Midtown Manhattan

Overview

Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, which serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, the headquarters of the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal, and Rockefeller Center, as well as several prominent tourist destinations, including Broadway, Times Square, and Koreatown. Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere. Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in the world and ranks among the world's most expensive locations for real estate; Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan has commanded the world's highest retail rents and had been ranked as the most expensive shopping street in the world before falling to second in 2024. Midtown Manhattan is the country's largest commercial, entertainment, and media center, and is also a growing financial and fintech center. Many of New York City's skyscrapers, including its tallest hotels and apartment towers, are located in Midtown Manhattan. The neighborhood hosts commuters and residents working in its offices, hotels, and retail establishments, as well as tourists and students. Times Square, the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District, is a major center of the world's entertainment industry. Sixth Avenue also has the headquarters of three of the four major U.S. television networks. Midtown is part of Manhattan Community District 5. It is patrolled by the 14th and 18th precincts of the New York City Police Department.

Location

Geographically, the northern boundary of Midtown Manhattan is commonly defined to be 59th Street; its southern boundary is less clear, and is variously taken to be 34th Street, 23rd Street, or even 14th Street. Midtown spans the entire island of Manhattan along an east–west axis, bounded by the East River on its east and the Hudson River to its west. The Encyclopedia of New York City defines Midtown as extending from 34th Street to 59th Street and from 3rd Avenue to 8th Avenue.

Neighborhoods

In addition to its central business district, Midtown Manhattan encompasses many neighborhoods, including Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea on the West Side, and Murray Hill, Kips Bay, Turtle Bay, and Gramercy Park on the East Side. It is sometimes broken into "Midtown East" and "Midtown West", or north and south as in the New York City Police Department's Midtown North and Midtown South precincts. Neighborhoods in the Midtown area include the following:

Between 59th Street to the north and 42nd Street to the south, from west to east: Hell's Kitchen from the Hudson River to 8th Avenue, including Theatre Row on West 42nd Street between 11th Avenue and 9th Avenue, where Hell's Kitchen meets Central Park and the Upper West Side at West 59th Street and 8th Avenue, Columbus Circle Times Square and the Theater District from West 42nd Street to around West 53rd Street (according to some until Central Park at Central Park South/59th Street), and from Eighth Avenue to 6th Avenue The Diamond District on West 47th Street between 6th Avenue and 5th Avenue Midtown East from around 6th Avenue to the East River, including (going from west to east, and north to south): Sutton Place near the East River between East 53rd Street and East 59th Street Turtle Bay from 53rd Street to 42nd Street and from Lexington Avenue to the East River Tudor City from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue and East 40th Street to East 43rd Street Between 42nd Street north and around 34th Street, from west to east, and north to south: Hell's Kitchen from the Hudson River to 8th Avenue The Garment District from West 42nd Street to West 34th Street and from 9th Avenue to 5th Avenue Herald Square around the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and West 34th Street Murray Hill from East 42nd Street to East 34th Street and Fifth Avenue to Second Avenue Between 34th Street and 23rd Street, from west to east: Chelsea, between the Hudson River and Sixth Avenue Koreatown from 36th Street to 31st Street and 5th and 6th Avenues centered on "Korea Way" on 32nd Street between 5th Avenue and Broadway Rose Hill or Curry Hill between Madison Avenue and 3rd Avenue Kips Bay from 3rd Avenue to the East River Between 23rd Street and 14th Street, going west to east and north to south: Chelsea, between the Hudson River and 6th Avenue The Meatpacking District in the southwesternmost corner of Midtown, to the south of West 15th Street Madison Square and the Flatiron District, the area surrounding the intersection of Broadway, 5th Avenue, and 23rd Street. Union Square, to the northeast of the intersection of Broadway, East 14th Street, and Park Avenue South Gramercy from East 23rd Street to East 14th Street and Lexington Avenue to 1st Avenue Peter Cooper Village from East 23rd Street to East 20th Street and 1st Avenue to Avenue C (parallel the East River) Stuyvesant Town from East 20th Street to East 14th Street and 1st Avenue to Avenue C Midtown is the original district in the United States to bear the name and included historical but now defunct neighborhoods such as the Ladies' Mile, along Fifth Avenue from 14th to 23rd Street; and the Tenderloin, from 23rd to 42nd Street and from Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue.

Avenues

Important streets and thoroughfares

Broadway 34th Street 42nd Street

Differing demarcations

The border of Midtown Manhattan is nebulous and further confused by the fact that the term "Midtown Manhattan" can be used to refer either to a district or a group of neighborhoods and districts in Manhattan:

The area between 14th and 86th Streets includes roughly the center of Manhattan; however, the term Midtown Manhattan can also apply to the area between 31st Street and 59th Streets, although there are still office buildings south of 31st Street. Manhattan Community District 5 is located from 14th to 59th Streets, generally between Lexington Avenue and Eighth Avenue. Community District 5 is largely coterminous with Midtown but also includes the Flatiron District, NoMad, Union Square, and parts of Gramercy Park and Rose Hill. Midtown proper (within the boundaries of Manhattan Community District 5, and excluding overlapping neighborhoods) is located from 34th to 59th Streets between Third Avenue and Eighth Avenue. The "Plaza District", a term used by Manhattan real estate professionals to denote the most expensive area of midtown from a commercial real estate perspective, lies between 42nd Street and 59th Street, from 3rd Avenue to 7th Avenue, about a square kilometer or half a square mile. "Midtown South" can refer to the part of Midtown between 23rd Street and around 42nd Street (although its northern boundary is defined differently depending on the source). "Midtown West" can refer to the area between 34th and 59th Streets, and between 5th and 12th Avenues. "Midtown East" can refer to the area between 42nd and 59th Streets, and between 5th Avenue and the East River. In 1982, the City of New York identified the "Manhattan Core" as the area that includes some of the city's most populous neighborhoods, major institutions, parks and transit hubs, and the city's primary Central Business District (CBD), defined as Manhattan below 60th Street. The "Manhattan Core" includes some areas slightly further north of 86th Street in Manhattan, as well as the area below 14th Street. However, this definition is problematic because it ignores the fact that Manhattan has not one but two zones that are job centers, which are separated by a wide swath of low-rise (by New York City standards) residential development: Midtown (which is in Midtown Manhattan) and the Financial District (also known simply as "Downtown" because of its location in southern Manhattan). In other sources, these districts are referred to as separate central business districts.

