Featured Neighborhoods

Manhattan, which has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world, began as a trading post founded by colonists from the Dutch Republic in 1624 in Lower Manhattan; the post was named New Amsterdam in 1626. Manhattan, now one of the world’s most costly real estate markets, is historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626 for 60 guilders, which equals roughly $1059 in current terms.

The Island and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. Manhattan became a borough during the consolidation of New York City in 1898.

Manhattan the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City is often referred to as “The City” by residents of other boroughs. Manhattan has almost exclusively vertical housing of rental apartments, co-ops, condos with a sprinkling of brownstones or townhouses.

Manhattan Island can be divided into four informally bounded components, all aligned with the borough’s long axis: Lower Manhattan, which houses Wall street, the World Financial Center, and two stock exchanges, the reason New York City has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world. Midtown Manhattan which houses the United Nations on the East Side and the Theater District on the West, Upper Manhattan ‘which houses the Upper East Side and Museum Mile and the Upper West Side where the Museum of Natural History is located. And now, Uptown which includes East and West Harlem, Fort Washington, and Inwood. All four areas are subdivided into smaller neighborhoods with their own characteristics and flavors.

Knowing these neighborhoods can take a lifetime.

Long Island City today would be unrecognizable to the inhabitants of the 1930s  when three subway tunnels, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, and the Queensboro Bridge were built to connect the neighborhood to Manhattan. Primarily filled with factories then, these began to fail in the 1970s and were being abandoned in the 1980s allowing for entrepeneurial redevelopment. The earliest tower, the 42-floor Citylights cond-op, opened in 1998 with an elementary school at its base, beginning the change from industrial to residential, and family occupied.

The area was rezoned for residential in 2001, since then high-rise housing has been built on a former Pepsi-Cola site on the East River. From June 2002 to September 2004, the former Swingline Staplers plant was the temporary headquarters of the Museum of Modern Art. Other former factories in Long Island City include Fisher Electronics and Chiclets Gum. Redevelopment in Queens West reflects the intent to have the area as a major residential area in New York City, with its high-rise residences very close to public transportation, making it convenient for commuters to travel to Manhattan by ferry or subway. 41 new residential apartment buildings were  being built between 2010 and 2017 and they haven’t stopped.

The Borough of Queens, established on January 1, 1898, has the most diversified population and economy of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough has diverse housing, ranging from high-rise apartment buildings to more suburban feel single and two-family homes in the urban areas of western Queens; Jackson Heights, Flushing, Astoria, and Long Island City.

It is home to John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, both among the world’s busiest, which makes the airspace above Queens among the busiest in the United States. Landmarks in Queens include Flushing Meadows-Corona Park; Citi Field, home to the New York Mets baseball team; the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of the US Open tennis tournament; Kaufman Astoria Studios; Silvercup Studios; and Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Queens Night Market in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park attracts over 10,000 people nightly to sample food from over 85 countries.