Manhattan, a borough of New York City, is located in the southern region of New York State, United States. Located mostly on Manhattan Island, the borough also encompasses the mainland neighborhood of Marble Hill as well as many islands in the East River.
Upper New York Bay to the south, the East River to the east, the Hudson River to the west, and the Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the northeast form its borders. It’s common for people to think of New York City and immediately think of Manhattan.
When it comes to commerce, finance, and culture, Manhattan is among the world’s most important hubs. It is well-known for its abundance of tourist attractions.
These include Broadway, one of the world’s most famous streets; the financial district of Wall Street; skyscrapers like the Empire State Building, neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, Harlem, and Central Park; the headquarters of the United Nations.
And numerous cultural and educational institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the famous Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Opera House, Columbia University, two campuses of the City University of New York, and New York University.
The 2.3 million people who call Manhattan home come from all across the New York metropolitan region and make up roughly two-thirds of the city’s workforce. Moreover, half of all earnings in the borough are contributed by the banking industry’s 280,000 employees. The term “Wall Street” has come to stand for the whole financial sector. Most of the nation’s corporate headquarters may be found in New York City, with the vast majority situated in Manhattan. The financial hub of the United States is located in Midtown Manhattan.
The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ are located in Lower Manhattan, which is the second-largest central business area in the United States (after Chicago’s Loop).
Manhattan is home to seven out of the top eight worldwide advertising agency networks. Since Sixth Avenue (later renamed Madison Avenue) became linked with the thriving advertising sector during the area’s dramatic expansion in the 1920s, the term “Madison Avenue” is commonly used to refer to the whole advertising field.
Many smaller businesses have historically existed alongside these corporate giants, but the current inflow of major chain stores has many residents of Manhattan worried about the city’s increasing homogeneity.
History of Manhattan in New York City
Local Indians (variously identified by historians as having related to the Lenape, Delaware, Munsee, or Algonquin people) sold the island to Peter Minuit, the first governor of New Netherland province, in 1626 for probably 60 guilders, then valued about 1.5 pounds (0.7 kg) of silver in trade goods.
Incorporated as the city of New York in 1653, the island fell under English control in 1664. After being taken over by the British, it was renamed New York City and quickly became an important political and military center for the fledgling nation.
George Washington was inaugurated as the foremost president of the United States on the site in 1789, and Congress convened there from 1785 to 1790. Manhattan became the thriving center of a rapidly growing city in the nineteenth century, especially when the Erie Canal was completed in 1825. In 1898, the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Richmond, and the Bronx were established, joining Manhattan to form Greater New York.
Different districts of Manhattan in New York City
Located at the tip of the southern tip of Manhattan Island, Lower Manhattan is the birthplace of New York City. The government and the commercial community are both located here. South of 14th Street defines the southern end of Lower Manhattan.
From 14th Street to 59th Street, in the southern half of Central Park, is what is known as Midtown Manhattan. Beginning at 33rd Street, where the iconic Empire State Building is located, it is the city’s most recognizable and skyscraper-rich neighborhood.
Central Park and 96th Street mark the northern boundary of Upper Manhattan. The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and Columbia University can also be found in this western section.
Harlem is the region between 155th Street and the border with Upper Manhattan. The Apollo Theater is located on 125th Street, making it the most well-known thoroughfare in the area.
Washington Heights is a neighborhood in upper Manhattan, north of 220th Street. It was named after Fort Washington, a fort constructed in the 1800s to keep off British invasion.
Attractions and Highlights of Manhattan in New York City
Manhattan and the island are home to 90% of New York City’s top tourist attractions. The section north of 31st Street is known as Midtown and is where the majority of the borough’s action takes place. The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Times Square, the Museum of Modern Art, and many more famous landmarks may all be found in the Manhattan Borough of the city of New York.
Historically and economically, Lower Manhattan has always been important since it is now home to the financial district that has a disproportionate impact on the global economy and on Wall Street.