West Side

The West Side of Manhattan includes everything to the west of Fifth Avenue, lower Broadway, and Central Park. This area’s distinguished residential neighborhoods include the Upper West Side, an affluent area with some of the city’s premier cultural attractions. In Midtown Manhattan, the Hudson Yards is a large redevelopment project slated for completion in 2024 that is redefining the New York City skyline with a number of new high-rises. Other West Side neighborhoods in Midtown and Lower Manhattan include Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, West Village, SoHo, and TriBeCa. The diverse architecture of the West Side includes stunning waterfront skyscrapers, iconic Art Nouveau and Art Deco apartment buildings, and elegant rowhouses.

What to Love

• Distinguished neighborhoods
• World-class cultural venues
• Historic businesses
• Central Park

People & Lifestyle

The neighborhoods comprising the West Side of Manhattan are rich in character and history. The West Side offers a great mix of big-city amenities and relaxed, residential communities. The population is incredibly diverse, taking in NYC professionals, Columbia University students, artists, and young families. Many of the West Side’s beloved local businesses are family-run and have been part of the city’s landscape for decades.

Dining, Entertainment & Shopping

In Midtown Manhattan, Carnegie Hall has been one of New York City’s most famous concert venues for well over a century. Nearby Patsy’s Italian Restaurant has been one of west Midtown’s premier fine dining establishments for a good portion of that period, serving exquisite Neapolitan cuisine to numerous famous names since the 1940s. 

In the Manhattan Valley neighborhood to the west of Central Park, Schatzie Prime Meats is another long-lived West Side staple. Opening in 1911, this delightfully old-fashioned butcher’s shop is renowned for its prime organic meat and sandwiches prepared with fresh house cuts. 

Murray’s Sturgeon Shop is another longtime West Side favorite. In business since 1946, this gourmet Jewish deli offers tasty smoked fish, soups, and kosher meat. Amsterdam Avenue runs through the Upper West Side and features a great selection of lively bistros. Jacob’s Pickles is a standout, serving buttermilk fried chicken biscuits, a variety of flavorful pickles, and other delicious Southern-style comfort foods.

Things to Do

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is one of NYC’s foremost cultural venues. Spanning 16.5 acres, this large complex is comprised of more than 30 indoor and outdoor performance facilities. Some of the largest venues at the Lincoln Center are the 3,900-seat Metropolitan Opera House, 2,738-seat David Geffen Hall, and 2,586-seat David H. Kock Theater. These venues stage performances from leading New York City cultural institutions such as the Philharmonic Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera. The Lincoln Center’s facilities also include Vivian Beaumont Theater, the only Broadway theater located outside the Times Square Theater District. 

Fordham University has a campus at the Lincoln Center, which spans two city blocks. Central Park is the world’s most famous public greenspace, and the Upper West Side runs alongside its entire western boundary. Amenities and attractions within this sprawling park include eight lakes, lawns, woodlands, soccer and baseball fields, tennis and basketball courts, plazas, and 21 playgrounds. During the summer, Central Park hosts open-air theater productions and performances from the New York Philharmonic. 

The American Museum of Natural History is located along Central Park’s western edge. The world’s largest natural history museum, this world-class cultural attraction has 45 permanent exhibition halls located within 28 interconnected buildings.

Schools

Public schools in the area are part of the New York City Public School District. There are also several excellent public schools, including:

• Trinity School, Private (Coeducational, College Preparatory), K-12
• Collegiate School, Private (All Boys), K-12