Manhattan

Manhattan is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — have a look at each of them.

Wall Street. Madison Avenue. 34th Street. Broadway. Manhattan is so well known that even the names of its streets have become iconic and understood the world over. This long, thin island is only one of New York City’s five boroughs, but it’s Manhattan that has the concrete canyons and the inimitable skyline; Manhattan that has the world’s brightest and most renowned theater district; Manhattan that has Central Park, Rockefeller Center, the Guggenheim Museum, and the World Trade Center site; and Manhattan that comprises iconic neighborhoods like Harlem, the Upper East Side, Times Square, and Greenwich Village.

The rest of New York City has much to see and do, but it’s Manhattan that represents the city—and sometimes the entire United States—to the world. You could spend a week on this tiny island and still not see all there is to see. Grab a yellow taxi, hop on the subway, or just start walking, and you’re sure to begin to understand just what it is that makes Manhattan, Manhattan.

Districts

Lower East Side

Famous as the Jewish immigrant ghetto of the early 20th century, the neighborhood today is enjoying a renaissance, with dozens of bars and restaurants.

Greenwich Village

Coffee houses, wine bars, lowrise but high art and literary connections, located between Houston and 14th Sts. The bohemian center of yore, today’s Village is strongly upmarket but retains its diverse flavor, with its historic community around Christopher St and thousands of students who attend NYU.

East Village

Gritty and diverse but redeveloping, this area lies east of Broadway. Pockets of Ukrainians, Japanese, Indians and young professionals make it one of the most vibrant Manhattan areas. The once-shabby area formerly known as Alphabet City, centered on Avenues A through D, is now considered part of the East Village.

Chelsea Garment District

Having superseded Greenwich Village as the primary center of New York’s gay community, this appealing district has a great mix of fashion, design, art, culture, bars and restaurants.

Gramercy Flatiron

A chic, stylish district of stately residential areas, gardens and squares, trendy restaurants and bars.

Theater District

34th-59th Sts, roughly west of 6th Ave – the name says it all: Broadway, Times Square, 42nd St, Hell’sKitchen, Columbus Circle; often overlapping in the area between Fifth and Sixth Aves with Midtown East. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is down on the Hudson River.

Midtown

Also termed “Midtown East”, this extensive area east of Sixth Ave includes a number of New York icons: the Empire State Building, the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal and more.

Central Park

With its lawns, trees and lakes, it is popular for recreation and concerts and is home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park Zoo.

Upper East Side

Primarily a residential neighborhood, it remains New York City’s wealthiest. Museums and restaurants abound.

Upper West Side

Often called the city’s quintessential neighborhood and made famous by TV’s Seinfeld, it includes delightful residential streets, the twin-towered facades of the old apartment hotels on Central Park West and Riverside Dr, Columbia University, large and impressive churches, two of the city’s best-known markets (Zabar’s and Fairway) and one of its major museums – the American Museum of Natural History.

Harlem and Upper Manhattan

Harlem, America’s most famous black community, is home to an increasingly diverse mix of cultures. East Harlem (aka Spanish Harlem), the traditional center of Latino culture in Manhattan, has been joined by the lively, predominantly Dominican neighborhood of West Harlem, and Washington Heights to the north. Washington Heights is notable for Fort Tryon Park, the home of The Cloisters (the Medieval annex of the Metropolitan Museum). At the northern tip of Manhattan, Inwood’s claim to fame is Inwood Park, the last remaining virgin forest on the island.

Understand

---

New Jersey Transit which serves New Jersey. Grand Central Terminal, one of the finest examples of beaux-arts architecture, is the home of Metro-North Railroad which connects the city to points in southern New York State and southern Connecticut. Many trains from Grand Central Terminal also stop at Harlem/125th St, a useful stop for travelers headed for Harlem or other points in Upper Manhattan.

A subway system, PATH, connects some points in downtown and midtown Manhattan with Hoboken, Jersey City, and Newark.

