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Chinatown, New York City — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Chinatown takes up a stretch of Lower Manhattan between Tribeca and the Lower East Side, its centre shifted east from Mott Street toward East Broadway.
About Chinatown
Where to stay in Chinatown
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
The choice in Chinatown sits between Mott Street above Chatham Square and the newer commercial ground along East Broadway and Grand Street. Canal Street divides them. Rooms turn up on the Bowery and over toward Little Italy, and anyone who wants Tribeca or the Civic Center within an easy walk should take the western side of the district rather than the blocks past Chrystie Street.
The Manhattan Bridge overpass marks the eastern turn.
About Chinatown
What are the main landmarks in Chinatown?
The Museum of Chinese in America is the district's own institution. Churches fill out the rest. The Church of the Transfiguration stands on the Mott Street side, with St. James' Roman Catholic Church, Mariner's Temple, and the Sea and Land Church strung out toward the Lower East Side, where the Bialystoker Synagogue and the Tenement Museum sit within an easy walk.
Lower Manhattan adds the New Museum, Trinity Church, and the Merchant's House Museum.
What is the history of Chinatown?
Manhattan's Chinatown counts among the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves. Its footprint has not held still: the district spread outward until it took in most of what was called Little Italy and a good part of the Lower East Side north of Canal Street and on the north side of the Manhattan Bridge overpass. The centre moved with it.
Mott Street between Canal Street and Chatham Square gave way to East Broadway and to Grand Street between the Bowery and Chrystie Street, and Chinatown became one of nine such neighbourhoods across New York City.
Where is Chinatown?
Chinatown sits in Lower Manhattan, bounded by the Lower East Side to the east, Little Italy to the north, the Civic Center to the south, and Tribeca to the west.
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Updated September 2026