What is Manhattan?

Manhattan is a big, busy city that fits inside one of New York City’s five boroughs, like a puzzle piece.

Imagine you have a giant chocolate bar, it's long and wide, with lots of small squares. Now imagine people live in each square, and they walk or ride bikes from one square to another. That’s kind of what Manhattan is like! It has many streets that go straight up and down (like rows on the chocolate bar) and other streets that go side to side (like columns). These streets help people get around easily.

Most streets in Manhattan are laid out like a grid. This means if you're on 5th Avenue and want to get to 6th Avenue, you just walk one block over, it’s like moving from one column of chocolate squares to the next!

Manhattan is also full of tall buildings, some so tall they look like skyscrapers. These buildings are where people work, live, and even play, kind of like giant blocks stacked on top of each other.

Sometimes, you can see rivers nearby, like the Hudson River or East River, they act as natural borders for the city, just like the edges of your chocolate bar!