Access Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan from One World Observatory: the avenues running north to the Empire State Building, with the Hudson and East Rivers on either side
MANHATTAN · NEW YORK CITY

An island thirteen miles long, drawn in 1811 as a grid of twelve avenues and some two thousand blocks.

The smallest and most crowded of New York City's five boroughs: Lenape land, a Dutch trading post from 1624, and since 1811 a city built block by block on one plan.

Photo: Christian David, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The plan1811

Thirteen miles long, twelve avenues wide

An island between two rivers

Manhattan is the smallest of New York City's five boroughs and the most densely populated: about 1.7 million people on some 23 square miles. The island runs about 13.4 miles from north to south and is 2.3 miles across at its widest, between the Hudson River and the East River. North of Houston Street almost all of it is laid out on the grid of 1811, which is why the grid gets a page of its own. Two of the city's airports are in Queens and the third is in New Jersey (getting here); on the island you get around on foot and by a subway that runs all day and all night. It is a borough of neighborhoods, which is most of where to stay.

Lenape land, a Dutch post, a plan

Before Europeans came the island was part of Lenapehoking, the land of the Lenape; its name most likely comes from their word for a place to gather wood for bows. A Dutch trading settlement began in 1624, and from 1625 Fort Amsterdam rose at the southern tip, the start of New Amsterdam. In 1811 the Commissioners' Plan drew the streets and avenues all the way north to 155th Street, and it took about sixty years to build them out. Manhattan became one of the five boroughs in 1898. Begin with the sights; the other boroughs are for day trips, and the towers have decks at the top from which you see all five (the views).

The weather, the table and the tickets

Summers are long, hot and humid and winters moderately cold, with snow on occasion (when to come). The ferry to the Statue's pedestal and crown, the observation decks and Broadway are the things to book (booking ahead). The island has its own food, from the bagel to pastrami on rye (eating and drinking), and an itinerary for every length of stay.

Schematic map of Manhattan turned so the 1811 grid sits square: the island between the Hudson and the East River, the wide cross streets of the plan, Broadway's diagonal, Central Park, the homepage walk, and the eighteen sights, numbered as in the index142334425772798696106116125135145155HUDSON RIVEREAST RIVERUPPER NEW YORK BAYNew Jersey — across the HudsonBrooklyn and Queens — day tripsCentral ParkBroadway123456789101112131415161718
  1. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
  2. Wall Street and Trinity Church
  3. The 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center
  4. The Brooklyn Bridge
  5. Chinatown and the Lower East Side
  6. Washington Square and Greenwich Village
  7. The High Line
  8. The Flatiron Building and Madison Square
  9. The Empire State Building
  10. Grand Central Terminal
  11. The Chrysler Building
  12. The New York Public Library and Bryant Park
  13. Times Square
  14. Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral
  15. Central Park
  16. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  17. The Guggenheim
  18. The Cloisters
Schematic, not to scale — turned 29° so the 1811 grid sits square: the avenues run along the island, the numbered lines are the plan's wide cross streets, the diagonal is Broadway, the dashed line the walk below, the numbered squares the sights.

Along the street42

A walk through the city

West along 42nd Street from Lexington Avenue, then north up Fifth Avenue to the park: six stops, seventeen blocks uptown, and the whole of Midtown on one straight line and one right angle.

The walk drawn on the grid: west along 42nd Street from Lexington Avenue past Grand Central and the library to Times Square, east to Rockefeller Center, and north up Fifth Avenue to Central Park at 59th StreetLexingtonParkMadisonFifthSixthSeventh42 St45 St47 St50 St53 St57 St59 StBroadway123456Central Park
  1. The steel eagle heads leaning out from the Chrysler Building's upper corners
    The steel eagle heads leaning out from the Chrysler Building's upper cornersWilliam Wachter waktr, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
    Lexington · 42 St

    The steel crown at Lexington Avenue

    Start at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, under the Chrysler Building: 1,046 feet of Art Deco steel and brick, the world's first supertall skyscraper and the tallest building in the world for eleven months after it was finished in 1930.

