Manhattan: Difference between revisions

{{about|the New York City borough}}

{{good article}}

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| official_name =

| other_name = New York County

| settlement_type = [[Boroughs of New York City|Borough]] and [[List of counties in New York|county]]

| total_type = <!-- to set a non-standard label for total area and population rows -->

| image_skyline = Above Gotham.jpg

| imagesize = 300

| image_caption = [[Midtown Manhattan]], the world's largest [[central business district]], in the foreground, with [[Lower Manhattan]] and its [[Financial District (Manhattan)|Financial District]] in the background

| mapsize =

| map_caption = Interactive map outlining Manhattan

| mapsize1 =

| image_flag = Flag_of_the_Borough_of_Manhattan.svg

| flag_size = 130px

| blank_emblem_type =

| blank_emblem_size =

| pushpin_label_position = left

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| subdivision_name = {{flag|United States}}

| subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]

| p2 = <!-- etc. up to p50: for separate parts to be listed-->

 

| government_type = [[Borough (New York City)]]

| leader_title = [[Borough President]]

| established_date = 1624

 

| area_footnotes = <ref name=CensusArea>[http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/county_sub_list_34.txt 2010 Census Gazetteer Files: New York County Subdivisions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616193236/https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/county_sub_list_34.txt?sec_ak_reference=18.e60fea5.1559978646.1c6f833e |date=June 16, 2019 }}, [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed June 19, 2017.</ref>

| area_total_sq_mi = 33.58

 

 

| elevation_m =

| elevation_ft =

| elevation_max_footnotes = <ref>[[Bennett Park (New York City)|Manhattan High Point]]</ref>

| elevation_min_m =

| length_mi = 13

| width_mi = 2.3

| dimensions_footnotes = —width at 14th Street, widest

 

| population_footnotes = <ref name=QuickFacts/>

| population_note =

| population_demonyms = Manhattanite<ref>Moynihan, Colin. [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/19/nyregion/fyi-530409.html "F.Y.I."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417072347/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/19/nyregion/fyi-530409.html |date=April 17, 2020 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 19, 1999. Accessed December 17, 2019. "There are well-known names for inhabitants of four boroughs: Manhattanites, Brooklynites, Bronxites and Staten Islanders. But what are residents of Queens called?"</ref><br />Knickerbocker (historical)

 

 

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| timezone_DST = EDT

| utc_offset_DST = −04:00

| postal_code_type = [[ZIP Code]] format

| postal_code = 100xx, 101xx, 102xx

| footnotes =

}}

 

 

 

 

==History==

In 1647, [[Peter Stuyvesant]] was appointed as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667648/ ''Journal of New Netherland 1647. Written in the Years 1641, 1642, 1643, 1644, 1645, and 1646.''], [[Library of Congress]]. Accessed August 6, 2023. "The West India Company removed Kieft from his post in 1647 and replaced him with Peter Stuyvesant, the last director-general of New Netherland before the colony was taken over by the English in 1664."</ref> New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653.<ref>[http://council.nyc.gov/html/about/about.shtml About the Council] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212013515/http://council.nyc.gov/html/about/about.shtml |date=February 12, 2016 }}, [[New York City Council]]. Accessed May 18, 2007.</ref> In 1664, English forces conquered New Netherland and renamed it "New York" after the English [[James II of England|Duke of York and Albany]], the future King James II.<ref>[https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=101 New Netherlands Becomes New York], [[University of Houston]] Digital History. Accessed January 3, 2024. "In 1664, the English sent a fleet to seize New Netherlands, which surrendered without a fight. The English renamed the colony New York, after James, the Duke of York, who had received a charter to the territory from his brother King Charles II."</ref> In August 1673, the [[Reconquest of New Netherland|Dutch reconquered]] the colony, renaming it "New Orange", but permanently relinquished it back to England the following year under the terms of the [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|Treaty of Westminster]] that ended the [[Third Anglo-Dutch War]].<ref>Scheltema, Gajus and Westerhuijs, Heleen (eds.),''Exploring Historic Dutch New York''. Museum of the City of New York/Dover Publications, New York (2011). {{ISBN|978-0-486-48637-6}}</ref><ref>[https://www.history101.nyc/history-of-new-york-city-1600s "History of New York City - 1600s NYC"], History 101 NYC. Accessed January 3, 2024. "1673: A pivotal moment in New York City's history when Dutch forces briefly reclaimed it during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The city, captured by the English in 1664 and renamed New York, was temporarily dubbed New Orange in honor of William of Orange.... 1674: The Treaty of Westminster, signed in February, officially concluded the Third Anglo-Dutch War. This treaty marked a crucial turn in colonial history, transferring New York permanently to English control."</ref>

