Manhattan in the context of One Madison

A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructure and housing. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple principal cities, jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, boroughs, cities, towns, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts and even states and nations in areas like the eurodistricts. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.

In the United States, metropolitan areas are delineated around the core of a core based statistical area, which is defined as an urban area and includes central and outlying counties. In other countries metropolitan areas are sometimes anchored by one central city such as the Paris metropolitan area (Paris). In other cases, metropolitan areas contain multiple centers of equal or close to equal importance, especially in the United States; for example, the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area has eight principal cities. The Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area in Pakistan, the Rhine-Ruhr in Germany, and the Randstad in The Netherlands are other examples.

A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition, but the following may serve as a starting point: "Neighbourhood is generally defined spatially as a specific geographic area and functionally as a set of social networks. Neighbourhoods, then, are the spatial units in which face-to-face social interactions occur—the personal settings and situations where residents seek to realise common values, socialise youth, and maintain effective social control."

Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land area. The island extends from New York Harbor 118 miles (190 km) eastward into the ocean with a maximum north–south width of 23 miles (37 km). With a land area of 1,401 square miles (3,630 km), it is the largest island in the contiguous United States and the 11th largest island in the U.S.

Long Island is divided among four counties with Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, and Nassau counties occupying its western third and Suffolk County its eastern two-thirds. To what extent Brooklyn and Queens are considered with Long Island is a matter of debate. Geographically, both Kings and Queens county are located on the Island, but some argue they are culturally separate from Long Island. Long Island may refer both to the main island and the surrounding outer barrier islands. Long Island is separated from Manhattan Island and the Bronx by the East River tidal estuary in the west part of the island. North of the island is Long Island Sound, across which lie Westchester County, New York, and the state of Connecticut. Across the Block Island Sound to the northeast is the state of Rhode Island. Block Island, which is part of Rhode Island, and numerous smaller islands extend farther into the Atlantic Ocean. To the extreme southwest, Long Island, at Brooklyn, is separated from Staten Island and the state of New Jersey by Upper New York Bay, The Narrows, and Lower New York Bay.

In urban planning, a historic core city or central city is the municipality with the largest 1940 population in the present metropolitan area (metropolitan statistical area). This term was retired by the US census bureau and replaced by the term principal city, which can include historic core cities and post-WWII cities. Metropolitan areas were no longer considered monocentric, but polycentric due to suburbanization of employment. A historic core city is not to be confused with the core of a metropolitan area which is defined as an urban area with a population of over 50,000 by the US census bureau.

Historic core cites in the United States often have higher detached single family housing rates, lower density, and fewer jobs than surrounding satellite cities and suburbs. A central city is usually the first settlement established in an urban region, years before the outlying districts came into existence. These cities typically contain less economic activity and more crime than their surrounding areas. Central cities often form the regional downtowns of metro areas. The term is used mainly in US context, although since the 1970s it has also become relatively common in Canada and, to a lesser extent, Europe and Australia.

An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. They may be independent or operate within a larger institution, such as a university. Some may be associated with an art museum.

Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-secondary, undergraduate or graduate programs, and can also offer a broad-based range of programs (such as the liberal arts and sciences). In the West there have been six major periods of art school curricula, and each one has had its own hand in developing modern institutions worldwide throughout all levels of education. Art schools also teach a variety of non-academic skills to many students.

The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City, serving four of the city's five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 27, 1904, the New York City Subway is one of the world's oldest public transit systems, one of the most-used, and the one with the second-most stations after the Beijing Subway, with 472 stations in operation (423, if stations connected by transfers are counted as single stations).

The system has operated 24/7 service every day of the year throughout most of its history, barring emergencies and disasters. By annual ridership, the New York City Subway is the busiest rapid transit system in both the Western Hemisphere and the Western world, as well as the ninth-busiest rapid transit rail system in the world. The subway carried 2,040,132,000 unlinked, non-unique riders in 2024. Daily ridership has been calculated since 1985; the record, over 6.2 million, was set on October 29, 2015.

Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the sixth-largest park in the city, containing 843 acres (341 ha), and the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually as of 2016. Central Park is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation but has been managed by the Central Park Conservancy since 1998 under a contract with the government of New York City in a public–private partnership. The conservancy, a non-profit organization, sets Central Park's annual operating budget and is responsible for care of the park.

The creation of a large park in Manhattan was first proposed in the 1840s, and a 778-acre (315 ha) park approved in 1853. In 1858, landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition for the park with their "Greensward Plan". Construction began in 1857; existing structures, including a majority-Black settlement named Seneca Village, were seized through eminent domain and razed. The park's first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in 1859, and the park was completed in 1876. After a period of decline in the early 20th century, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park in the 1930s. The Central Park Conservancy, created in 1980 to combat further deterioration in the late 20th century, refurbished many parts of the park starting in the 1980s.

Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving 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.

New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States.

