Alright, fine. You want to know about the administrative divisions of this… place. Don't expect me to enjoy it. It's just a map, really. A collection of lines and names, trying to impose order on chaos. But if you insist.
Administrative divisions of New York City
So, you've got these five… things. They call them boroughs. Five major districts that make up New York City. Don't get too attached to the names: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each one is essentially tied to a county in the State of New York. The Bronx is Bronx County. Brooklyn? That's Kings County. Manhattan, the one everyone fixates on, is New York County. Queens is Queens County. And Staten Island… that's Richmond County. They all came into being, supposedly, with the grand consolidation in 1898. A new city charter, dissolving all the little municipalities into one… entity.
It’s all a bit of a mess, historically. New York City started small, just Manhattan Island and its immediate surroundings. As it grew, it swallowed bits of Westchester County. The northern part of the Bronx, what they called the West Bronx, was tacked on in 1874. Then the East Bronx followed in 1895. This whole territory, even after being annexed, was still part of New York County. It wasn't until 1914 that they finally carved out Bronx County, making it, in theory, align with the borough.
And Queens? That was another consolidation headache. In 1898, only the western part of Queens County joined the city. The rest of it, the eastern chunk, held out until 1899 when it officially became Nassau County on Long Island. So, Queens borough and Queens County ended up being the same geographical area. Neat.
Terminology
They call these divisions "boroughs." It’s a term they adopted in 1898 for the administrative setup of this newly cobbled-together city. The old city charter, the one from the New York State Legislature, defined a borough as a sort of municipal corporation formed when a county merges with populated areas within it. [1]
Don't get any grand ideas. These boroughs don't have much real power. They’re subordinate to the main government of New York City. It's quite different from how boroughs function in places like Connecticut, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, where they’re actual independent levels of government. Or even other places with similar names, like in Greater London or the United Kingdom. [2] It’s more of a designation than an actual power base.
Background
Here's a table. Numbers. Populations, land area, density, GDP. All very… factual.
| Borough | County | Census (2020) | square miles | square km | people/sq. mile | people/sq. km | billions (2022 US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Bronx | Bronx | 1,472,654 | 42.2 | 109.2 | 34,920 | 13,482 | 51.574 |
| Brooklyn | Kings | 2,736,074 | 69.4 | 179.7 | 39,438 | 15,227 | 125.867 |
| Manhattan | New York | 1,694,251 | 22.7 | 58.7 | 74,781 | 28,872 | 885.652 |
| Queens | Queens | 2,405,464 | 108.7 | 281.6 | 22,125 | 8,542 | 122.288 |
| Staten Island | Richmond | 495,747 | 57.5 | 149.0 | 8,618 | 3,327 | 21.103 |
| City of New York | 8,804,190 | 300.5 | 778.2 | 29,303 | 11,314 | 1,206.484 | |
| State of New York | 20,201,249 | 47,123.6 | 122,049.5 | 429 | 166 | 2,163.209 |
Sources: [3] [4] [5] [6] and the individual borough articles, if you can be bothered.
They call the five boroughs collectively "the five boroughs." It's supposed to refer to the whole city, avoiding confusion. Politicians use it to try and make all parts of the city seem equally important, not just Manhattan. The "outer boroughs" is what they call everything except Manhattan, even though the city’s geographic center is somewhere along the Brooklyn–Queens border.
Here's a historical sketch. The current five boroughs, as they looked way back in 1814. The Bronx was still part of Westchester. Queens County was much larger, encompassing what’s now Nassau County. Brooklyn had six towns. And New York City itself was just the tip of Manhattan. A different world.
Changes
So, 1898. Consolidation. That’s when the city got its modern shape, and these five boroughs emerged.
The Bronx, as I mentioned, was initially parts of New York County that had been ceded by Westchester County. First, the southern bit in 1874 – southern Yonkers, and the towns of Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Morrisania. Then, more territory was added in 1895 after a referendum: the towns of Westchester, Williamsbridge, and part of Eastchester. Even after consolidation, it was all still New York County. It took until 1914 for Bronx County to be officially split off. [8]
Queens, the borough, is just the western part of what used to be Queens County. When the eastern towns – Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay – decided not to join the consolidation party in 1898, they eventually formed Nassau County in 1899. [9] That’s how Queens County became coterminous with the borough.
Staten Island, which is Richmond County, was actually called the Borough of Richmond until 1975. They changed the name to Staten Island, but the county name stayed the same. Go figure. [10]
Description of the boroughs
There are countless neighborhoods scattered across these five boroughs. Each with its own history, its own character. If you care about that sort of thing.
Manhattan
Manhattan, co-extensive with New York County. It's the smallest, geographically. But the most crowded. It's the postcard image of New York City, isn't it? All the skyscrapers, Times Square, Central Park. Some locals just call it "The City." [11] [12] Its population density is staggering – 72,033 people per square mile in 2015. That’s higher than any other county in the United States, and denser than any single American city. [13] It’s the hub. The cultural, administrative, financial center. Home to multinational corporations, the United Nations Headquarters, Wall Street. They say it’s the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
Most of it is on Manhattan Island, where the Hudson River meets the sea. But they’ve tacked on some smaller islands too: Randall's Island, Wards Island, and Roosevelt Island in the East River. And Governors Island down in New York Harbor. Even Liberty Island, with that giant statue, and part of Ellis Island are technically Manhattan enclaves. [19]
Manhattan is generally split into Lower, Midtown, and Uptown. Uptown is divided by Central Park into the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side. Above that, there's Harlem. There’s a weird bit called Marble Hill, way up north. It used to be part of Manhattan Island, but the Harlem River Ship Canal, dug in 1895, cut it off. [20] Then, before World War I, they filled in the old channel, and Marble Hill became part of the mainland. [21] A court even ruled in 1984 that it belonged to Bronx County, not New York County. [22] But the New York Legislature stepped in later that year and declared it part of both New York County and the Borough of Manhattan. [23] [24] So, it's complicated.
