Manhattan is a sliver. Honestly, when you’re standing in the middle of Times Square surrounded by glowing screens and millions of people, it feels infinite. It feels like a world that never ends. But if you actually look at the dirt and the concrete, it’s tiny. People always ask how long is Manhattan because they want to know if they can walk it, or maybe they’re just trying to figure out why a cab ride from Harlem to the Battery takes forty-five minutes on a good day.
Thirteen point four miles.
That is the number you’ll see in the official records from the New York City Department of City Planning. About 13.4 miles long and 2.3 miles wide at its absolute widest point near 14th Street. It’s a skinny finger of land tucked between the Hudson and the East River. If you were a world-class marathoner, you could run the entire length of the island and back again in a morning. But for the rest of us, that distance is packed with so much verticality and history that those thirteen miles feel like a thousand.
Why the "How Long is Manhattan" Answer Changes Depending on Who You Ask
Geography is messy. You’d think measuring an island would be straightforward, but New York is never that simple. The 13.4-mile figure is the standard geographical length from the northern tip at Spuyten Duyvil to the southern tip at The Battery.
But wait.
If you’re talking about the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, which is the path people actually bike and run, you’re looking at a 32-mile loop. It wraps around the whole thing. Then there’s the Marble Hill situation. Historically, Marble Hill was part of the island, but then the Harlem River Ship Canal was dug in 1895. Suddenly, Marble Hill was an island. Then they filled in the old creek bed, and now Marble Hill is physically attached to the Bronx, even though it’s legally part of Manhattan.
So, does the length include the "detached" parts? Usually, when people ask how long is Manhattan, they mean the continuous landmass.
The Broadway Variable
Broadway is the oldest north-south main thoroughfare in New York City. It doesn’t follow the grid. It’s a rebel. Broadway actually runs for 13 miles within Manhattan before it keeps going through the Bronx and all the way up to Albany. If you walk the length of Broadway, you aren't just measuring distance; you're measuring the evolution of Dutch trails into the most famous street in the world.
The Physicality of 13.4 Miles
Think about it this way.
Manhattan is roughly the same length as the English Channel is wide at its narrowest point. It’s a small space for 1.6 million people to live, and nearly 4 million to occupy during a work day. This density is why the "length" feels so deceptive.
- The Upper Tip (Inwood): Up here, at the very top, you’ve got Inwood Hill Park. It’s the last bit of natural forest left on the island. You can see the actual rocks that the glaciers left behind.
- The Middle (Midtown): This is the 2.3-mile wide bulge.
- The Bottom (Financial District): It tapers down to almost nothing. Standing at the South Street Seaport, you can practically smell the salt from both sides of the island.
Most of the island is governed by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. That’s the grid. It’s the reason why, once you get above 14th Street, the distance is easy to calculate in your head. Roughly twenty city blocks make up one mile. If you walk from 23rd Street to 43rd Street, you’ve covered a mile. It takes about twenty minutes if you’re a "real" New Yorker walking with a purpose.
Surprising Facts About Manhattan's Dimensions
You might think the island is a static thing. It isn't. Manhattan has actually grown over the years. No, the tectonic plates aren't moving that fast—humans are just busy.
Battery Park City? That’s all "new" land. It was built using 1.2 million cubic yards of earth and rock excavated during the construction of the original World Trade Center and various other projects. They basically pushed the island further into the Hudson River. If you look at maps from the 1600s, Manhattan looks like a skinny, jagged bone. Today, it’s much "fatter" in the southern sections because of man-made infill.
The Height vs. The Length
Sometimes the length of Manhattan is less impressive than its height. Because the island is so narrow, the only way to go was up. If you laid the Empire State Building down on its side, it would take up about five and a half city blocks. If you laid the new Central Park Tower down, it would stretch from 57th Street almost to 66th Street.
When you consider how long is Manhattan, you have to realize that most of the "space" in the city is vertical. There are more square feet of office space in Midtown than there are square feet of actual ground in some small towns.
Walking the Length: The Great Manhattan Traverse
Every year, groups of people participate in the "Great Saunter." It’s a 32-mile walk that goes around the entire perimeter. But if you just want to walk the 13.4-mile spine, you usually take Broadway or 5th Avenue.