  2. The Main Concourse of Grand Central Terminal, looking west
    The Main Concourse of Grand Central Terminal, looking west4300streetcar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
    Park · 42 St

    The terminal on Park Avenue

    A block west, Grand Central Terminal straddles Park Avenue. It opened in 1913, and its Main Concourse is 275 feet long, 120 feet wide and 125 feet high. It is still a railroad terminal, and one of the most visited places in the world.

  3. The McGraw Rotunda inside the library on Fifth Avenue
    The McGraw Rotunda inside the library on Fifth Avenuebryansjs, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
    Fifth · 42 St

    The lions on Fifth Avenue

    Two blocks on, at Fifth Avenue, the New York Public Library opened in 1911 behind a pair of stone lions. Behind it lies Bryant Park, on the site of the old Croton Reservoir.

  4. Times Square looking north, crowds on the red chairs of the plaza
    Times Square looking north, crowds on the red chairs of the plazaDough4872, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
    Seventh · 45 St

    The bowtie at Broadway

    Keep west to where Broadway cuts across Seventh Avenue: Times Square, a bowtie of plazas five blocks long between 42nd and 47th Streets, named in 1904 for The New York Times and constantly lit. Broadway was a road before the grid, which is why it runs across it on a diagonal.

  5. Prometheus above the sunken plaza at Rockefeller Center
    Prometheus above the sunken plaza at Rockefeller CenterAlberto-g-rovi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
    Fifth · 50 St

    The plaza between Fifth and Sixth

    Walk east along the forties to Rockefeller Center, fourteen Art Deco buildings from the 1930s around a sunken plaza. Across Fifth Avenue stands St. Patrick's Cathedral, dedicated in 1879.

  6. Central Park from Gapstow Bridge, looking south to the towers on 59th Street
    Central Park from Gapstow Bridge, looking south to the towers on 59th StreetDough4872, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
    Fifth · 59 St

    The corner of the park at 59th Street

    Finish nine blocks north, at Grand Army Plaza, where Fifth Avenue meets 59th Street and the southeast corner of Central Park: 843 acres that run two and a half miles north to 110th Street.

Before you go3

Three things to know first

United States · New YorkAbout 1.7 million peopleEnglishUS dollarDutch trading post 1624A borough of New York City since 1898

Eleven parts and a journal12

The parts of this guide

  1. The SightsEighteen places, one page eachThe SightsFrom the harbor to Fort Tryon Park: what each one is, what you see there, and where it stands on the grid.
  2. Getting HereThree airports and two great stationsGetting HereTwo airports in Queens and one in New Jersey, Penn Station and Grand Central, and the bus terminal on Eighth Avenue — which to use, and how each reaches the island.
  3. Getting AroundThe subway, the ferry, the tram and your feetGetting AroundHow the subway works and never stops, the free ferry across the harbor, the aerial tram to Roosevelt Island, bikes and taxis, and why walking is the fastest way to see it.
  4. The GridHow to read an addressThe GridAvenues run north, streets run across, twenty blocks make a mile, and Broadway ignores all of it — the 1811 plan, and how to find anything on it.
  5. The ViewsFive ways to the topThe ViewsThe Empire State Building, the Top of the Rock, One World Observatory and the newer decks — what each one looks at, and which to choose.
  6. Booking AheadThe crown, the pedestal and the curtainBooking AheadWhat sells out: the Statue's pedestal and crown, timed observation decks, Broadway and the Met Opera — and what never needs a ticket.
  7. When to ComeHot summers, cold winters, two short seasonsWhen to ComeA humid summer, a cold and sometimes snowy winter, and the spring and fall between them; the two evenings when the sun sets straight down the cross streets.
  8. Eating & DrinkingWhat the island put on the tableEating & DrinkingThe bagel, the slice, pastrami on rye, the cheesecake and the street cart — where each came from and where it is still eaten.
  9. Where to StayA borough of neighborhoodsWhere to StayMidtown, the Upper West and Upper East Sides, the Village, SoHo, the Lower East Side and Harlem — each for a night or a week, drawn on a map.
  10. ItinerariesOne day, three, fiveItinerariesRoutes by the length of your stay, built around the ferry to the Statue, the museums' closing days and the walk between them.
  11. Day TripsAcross the riversDay TripsBrooklyn across the bridge, the beach at Coney Island, the gardens of the Bronx and the Hudson Valley — each a day off the island.
  12. The JournalQuestions answered at lengthThe JournalVisitor questions about Manhattan, answered in full, with new pieces as they are written.

