When people think of New York City the first place they picture is Manhattan. Manhattan otherwise known as “The City” to native New Yorkers is the most densely populated borough of New York. People often describe Manhattan as the cultural and financial capital of the world. It’s also home to some of New York’s famous attractions such as Central Park, The Empire State Building, The One World Observatory, and The High Line are some just to name a few. Being close to all these attractions comes in at quite a heavy price tag though. Manhattan real estate has become some of the most expensive in the world. In comparison to the other boroughs Manhattan’s population comes in at third place with a number of 1,644,518. Many districts and landmarks in Manhattan have become well known, as New York City received a record of nearly 60 million tourists in 2015 and Manhattan hosted three of the world's 10 most-visited tourist attractions in 2013 which were Times Square, Central Park, and Grand Central Terminal.

Most of the people who are gentrifying the other boroughs either came from Manhattan or they were college students who realized how expensive Manhattan was and moved into another borough. Although it may not seem like it Manhattan still has neighborhoods that once were affordable for the residents who’ve lived there all their lives that are now barely affordable for those same people. Some of these neighborhoods are scattered about Upper and Lower Manhattan for example you have LES/Chinatown, Harlem/East Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood. These neighborhoods are becoming increasingly unaffordable for middle and lower class citizens to move into because of the rising housing prices. In the LES/Chinatown median housing prices have risen over 300% since 2000 even though they have not had a major increase in their college/grad student percentage. Harlem’s median housing prices also continue to rise as new condominiums continue to open all over the neighborhood along with multiple trendy hangout spots. Washington Heights is also another neighborhood experiencing gentrification as it’s house price is also seeing a continuous rising in their numbers.