The City of New York does not officially define neighborhood boundaries or have an official neighborhood map. For data collection and other government purposes, the city's 59 Community Districts, each represented by a Community Board, are commonly used to represent neighborhoods. (For popular understandings, of neighborhoods, see the Extremely Detailed Map of New York City Neighborhoods that The New York Times produced in 2023.)
To get started with learning about a neighborhood:
- Use the NYC Boundaries Map from Beta NYC to find the Community District boundaries and find overlapping elected officials, police precincts, school districts, and more
- Find the New York Neighborhood Data Profile, produced by the NYU Furman Center, for a detailed overview of demographics and housing data compiled from the Census and other sources (tip: click the + sign headings to show detailed tables)
- Find the NYC Community District Profile from NYC Planning—while the demographic data is no longer updated (use the New York Neighborhood Data Profile above for that instead), the other information is useful and this the only site that includes the very useful Statement of Community Needs for each Community District (tip: to see what was actually funded of these budget requests, see the Community Boards Register by Borough from the city's Adopted Budget)
- Look up the websites and social media for the Community Board, City Councilmember, State Senator, State Assemblymember, and any other relevant groups or officials—follow them and sign up for newsletters
- Use the Facilities Map from NYC Planning to find local schools, community centers, etc. (set the Administrative Boundary to filter by Community District)
With this background, then see the Resources by Topic, News, and Census Data sections to continue your neighborhood reporting.