Midtown
Office towers, hotels, and the transit crush between 34th and 59th. Grand Central, Bryant Park, and the Empire State Building sit in this stretch.
Borough
Manhattan
The island most people mean when they say New York. Offices, theaters, parks, and the blocks that still set the pace.
Places
Times Square
Broadway houses and the screens at 42nd and 7th. Packed most hours. The TKTS booth is on the Duffy Square triangle.
Empire State Building
350 Fifth Avenue. 102 stories. Observatory tickets are sold on site and online. Best known skyline marker north of downtown.
Grand Central Terminal
42nd and Park. Metro-North terminal with the Main Concourse clock and ceiling. Opened in 1913. Walk through even if you are not catching a train.
Rockefeller Center
Midtown complex between 48th and 51st. Plaza, rink in winter, Top of the Rock upstairs, NBC studios in the building.
Lower Manhattan / Financial District
Wall Street, the World Trade Center site, Battery Park, and South Street Seaport. The Oculus sits under the transit hub.
Wall Street
Short street from Broadway to the East River. New York Stock Exchange is at 11 Wall. Charging Bull is on Broadway at Bowling Green, not on Wall itself.
Greenwich Village / West Village
West of Broadway, south of 14th. Washington Square Park is the center. Streets go off the grid. NYU sits on the east side of the park.
Harlem
North of Central Park, roughly 110th to 155th. 125th Street is the main commercial strip. Apollo Theater is at 253 West 125th.
SoHo / Nolita
Cast-iron lofts south of Houston. SoHo runs west of Broadway; Nolita is the smaller pocket east of it toward Little Italy.
Upper East Side
East of the park from 59th to 96th. Museum Mile is Fifth Avenue along the park: Met, Guggenheim, and the rest of that row.
Central Park
843 acres from 59th to 110th, Fifth to Central Park West. Bethesda Fountain, the Reservoir, and the Mall are the usual first stops.
Public restrooms
The city keeps the live list. Parks houses are often 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., later in summer. Libraries follow branch hours. Pins go stale when a house is closed for cleaning or construction. Start here: on.nyc.gov/restroom
Bryant Park
Behind the main library, 42nd between 5th and 6th. Best-known free restroom in Midtown. Attended. Use this before you start hunting through Times Square.
NYPL, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
5th Avenue and 42nd. Inside the main library. Open on library hours, not park hours.
Grand Central Terminal
42nd and Park. Inside the terminal. Good if you are already in the station.
Moynihan Train Hall / Penn
8th Avenue at 31st. Transit hub restrooms. Better bet than a random subway station. Most stations do not have one.
The Battery
Bottom of the island. Park restrooms near the waterfront and the ferry approaches.
Hudson River Park
Several park houses along the west side. Check the city map for which pier is open that day.
Central Park
Multiple park houses. The Mall / Bethesda area is the usual first stop. Seasonal hours. Confirm the pin.
Oculus / World Trade Center
Downtown transit hub. Not a Parks building. Use it if you are already in the hub.
Need one outside this list? Do not walk on a rumor. Open the official map.