Manhattan

Manhattan, one of the 5 boroughs of New York City, consisting mainly of Manhattan Island, bounded by the East River, the Harlem River, the Hudson River, and New York Bay. Peter Minuit originally bought the island from a Native American tribe, the Manhattan, for $24 worth of beads and cloth in 1626 and called it New Amsterdam. The commercial and financial center of New York City, Manhattan is linked to the other boroughs by numerous bridges, tunnels, and ferries. Its many land marks and tourist attractions include the Empire State Building, World Trade Center, Central Park, Lincoln Center, the United Nations headquarters, and Rockefeller Center. Wall Street, the financial capital of the world for much of the 20th century, is located in downtown Manhattan. Inaddition, Manhattan is a center of the arts. Museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Guggenheim Museum house some of the world's most prized and renowned exhibits. A variety of clubs, especially in the Greenwich Village area, offer many forms of music, and the Broadway area, located in the heart of Manhattan, is considered one of the premier theater districts in the world.