Manhattan

Manhattan is the smallest of the five boroughs in terms of land area and only the third most populous borough, well behind Brooklyn and Queens. Nevertheless, Manhattan is the original (pre-1898) New York City and still clearly the most important of the five boroughs in terms of social, financial and political power it wields in the city and beyond.

The borough of Manhattan can be roughly divided into four big areas: Downtown, Midtown, Uptown, and Upper Manhattan.

Manhattan: Downtown

Manhattan: Midtown

In the southern portion of Midtown Manhattan, you will find more names and sub-divisions: thus, there are "named" neighborhoods called Chelsea, Garment District, Flatiron District, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay and Murray Hill.

Compared to Downtown, Midtown is more reserved, touristy (especially Times Square, where perhaps 90% of pedestrians are tourists), somewhat older (although not everywhere) and architecturally homogeneous (thanks in part to Manhattan's geology allowing to build very tall buildings around the island's midtown core and in part to the history of its development). Central Midtown, is a heavy-duty office district with many media and finance companies proudly calling it home. Thanks to its centrality and access to all kinds of entertainment (particularly around Broadway), many of the city's hotels are also located in Midtown.

Manhattan - Uptown

Fifth Avenue between 82nd and 104th is sometimes called "the Museum Mile". These are just some of the museums located there: the Metropolitan Museum of Art (82nd st), the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum (88th st), the Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design (91st st), Museum of the City of New York (103 st) and Museum del Barrio (104th st). On the West Side, those are joined by the Museum of Natural History and the adjacent planetarium.

Just north of the Upper West Side, you can find a somewhat strange "island-neighborhood" (not in strict geographic terms but in ambiance), surrounding Columbia University (all the way up to 125th).

Living uptown has long been associated with being well-to-do. The streets (and apartments) are/were often larger than those of downtown residents, the services more plentiful and don't forget the primary reason - Central Park! In an absurd twist of the modern Manhattan's history, this actually isn't really true any more. Some of the best apartment deals, for example, are now found on the Eastern fringes of the Upper East Side rather than in hip Downtown 'hoods.

Upper Manhattan - Harlem and Northern Manhattan

So, what's located above 110th? Besides aforementioned Columbia University area, pretty much everywhere else above 110th and below 154th is a neighborhood called Harlem. Actually, Harlem is too big to be coherently described as one neighborhood, so it's usually split into the Central Harlem, the East Harlem (or El Barrio, which actually starts at East 96th street) and the West Harlem / City College area, which is sometimes considered part of Morningside Heights (Columbia University's island-neighborhood).

Higher still, above Harlem, lies the neighborhood of Washington Heights and yet above that, at the very tip of northern Manhattan, you will find Inwood.

The reason these areas are still omitted from tourist maps is that they are much less of a tourist attraction than everything else in Manhattan. For all the gentrification that's been going on for the last 10-15 years, the statistically lower average income of their residents translates into fewer restaurants, bars, and a more rundown feel to some of the area (again, save for the effects of recent gentrification which may eventually succeed at changing all that).

In fact, 125th street has often been hailed as a success story and you're considering living in Harlem, you must stroll it all the way at least once.

Casual visitors should probably avoid the far east side of Harlem above 103rd and pretty much any other neighborhood where there are too many tall nondescript buildings (hint: they are housing projects).