The West Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan Island

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 which abuts the Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

 and faces New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. Fifth Avenue, Central Park

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

, and lower Broadway

Broadway (New York City)

Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...

 separate it from the East Side. The major neighborhoods on the West Side are (from north to south) West Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

, Morningside Heights, Manhattan Valley

Manhattan Valley

Manhattan Valley is a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by West 110th Street to the north, Central Park West to the east, West 96th Street to the south, and Broadway to the west...

, Upper West Side

Upper West Side

The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...

, Hell's Kitchen

Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan

Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....

, Chelsea

Chelsea, Manhattan

Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...

, West Village, SoHo

SoHo

SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...

, and Tribeca

TriBeCa

Tribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. Its name is an acronym based on the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street...

. The 8th Avenue

IND Eighth Avenue Line

The Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway...

 and West Side subway lines connect all parts of the West Side. The main north-south roads servicing the West Side are the Henry Hudson Parkway

Henry Hudson Parkway

The Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...

 in the north, and the West Side Highway

West Side Highway

The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...

 in the south. The Hudson River Greenway

Manhattan Waterfront Greenway

The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a foreshoreway for walking or cycling, long, around the island of Manhattan. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks. It is separated from motor traffic, and many sections also separate pedestrians from cyclists...

 separates them from the west shore of the island.

Redevelopment

The Far West Side would have been the location of West Side Stadium

West Side Stadium

The West Side Stadium was a proposed football stadium to be built on a platform over the rail yards on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City....

, which was intended as the Olympic stadium for the New York City bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. After the rejection of the $2 billion stadium plan that would also lure the New York Jets

New York Jets

The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 to Manhattan, developers made plans, including the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project

Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project

The Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project is a New York City Department of City Planning and Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposal to encourage business development on Manhattan's far West Side along the Hudson River. The project initially included a rezoning of the Far West Side of...

, to redevelop the West Side with a mix of commercial and residential buildings.