Economy

Midtown Manhattan, along with Lower Manhattan, is one of the world's leading financial centers.

Corporate headquarters

Midtown Manhattan is the world's largest central business district, with 400 million square feet (37.2 million m2) of office space in 2018. Midtown contains the headquarters of major companies, including 4Kids Entertainment (formerly), Barnes & Noble, Bloomberg L.P., Ernst & Young, Calvin Klein, Cantor Fitzgerald, CBS Corporation, Citigroup, Colgate-Palmolive, Cushman & Wakefield, DC Comics, Deloitte, Duane Reade, Estée Lauder Companies, Foot Locker, Frederator Studios, JPMorgan Chase, Hess Corporation, Kroll Inc., L-3 Communications, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Marvel Entertainment, MetLife, MidOcean Partners, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, Inc., NBCUniversal, The New York Times Company, NexCen Brands, Paramount Global, Pfizer, Polo Ralph Lauren, Saks Incorporated (Saks Fifth Avenue), The Sharper Image, Simon & Schuster, Six Flags, TBWA Worldwide, Thomson Reuters, Warner Bros. Discovery, Time Warner Cable, The Travelers Companies, and Univision Communications. The New York Institute of Finance is located in Midtown Manhattan.

Foreign subsidiary operations

Haier operates its United States offices in the Haier Building at 1356 Broadway, formerly the headquarters of the Greenwich Savings Bank. Haier held the opening ceremony on March 4, 2002. Sumitomo Corporation operates its New York office, the headquarters of the corporation's United States operations, at 600 Third Avenue, 10016 in the Murray Hill neighborhood. El Al's North American headquarters are in Midtown. The Air France USA regional headquarters are in 125 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Hachette Book Group USA has its headquarters in 237 Park Avenue. In 1994 Alitalia considered moving its USA headquarters from Midtown to Lower Manhattan, but decided to keep the offices where they were at the last minute. Global Infrastructure Partners has an office in Midtown Manhattan.

Sports leagues

Midtown Manhattan is home to the headquarters of Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, the National Women's Soccer League, and the Women's National Basketball Association.

Tech and biotech

Silicon Alley, the common metonym for New York City's high tech sector, is based in Midtown South, specifically the Flatiron District. Prominent Silicon Alley companies in Midtown include AppNexus, Blue Apron, Gilt, Betterment, Oscar, SoFi, Rent the Runway, Warby Parker, and WeWork. The technology sector has been expanding across Midtown Manhattan since 2010. The biotechnology sector is also growing in Midtown Manhattan based upon the city's strength in academic scientific research and public and commercial financial support. By mid-2014, Accelerator, a biotech investment firm, had raised more than US$30 million from investors, including Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, for initial funding to create biotechnology startups at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, which encompasses more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m2) on East 29th Street and promotes collaboration among scientists and entrepreneurs at the center and with nearby academic, medical, and research institutions. The New York City Economic Development Corporation's Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative and venture capital partners, including Celgene, General Electric Ventures, and Eli Lilly, committed a minimum of US$100 million to help launch 15 to 20 ventures in life sciences and biotechnology.

Real estate

Real estate is a major force in Midtown Manhattan's economy, and indeed the city's, as the total value of all New York City property was estimated at US$914.8 billion for the 2015 fiscal year. Manhattan has perennially been home to some of the nation's, as well as one of the world's, most marketable real estate, including the Time Warner Center, which had the highest-listed market value in the city in 2006 at US$1.1 billion, to be subsequently surpassed in October 2014 by the Waldorf Astoria New York, which became the most expensive hotel ever sold after being purchased by the Anbang Insurance Group, based in China, for US$1.95 billion. In the same year, six of the top ten most expensive zip codes in the United States by median housing price were located in Manhattan, underscoring the borough's dominant position in the real estate market. When 450 Park Avenue was sold on July 2, 2007, for US$510 million, about US$1,589 per square foot (US$17,104/m2), it broke the barely month-old record for an American office building of US$1,476 per square foot (US$15,887/m2) based on the sale of 660 Madison Avenue. In 2014, Manhattan was home to six of the top ten zip codes in the United States by median housing price. In 2019, the most expensive home sale ever in the United States achieved completion in Midtown Manhattan, at a selling price of US$238 million, for a 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m2) penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park at 220 Central Park South. The COVID-19 pandemic and hybrid work models have prompted consideration of commercial-to-residential conversion within the neighborhood's real estate sector. In August 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced a program aimed at creating "a 24/7, live-work, mixed-use neighborhood" in Midtown South though the conversion of commercial and office space to residential, as part of an effort to create 20,000 new residences citywide in a decade.

Broadway theatre

According to The Broadway League, shows on Broadway sold approximately US$1.54 billion worth of tickets in both the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 seasons. Both seasons featured theater attendance of approximately 12.3 million each.