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Greenwich Village:
If the winding streets of this historic neighborhood could talk, they would speak of poverty and prosperity, free love and socialism, gay rights and reform. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Greenwich Village drew free spirits from around the nation. Writer Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote hedonistic poetry and Eugene O'Neill reinvented American Drama. As the years went on, rents inevitably rose. Now, the Villages' townhouses and apartments are some of the most expensive in the city.
Soho & Tribeca:
Once home to massive factories, artists took over the spaces and transformed desolate industrial wasteland into bustling urban commerce. Galleries, designer shops, sophisticated restaurants and trendy bars followed soon after the artists. Today, galleries thrive among the chaos creating New York's world-class art scene and there are no more rent bargains in the once raw lofts.
Chinatown:
A misnomer, as every conceivable Asian ethnicity lives in Chinatown. Restaurants, grocery stores and trinket shops line the ever-crowded streets. One need not travel to Hong Kong to obtain a $10 Rolex watch; plenty are available here. Dim Sum and other favorites lure diners on practically every corner. Recently, some non-Asian hotspots have opened and created quite a stir.
Chelsea:
Once a proud working class community, Chelsea recently became a posh address. As rents in Greenwich Village rose, the vibrant gay community moved upwards to occupy Chelsea's many brownstones and loft spaces. Others naturally followed and today's Chelsea reflects New York's ethnic and cultural diversity. Known for its many nightspots, club goers party at Crobar, B.E.D. and Rebar.
Upper East Side:
Park, Fifth and Madison have always been posh addresses. Whether in the gilded mansions of yesterday or the modern apartments of today, old money and high society have made their home here. Consequently, shops to serve them sprouted up and down Madison Avenue while the residents endowed museums and collected art. Further east, new money has overtaken the old Yorkville slum and yuppies share railroad apartments.
Upper West Side:
When the co-ops of the East Side were freer to restrict residents, the Upper West Side became home to new money (and often Jewish money). Then, as "modernist" Eastsiders tore down their pre-war palaces, Upper West Side residents kept their old buildings. Thirty years later, renters value Upper West Side pre-war real estate, with its solid (often neo gothic or Victorian) architecture. Yuppies, successful artists and apartment-sharing twenty somethings flocked here. Today, the buildings along Central Park West house some of the city's most notoriously picky co-op boards (Jerry Seinfeld, approved; Madonna, denied). Meanwhile, bars and restaurants catering to Long Island and New Jersey folk (a.k.a Bridge and Tunnels) continue to sprout like weeds along Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues.
Brooklyn:
More famous in name than Manhattan, this massive borough stretches from the festive Coney Island to the elegant Brooklyn Heights. Wherever Brooklynites hail from, they are a proud lot. Proud of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Proud of the Bridge that bears the name Brooklyn. Proud of their Museum of Art and Children's Museum. Proud of Williamsburg and Park Slope, two neighborhoods seized from poverty. Proud of Peter Luger and Planet Thailand. Some are even proud of the accent.
The Bronx:
Home to the Yankees, one of the nation's finest zoos, and an extraordinary botanical garden, the Bronx offers much to visitors and citizens alike. Alas, the poverty of some of its districts often overshadows the positive aspects of this multi-ethnic borough. Recently, areas such as the South Bronx have shown signs of benefiting from the current economic boom.
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