Chelsea is a composite of town houses, low-rise apartment buildings, luxury high-rises and trendy attractions like the High Line, the elevated park built atop former railroad tracks. Set in former factories are more than 200 art galleries as well as Chelsea Market, filled with upscale food purveyors, restaurants and shops.
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Midtown is home to some of the city’s most iconic buildings, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the headquarters of the United Nations, as well as the Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square.
The East Village is known for its happening nightlife. Old-school bars, music venues and performance spaces share the streets with posh cocktail lounges, hip restaurants. Daytime sees a more laid-back crowd browsing boutiques, vintage shops and tattoo parlors, and dining at casual cafes. Once the epicenter of the city’s punk scene, St. Mark’s Place now features of-the-moment fast-food eateries and souvenir shops.
Named after the iconic wedge-shaped Flatiron Building, this commercial neighborhood is also home to tall apartment buildings and office high-rises. Locals and tourists frequent the hip bars, stalls at Italian food emporium Eataly and eclectic food trucks along Fifth Avenue. A focal point is Madison Square Park, known for its seasonal art installations and the long line at the original Shake Shack.
Murray Hill’s tree-lined streets are filled with townhouses, modern apartment buildings and businesses. It’s a popular home for recent college graduates and young professionals, who frequent the bars along Lexington and Third Avenues. The variety of budget dining options include casual cafes, some chain restaurants and several blocks known as “Curry Hill,” which has a high concentration of Indian restaurants.
The epicenter of the city’s 1960s counterculture movement, the tree-lined streets of Greenwich Village are now a hub of popular cafes, bars and restaurants. Jazz clubs and Off-Broadway Theaters can also be found amid the brownstones and New York University buildings. At its heart is Washington Square Park, where people mingle around the central plaza. Rainbow flags attest to the neighborhood’s LGBT-friendly vibe.
The posh, residential Upper East Side is known for its wealthy denizens, fancy restaurants and designer shops along Madison Avenue. It’s a pretty neighborhood, with a mix of classic brownstones and upscale high-rises. Museum Mile, a stretch of 5th Avenue next to Central Park, draws crowds to cultural institutions that include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and El Museo del Barrio.
Down-to-earth Park Slope is a residential neighborhood of tree-lined streets and historic brownstones in Brooklyn. It’s known for its open-minded community of families and young professionals. The mix of indie boutiques, laid-back bars and casual restaurants along 7th Avenue caters to the diverse area. Locals and visitors take advantage of sprawling Prospect Park for outdoor concerts, picnics and jogging.
This is the city’s buzzing financial heart, home to Wall Street and glittering skyscrapers. Sidewalks bustle during the week and, after work, young professionals fill the restaurants and bars of the South Street Seaport and pedestrian-only Stone Street. The sombre National September 11 Memorial and Museum, in the footprint of the Twin Towers, is also here. Above it all is the observatory atop One World Trade Center.
The Upper West Side is home to Lincoln Center, which hosts performing-arts institutions like the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet. Amid the grand apartment buildings of Central Park West, the American Museum of Natural History presents everything from dinosaurs to outer-space exhibits. On weekends, families emerge from stately brownstones on quiet side streets to line up for brunch or bagels.
The eclectic Lower East Side is where gritty alleys and tenement-style buildings mix with upscale apartments and chic boutiques. Nighttime draws hip, young crowds to the area’s trendy bars, music venues and restaurants. The neighborhood’s Jewish heritage lives on through Orchard Street’s Lower East Side Tenement Museum and old-world fabric stores, as well as traditional delis such as Katz’s and Russ & Daughters.
Laid-back Astoria is a multicultural neighborhood of low-rise residences and small businesses, in Queens. Known for its Greek tavernas and cafes, the area is home to a variety of traditional ethnic eateries and trendy spots. The Museum of the Moving Image, with its exhibits about film, television and digital media, is a top draw. The open-air Bohemian Beer Garden and Astoria Park hum with activity in warm weather.