By road

Manhattan being an island, access (whether by car, taxi, bus or by foot) has generally to be made by means of either a bridge or a tunnel. A pedestrian can walk into Manhattan over the Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Williamsburg Bridges from Brooklyn, the Queensboro or RFK (formerly Triboro) Bridges from Queens, all the numerous small street bridges from the Bronx, and the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey. Probably the most famous of these is the Brooklyn Bridge. If you’re coming from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) by cab, consider asking the driver to take the Queensboro or Williamsburg Bridges into Manhattan if you’re going to Midtown or Downtown, respectively, and save yourself the RFK Bridge or Queens-Midtown Tunnel toll.

By plane

While there is no airport in Manhattan (see New York City for details on airports serving the area), there are helicopter and seaplane services into the city. At least two companies provide helicopter services between Manhattan and area airports, from helipads on W 34th St, E 34th St, and Wall St. Seaplane services are available to East Hampton from E 23rd St during the summer months. Neither are for the faint of pocket – the helicopter service costs $125+ while the seaplane service costs $425 per person. Scheduled helicopter services are also available to the airport in Bridgeport, CT from Manhattan.

By ferry

Passengers from Staten Island usually take the free Staten Island Ferry to get to the Battery at the lower tip of Manhattan. The Battery also houses ferries to Liberty and Ellis Islands and Governors Island. Other ferries transport passengers to and from Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey.

Get around

See the New York City page for specific information on getting around.

The best ways to get around Manhattan are on foot, by cab, or by taking the subway or bus.

Driving is strongly discouraged; most Manhattanites do not own cars and the infrastructure of the city is designed for mass transit use, rather than for private automobiles.

When traveling by cab, it is best to ensure that you are using a licensed cab; the easiest way is to ask at the concierge at your hotel to flag down one of the ubiquitous yellow cabs or do so yourself. All licensed cabs are yellow, and no unlicensed (as a taxicab) livery services may be yellow. Cabs which are available have their lights on and do not have their “Off Duty” sign lit. Off duty taxi drivers may choose to drive you if they are going your way, but are under no obligation to pick you up, and cabs which are not lit have customers inside and cannot pick up more customers. Fare for trips within Manhattan is strictly by meter (ask the cabbie to turn the meter on if s/he makes no move to turn it on after you’ve said where you want to go), plus whatever tip you choose to give (note that it is customary and expected to tip at least 10-15% for normal service). For trips to the Outer Boroughs, if toll bridges or tunnels are taken, you are responsible for the tolls in addition to the fare on the meter plus the tip. Do not try to take cabs during shift changes (such as around 4PM on weekdays), if you are in a rush, because you’ll find that they are almost all off duty. Limousines (approximately $30 per hour for in-Manhattan use of a sedan) are an attractive alternative to medallion (yellow) cabs if you know you’ll need to be driven around a lot during a short period of time.

Maps of the New York subway system and Manhattan buses, schedules of subway and bus lines, and information about temporary service changes due to construction can be found online [5]. Bus schedules and route maps are also usually posted on poles at bus stops. Note that bus schedules in Manhattan are only approximate, and actual times depend on traffic and other variables.

One alternative way of getting around Manhattan include riding in a horse drawn carriage. Horse drawn carriages around Central Park South offer rides around the park for 15 minutes, half an hour, or one hour. Rates should be posted on the carriage. This can be a romantic or fun way to see the city.

Pedicabs have appeared in New York of late. The city is in the early stages of licensing and enforcing safety regulations for them.

Landmarks

With constant portrayals in every method of media known, Manhattan’s landmarks are known around the world, and seemingly every visitor to the city will make an effort to glimpse these most famous of buildings and monuments. Every neighborhood of Manhattan has local landmarks, and in many cases the neighborhoods themselves are landmarks in their own right; this is just a summary of the very most monumental architecture on the island.Starting where the city began in Lower Manhattan, you can view some of the most powerful and evocative landmarks of the city. Wall Street, the center of the financial world and the heart of Lower Manhattan, is home to the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall (where George Washington was inaugurated as president). Just to the north of Wall Street is the City Hall area, flanked on the east by the Brooklyn Bridge and the west by the Woolworth Building (the “Cathedral of Commerce”, once the tallest building in the world). A different kind of landmark lies to the west, where the National September 11 Memorial sits at the site of the former World Trade Center towers. To the south, out in the harbor are the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, once the first impressions of many Americans-to-be.

