Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Map 2: Manhattan's Neighborhoods
Although Manhattan is smaller in comparison to Brooklyn or Queens (Brooklyn is actually
three times the size of the big island!), it is a melting pot of culture and variety. The Com-
missioners' Plan of 1811 was the design that established Manhattan's famed street grid.
The plan is well known to be called “the single most important document in New York
City's Development”. Although this plan was commissioned before the building of Central
Park, its planned grid that uses Streets for roads East to West and Avenues from North to
South is not only used today, but it's organization has been contributed to helping the city's
fast growth. During this grow, many immigrants moved to certain neighborhoods due to
the strong language barrier. Decades later, these neighborhoods stuck! Manhattan's diverse
and largely populated area is split into distinct neighborhoods, which are separated by both
architecture and culture. To truly understand New York City is to understand the neighbor-
hoods and the history behind each.
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Uptown Manhattan-the area above 59th Street (The Upper East Side, Upper
West Side, Lenox Hill, Carnegie Hill, Yorkville, etc.)
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Upper Manhattan-the area above 96th Street (Inwood, Harlem, Washington
Heights, Fort George, Morningside Heights, etc.)
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Downtown Manhattan-the area below 14th Street (NoHo, East Village, West
Village, Lower East Side, Alphabet City, Greenwich Village, Nolita, SoHo,
etc.)
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Between Downtown and Midtown- (Kips Bay, Gramercy Park, Chelsea,
Flatiron District, Union Square, Waterside Plaza, Stuyvesant Town, etc.)
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Lower Manhattan-the area below Chambers Street. (TriBeCa, Financial Dis-
trict, Battery Park City, Chinatown, Little Italy, etc.)
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Midtown Manhattan-the area between 34th Street and 59th Street (Midtown,
Columbus Circle, Sutton Place, Rockefeller Center, Diamond District,
Turtle Bay, Madison Square, Hell's Kitchen, Times Square, Herald Square,
Murray Hill, Garment District, etc.)
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The West Side refers to the area west of Fifth Avenue, while the East Side
refers to the area east of Fifth Avenue. In the cases of the Upper East Side
and the Upper West Side, the two areas are split by Central Park.
