Neighborhoods Manhattan

manhattan s many neighborhoods not named according particular convention. geographical (the upper east side), or ethnically descriptive (little italy). others acronyms, such tribeca (for triangle below canal street ) or soho ( south of houston ), or far more recent vintages nolita ( north of little italy ). , nomad ( north of madison square park ). harlem name dutch colonial era after haarlem, city in netherlands. alphabet city comprises avenues a, b, c, , d, name refers. have simple folkloric names, such hell s kitchen, alongside more official lesser used title (in case, clinton).

view of empire state building southward top of rockefeller center, 1 world trade center in background, @ sunset

some neighborhoods, such soho, mixed use, known upscale shopping residential use. others, such greenwich village, lower east side, alphabet city , east village, have long been associated bohemian subculture. chelsea 1 of several manhattan neighborhoods large gay populations , has become center of both international art industry , new york s nightlife. washington heights primary destination immigrants dominican republic. chinatown has highest concentration of people of chinese descent outside of asia. koreatown bounded 6th , madison avenues, between 31st , 33rd streets, hangul (한글) signage ubiquitous. rose hill features growing number of indian restaurants , spice shops along stretch of lexington avenue between 25th , 30th streets has become known curry hill.

in manhattan, uptown means north (more precisely north-northeast, direction island , street grid system oriented) , downtown means south (south-southwest). usage differs of american cities, downtown refers central business district. manhattan has 2 central business districts, financial district @ southern tip of island, , midtown manhattan. term uptown refers northern part of manhattan above 72nd street , downtown southern portion below 14th street, midtown covering area in between, though definitions can rather fluid depending on situation.

fifth avenue bisects manhattan island , acts demarcation line east/west designations (e.g., east 27th street, west 42nd street); street addresses start @ fifth avenue , increase heading away fifth avenue, @ rate of 100 per block on streets. south of waverly place, fifth avenue terminates , broadway becomes east/west demarcation line. though grid start 1st street, north of houston street (the southernmost street divided in west , east portions; pronounced how-stin), grid not take hold until north of 14th street, east-west streets numerically identified, increase south north 220th street, highest numbered street on island. streets in midtown one-way, few exceptions being busiest cross-town thoroughfares (14th, 23rd, 34th, , 42nd streets, example), bidirectional across width of manhattan island. rule of thumb odd-numbered streets run west, while even-numbered streets run east.