Heading north across the “valley”, the neighborhoods of shorter buildings separating the two major business districts, you’ll come to Midtown Manhattan, a hub of activity non-stop. The Empire State Building dominates the surrounding area, while the iconic Chrysler Building stakes its ground nearby. In the midst of all these tall structures you’ll also find Grand Central Terminal, the main branch of the New York Public Library, and the touristy Rockefeller Center. Facing the East River is the United Nations Headquarters, while to the west sits the insanely crowded tourist hub of Times Square.

Museums

New York City is home to museums of every kind, and Manhattan is where some of the grandest and most fascinating are.

Why not start at “Museum Mile”, or Fifth Ave along Central Park in Uptown Manhattan? Here you’ll find the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the largest and most important museums of art in the world. Nearby in the Upper East Side and the Harlem area sits the famous Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (Note: closed until December 12th, 2014), the Jewish Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the El Museo Del Barrio, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Across Central Park in the Upper West Side is the massive American Museum of Natural History, one of the largest science museums in the world. At the northern end of Manhattan sits The Cloisters, a medieval-themed extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In Midtown you’ll find the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), one of the most popular collections of modern art in the world. Nearby is the Museum of Television & Radio and the American Folk Art Museum. Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthplace is just to the south in Gramercy Flatiron, while the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum sits on the Hudson River to the west.

The neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan are home to a number of small, more specialized museums. Near the Financial District you’ll find the African Burial Ground National Monument, the Museum of American Finance, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the South Street Seaport Museum. Just north in Chinatown is the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, while over in the Lower East Side is the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and the Museum at Eldridge Street Synagogue and the New Museum.

Parks and gardens

Of course, no visit to Manhattan would be complete without a visit to Central Park, by far the largest and most famous park in this borough. Visit the park on a sunny day and join the many New Yorkers and other visitors relaxing on the park benches, biking, looking at the ducks on the pond, boating on the lake, visiting the small Central Park Zoo, sunbathing on the Sheep Meadow, ice skating at the Wollman Rink, or seeing a concert or play. But Central Park is far from the only green space to be found in Manhattan.

In Uptown Manhattan, Fort Tryon Park contains one of the highest points and some of the best views on the island, as well as the Cloisters Museum, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nearby at the northern tip of Manhattan is Inwood Park, the last remaining virgin forest on the island; many arrowheads and other Native American artifacts have been found here. Along the Hudson River is Riverside Park, a long stretch of parkland running from 59th St all the way to 155th Str which makes for a lovely stroll or picnic overlooking the waters of the Hudson River and New Jersey on the opposite bank. Carl Schurz Park at East End Ave and 86th St is the home of the Gracie Mansion, the Official Residence of the Mayor of New York, and boasts wonderful views of Hell Gate and the East River and is extremely quiet compared to other New York parks.

Moving into the bustle of Midtown, the parks get smaller but are no less frequent. Here you’ll find the social centers of New York life, like Bryant Park, a small and charming park behind the New York Public Library which has gone through a major renovation recently and has gained a hard-won reputation for being much better. Free movies on summer nights are incredibly popular. Just south of the canyons of Midtown is Union Square, a crowded social center and long the center for political protests, as well as the home of a popular greenmarket and resting visitors and locals alike. Madison Square Park, a lovely oasis in a bustling area, has beautiful flowering trees and bushes in the spring and boasts views of the Flatiron, Metropolitan Life, and Empire State buildings. On the western side of Manhattan is Hudson River Park, whose promenade, still in progress, will run along the Hudson River from 59th St to the southern tip of the island. Nearby is the new High Line Park, built on a defunct railway that runs 30 feet (9 m) above the street.

