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New York City Neighborhoods: Quick Overview
By Marina Cashdan, BOOKitCHEAP Staff Writer
Looking for a specific sight in New York? We can help you, with our list of New York's main tourist attractions, organized by neighborhood.
Midtown Neighborhoods
We loosely define "Midtown" as everything between 59th Street and 14th Street. Central Park begins at 59th Street and continues North for 2.5 miles (51 blocks). Manhattan is divided East/West along 5th Avenue.
Central Park Hotels
Central Park means park view, means the Plaza, means high-class. What more can we say? Oh yeah, means expensive. Smack in the middle of Manhattan with access to every subway line in the island and minutes from the peace and relaxation that Central Park offers... (more)
Midtown West Hotels
Generally speaking, "Midtown West" is the area south of Central Park, north of the Garment District, and west/northwest of Times Square area. This area is always bustling, especially with theater-goers... (more)
Midtown East Hotels
Midtown East, the area of Midtown just east of Fifth Avenue, southeast of Central Park, and north of Murray Hill, is a happening', hoppin' area during the day. Tourists are attracted to the area... (more)
Times Square Hotels
Many New Yorkers miss the almost-gone seediness of Times Square. Disney Stores have replaced sex shops and strip clubs. Development swallowed up a few beloved newsstands and diners... However, most people begrudgingly admit that its better this way. Free-spending visitors, after all, adore everything from the souvenir shops to the enormous billboards of Victoria's Secret models to the latest mega-musical.
For hotels in this area, check out Midtown West Hotels.
Garment District
Want yards and yards of imported fabric, or snaps, buttons, and zippers? The Garment District holds true to its name, as it is the epicenter of fabric stores in New York City... (more)
Murray Hill Hotels
This part of New York is in the midst of a major shift: the "Golden Girl"s of the old Murray Hill are being replaced by the young, yuppie, financial suits that you'll find spilling into the streets during happy hour at one of the many Irish pubs in the neighborhood... (more)
Flatiron/Gramercy
The majestic Flatiron Building lords over this beautiful, eclectic district marked by loft spaces to the west and pre-war residences to the east. More than a century after its construction, the apartment buildings and townhouses around Gramercy Park remain coveted addresses. The district's diverse shops, excellent restaurants, and emerging club and lounge scene draws New Yorkers day and night. The historic Pete's Tavern, established in 1864, helps New York treasure its past while the numerous posh shops and trendy eateries bring the city into the future.
For hotels in this area, check out Murray Hill Hotels.
Chelsea Hotels
Once a proud working class community, Chelsea recently became a posh address. As rents in Greenwich Village rose, the vibrant gay community moved upwards to occupy Chelsea's many brownstones and loft spaces. Others naturally followed and today's Chelsea reflects New York's ethnic and cultural diversity. Known for its many nightspots and emerging plethora of art galleries, this part of Manhattan is crawling with art-seekers by day and club-goers by night.
For hotels in this area, check out Garment District Hotels.
Meat Packing District
Head south of Chelsea and you'll run into what was the slaughtered meat source of New York. While there is still some meat-packing going on, this area now packs more celebrities, chic eateries and lounges than meat. This is now the area to see and to be seen, as this is the home to restaurants such as Nobu and Spice Market and chic new hotels such as Hotel Gansevoort.
For hotels in this area, check out Downtown Hotels.
Downtown Neighborhoods
The area we call "Downtown" is actually quite expansive, covering everything from Greenwich Village to Wall Street. Big hotels are few and far between down here, giving the area a far different feeling than that of tourist and corporate-driven Midtown. Downtown is the playground of New Yorkers, with hip restaurants, bars, and clubs galore.
For hotels in this area, check out Downtown Hotels.
Greenwhich Village Hotels
If the winding streets of this historic neighborhood could talk, they would speak of poverty and prosperity, free love and socialism, gay rights and reform, as Greenwich Village drew free spirits from around the nation. Though it's not quite the Bohemian haven that it once was (probably due to sky-rocketing rents over the last thirty years), Greenwich Village still maintains a community feel. The townhouses and apartments in this area are some of the most expensive in the city, but the parks, quaint streets, community schools, and mom-and-pop shops make this area feel as if you're home (wherever that may be).
