MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY

New York is a city of urban energy, forever in motion. Barely a week goes by without a special event in New York City. There are 50 officially recognized parades and more than 400 street fairs each year!

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes New York City such a happening place, but the city's hyperactive rush keeps drawing more and more people to it. The masses of humanity, the blending of cultures, the outrageous excesses -- they all combine to make New York a truly unique destination.

You can find almost anything in New York City: unique-to-New York hotels, unusual food, designer clothing, eclectic art and serious attitude.

The city of New York includes five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Of course, Manhattan is the area most people think of as "New York."

FINDING YOUR WAY IN MANHATTAN

Manhattan is split into three main areas:
Downtown: the area south of 14th Street
Midtown: the area from 14th Street to 59th Street
Uptown: the remaining island north of 59th Street

Manhattan streets are based mainly on a grid system of named or numbered avenues running the north-south length of the island, cut across by numbered streets that run from east to west. Almost all even-numbered streets run east and odd-numbered streets run west (the major crosstown streets, such as 42nd Street, are two-way streets).

Above Washington Square, Fifth Avenue and Central Park serve as the dividing line between the East Side and the West Side. Cross-street numbers begin at Fifth Avenue and grow higher toward each river, generally (but not exclusively) in 100-digit increments per block. Broadway, the only avenue to cut diagonally across the island, was originally a woodland path. Broadway runs in some form from the southern tip of Manhattan all of the way to Albany (the state capital), 150 miles away. Below 14th Street, Manhattan dissolves into a charming but complicated tangle of old, narrow streets.

When setting off to find something, make sure have both the address and the cross streets. Also, remember that some streets have two names: e.g., Sixth Avenue is also known as the Avenue of the Americas.