In Lower Manhattan, parks like Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, and Columbus Park in Chinatown are excellent cosmopolitan spaces which are centers of neighborhood life. In the Financial District is City Hall Park, a small but delightful square (most of the grass is fenced off for security) which makes an excellent spot to rest after walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. At the very southern tip of the island, Battery Park is popular with tourists; famous for its great views of the New York Harbor, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. The ferries to the Statue and Staten Island depart from here.

Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island  is an elongated island in the East River between Manhattan Island and Queens. Originally a cattle farm, over the years it has had various names and uses, including as an asylum and a quarantine hospital. Today called Roosevelt Island, it is the home to several thousand New Yorkers who like its calm ambiance and connection to Manhattan. The island offers excellent views of the Manhattan skyline, particularly at the Meditation Steps, just north of the Tramway stop, and Southpoint, a newly-created public space at the southern tip of the island, accessed by one of the riverside promenades. The island also affords one of the best views of the city’s 4th of July Fireworks displays when they take place in the East River (for the past two years they have instead been shot off from barges in the Hudson River); in such cases, get to the island very early, or you’ll find that the seats are sold out.

There are two ways to access the island from Manhattan. The most popular way for tourists (and certainly the most scenic) is to take the Roosevelt Island Tramway, an aerial tram which crosses over the stretch of the East River between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island next to the Queensboro Bridge, offering splendid views of the skyline along the way. You can board the tram on Second Ave at 59th St in the Upper East Side; the one-way fare is $2.50; MetroCards accepted. The second option is to take the subway; the F train makes a single stop on the island, connecting it to the Upper East Side and Midtown to the west and Queens to the east. Additionally, a road bridge connects the island to the intersection of 36th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard in Queens, allowing you to drive, walk, bike, or take the Q102 bus to the island from Queens.

Learn

If you plan on staying in Manhattan for some time, there are many types of classes you can take. The offerings are way too numerous and varied to cover here, but include continuing education and extension courses at famous institutions of higher learning like New York University, Columbia University, the New School, and the Juilliard School of Dance, Drama, and Music; classes and lectures at the 92nd St. Y and many other neighborhood organizations serving the community; cooking classes at any of several cooking schools in Manhattan; martial arts classes; yoga classes; classes in religion at any of the numerous places of worship in the borough; etc., etc., etc.

Buy

New York is arguably the fashion capital of the United States, and is a major shopping destination for people around the world. The city boasts an unmatched range of department stores, boutiques, and specialty shops. Some neighborhoods boast more shopping options than most other American cities and have become famous in their own right as consumer destinations. Anything you could possibly want to buy is found in Manhattan.

Of course, Midtown is the hub of shopping; home to Fifth Avenue with its numerous flagship stores (Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Cartier, Tiffany’s, Lord and Taylor, Niketown, NBA Store, Versace, Gucci, Armani Exchange, FAO Schwarz, etc.) and perpetually mobbed with shoppers and tourists. Nearby is the massive Bloomingdale’s, while over in the Theater District, “The Largest Department Store in the World”, the flagship store of Macy’s, covers an entire city block.

In the heart of the ultra-wealthy Upper East Side is Madison Ave, the center of New York’s haute couture, full of small shops selling fabulously expensive clothes, accessories, and housewares to people who can afford not to look at the price tag. Even if it’s out of your price range, it’s worth a visit just to gawk.

Down in Lower Manhattan, Canal St east of Broadway around Chinatown is the polar opposite of Madison and Fifth Avenues; a paradise for bargain hunters and people looking to buy counterfeit knock-offs of high-end clothes and accessories. If you want to impress people back home with the fake Louis Vuitton bag you got for $30, this is the place to go. Also look at the stores that line Mott Street between Canal and Chatham Square. Nearby is NoLiTa, which has become synonymous with avant-couture boutiques in charmingly dilapidated buildings. Some stores are so idiosyncratic that they appear not to sell anything at all, yet are perpetually crowded and passionately trendy.

