you still feel the weight of what happened here. Don’t miss the Studio Museum or a Sunday service at one of the historic churches.
Greenwich Village: People just call it “the Village.” It’s been a haven for artists, writers, and radicals since the early 1900s. Washington Square Park sits at its heart, NYU sprawls across it, and the Stonewall Inn—where the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement began—is still there on Christopher Street. The streets don’t follow the grid here, which makes it easy to get lost and easy to stumble onto something interesting.
Financial District: This is where New York started, way back in the 1600s. Today it’s Wall Street, the Stock Exchange, and the World Trade Center site. For a long time it emptied out after business hours, but now people actually live down here—luxury towers have gone up, and the neighborhood has a pulse even on weekends.
Upper East Side: Wealthy, polished, museum-heavy. The Met, the Guggenheim, the Frick—they’re all here. So is Central Park, which forms the neighborhood’s western edge. If you picture old New York money, you’re probably picturing the Upper East Side.
These are just a few. Manhattan has dozens more, each with its own story. Here’s the full list of neighborhoods across the borough:
Alphabet City and Loisaida – Houston to 14th Streets; FDR Drive to Avenue A Astor Row (Central Harlem) – Centered at West 130th Street Battery Park City† – West of West Street Bowery – Canal to 4th Streets; the Bowery Brookdale – 25th Street from FDR Drive to 1st Avenue Carnegie Hill – 86th to 98th Streets; 3rd to 5th Avenues (centered at East 91st Street and Park Avenue) Central Harlem – 110th to 155th Streets; Park to St. Nicholas Avenues Chelsea – 14th to 34th Streets; 6th Avenue to the Hudson River Chinatown – Chambers to Delancey Streets; East Broadway to Broadway Civic Center – Vesey to Chambers Streets; the East River to Broadway Columbus Circle – 59th Street and 8th Avenue Cooperative Village† – Frankfort to Grand Streets; FDR Drive to East Broadway Diamond District – 47th Street from 5th to 6th Avenues Downtown Manhattan – Below 14th Street East Harlem (Spanish Harlem) – 96th to 141st Streets; the East River to 5th Avenue East Village – Houston to 14th Streets; the East River to the Bowery Financial District – Below Chambers Street Five Points (historic) – Worth and Baxter Streets Flatiron District, Toy District, Photo District – 16th to 27th Streets; Park Avenue South to 6th Avenue Flower District – 26th to 28th Streets; 6th to 7th Avenues Fort George (part of Washington Heights) – East of Broadway between 181st Street and Dyckman Street Garment District – 34th to 42nd Streets and 5th to 9th Avenues Gramercy Park – 14th to 23rd Streets; 1st Avenue to Park Avenue South Greenwich Village – Houston to 14th Streets; Broadway to the Hudson River Hamilton Heights (part of Harlem) – 135th to 155th Streets; Broadway to the Hudson River Harlem – 96th to 141st Streets (east), 110th to 155th Streets (central), 125th to 155th Streets (west) Hell’s Kitchen – 34th to 59th Streets; 8th to the Hudson River Herald Square – 34th Street and 6th Avenue Hudson Heights (part of Washington Heights) – 181st Street to Fort Tryon Park west of Broadway Hudson Yards – 28th to 43rd Streets; 7th Avenue to the Hudson River Hudson Yards – 30th to 34th Streets; the Hudson River to Tenth Avenue Inwood – Above Dyckman Street Kips Bay – 23rd to 34th Streets; the East River to 3rd Avenue Koreatown – 31st to 36th Streets; 5th to 6th Avenues Le Petit Senegal (Little Senegal) – 116th Street east of Morningside Park Lenox Hill – 60th to 77th Streets; the East River to Park Avenue Lincoln Square (once San Juan Hill) – 