GimmeShelterNYC 
Information About New York's Neighborhoods
 

     

Great cities are very complex organisms and their neighborhoods have intricate political, cultural and economic histories and inter relationships. One can speak of a city's "spirit," or "personality," or "character," but such generalizations are rather simplistic, even if accurate. Yes, New York City is "chaotic," "fast,""dazzling," but the city's individual neighborhoods differ widely.

Some are quiet and relatively stable. Others are colorful and vibrant. The city's collection of neighborhoods is not always in perfect harmony, but is united by their aggregate achievements and shortcomings, needs and demands, hopes and frustrations,
and is in constant flux as change is the one "given" in New York City.

Neighborhoods are what you find when you emerge from the subway, or step off the bus, or buy your newspaper, or groceries. They are where you find children at school, or in a park, or people at work, or worship. They are the familiar places with
 
familiar faces. Neighborhoods come in all shapes and sizes and are alive and have growing pains. They are the life blood of the city, breaking down its vastness into digestible morsels, if not delicacies.

There is no precise formula for a "fine" neighborhood despite the best efforts of architects, builders and planners. They measure in bricks and mortar and block sand streets, but the people who live and work in a neighborhood look for services,
infrastructure, amenities and ambiance. Great apartment buildings, nice townhouses, commercial buildings and civic and
private monuments are major assets, of course, but so are the solitary relic from a past age, the holdout parcel that a major project finally was built around, or the friendly stationery store, or barbershop, or pharmacy.