West of Broadway, the former artists’ colony SoHo is now a prime shopping destination, especially on the weekends, when the sidewalks of West Broadway, Prince St, and Broadway become almost impassible. Be warned though that the boutique stores have mostly been replaced by high-end chain stores.

In the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan you will find New York’s flower market, wholesale shops selling everything from costume jewelry to pocket books, even obscure shops like Rock Star Crystals, which sells crystals and mineral and gemstone metaphysical tools out of a second floor industrial loft next to a wholesale flower shop.

New York has hundreds of records stores scatted red around the area. Also, though vinyl has disappeared from the shelves of regular record stores, many stores still sell used and new vinyl.

Iconic New York city souvenirs are available in most tourist spots and along pushcart stalls on the street. That said, it’s far cheaper (~50% less) to purchase them from shops in Chinatown, near Canal St.

Eat

New York City has a large number of great street food vendors. There are also many run-of-the-mill street or otherwise outdoor more or less food-centered festivals and a few more notable ones, such as the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, in Madison Square Park; the celebration of Bastille Day, which occurs the weekend after 14 July on 60 St between Fifth and Lexington Aves; Taste of Chinatown; and the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival, taking place on the first weekend after Mother’s Day each year. If you come across a street festival by chance, beware the food vendors who make all their money at street festivals, because with a few exceptions, they are usually bad, and look for booths of food establishments from the area. If no sign is up with the location of the booth’s store, you can ask the people at each booth where their store is; if it’s far away or they don’t know where it is, be wary.

Drink

Manhattan nightlife is some of the most vibrant in the world. Thanks to the 4AM last call and over 800 active venues in Manhattan alone, it is no wonder that many people flock to New York as the mecca of good times.

Certain neighborhoods are better than others for certain crowds but with New York, the question is never whether you can find it, it’s only where.

Clubbing: Meatpacking District- MePa is the most concentrated upscale club zone in Manhattan. There are 20+ restaurants, bars, lounges and clubs to choose from within a 5-block radius. Many of them are very strict at the door so be sure you either have contacted a promoter or sweet talked the doormen. Buying a table never hurt (except your wallet!). The meatpacking district website is the best source of info on this area

Chelsea- This was the old club capital of Manhattan with mainstays like Pink Elephant, Cain and Marquee amongst others. Of those listed, only Marquee remains. This area was known for its mega clubs which can hold hundreds upon hundreds of drunken revelers. Though a bit deserted, Chelsea still has a few nooks to look in for great nightlife.

The Dive Special: East Village- You cant throw a stone in East Village without hitting a packed bar. All you need to do is go to 14th street, head due east until the letter avenues (Ave A, etc) and head down any one of those to find yourself dead in the middle. Try walking down 3rd Ave below 14th as well for a good tour of some of the areas bars. Down here you’ll find a lot of divey, fratty bars so be prepared to drink keg beer and play beirut!

Yorkville- A semi-hidden gem that not alot of down town heads know about because its so far up. If you hit 2nd Ave and walk from 90th St down through the upper 70’s you’ll see nearly uninterrupted string of bars and restaurants. Take a walk that way, there are some great spots and all different kinds from upscale to dive.

Honorable Mentions:

• E 50s and 2nd Ave
• 9th Ave from 40th-55th St

It can be quite daunting choosing a bar from the hundreds you have at your fingertips. If all else fails, ask a concierge or even someone in the street, there’s bound to be something nearby.

Sleep

See the Districts articles for more listings.

If there is one thing that makes New York City, particularly Manhattan, one of the most expensive cities in the world, it is hotel accommodations. Sometimes, the average room rates in Manhattan exceed those of the more expensive cities in the world such as Tokyo and London. Consider yourself lucky if you can get a room at a full-service hotel at $250/night, not including taxes. While prices vary depending on the season and on the availability, approximate price ranges for Manhattan hotels are:

• A bed in a large dormitory in a hostel: $15-40
• A double room with shared bath: $60-120
• A double room with private bath in a budget hotel: $100-250
• A room in a mid-range hotel: From $250
• A room in a luxury hotel: $500-4,500, occasionally but rarely dipping into the $10,000-20,000 range.

