NYC Neighborhood Guide: Inside the Weird Acronyms

I ended up in New York City because I started dating someone from the city. And because that someone was a real New Yorker, he wasn’t shy about correcting me as I learned the ropes in terms of NYC neighborhoods and other lingo.

Videos by TravelAwaits

I remember struggling with the word Houston.

Houston is a street that cuts across lower Manhattan and serves as a major dividing line. Soho, for example, stands for South Of HOuston. Noho, though you’ll hear it less, stands for North Of HOuston.

Except Houston isn’t pronounced like the Texan city. It’s pronounced ‘house-ton’. Welcome to the weirdly layered world of NYC neighborhoods and their acronyms.

Also, I kept thinking it meant South of Hampton because I also knew the Hamptons had something to do with New York. (The Hamptons are an upscale area on the tip of Long Island—far from Manhattan.)

Here’s my point: if you want to get around NYC without getting tripped up by all those names, weird pronunciations, and acronyms, you’re going to need a cheat sheet.

Consider this your introductory NYC neighborhood guide when it comes to deciphering weird names.

NYC neighborhoods: the basics

The city has around 26 neighborhoods in Upper Manhattan, around 20 in Midtown, and 25 in Lower Manhattan. And that’s not counting those tiny little neighborhoods between Midtown and Lower Manhattan.

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to stick with the most popular areas that tourists usually visit, mostly in Midtown and Lower Manhattan. As you can see when looking at a full map of Manhattan, it’s a very small portion of the island.

I’ll also mention other interesting acronyms and historical elements for some of the city’s coolest neighborhoods. Hopefully, this introduction to the oddest acronyms and NYC neighborhoods will serve you well on your next adventure in the Big Apple.

Before we get to the proper NYC neighborhood guide, remember: Manhattan was originally settled by Dutch colonists. They’ve left their mark through a variety of landmarks, streets, neighborhoods, and more. I’m a history nerd, so I’m going to point out a few cool notes related to this colonial history.

NYC neighborhood guide: the acronyms & weirdest names

• Alphabet City: This area is named after the avenues that run between First Avenue and the East River, which are lettered: Avenue A, Avenue B, Avenue C, and so on. Sometimes, Alphabet City is clumped in with the Lower East Side. Other times, it’s assigned to East Village.
• Bowery: Bowery comes from the Dutch word bouwerij, which stands for ‘farm’ or ‘farmstead’. Today, this area is right on the western (innermost) edge of the Lower East Side in the heart of Lower Manhattan.
• Gramercy: Gramercy comes from the Dutch word krom mesje, which means ‘crooked little swamp’. It was anglicized to Crommessie in the late 1600s before eventually evolving into Gramcery. It’s a quieter residential area with plenty of historic landmarks and tree-lined streets. It’s also the name of an adorable 2-acre park.
• Harlem: Harlem also comes from the Dutch city of Haarlem, from which this area got its name. Harlem covers a large part of Upper Manhattan and has historically been a major hub of African-American and Latino culture.
• Hell’s Kitchen: This NYC neighborhood sits west of Midtown Manhattan between 34^th Street and 59^th Street, from 8^th Avenue west to the Hudson. The name comes from the area’s violent history, although sources diverge on who named the neighborhood. It could come from a similarly named slum in London, a cop who was giving a rookie a tour, or a particularly ghastly tenement hall from the early 1900s.
• LES: LES stands for Lower East Side. I’m pointing this one out because you cut the ‘the’ when saying LES compared to the Lowest East Side. As in, you’d say ‘I’ll meet you in LES’, whereas you’d say ‘I’ll meet you in the Lower East Side’, depending.
• NoHo: Noho stands for North of Houston, as pointed out in the introduction. It’s a tiny area between Houston Street and East 8^th Street in Lower Manhattan.
• NoLiTa: Nolita stands for North of Little Italy and, like Noho, consists of a similarly tiny cluster of city blocks just below Houston Street. Technically, that makes it a sub-neighborhood of the larger SoHo area.
• SoHo: Soho stands for South of Houston Street, as you might remember. It’s one of the city’s most well-known and sought-after neighborhoods thanks to its cast-iron architecture, boutique shops, and artistic-fashion leanings.
• Stuyvesant: You’ll see Stuyvesant mentioned a few times in New York City, along with Brooklyn’s quickly changing Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. In Manhattan, Stuyvesant refers to a massive residential building on the East Side. Historically, however, the name refers to Peter Stuyvesant, a Dutch colonial governor who led New York City in the mid-1600s when it was still known as New Amsterdam.
• TriBeCa: Tribeca stands for Triangle Under Canal Street. It’s a small (and triangular) business area that you might recognize thanks to its big-wig film festival. You can find it heading west from Chinatown.
• DUMBO: DUMBO stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, and is located just across the East River in Brooklyn. I had to include it because its nickname is one of my favorites in terms of NYC neighborhoods. It’s also a great place for a stroll and great views, if you’re visiting.