 

{{Further|American Revolution}}

Manhattan was at the heart of the [[New York and New Jersey campaign|New York Campaign]], a series of major battles in the early stages of the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The [[Continental Army]] was forced to abandon Manhattan after the [[Battle of Fort Washington]] on November 16, 1776.<ref>[https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/fort-washington Fort Washington], [[American Battlefield Trust]]. Accessed November 30, 2023. "Fought on November 16, 1776 on the island of Manhattan, the Battle of Fort Washington was the final devastating chapter in General Washington's disastrous New York Campaign.... At 3:00 P.M., after a fruitless attempt to gain gentler surrender terms for his men, Magaw surrendered Fort Washington and its 2,800 surviving defenders to the British."</ref> The city, greatly damaged by the [[Great Fire of New York (1776)|Great Fire of New York]] during the campaign, became the British military and political center of operations in North America for the remainder of the war.<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=8258 Fort Washington Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708181253/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=8258 |date=July 8, 2009 }}, [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]]. Accessed May 18, 2007.</ref> British occupation lasted until November 25, 1783, when [[George Washington]] returned to Manhattan, a day celebrated as [[Evacuation Day (New York)|Evacuation Day]], marking when the last British forces left the city.<ref>Axelson, Erik Peter.[http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/daily_plants/daily_plant_main.php?id=19733 "Happy Evacuation Day"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005121859/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/daily_plants/daily_plant_main.php?id=19733 |date=October 5, 2008 }}, [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]], November 23, 2005. Accessed December 24, 2023. "During the Revolutionary War, New York City was occupied by British forces (from September 15, 1776 to November 25, 1783). For generations afterward, New Yorkers celebrated its repatriation from the British as Evacuation Day."</ref>

 

[[File:Mulberry Street NYC c1900 LOC 3g04637u edit.jpg|thumb|Manhattan's [[Little Italy, Manhattan|Little Italy]] on the [[Lower East Side]], {{Circa|1900|lk=no}}]]

 

 

 

The [[Stonewall riots]] were a series of spontaneous, violent protests by members of the [[LGBT community|gay community]] against a [[police raid]] that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the [[Stonewall Inn]] in the [[Greenwich Village]] neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the [[gay liberation]] movement<ref name=GayGreenwichVillage1>{{cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/why-new-york-city-is-a-major-destination-for-lgbt-travelers/|title=Why New York City Is a Major Destination for LGBT Travelers|author=Julia Goicichea|publisher=The Culture Trip |date=August 16, 2017|access-date=February 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428024815/https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/why-new-york-city-is-a-major-destination-for-lgbt-travelers/|archive-date=April 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=KentuckyStonewall/> and the modern fight for [[LGBT rights by country or territory|LGBT rights]].<ref name=NPSStonewall/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/2012_Presidential_Election/Obama_inaugural_speech_references_Stonewall_riots.html|title=Obama inaugural speech references Stonewall gay-rights riots|publisher=North Jersey Media Group|date=January 21, 2013|access-date=July 20, 2014|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530065722/http://www.northjersey.com/news/2012_Presidential_Election/Obama_inaugural_speech_references_Stonewall_riots.html|archive-date=May 30, 2013}}</ref>