For budget conscious travelers many new hostels have opened in recent years. While some, like Hostelling International – New York (in a landmarked historic building renovated in the early 1990s) and the many branches of the Jazz Hostels in the Upper West Side, East Village and Times Square have built a reputation for providing good value for money, many others are SRO (Single Room Occupancy) conversions where renovated hotel rooms share space with run down rooms for low income residents. It is best to research a budget hotel carefully before reserving a room. If you have a AAA membership, consider staying at a hotel that offers a discount. The 10% discount can add up over a few days.

Occupancy rates in New York hotels have been very high in recent years and, especially if traveling to the city during Thanksgiving week, in the month of December, or in the month of May, it is best to book well in advance for the best prices. The best way to spend the night in New York is, of course, on the couch of a friend or relative. So, if you want to stretch your dollar, check your address book when planning a trip to New York! Another option is to check short-term room or apartment rentals on Craigslist, but of course it’s risky to pay up front for an apartment you haven’t seen, so you might want to spend at least your first day or two at a hotel or other place of more or less known quality while checking out possible alternate locations. Inexpensive short-term rentals of decent quality are likely to run for $100/night and up for a double.

Hotels in the other boroughs or New Jersey may be generally less expensive, but if spending a lot of time in Manhattan is important to you, make sure you know what the transportation situation will be like before you make your decision. Also, remember that complimentary meals are usually a disadvantage in hotels in New York, because with a few notable exceptions the better values in food tend to be outside of hotels.

Contact

Throughout Manhattan, open WiFi access points are abundant, including many parks and squares such as Bryant Park and Union Square. Starbucks now offer free internet, and some stores such as Apple SoHo and Tekserv offer free wireless Internet to customers.

All of the many branches of The New York Public Library offer free internet access to anyone with a photo id or NYPL library card.

Stay safe

Manhattan and New York generally have experienced a major falloff in crime during the past decade – in fact, for the past few years, New York City has been the safest major city in the U.S. – so there is little need to be afraid to walk most of the streets day and night and take the subways and buses. However, precautions should still be taken.

Keep your wits about yourself. Try your best to know or at least look like you know where you’re going, particularly in areas which are deserted or otherwise feel potentially dangerous to you. Keep your wits about yourself by being aware of what’s happening around you on the street, where the open shops are, where you may have spotted any police officers around, etc. Do not hesitate to calmly increase your pace, alter your route, or cross to the other side of the street if you sense it might be the safest course of action.

Beware of pickpockets. During the holiday season, pickpockets like to target shoppers near tourist attractions such as Times Square, 42nd Street, and Macy’s, and anywhere where there is a crush of crowds. In order to foil pickpockets, never put your wallet or anything of value in your back pockets, but only in your front pockets. If you use a purse, make sure it is tightly closed and hold on to it. And when you sit down, such as in a restaurant, be careful to keep your valuables in places where an opportunistic thief would be hard pressed to snatch them and run.

Traffic hazards. Manhattan is in certain ways a pedestrian’s paradise, but beware that traffic regulations are not always obeyed to the letter. Watch for aggressively turning cars and bicyclists riding the wrong way on one-way streets or on sidewalks. The problem is not constant, but these things happen often enough for them to be worth keeping in the back of your mind while walking on the streets and sidewalks. Also, you’ll note that jaywalking is commonplace among New Yorkers, but it can be hazardous to those not experienced in judging the speed of oncoming cars. So do not blindly follow a local, for there’s a chance you’ll be staring at the headlights of a car if you are not careful.

Some areas of Upper Manhattan still see their share of crime. Here is an unofficial map to use as a guide to crime rates:

Get out

Too many travelers probably spend all or too much of their time in New York solely on Manhattan; the island makes a great base from which to travel to one or more of the Outer Boroughs — Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.