The other four boroughs? They’re collectively known as the outer boroughs. [25]
Brooklyn
Brooklyn, co-extensive with Kings County. It’s on the western tip of Long Island and is the most populous borough. It’s known for its diversity, its art scene, its distinct neighborhoods, and its architecture. Downtown Brooklyn is a major hub outside of Manhattan. It has a long shoreline, with Coney Island, one of the first amusement parks, dating back to the 1870s. [26] Marine Park [27] and Prospect Park are its largest green spaces. Lately, Brooklyn has become a hotbed for entrepreneurship and high technology startups, [28] [29] and a center for postmodern art [30] and design. [29]
Queens
Queens, co-extensive with Queens County. It's on Long Island, north and east of Brooklyn. It’s the largest borough by land area and, perhaps more importantly, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, and the most ethnically diverse urban area globally. [33] [31] [32] It started as a collection of Dutch towns and villages but has grown into a significant commercial and residential area. Downtown Flushing is another busy central hub in the outer boroughs.
Some parts of Queens, like Bellerose and Forest Hills, feel quite suburban. It’s where you find Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, and the U.S. Open tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. And two of the three major airports serving the area, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, are located here. The third, Newark Liberty International Airport, is in New Jersey.
The Bronx
The Bronx, co-extensive with Bronx County. This is the northernmost borough, and the only one primarily on the United States mainland. It’s home to Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees. It also boasts Co-op City, the largest housing cooperative in the country. [34] And then there's the Bronx Zoo – the largest urban zoo in the world, covering 265 acres and housing over 6,000 animals. [35] [36] Next to it is the New York Botanical Garden. The largest park in the city, Pelham Bay Park, is also here, sprawling over 2,772 acres. [27]
Staten Island
Staten Island, co-extensive with Richmond County. It's generally considered the most suburban of the five boroughs. It's connected to Brooklyn by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. And to Manhattan by the Staten Island Ferry. It's a free commuter ferry, a popular tourist attraction, offering views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Lower Manhattan. In the center of the island, the Staten Island Greenbelt covers about 2,500 acres, with trails and some of the last untouched forests in the city. [37] It was designated in 1984 to preserve these natural lands and now includes seven city parks.
Governance
Since 1914, each borough has been paired with a county. This is different from most U.S. cities, which might be in one county, spread across several, be a county themselves, or be entirely separate from county structures. [Independent_city_(United_States)]
Each borough has a borough president. Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island have Borough Halls, though their administrative powers are limited. The Manhattan Borough President operates out of the Manhattan Municipal Building. The Bronx Borough President's office used to be in its own Bronx Borough Hall, but it’s been in the Bronx County Courthouse for ages. Since the Board of Estimate was abolished in 1990 following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, [38] borough presidents have very little executive power. There's no legislative function within a borough itself.
The real executive power lies with the Mayor of New York City, and the legislative power rests with the New York City Council. Borough presidents are mostly spokespeople, advocates, and ceremonial leaders. They have small budgets for community projects and can appoint members to the 59 advisory community boards. The presidents of Brooklyn and Queens also appoint trustees to their local public library systems.
Because each borough is co-extensive with a county, they each elect a district attorney. The media might refer to the "Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr." or "Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth P. Thompson," but legally, they are the district attorneys for New York County and Kings County, respectively. Same for Staten Island. The district attorneys for Queens and the Bronx don't have this naming distinction because the boroughs and counties share the same names.
These district attorneys are technically state officials, as counties are considered arms of the state government, not the city. This means they aren't subject to the term limits that apply to city officials like the mayor or council members. Some civil court judges are elected borough-wide, though they can generally serve anywhere in the city.
In some old records, the boroughs were abbreviated: K for Brooklyn, M for Manhattan, Q for Queens, R for Staten Island (Richmond County), and X for the Bronx. [39]
Sixth borough
The term "sixth borough" is a metaphorical label. It's applied to places that have some connection to New York City – geographic proximity, a large population of former New Yorkers, a similar vibe, or a cosmopolitan character. It can refer to adjacent cities and counties in the New York metropolitan area, other states, U.S. territories, or even foreign countries. [40] [41] [42] Back in 2011, Mayor Michael Bloomberg used the term to describe the city's waterfront and waterways, especially during plans for rehabilitation projects along the shoreline. [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] He even included Governor's Island in the Upper New York Bay in this concept. [49]
The Hudson Waterfront in New Jersey, directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, was historically under New Amsterdam's jurisdiction and known as Bergen during the Dutch colonial era. Cities like Jersey City and Hoboken, in Hudson County, are sometimes called the sixth borough because they're so close and connected by PATH trains to the city. [50] [51] [52] [53] Fort Lee, in Bergen County, opposite Upper Manhattan and linked by the George Washington Bridge, has also been dubbed the sixth borough. Yonkers, in Westchester County, frequently gets this label too. [54] [55] [56] [57]
There. That's the breakdown. Just a collection of administrative districts, really. Nothing more. Don't read too much into it.