In the 1970s, job losses due to [[Deindustrialization|industrial restructuring]] caused New York City, including Manhattan, to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0402/at_intro.html|title=New York in the 70s: A Remembrance|author=Allan Tannenbaum|publisher=The Digital Journalist|access-date=July 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320194616/http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0402/at_intro.html|archive-date=March 20, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> While a resurgence in the [[financial industry]] greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through the decade and into the beginning of the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |author=Christopher Effgen |url=http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nycrime.htm |title=New York Crime Rates 1960–2009 |publisher=Disastercenter.com |date=September 11, 2001 |access-date=July 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629060042/http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nycrime.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The 1980s saw a rebirth of [[Wall Street]], and Manhattan reclaimed its role as the world's [[financial center]], with Wall Street employment doubling from 1977 to 1987.<ref>David, Greg. [https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100627/ANNIVERSARY/100629890/new-york-city-then-now "New York City: Then & Now"], ''[[Crain's New York]]'', June 27, 2010. Accessed December 3, 2023. "Still, Wall Street stands apart, not only as the engine of the city's rebirth and the dominant figure on the New York business landscape, but as the singular ingredient that the city can no longer live without, for better and for worse.... Back in 1977, Wall Street's ranks had been winnowed to 70,000, a decline of 30% during the decade. Those jobs accounted for only 5% of all the wages in the city.... The securities industry in the city more than doubled in size in the decade to 160,000. The pay its people received increased sixfold, accounting for almost 13% of all the wages in the city."</ref> The 1980s also saw Manhattan at the heart of the [[AIDS crisis]], with Greenwich Village at its epicenter.<ref>[https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/st-vincents-hospital-manhattan/ St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan], NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. Accessed December 3, 2023. "By the time HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was first identified in 1983, St. Vincent's had become the epicenter of the epidemic in New York City with patients overwhelming the emergency room, its hallways, and beds."</ref>

 

 

By the 1990s, crime rates began to drop dramatically<ref>Fagan, Jeffrey; Zimring, Franklin E.; and Kim, June. [https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=6979&context=jclc "Declining Homicide in New York City: A Tale of Two Trends"], ''[[Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology]]'', Summer 1998. Accessed December 3, 2023. "The peak year in Manhattan and the Bronx was 1990, while Brooklyn and Queens had their highest levels in 1991. Still, the temporal pattern during the late 1980s and early 1990s was pretty consistent across boroughs."</ref><ref>[https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2013/february/1990s-drop-in-nyc-crime-not-due-to-compstat-misdemeanor-arrests-study-finds.html "1990s Drop in NYC Crime Not Due to CompStat, Misdemeanor Arrests, Study Finds"], [[New York University]], February 4, 2013. Accessed December 3, 2023. "New York City experienced a historic decline in crime rates during the 1990s, but it was not due to the implementation of CompStat or enhanced enforcement of misdemeanor offenses, according to an analysis by NYU sociologist David Greenberg."</ref> and the city once again became the destination of immigrants from around the world, joining with low [[interest rate]]s and Wall Street [[bonus payment]]s to fuel the growth of the real estate market.<ref>Hevesi, Dennis. [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/16/realestate/in-much-of-the-city-a-robust-market.html "In Much of the City, A Robust Market"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328071307/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/16/realestate/in-much-of-the-city-a-robust-market.html |date=March 28, 2019 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 16, 1997. Accessed June 29, 2009.</ref> Important new sectors, such as [[Silicon Alley]], emerged in the [[Flatiron District]], cementing technology as a key component of Manhattan's economy.<ref>Gallagher, Fergal. [https://www.builtinnyc.com/2015/10/12/where-exactly-or-was-silicon-alley "The Mysterious Origins of the Term Silicon Alley Revealed"], Built in NYC, November 4, 2015. Accessed December 3, 2023. "The moniker 'Silicon Alley' first emerged in the mid-1990s as a way to group the wave of new media tech startups that were located around the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan near Madison Square Park. The physical alley refers to the corridor that connects Midtown to Lower Manhattan, running past the Flatiron building at Madison Square Park and Union Square towards Soho."</ref>

