Before you even been to look for an apartment, you need to know how to orient yourself in New York.  This is easier than most people imagine. Here it is:

New York City is composed of five different boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island.

Many people who work in Manhattan commute from the other boroughs and from Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and upstate New York. However, a great many people relocating to our area, and those working in New York City, want to live closer to the center of activity and to their jobs...in Manhattan.

Manhattan is an island oriented north-south with Central Park in the middle. The City is organized on a grid pattern: avenues run north-south, and streets run east-west.  Street numbers descend toward the south (downtown). There are exceptions to these rules, and avenues some-times end or change their names; for example, Eighth Avenue becomes Central Park West at 59th Street, where Central Park begins. The grid concept, however, is fairly regular throughout Manhattan, north of Greenwich Village.

Fifth Avenue, which runs along the East Side of Central Park, is the dividing line between the East Side and the West Side. Midtown is the area between 34th and 65th Streets. Uptown is above Midtown (to the north) and Downtown is below (to the south).

As mentioned earlier, the basic grid structure of the streets ceases when you reach Greenwich Village (at about 8th Street). The pattern is broken here because this area is the oldest part of the City, and the streets were developed in the 17th and 18th centuries in a random fashion (along cow paths, for example). Below the Village, Houston Street (pronounced “How-ston”) marks the end of the numbered streets. Below Houston, streets are named.

If I can be of further assistance please feel free to contact me via e-mail at jhicks@JOH9.COM , my partner Jeff Kelson via e-mail at jkelson@JOH9.COM or call 212-946-1102.
 

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