It’s an exercise in social change.
You start in Inwood, where it feels almost suburban or like a quiet corner of a different city. You move through Washington Heights, seeing the elevation change—Manhattan is surprisingly hilly at the top. You hit Harlem, where the streets widen and the sky opens up. Then you hit the Wall. That’s what some people call the transition into the Upper West or Upper East Side. The buildings get taller. The doormen appear.
By the time you reach Midtown, the 13-mile length starts to feel like a marathon. The crowds at 42nd Street act like a physical barrier. Then you hit the Flatiron, the Village, and eventually the glass towers of the Financial District.
🔗 Read more: St George Island Alaska: Why This Tiny Speck in the Bering Sea is Actually a Big Deal
Walking the length of Manhattan takes a healthy person about five to six hours of straight walking. But if you stop for a slice of pizza in Chelsea and a coffee in Morningside Heights, it’s a whole day.
The Logistics of a Narrow Island
The narrowness of Manhattan—that 2.3-mile maximum width—is why the subway system is designed the way it is. Most of the lines run North-South. Getting "crosstown" is famously a nightmare. It’s often faster to walk the two miles across the island than it is to take a bus, because the traffic is compressed into such a tight horizontal space.
- Bridges and Tunnels: There are 21 bridges and 15 tunnels connecting the island of Manhattan to the surrounding boroughs and New Jersey.
- The Shoreline: Because it’s an island, the length is also defined by its piers. Pier 57, Pier 86 (where the Intrepid sits)—these are extensions of the island's width that have served as the city’s lungs for centuries.
Common Misconceptions About Manhattan's Size
A lot of people think Manhattan is the biggest borough. Not even close.
In terms of land area, Manhattan is the smallest. Queens is the largest. Even the Bronx is twice as big. Manhattan is just the loudest. It’s the densest. It’s the one with the most recognizable silhouette.
Another misconception is that the island is flat. If you’ve ever biked up to 145th street, you know that’s a lie. The "heights" in Washington Heights aren't just a name. The highest natural point is in Bennett Park, 265 feet above sea level. It’s not Everest, but when you're walking the 13.4-mile length, those hills feel significant.
How to Experience the Full Length of Manhattan
If you want to truly grasp how long is Manhattan, don't take the subway. The subway skips the context.
Instead, take the M1 or M5 bus from one end to the other. Or better yet, rent a Citi Bike and ride the Hudson River Greenway. You can start at the George Washington Bridge and ride all the way down to the Statue of Liberty view at the Battery.
On a bike, the 13.4 miles goes by in about an hour. You see the transition from the industrial bridges of the north to the sleek, glassy luxury of the south. You see the George Washington Bridge—which, by the way, is one of the busiest bridges in the world—and you realize that all of this infrastructure exists just to get people onto this tiny, narrow strip of land.
Actionable Insights for Your Visit
- Wear broken-in shoes: If you plan to walk even a third of the island's length, do not wear new boots. The concrete is unforgiving.
- Use the Grid: Remember that 20 blocks equals a mile. Use this to gauge your fatigue. If you're at 100th street and need to get to 40th, that's 3 miles.
- North is "Up": In Manhattan, "Up" always means North (toward higher street numbers) and "Down" means South.
- The Best View of the Length: Go to the Edge at Hudson Yards or the Top of the Rock. Looking North from the Top of the Rock gives you a clear view of the "spine" toward Central Park and beyond.
The island's length is more than a geographic stat. It's the physical constraint that forced New York to become the most ambitious, crowded, and vertical city on Earth. It’s 13.4 miles of pure, unadulterated energy. Whether you're walking it, driving it, or just looking at it on a map, that distance represents the heart of the modern world.
👉 See also: American In Flight Entertainment: Why Your Next Trip Might Not Have a Screen
For your next trip, try focusing on just three miles of that length. Pick a section—say, from 14th Street to 72nd Street—and explore the "width" too. You'll find that while Manhattan isn't very long, it is incredibly deep.
Check the MTA maps before you head out, as weekend construction often changes how you can traverse the island's length. If you're biking, stick to the perimeter paths to avoid the stop-and-go of the grid's traffic lights. Enjoy the walk. There is nowhere else like it.