On October 29 and 30, 2012, [[Hurricane Sandy]] caused [[Effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York|extensive destruction]] in the borough, ravaging portions of Lower Manhattan with record-high [[storm surge]] from New York Harbor,<ref name="NYC after Sandy">{{cite news|last1=Long |first1=Colleen |last2=Peltz |first2=Jennifer |name-list-style=amp |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/water-fire-and-darkness-nyc-after-superstorm |title=Water, fire and darkness: NYC after the superstorm |agency=Associated Press |date=October 30, 2012 |access-date=September 19, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227224124/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/water-fire-and-darkness-nyc-after-superstorm |archive-date=December 27, 2012 }}</ref> severe flooding, and high winds, causing [[power outage]]s for hundreds of thousands of city residents<ref>{{cite news|title=Gas Lines Pop Up Citywide As Relief Efforts Continue |url=http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/171753/gas-lines-pop-up-citywide-as-relief-efforts-continue |publisher=NY1 |date=November 3, 2012 |access-date=November 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104192737/http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/171753/gas-lines-pop-up-citywide-as-relief-efforts-continue |archive-date=November 4, 2012 }}</ref> and leading to [[gasoline]] shortages<ref>{{cite news|title=Free Gas Draws Crowds In New York City; Gas Rationing Starts In New Jersey|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/11/03/164234992/gas-rationing-ordered-in-new-jersey |publisher=NPR |date=November 3, 2012|access-date=November 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105092300/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/11/03/164234992/gas-rationing-ordered-in-new-jersey|archive-date=November 5, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and disruption of [[mass transit]] systems.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tracking Storm Sandy Recovery|url=http://live.reuters.com/Event/Tracking_Storm_Sandy/54277687 |work=Reuters|date=October 30, 2012|access-date=October 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030061036/http://live.reuters.com/Event/Tracking_Storm_Sandy/54277687|archive-date=October 30, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Bhasin|first=Kim|title=MTA: In 108 Years, The NYC Subway System Has Never Faced A Disaster As Devastating As This|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-sandy-mta-subway-2012-10|website=Business Insider|date=October 30, 2012|access-date=September 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024031640/http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-sandy-mta-subway-2012-10 |archive-date=October 24, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hurricane Sandy forces mass transit closure, evacuations |url=http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19933026/mta-subways-ready-for-hurricane-sandy |publisher=MyFoxNY |date=November 12, 2012 |access-date=September 19, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029094330/http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19933026/mta-subways-ready-for-hurricane-sandy |archive-date=October 29, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{youTube|mhJrrGNvcFk|Raw: Sandy Leaves NYC Subways Flooded}}</ref> The storm and its profound impacts have prompted discussion of constructing [[seawall]]s and other [[coastal management|coastal barriers]] around the shorelines of the borough and the metropolitan area to minimize the risk of destructive consequences from another such event in the future.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 15, 2012 |url=http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/11/15/1 |title=Adaptation: Political support for a sea wall in New York Harbor begins to form|author=Robert S. Eshelman|publisher=E&E Publishing|access-date=December 2, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205101452/http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/11/15/1|archive-date=February 5, 2013}}</ref>

 

 

==Geography==

{{main|Demographics of Manhattan}}

[[File:Broadway Crowds (5896264776) crop.jpg|thumb|[[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]]. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 U.S. census]], Manhattan was the most densely populated [[municipality]] in the United States.|alt=Looking at crowds down Broadway]]

 

{{Historical populations|state=collapsed

===={{Anchor|Streets|Roads and Streets}}Streets and roads====

{{See also|List of numbered streets in Manhattan|List of eponymous streets in New York City}}

 