65th to 66th Streets; Columbus Avenue to Broadway Little Australia – Mulberry Street in Nolita Little Brazil – 46th Street from 5th to 6th Avenues Little Germany (historic) – 7th to 10th Streets; Avenues A to B Little Italy – Mulberry Street from Canal to Broome Streets Little Syria (historic) – Washington Street from Battery Park to above Rector Street Lower East Side – Canal to Houston Streets; the East River to the Bowery Madison Square – 23rd to 26th Streets; 5th Avenue to Broadway Manhattan Valley, Bloomingdale District – 96th to 110th Streets; Central Park West to Broadway Manhattanville – 125th to 135th Streets; St. Nicholas Avenue to the Hudson River Marble Hill – Physically located on the mainland Marcus Garvey Park, Mount Morris Historical District – 120th to 124th Streets; Madison to 5th Avenues Meatpacking District – Horatio to 15th Streets; Hudson Street to the Hudson River Midtown – 34th to 59th Streets Midtown – 40th to 59th Streets; 3rd to 9th Avenues Midtown East – 42nd to 59th Streets; East River to 5th Avenue Midtown West – 34th to 59th Streets; 5th Avenue to the Hudson River Morningside Heights – 110th to 125th Streets; Morningside to Riverside Drives Murray Hill – 34th to 40th Streets; 3rd to Madison Avenues NoHo – Houston Street to Astor Place; the Bowery to Broadway Nolita (NoLIta) – Broome to Houston Streets; the Bowery to Lafayette Street NoMad – East 25th Street to East 29th Street; Madison Avenue to Sixth Avenue[4] Peter Cooper Village† (former Gas House district) – 20th to 23rd Streets; Avenue C to 1st Avenue Radio Row (historic) – Greenwich Street from Cortlandt to Dey Streets (World Trade Center site) Rockefeller Center – 49th to 51st Streets; 5th to 6th Avenues Rose Hill – Between Murray Hill to the north and Gramercy Park to the south SoHo – Canal to Houston Streets; Lafayette to Varick Streets South Street Seaport Historical District – South of Fulton Street and along the FDR Drive St. Nicholas Historic District, aka Strivers’ Row (Central Harlem) – 137th to 138th Streets; 7th to 8th Avenues Stuyvesant Square – 15th to 18th Streets; 1st to 3rd Avenues Stuyvesant Town† (former Gas House district) – 14th to 20th Streets; Avenue C to 1st Avenue Sugar Hill (Central Harlem) – 145th to 155th Streets; Edgecombe to Amsterdam Avenues Sutton Place – 53rd to 59th Streets; 1st Avenue to Sutton Place Tenderloin – 23rd Street to 42nd Streets; 5th to 7th Avenues Theater District – 42nd to 53rd Streets; 6th to 8th Avenues Times Square – 39th to 52nd Streets; 7th to 9th Avenues Tribeca (TriBeCa) – Vesey Street to Canal Street; Broadway to the Hudson River Tudor City – 40th to 43rd Streets; 1st to 2nd Avenues Turtle Bay – 42nd to 53rd Streets; East River to Lexington Avenue Two Bridges – Brooklyn Bridge to Montgomery Street; St. James Place to the East River Union Square – 14th to 17th Streets; 4th Avenue to University Place Upper East Side – East 59th to 96th Streets; the East River to 5th Avenue (and 96th to 110th Streets along 5th Avenue) Upper Manhattan – Above 96th Street Upper West Side – 59th to 110th Streets; Central Park West to the Hudson River Washington Heights – 155th Street to Dyckman Street Waterside Plaza – 25th to 29th Streets; the East River to FDR Drive West Harlem – 125th to 155th Streets; St. Nicholas Avenue to Broadway West Village – Houston to 14th Streets; 6th Avenue (or 7th Avenue) to the Hudson River Yorkville – 79th to 96th Street; the East River to 3rd Avenue (centered at East 86th Street and 3rd Avenue)
If you’re looking for a good physical map to carry around, here are a few worth checking out on Amazon:
Streetwise Manhattan Map – A laminated, pocket-sized map perfect for navigating the city on foot.