Meanwhile, head more east toward New York University and Washington Square Park and you'll find that the students and central village dwellers capture some of the neighborhood's old spirit. Here you'll find a diverse array of smoke shops, rowdy bars and music clubs vie for business along Bleecker Street.
For hotels in this area, check out Downtown Hotels.
East Village Hotels
The East Village isn't what it used to be. The dirty, drug-infested Alphabet City of the past is no longer. The East Village is now home to Nuevo-artists, students, and pseudo-bohemians (a.k.a. "hipsters"). The same old bath-tub-in-the-kitchen tenements exist, but alongside newly-renovated tenements and brand new buildings.
With gentrification comes an influx of new and trendy bars, shops, cafes, art-spaces and restaurants. To be honest, we're not in any position to knock the neighborhood. We hang out, eat, and sip coffee in the East Village more than any other neighborhood. We're just trying to be cool New Yorkers.
For hotels in this area, check out Downtown Hotels.
SoHo/TriBeCa Hotels
Once home to massive factories, artists took over the spaces and transformed desolate industrial wasteland into bustling urban commerce. Galleries, designer shops, sophisticated restaurants and trendy bars followed soon after the artists.
Today, the throngs of galleries, small museums, and art-inspired stores in SoHo and TriBeCa make up a considerable part of New York's world-class art scene. Alas, no more rent bargains exist, and the once-raw lofts now command rents to match anything on Fifth Avenue.
(PS. Just in case you were curious, SoHo is short for 'South of Houston' and TriBeCa for 'Triangle Below Canal.')
For hotels in this area, check out Downtown Hotels.
Lower East Side ("LES")
Though the LES is the latest neighborhood to receive the 'SoHo treatment,' the city's worst slums once existed on these streets. Gradually, conditions improved but the neighborhood remained poor, often attracting new waves of (mostly Hispanic) immigrants.
Today, rents are rising and the yuppies are arriving. The historic Orchard Street Shopping District operates among new, hip bars and nightclubs. Head more west toward Chinatown and Little Italy and you'll find an amazing amalgamation of fish stores, fake Rolex's, sopreseta specialty stores, and pizza shops all on one Chinatown/Little Italy intersection. (Little Italy, in fact, has become very little over the past ten years, now occupying on a couple of streets).
For hotels in this area, check out Downtown Hotels.
Financial District
New York's first district remains its most historic district. The stalwart investment banks of Wall Street coexist with landmarks like the Trinity Church. The hyper-ambitious, be-suited throngs chat on cell phones and take lunch at hot dog stands. Visitors ponder the beauty of skyscrapers and the quaintness of cobblestones. Battery Park draws New Yorkers from all boroughs for its panoramic views and excellent rollerblading. Of course, this area is also still recovering from the terror attacks of 2001.
For hotels in this area, check out Downtown Hotels.
Uptown Neighborhoods
We define "Uptown" as everything above 60th Street, both to the West and East of Central Park and, further North, above Central Park.
Upper East Side Hotels
The Upper East Side, located North of Midtown East and East of Central Park, has historically been home to Manhattan's most elite addresses. Hotels in the Upper East Side boast a close proximity to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum of American Art, innumerable posh restaurants, and much more.
Upper West Side Hotels
The Upper West Side's pre-war real estate, with its solid (often neo-gothic or Victorian) architecture, is of prime value today. Yuppies, successful artists and apartment-sharing twenty-somethings flocked here... (more)
Harlem
Long the national epicenter of African-American culture, Harlem remains proud of its past accomplishments as it looks to the future. As home to America's most influential artistic, literary and cultural movement (The Harlem Renaissance), the area gained worldwide notoriety. A study in contrasts, Harlem has seen some of New York's worst poverty and quietly hidden some of its wealthiest citizens. Twenty years ago, many visitors feared Harlem. Today, as a multi-ethnic Harlem benefits from a booming economy, tourists clamor to visit the home of great jazz, great food and a deep-rooted history.
For hotels in this area, check out Upper West Side Hotels.
QUICK LINKS:
New York City Hotels Homepage
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