According to the original Commissioner's Plan, there were [[155th Street (Manhattan)|155]] numbered crosstown streets,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/realestate/23scap.html |title=Are Manhattan's Right Angles Wrong, by Christopher Gray |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 23, 2005 |access-date=May 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502035251/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/realestate/23scap.html |archive-date=May 2, 2013 |url-status=live |last1=Gray |first1=Christopher }}</ref> but later the grid was extended up to the northernmost corner of Manhattan Island, where the last numbered street is [[220th Street (Manhattan)|220th Street]], though the grid continues to 228th Street in the borough's [[Marble Hill, Manhattan|Marble Hill]] neighborhood.<ref>[https://thegreatestgrid.mcny.org/greatest-grid/north-of-central-park North of Central Park: Revising the Grid], [[Museum of the City of New York]]. Accessed December 1, 2023.</ref><ref name=NYT2002>Boland, Ed Jr. [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/nyregion/fyi-414514.html "F.Y.I.: By the Numbers"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 18, 2002. Accessed December 1, 2023. "Q. What is the highest numbered street in New York City?... The highest numbered street in Manhattan is 228th Street, but that is in Marble Hill, a section of Manhattan north of the Harlem River. The highest numbered street on Manhattan Island is 220th Street in Inwood. The northbound numerations that begin in Manhattan continue through the Bronx until New York City meets Yonkers at West 263rd Street."</ref> Moreover, the numbering system continues even in [[the Bronx]], north of Manhattan, despite the fact that the grid plan is not as regular in that borough, whose last numbered street is 263rd Street.<ref name=NYT2002/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/ |title=New York City Map |publisher=NYC.gov |access-date=May 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731043934/http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/ |archive-date=July 31, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Fifteen crosstown streets were designated as {{convert|100|ft|m}} wide, including [[34th Street (Manhattan)|34th]], [[42nd Street (Manhattan)|42nd]], [[57th Street (Manhattan)|57th]] and [[125th Street (Manhattan)|125th]] Streets,<ref>[http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/nyc1811.htm Remarks of the Commissioners for laying out streets and roads in the City of New York, under the Act of April 3, 1807] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610165318/http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/nyc1811.htm |date=June 10, 2007 }}, [[Cornell University]]. Accessed May 2, 2007. "These streets are all sixty feet wide except fifteen, which are one hundred feet wide, viz.: Numbers fourteen, twenty-three, thirty-four, forty-two, fifty-seven, seventy-two, seventy-nine, eighty-six, ninety-six, one hundred and six, one hundred and sixteen, one hundred and twenty-five, one hundred and thirty-five, one hundred and forty-five, and one hundred and fifty-five—the block or space between them being in general about two hundred feet."</ref> which became some of the borough's most significant transportation and [[shopping]] venues. [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], following the route of a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] trail, is the most notable of many exceptions to the grid, starting at [[Bowling Green (New York City)|Bowling Green]] in Lower Manhattan and continuing north for {{Convert|13|mi}} into the Bronx at Manhattan's northern tip.<ref>[https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/NY-01-061-9060 Broadway], [[Society of Architectural Historians]]. Accessed December 30, 2023. "Broadway is a 13-mile roadway running from the southern tip to the northernmost point of the island of Manhattan.... Predating the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, Broadway was initially a Native American trading trail running the length of Manhattan. Various indigenous peoples living on the island—including Lenni Lenape, Delaware Lenape, and Wickquasgeck—used the route, known as the Wickquasgeck Trail, to exchange goods with each other."</ref> In much of Midtown Manhattan, Broadway runs at a diagonal to the grid, creating major named intersections at [[Union Square (New York City)|Union Square]] ([[Park Avenue|Park Avenue South/Fourth Avenue]] and 14th Street), [[Madison Square]] ([[Fifth Avenue]] and 23rd Street), [[Herald Square]] ([[Sixth Avenue]] and 34th Street), [[Times Square]] ([[Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)|Seventh Avenue]] and 42nd Street), and [[Columbus Circle]] ([[Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)|Eighth Avenue]]/[[Central Park West]] and 59th Street).<ref>[https://urbandesignforum.org/grow-the-green-line/ "Grow the Green Line"], Urban Design Forum, February 26, 2018. Accessed December 30, 2023. "Broadway today is an anomaly, unneeded for vehicular traffic, that cuts through a standardized urban form. It is an extra street modulating an otherwise functioning grid. However, it is the only road that connects four of the most important public spaces in the city: Union Square, Madison Square, Herald Square, and Times Square; each found where this diagonal route crosses an avenue and marks a major street."</ref><ref>[https://www.nps.gov/thrb/learn/historyculture/union-square.htm Union Square], [[Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace]]. Accessed December 30, 2023. "New York's famed thoroughfare Broadway is responsible for some of the city's most famous parks. The irregularity of Broadway's span created space for Union Square, Madison Square, Herald Square, Times Square, and Columbus Circle.... Therefore Broadway does not run parallel to the north-south avenues of the grid. Broadway runs diagonally, intersecting other avenues and slicing uniform rectangles into small awkward blocks."</ref>

