Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of
Manhattan,
New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as
Rockefeller Center,
Broadway, and
Times Square. Midtown Manhattan is home to the city's tallest and most famous buildings such as the
Empire State Building and
Chrysler Building.
Midtown, along with
"Uptown" and
"Downtown", is one of the three major subdivisions of Manhattan (though "Uptown" and "Downtown" can also be used as adjectives or prepositions, and can take on completely different meanings in the other boroughs, whereas the term "Midtown" cannot) and can be understood as those parts of Manhattan in neither of these two other regions - that is, all areas between
14th Street and
59th Street, from the
Hudson River to the
East River, about five square miles or 12 km
2. The core of Midtown Manhattan is from about
31st Street to 59th Street between Third and Ninth avenues, about two square miles (this is the area most commonly referred to as "Midtown.") 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
Third Avenue to
Seventh Avenue, about a square kilometer or half a square mile.
As New York's largest
central business district, Midtown Manhattan is indisputably the busiest single commercial district in the United States, and among the most intensely and diversely used pieces of real estate in the world. The great majority of New York City's skyscrapers, including its tallest hotels and apartment towers, lie within Midtown. More than 700,000 commuters work in its offices, hotels, and retail establishments; the area also hosts many tourists, visiting residents, and students. Some areas, especially
Times Square and
Fifth Avenue, have massive clusters of retail establishments.
Sixth Avenue in Midtown holds the headquarters of three of the four major
television networks, and is one of a few global centers of news and entertainment. It is also a growing center of finance, second in importance within the United States only to Downtown Manhattan's Financial District. Times Square is also the epicenter of
American theater.
Cityscape
Neighborhoods
The Diamond District
Western midtown
Midtown encompasses many neighborhoods including
Hell's Kitchen and
Chelsea on the West Side, and
Murray Hill,
Kips Bay,
Turtle Bay, and
Gramercy on the East Side. It is also 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.
A simplistic and by no means comprehensive list of the neighborhoods in the Midtown area is as follows:
- *Midtown East from around 6th Avenue to the East River, including (going from west to east, and north to south):
- Between 42nd Street north and around 34th Street, from west to east, and north to south:
- *Murray Hill from East 42nd Street to East 34th Street and 5th Avenue to 2nd Avenue
- Between 34th Street and 23rd Street, from west to east:
- *Chelsea between the Hudson River and Sixth Avenue
- Between 23rd Street and 14th Street, going west to east and north to south:
- *Chelsea between the Hudson River and Sixth Avenue
- *The Meatpacking District in the southwesternmost corner of Midtown, to the south of West 15th Street
- *Gramercy from East 23rd Street to East 14th Street and Lexington Avenue to 1st Avenue
- *Stuyvesant Town from East 20th street to East 14th Street and 1st Avenue to Avenue C
Midtown also contains historical but defunct neighborhoods, such as the Ladie's Mile, along
Fifth Avenue from
14th Street to
23rd Street and the
Tenderloin, from
23rd Street to
42nd Street and
Fifth Avenue to
Seventh Avenue.
Other important sights in Midtown:
- Flagship stores of retailers such as:
Important streets and thoroughfares in Midtown:
Economy
Time Warner is headquartered in the Time Warner Center in Midtown.
Thomson Reuters is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
MetLife maintains its headquarters in the
MetLife Building.
Viacom is headquartered in Midtown.
CBS Corporation has its headquarters in Midtown; CBS subsidiary
Simon & Schuster has its headquarters in the
Rockefeller Center.
Hess Corporation maintains its headquarters at 1185 Avenue of the Americas.
DC Comics is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
Marvel Entertainment is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
NBC Universal is headquartered in the
Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan.
The New York Times Company is headquartered in Midtown.
Morgan Stanley is headquartered in Midtown.
Cantor Fitzgerald is headquartered in Midtown.
Marsh & McLennan Companies has its headquarters in Midtown. The
New York Institute of Finance is located in Midtown Manhattan.
4Kids Entertainment has its world headquarters in Midtown.
Six Flags maintains its headquarters at 1540 Broadway. Six Flags announced its move to New York from
Oklahoma City on January 27, 2006.
Foreign subsidiary operations
thumb|The Haier Building
Haier operates its United States offices in the Haier Building at 1356 Broadway; the building previously was a building 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.
Former economic operations
thumb|left|The [[MetLife Building, pictured here, is the headquarters of
Metlife; it used to be the Pan Am Building and the headquarters of
Pan American World Airways]]
Prior to its dissolution
American Overseas Airlines was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The
MetLife Building, in previous eras, was the Pan Am Building and the headquarters of
Pan American World Airways. In 1991 Pan Am decided that it would move its headquarters to the
Miami area. At the time Pan Am shut down later in 1991, MetLife was headquartered in the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower.
After Frank Borman became president of
Eastern Airlines in 1975, he moved Eastern's headquarters from
Rockefeller Center to
Miami-Dade County, Florida.
In 1975
American Airlines was headquartered at 633 Third Avenue in Murray Hill. In 1978 American announced that it would move its headquarters to a site at
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 1979. The move affected up to 1,300 jobs.
Mayor of New York City Ed Koch described this move as "betrayal" of New York City.
In 1975
Trans World Airlines was headquartered in Turtle Bay.
["." Turtle Bay Association. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.] TWA moved its headquarters from New York City to
Mount Kisco, New York in the 1980s.
At one time Philip Morris Companies (now
Altria Group) was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. In 2003 Philip Morris announced that it would move its headquarters from New York City to Virginia. The company said that it planned to keep around 750 employees in its former headquarters. Brendan McCormick, a spokesperson for Philip Morris, said that the company estimated that the move would save the company over $60 million each year.
Prior to its dissolution
Central Park Media, an anime and manga distributor, was headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
Diplomatic missions
Several countries,
The Bahamas,
["." Permanent Mission of the Bahamas to the United Nations. Retrieved on January 26, 2009.] People's Republic of China,
Costa Rica,
Germany,
Republic of Ireland,
Israel,
Jamaica,
Japan,
Luxembourg,
Mexico,
Morocco,
Saudi Arabia,
Singapore,
South Africa,
United Kingdom,
Ukraine, have consulates-general in Midtown Manhattan accredited to the United States. In addition the
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of the Republic of China is in Midtown Manhattan.
Government and infrastructure
thumb|James A. Farley Post OfficeThe
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration operates its New York office on the 22nd floor at 135 West 50th Street.
The
United States Postal Service operates the
James A. Farley Post Office, New York City's main post office, in Midtown Manhattan. The post office stopped 24 hour service beginning on May 9, 2009 due to decreasing mail traffic.
Education
The
New York City Department of Education operates public schools in Midtown Manhattan.
The
New York Public Library operates the Mid-Manhattan Library at 455 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street. The system also operates the 58th Street Branch Library at 127 East 58th Street, between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue.
See also
