NYC’s Five Boroughs (and Basic Terminology) Explained

While many travelers to New York City envision Manhattan’s popular landmarks, NYC is composed of five unique and culture-rich boroughs.

We’ll give a brief overview of each borough and dive into some important NY terminology to help you have a smoother exploration of the city.

The five boroughs of New York City are:

1. Manhattan
2. Queens
3. Brooklyn
4. The Bronx
5. Staten Island

Let’s look at each one below. 👇

Note: This article was written by a real human who lives in NYC, not artificial intelligence. 🥸

NYC’s Five Boroughs Overview Podcast Episode

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Five Boroughs of New York City

Each of the five boroughs in New York City has unique offerings, cultures, and history. But first, let’s define ‘borough’.

What is a Borough?

In 1898, the term borough was adopted to describe a form of governmental administration for each of the five fundamental constituent parts of the newly consolidated city. So while each borough has some of its own governance, its power is inferior to the authority of the government of the City of New York.

Before 1898, each borough (mostly) was seen more as a county and did not fall within the city of New York. Interestingly, each borough is also its own county.

The boroughs aren’t autonomous cities within a city, but rather administrative divisions of a single municipal government. It explains why, for example, the Mayor of NYC has authority over all five boroughs, and why there’s one unified city budget, police department (NYPD), etc., even though each borough has its own Borough President and some local administrative functions.

In today’s terms, a borough is one of the five distinct geographic regions of New York City including:

• Manhattan
• Queens
• Brooklyn
• The Bronx
• Staten Island

Each borough has multiple neighborhoods with distinct cultures and histories. We took to social media to get insights from borough residents, so you’ll see their recommendations sprinkled throughout.

Let’s look at each borough. ⤵️

The Borough of Manhattan

Most people in the world think of Manhattan when they envision New York City. It’s home to places like Central Park, the Empire State Building and other observation decks, One World Trade Center, The Met, Wall Street, and many other iconic landmarks.

Here are a couple of notes and interesting tidbits about Manhattan:

• The most densely populated county in America
• The grid system makes navigation a bit easier:
  • Street numbers ascend as you go uptown
  • Avenues ascend as you head west or towards New Jersey
• The reason trash seems to pile up in Manhattan is that while the grid system was an extremely forward thinking idea, the planners did not include alley ways in order to maximize the real estate space.
• The first inauguration of George Washington happened at Federal Hall on Wall Street in 1789.
• Broadway doesn’t align with the 1811 grid system because it originated as a Native American path before the first settlers arrived and continued to be used until today.

The Borough of Queens

Queens is an extremely diverse, culture-rich area of New York City. Here are some tidbits of information about Queens:

• Flushing has the largest Chinese population in the world outside of China
• The largest borough by land size, by almost 40%
• Both JFK and LaGuardia airports are in Queens
• The Queens Zoo is superb, animals from the Americas, natural settings and beautifully landscaped, also a children’s zoo
• Might be the only place in the world where you can try a restaurant from every country in the world
• The best food according to SO many people we talked to online
• Zum Stammtisch for excellent German food and beer
• White Bear has some of the best dumplings in the city

The Borough of Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a densely populated, vibrant borough in New York City. Here are some tidbits about Brooklyn:

• Most populated borough (2.7 million people)
• If Brooklyn was it’s own city, it would be the 4th largest in the US
• Home to Coney Island, but much further than you think (over an hour from Times Square to Coney Island)
• Brooklyn is Home to the First Children’s Museum in the United States (The Brooklyn Children’s Museum was established in 1899)
• Very diverse borough– 1 in 3 Brooklyn residents is an immigrant
• Many travelers like to explore Dumbo after walking over the Brooklyn Bridge
• Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club has loads of fun games and bustling energy
• Xanadu Roller Arts provides roller rink meets club vibe
• Brooklyn Botanical Gardens has some unbelievable sights, especially depending on the time of year

The Borough of The Bronx

While we haven’t explored The Bronx as much as we should, it offers unique neighborhoods and rich cuisine options. Here are some things to know about the Bronx:

• New York City’s northernmost borough and is the only New York City borough that is part of the United States mainland
• Tra Di Noi in the first little Italy (yes it’s in the Bronx) and Sabrosura in Castle Hill
• One tip I have is that the subway is a lot slower in the Bronx and can sometimes be a little sketchy so I always try to check if taking Metro North is an option (if I’m going further north) – it’s only $10 RT off peak.
• Pelham Parkway for Albanian food, Williamsbridge for Jamaican, Morris Park for Yemeni, Parkchester for Bangladeshi, Arthur Ave for Italian, Morrisania for African.
• The Bronx Zoo (the world’s largest metropolitan zoo,which covers 265 acres and houses over 6,000 animals)
• Botanical Gardens
• Wave Hill
• Yankees (pizza) on Westchester avenue
• Motley kitchen
• El Tanque
• Yankee Stadium is in The Bronx

The Borough of Staten Island

While Staten Island is often less talked about, there is a rich history and plenty to see. Here’s some interesting info about Staten Island:

• Previously called the Borough of Richmond until 1975
• The conference house in Staten Island is where there were discussions to end the revolutionary war
• The atrocities of Willowbrook state school on Staten Island led to federal civil rights legislation CRIPA & eventually the ADA to protect people with disabilities.
• Flagship Brewing Company has a brewery 15 minutes walk from the ferry
• It’s home to one of the oldest military installations in the country which is fort Wadsworth
  • Prior to its closing in 1994, the fort was claimed to be the longest continuously garrisoned military installation in the United States.
• Home to one of only two authentic classical outdoor Chinese Gardens in the country, in the Snug Harbor Cultural Center.
• Lots of beaches and wooded areas
• The most suburban feel of any borough
• The oldest schoolhouse still standing in the United States is the Voorlezer’s House built prior to 1696 and located in Historic Richmondtown in Staten Island, New York.

What About Neighborhoods in NYC?

Not to confuse you further, but within each borough are neighborhoods. Each is known for different cuisines and activities.

Without a doubt, the best map for understanding where each neighborhood lies is the NYT’s interactive map.

While neighborhoods can bleed together, you’ll often hear people say things like “I’m heading to Chelsea” or “I live in Park Slope”.

NYC Terminology to Know

New Yorkers have loads of unique terms, slang, and sayings. Here are a few common ones worth understanding when you visit:

• Outer boroughs
• The city
• Uptown & downtown
• Schlep
• Bodega
• Houston Street

Outer Boroughs

When you hear people refer to the outer boroughs, they’re talking about any borough outside of Manhattan.

The City

When people in the outer boroughs are heading to Manhattan, they often say they’re going to the city.

Uptown & Downtown

People don’t use north or south for directions.. they’ll say ‘uptown’ or ‘downtown’ instead. There’s debate over this, but many people consider everything below Central Park to be downtown.

Just know that if you ask for directions (or use Google Maps), you’ll see train labels with uptown and downtown. Be sure to snag our free Ultimate NYC Transportation Guide to make more sense of this!

Schlep

This a Yiddish word that essentially means a long trek and/or having to lug a lot of things, like groceries.

Think: “Oh, you have to transfer twice and go through Times Square to get your groceries, what a schlep.”

Bodega

Bodegas are an integral part of New York City. Think corner store meets deli meets late-night snack spot meets everything you could want.

Houston Street

It’s not pronounced like the city in Texas, i.e., HEW-Stun. No, it’s pronounced HOW-Stun.

NYC’s Five Boroughs Explained Recap + Next Steps

New York City is a massive metropolis with five unique boroughs. Hopefully this gives you a good idea about what you can find in each one.

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