 

 

Another consequence of the strict grid plan of most of Manhattan, and the grid's skew of approximately 28.9&nbsp;degrees, is a phenomenon sometimes referred to as [[Manhattanhenge]] (by analogy with [[Stonehenge]]).<ref name=Manhattanhenge>{{cite news | last=Silverman | first=Justin Rocket | title=Sunny delight in city sight | newspaper=[[Newsday]] | date=May 27, 2006 | url=http://www.newsday.com/news/sunny-delight-in-city-sight-1.502140 | quote='Manhattanhenge' occurs Sunday, a day when a happy coincidence of urban planning and astrophysics results in the setting sun lining up exactly with every east-west street in the borough north of 14th Street. Similar to Stonehenge, which is directly aligned with the summer-solstice sun, "Manhattanhenge" catches the sun descending in perfect alignment between buildings. The local phenomenon occurs twice a year, on May 28 and July 12... | access-date=May 11, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803194424/https://www.newsday.com/news/sunny-delight-in-city-sight-1.502140 | archive-date=August 3, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref> On May 28 and July 12, the sunset is aligned with the street grid lines, with the result that the sun is visible at or near the western horizon from street level.<ref name=Manhattanhenge/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/city_of_stars/19_sunset_34th.html |title=Special Feature—City of Stars: Sunset on 34th Street Along the Manhattan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516005443/http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/city_of_stars/19_sunset_34th.html |archive-date=May 16, 2008 |work=[[Natural History (magazine)|Natural History]] |access-date=September 4, 2006 }}</ref> A similar phenomenon occurs with the sunrise on the eastern horizon on December 5 and January 8.<ref>Morris, Hugh. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/north-america/united-states/new-york/articles/what-is-manhattanhenge-and-where-best-when-does-it-happen/ "Manhattanhenge is coming: what is it, and how can I see it?"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', May 31, 2019. Accessed December 30, 2023. "It is worth noting that the time when the rising sun aligns with Manhattan's streets, around December 5 and January 8, on either side of the winter solstice, is also known as Manhattanhenge but nobody seems that fussed about it. Poor Winter"</ref>

The [[FDR Drive]] and [[Harlem River Drive]], both designed by controversial New York master planner [[Robert Moses]],<ref>Kennicott, Philip. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030900449.html "A Builder Who Went to Town: Robert Moses Shaped Modern New York, for Better and for Worse"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721221818/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030900449.html |date=July 21, 2018 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', March 11, 2007. Accessed April 30, 2007. "The list of his accomplishments is astonishing: seven bridges, 15 expressways, 16 parkways, the West Side Highway and the Harlem River Drive..."</ref> comprise a single, long [[limited-access highway|limited-access]] [[Parkway (New York)|parkway]] skirting the east side of Manhattan along the [[East River]] and [[Harlem River]] south of [[Dyckman Street]]. The [[Henry Hudson Parkway]] is the corresponding parkway on the West Side north of [[57th Street (Manhattan)|57th Street]].

 

Being primarily an island, Manhattan is linked to New York City's outer boroughs by numerous bridges, of various sizes. Manhattan has fixed [[highway]] connections with [[New Jersey]] to its west by way of the [[George Washington Bridge]], the [[Holland Tunnel]], and the [[Lincoln Tunnel]], and to three of the four other New York City boroughs—[[the Bronx]] to the northeast, and [[Brooklyn]] and [[Queens]] (both on [[Long Island]]) to the east and south. Its only direct connection with the fifth New York City borough, [[Staten Island]], is the [[Staten Island Ferry]] across [[New York Harbor]], which is free of charge. The ferry terminal is located near [[Battery Park (New York)|Battery Park]] at Manhattan's southern tip. It is also possible to travel on land to Staten Island by way of Brooklyn, via the [[Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge]].