What are the Five Boroughs of New York City?

Newcomers to New York are usually a bit confused about the five boroughs. Are they neighborhoods? Are they cities, or are they all NYC? To put it straight, they all comprise NYC, the borders established in 1898. Each of the five NYC boroughs has its pros and cons – Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island – have their unique flavor, and residents will argue endlessly over the merits of each one. While each borough is separate, travel between them is frequent, and it’s not unusual to travel through two or more of the five boroughs each day on your daily commute.

Anyone considering moving to New York City must weigh the pros and cons of the five boroughs. Hopefully, this guide will help you decide which borough is right for you.

What are the Five Boroughs of New York City?

Manhattan

You may as well start with the most famous one. Manhattan is the place every non-New Yorker is talking about when they say ‘New York.’ This is where you’ll find the beating heart of the city. It’s also the most densely populated borough in America’s most densely populated city. Most would have stayed in Manhattan of last year’s 62 million tourists to the city. It’s where you’ll find Broadway, the Empire State Building, Central Park, and many more iconic places. But for many reasons, it’s not the first choice of boroughs for new arrivals looking to move. The cost of living is prohibitive, and an extreme lack of space can be tough to break into.

Pros

It’s an incredibly exciting and cool place to live. Almost everything that happens in the city occurs here. Top bands play here all the time, almost every major industry has a convention or tradeshow here, and it’s where you stand a good chance of spotting numerous celebrities. It’s also quite easy to get around, so you’ll save time and money commuting.

Cons

The center of attention tends to be a tough place to live. Housing is almost unaffordable for middle-class families; personal space is practically unknown, and Manhattanites can be a tough group. If you can’t handle the crowds, costs, and fast pace of everything, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn was the cheaper alternative to living in Manhattan for many years. But heavy gentrification over the last few years has seen that change. It’s now called the “New Manhattan,” and it’s easy to see why when looking at housing prices. But the borough is so loved because it’s home to artisanal everything. Here you’ll find a niche for everything from stores exclusively selling feathered gloves to meetup groups for dogs that look like vegetables. Brooklyn is the cool and ‘weird’ borough where you’ll find your people no matter what you’re into.

Pros

If you love art, culture, and food, there’s nowhere else that does it like Brooklyn. It feels like a cluster of small towns, and it’s all incredibly accessible by the subway. If you love the nightlife, it has a huge selection of watering holes where you can find good times and maybe that special someone.

Cons

As mentioned, Brooklyn is fast catching up with Manhattan regarding housing prices. While commutes around the borough are relatively fast, reaching Manhattan can vary from accessible transit over the bridge to hour-long commutes on the local F or R train.

Queens

Queens is the largest of the five boroughs, and it’s by far the most ethnically diverse. As of 2014, 48% of its residents were foreign-born. This means you have lots of international cuisines to choose from. Whether you prefer Nepalese, Cantonese, Dominican, or Liberian, it’s all there to test your palate. The borough is also more affordable than Manhattan or Brooklyn, with far more housing options than high rises and suburban neighborhoods. But in NYC, pricing is relative, so it remains expensive compared to other cities. But compared with Manhattan and Brooklyn, it’s a more affordable alternative, just so long as you don’t mind a long commute.

Pros

It’s more affordable, and many neighborhoods are fast starting to rival Brooklyn for arts, dining/drinking, and creative entertainment. Its diversity makes Queens almost like the poster child for human beings living in harmony.

Cons

Getting into Manhattan is an easy ride, but you’ll need a lot of patience when traveling between neighborhoods. Therefore it’s the biggest borough and a bit of a pain to get around. There’s also an area of northeastern Queens inaccessible by the subway. You’ll want to consider commute times when choosing a neighborhood.

The Bronx

The Bronx borough has quite a marred reputation from the previous decades. But since then, it’s experienced a comeback and is no longer like it was in the Carter years. Most of the borough has a friendly small-town feel, and once you get settled there, you can meet many friendly people. It’s becoming a popular place for artists and performers moving into its new creative spaces.

Pros

It’s a very affordable borough, but you’ll want to move fast because prices are starting to rise, especially in the south end, which is revitalizing with new bars and restaurants opening all the time. You can find a strong sense of community here once you settle in and make friends. It can also be gorgeous with many great parks, sunny beaches, and cultural institutions.

Cons

Things have improved since the ’70s, but safety can still be an issue in some neighborhoods. Hunt’s Point, in particular, has the distinction of being the most benighted neighborhood in the whole of New York. Transport is another major issue. Owning a car is practically a requirement for getting around. The Cross-Bronx Expressway is good for getting to and from Manhattan but is less reliable for getting around the borough.

Staten Island

Outsiders often argue that Staten Island isn’t even part of New York. It certainly has a very different vibe from the other boroughs and is the only one not connected to the metro. It’s also the most affordable borough with many great apartments. But if you want a sense of suburbia while still being just a ferry ride away from the city, it’s hard to argue against it.

Pros

If you’re looking for a free-standing house with multiple bedrooms, there’s a lot of vintage housing available for families. Apartments are very affordable, and if you can’t handle the noise levels of the rest of the city, you’ll find it very quiet here. Although there’s no metro, the free ferry can be a very charming ride. It also provides some of the best views in the city.

Cons

If you’re moving to New York for the hustle-and-bustle, you may be disappointed with Staten Island. There’s little of the excitement here that you will find in the other boroughs, and being unable to hop on the subway can put the brakes on your social life. There is a railway for getting around Staten Island, but the schedule can be unreliable.