WHERE THE NEIGHBORHOOD ACRONYMS CAME FROM

For such a small island, New York City is acronymically abundant when it comes to labeling its neighborhoods. With newly named areas such as MiMa (Mid Manhattan) popping up, we decided to take at look at the meaning behind the acronyms of the most popular neighborhoods around the city.

SoHo: South of Houston Street. Located in Lower Manhattan, this area is notable for the luxury lofts, art galleries and wide variety of shops.

TriBeCa: Triangle Below Canal Street. Bound by Canal Street, the West Side Highway and Broadway, this neighborhood in Lower Manhattan is home to many well known points of interest including the Hudson River Park and the Tribeca Grand Hotel.

NOLITA: North of Little Italy. Formerly part of Little Italy, this neighborhood became its own entity after an outflow of Italian Americans separated it from the former neighborhood. In 1995, the New York Times reported that the new neighborhood would be named Nolita.  

NoMad: North of Madison Square Park. The name NoMad has been in use since 1999 to describe this neighborhood located north of, and to the west of Madison Square park. It encompases “Curry Hill” an Indian food lover’s paradise.

DUMBO: Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass: In the borough of Brooklyn, most of this neighborhood is located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. This area has emerged to be one of NYC’s most premier art districts, with a cluster of for-profit art galleries such as the Klompching Gallery and not-for-profit institutions as the St. Ann’s Warehouse and the A.I.R. Gallery. Dumbo also has New York City’s highest concentration of technology firms by neighborhood.

FiDi: Financial District. Located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, is a neighborhood on the southeastern side of Manhattan that comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city’s major financial institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It also encompasses Wall Street, which is where Platinum Properties is the biggest luxury real estate firm.