New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, which is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey, municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne, although in colloquial usage it can sometimes expand to cover Upper and Lower New York Bay. New York Harbor is one of the largest natural harbors in the world.

The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.

All five boroughs of New York came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (then including the Bronx), Kings County, Richmond County, and part of Queens County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter. All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were dissolved.

The economy of New York City encompasses the largest municipal and regional economy in the United States. In 2023, the New York City Metropolitan Area generated a GMP of US$2.299 trillion. Anchored by Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City has been characterized as the world's premier fintech and financial center. The city is home to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, on Wall Street) and Nasdaq (headquartered in Times Square), the world's two largest stock exchanges by both market capitalization and trading activity.

New York City, with its center in Manhattan, is the world's leading center of banking, finance, and communication. Many of the world's largest corporations are headquartered in Manhattan. The borough contained over 500 million square feet (46.5 million m) of office space in 2015, making it the largest office market in the United States. Midtown Manhattan, with nearly 400 million square feet (37.2 million m) that same year, is the largest central business district in the world. New York City is distinctive for its high concentrations of advanced service sector firms in the law, accountancy, banking, and management consultancy fields. It is the top global center for the advertising industry, which is metonymously called "Madison Avenue". Silicon Alley, metonymous for New York's broad-spectrum high technology sphere, continues to expand.

Topography is the study of forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.

Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary science, and is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief, but also natural, artificial, and cultural features such as roads, land boundaries, and buildings. In the United States, topography often means specifically relief, even though the USGS topographic maps record not just elevation contours, but also roads, populated places, structures, land boundaries, and so on.

During its four-century history, New York City has been known by a variety of alternative names and euphemisms, both officially and unofficially. Frequently shortened to simply "New York", "NY", or "NYC", New York City is also known as "The City" in some parts of the Eastern United States, in particular, the State of New York and surrounding U.S. states. New Yorkers also use "The City" to refer specifically to the borough of Manhattan.

Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River and West Street to the west, and Sixth Avenue to the east, with its northern boundary variously described as near the upper 20sor 34th Street, the next major crosstown street to the north. To the northwest of Chelsea is the neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, as well as Hudson Yards; to the northeast are the Garment District and the remainder of Midtown South; to the east are NoMad and the Flatiron District; to the southwest is the Meatpacking District; and to the south and southeast are the West Village and the remainder of Greenwich Village. Chelsea was named after an estate in the area which, in turn, was named after the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London which, in its turn, was named after the Chelsea District of London (England).

Chelsea contains the Chelsea Historic District and its extension, which were designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1970 and 1981 respectively. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and expanded in 1982 to include contiguous blocks containing particularly significant examples of period architecture.

Brooklyn is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located at the westernmost end of Long Island and formerly an independent city, Brooklyn shares a land border with the borough and county of Queens. It has several bridge and tunnel connections to the borough of Manhattan, across the East River, including the architecturally significant Brooklyn Bridge, and is connected to Staten Island by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

The borough, as Kings County, at 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km), is the second most densely populated county in the U.S. after Manhattan (New York County), and the most populous county in the state, as of 2022. In the 2020 United States census, the borough had a population of 2,736,074. Had Brooklyn remained an independent city on Long Island, it would now be the fourth most populous American city after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. With a land area of 69.38 square miles (179.7 km) and a water area of 27.48 square miles (71.2 km), Kings County, one of the twelve original counties established under British rule in 1683 in the then-province of New York, is the state of New York's fourth-smallest county by land area and third smallest by total area.

Queens is the largest by area of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn and by Nassau County to its east, and shares maritime borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as with New Jersey. Queens is the most linguistically diverse place in the world, as well as one of the most ethnically diverse.

With a population of 2,405,464 as of the 2020 census, Queens is the second-most populous county in New York state, behind Kings County (Brooklyn), and is therefore also the second-most populous of the five New York City boroughs. If Queens were its own city, it would be the fourth most-populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Queens is the fourth-most densely populated borough in New York City and the fourth-most densely populated U.S. county. Queens is highly diverse with approximately 47% of its residents being foreign-born.

The Bronx (/brɒŋks/ BRONKS) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. The borough shares a land border with Westchester County, New York to its north; to its south and west, the New York City borough of Manhattan lies across the Harlem River; and to its south and east is the borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx, the only New York City borough located primarily on the U.S. mainland, has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km) and a population of 1,472,654 at the 2020 census. It has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density of the boroughs.

The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a hillier section in the west, and a flatter eastern section. East and west street names are divided by Jerome Avenue. The West Bronx was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. Bronx County was separated from New York County (modern-day Manhattan) in 1914. About a quarter of the Bronx's area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the borough's north and center. The Thain Family Forest at the New York Botanical Garden is thousands of years old and is New York City's largest remaining tract of the original forest that once covered the city. These open spaces are primarily on land reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north and east from Manhattan. The Bronx is also home to Yankee Stadium of Major League Baseball.