Community Boards of Manhattan

Community Boards of Manhattan are local government bodies in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which are appointed by the Borough President or City Council members. Each of the 12 Community Boards in Manhattan consists of up to 50 non-paid members. They do not have any administrative rights, but they may present requests regarding community needs to City Administration. They can also ask a party before the Board to agree to contractual obligations (such as limiting business hours, etc.) contingent upon a positive vote. However, enforcement is handled elsewhere. There is no guarantee that the request will be approved by City, but in practice the most of reasonable problems have been resolved.

Every District consists of smaller areas - neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods (for example Murray Hill) span into more than one district. Neighborhoods are not administrative units. Their names, borders and even population in every District are not firm and varies, depending on particular resident's opinion. Obviously, real estate companies and developers try to play influential role in neighborhood zoning and naming.

However the New York City Department of City Planning has maps with neighborhood names and boundaries. These names and borders more or less match residents' views on the matter and could be a good reference for sorting through this controversial issue. Links to City data on particular District are located in the appropriate District-related paragraph.

As with all large cities, Manhattan consists of many distinct neighborhoods, each with its own character.