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Lower Manhattan. The Financial District, NY Harbor, and TriBeCa. Heavy-duty landmarks anchor the southern tip of Manhattan, including Wall Street and the waterfront parks of Battery Park City. Ferry terminals dispatch boats to Staten Island, Governors Island, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. The the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, One World Trade Center, and the Brooklyn Bridge are also found here.
SoHo, NoLIta, Little Italy, and Chinatown. Luxe shops dominate in SoHo these days, while NoLIta, to the east, has lots of boutiques and restaurants. Little Italy is a shrinking zone of touristy eateries (though some maintain old-school authenticity). Farther south, Chinatown teems with street vendors selling knockoff handbags and side streets with Chinese herb shops and dim-sum joints.
The East Village and the Lower East Side. Once a gritty neighborhood of artists and punks, the East Village is now a gentrified melting pot of NYU students, young professionals, and old-timers, but it still feels like a neighborhood. You’ll find some of the best people- and pooch-watching from a bench in Tompkins Square Park. The once seedy, now trendy Lower East Side has live-music clubs, indie clothing shops, and wine bars.
Greenwich Village and the West Village. Artists with rent-controlled apartments, out-and-proud gays, and university students still live in the Village, but because those town houses have become so expensive, residents also include wealthy media moguls, celebrities, and socialites. From 14th Street south to Houston (pronounced how-ston here), and from the Hudson River east to 5th Avenue, the blocks are a jumble of jazz clubs, restaurants, former speakeasies, and rainbow flags.
Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. With hundreds of galleries in a seven-block radius, Chelsea is still the center of the city’s contemporary-art scene, even if real estate development has forced some galleries to relocate elsewhere in the city or to Brooklyn. To the south, the Meatpacking District has evolved into a swanky clubbing and restaurant scene by night and—with the High Line, the new Whitney Museum of American Art, and high-end boutiques—a prime daytime destination too.
Union Square, the Flatiron District, and Gramercy Park. Bustling Union Square Park hosts the city’s best greenmarket. On the 14th Street edge are broad steps where break dancers and other performers busk for onlookers. Nearby, private and elegant Gramercy Park is surrounded by storied mansions and town houses.
Midtown East and Murray Hill. Midtown from 5th Avenue to the East River is the refined big sister of flashy Midtown West, with grand hotels, posh shopping, the Chrysler Building, and Grand Central Terminal. Murray Hill is a mix of quiet tree- and-town-house-lined streets and attractions like the Empire State Building and the Morgan Library.
Midtown West. Head to 42nd Street to see Times Square in all its neon and mega-screen glory. Towering office buildings line Broadway up to Columbus Circle at the edge of Central Park. At Rockefeller Center are the famous ice rink and Christmas tree (in season), and nearby are swank shops like Saks and Bergdorf Goodman.
The Upper East Side. The Upper East Side is home to more millionaires than any other part of the city. Tucked into this stretch of 5th Avenue are the Museum Mile and Madison Avenue’s haute boutiques.
The Upper West Side with Central Park and the Cloisters. Wide sidewalks and ornate prewar buildings set the tone, and the American Museum of Natural History and Lincoln Center are big draws. Nearby is the pastoral heart of New York, Central Park, the place to come to escape the bustle of the city with its small zoo, sports fields, carousel, and even a castle. Much farther north is the Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art housing medieval works in a reconstructed monastery.
Harlem. A hotbed of African American and Hispanic American culture for almost a century, Harlem still sizzles. The brownstone-lined blocks are being refurbished, boutiques and restaurants are popping up, and a few music venues from the 1920s and ‘30s are still in full swing.
Brooklyn. New York’s largest borough counts among its stars Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Its distinctive neighborhoods include Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, DUMBO, Park Slope, Coney Island, and Brighton Beach.
Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Queens is known for its ethnic communities and cuisine, Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Citi Field. The Bronx may be best known for Yankee Stadium, but the New York Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo also score home runs. Staten Island’s best-known feature might be the ferry, but there are reasons to stick around, including a children’s museum and New York City’s only historic town and farm: Historic Richmond Town.