From the harbor north18

All eighteen sights

Below the gridThe old town, where the streets still have names

  1. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis IslandNew York Harbor1The Statue of Liberty and Ellis IslandDedicated in 1886 on Liberty Island; Ellis Island processed about 12 million immigrants from 1892 to 1954.
  2. Wall Street and Trinity ChurchBroadway · Wall St2Wall Street and Trinity ChurchEight blocks from Broadway to the East River, named for a Dutch city wall that stood there from 1653 to 1699.
  3. The 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade CenterWest St · Vesey St3The 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade CenterTwo pools in the footprints of the Twin Towers, beside the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
  4. The Brooklyn BridgePark Row · City Hall4The Brooklyn BridgeOpened in 1883, the first fixed crossing of the East River, with a footpath raised between the roadways.
  5. Chinatown and the Lower East SideMott St · Canal St5Chinatown and the Lower East SideThe highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, beside the tenements of Orchard Street.
  6. Washington Square and Greenwich VillageFifth Ave · Washington Sq6Washington Square and Greenwich VillageA square of nine and three-quarter acres at the foot of Fifth Avenue, in a village older than the grid.

Where the numbers startFrom 14th to 34th Street

  1. The High LineGansevoort St → W 34 St7The High LineA park nearly a mile and a half long on a freight railroad spur, from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street.
  2. The Flatiron Building and Madison SquareFifth Ave · Broadway · E 23 St8The Flatiron Building and Madison SquareA 22-story triangle of 1902 on the block where Broadway crosses Fifth Avenue.
  3. The Empire State BuildingFifth Ave · W 34 St9The Empire State BuildingBuilt in 1930 and 1931, 1,454 feet tall to the tip of its antenna.

Forty-second Street and upMidtown, from the terminal to the plaza

  1. Grand Central TerminalPark Ave · E 42 St10Grand Central TerminalOpened in 1913, its Main Concourse 275 feet long and 125 feet high.
  2. The Chrysler BuildingLexington Ave · E 42 St11The Chrysler Building1,046 feet of Art Deco steel and brick, the world's tallest building for 11 months after 1930.
  3. The New York Public Library and Bryant ParkFifth Ave · E 41 St12The New York Public Library and Bryant ParkA Beaux-Arts library of 1911 guarded by two stone lions, on the site of the Croton Reservoir.
  4. Times SquareBroadway · Seventh Ave · W 42–47 St13Times SquareA bowtie of plazas five blocks long, renamed in 1904 for The New York Times.
  5. Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's CathedralFifth Ave · W 48–51 St14Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's CathedralFourteen original Art Deco buildings in a complex of 22 acres, facing a cathedral dedicated in 1879.

Above 59th StreetThe park, the museums and the north of the island

  1. Central Park59 St → 110 St15Central Park843 acres, two and a half miles long, the first landscaped park in the United States.
  2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art1000 Fifth Ave16The Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe largest art museum in the Americas, its first wing built in 1880.
  3. The GuggenheimFifth Ave · E 88–89 St17The GuggenheimFrank Lloyd Wright's spiral of 1959, fifteen years in the designing and building.
  4. The CloistersFort Tryon Park18The CloistersMedieval Europe on a hilltop in Fort Tryon Park, built around four cloisters brought from France.