Libra writer, straw hat enthusiast and father of latest journalism Truman Capote maintained, “Latest York is just not a city, it’s a world.”
The roughly 340 neighborhoods found inside this world, this sprawling, five borough constellation, are defined as much by their physical properties and energetic feel as they’re the individuals who inhabit them.
The material of those neighborhoods is ever-shifting, rooted in history, and shaped by the currents of the present moment.
Yet, with the tightening grip of gentrification, the long run is a dangerous one, as Latest York faces the worst housing crisis town has seen in half a century.
Based on city data released this month, the portion of accessible rentals dropped to a staggering 1.4 percent in 2023.
In deference to those that make their lives in a city that makes it increasingly difficult to achieve this, I asked Latest Yorkers past and present about what neighborhoods speak to the spirit of every sign, starting with Big Apple-based astrologer Maryaam Lewis-Herbert, who sees town as an enterprising, Capricorn sun with a ‘there will likely be blood’ Aries moon — plus, each Venus and Mars in swashbuckling, expansion-at-all-costs Sagittarius.
Got that? Read on to learn more.
Financial District/Bed Stuy
Aries is ruled by the warmongering, take-no-prisoners, know-no-limits planet Mars — one anonymous Aries claims the Financial District for cardinal fire.
They told The Post: “High stakes, bald ambition, a lot of tempers and luxury. Traders embrace the bull as their symbol but perhaps the market is definitely a ram. Trade wars align well with the Aries archetype.”
NYC comedian Becky Goodman maintains Aries is an unapologetically extra Bed-Stuy baddie.
“BIG Daddy Kane, and the Notorious B.I.G.? This a neighborhood with a BIG a-s-s, fearless fame,” she told The Post.
“Individuals who live in Bed-Stuy will let you know it’s probably the most Latest York; probably the most fearless, the very best energy, probably the most emotion, probably the most, the very best, the MOST!”
Midtown/Bay Ridge
David Odyssey, an excellent NYC-based astrologer, author and Taurus, told The Post that a selected cross-section of Midtown suggestions a horn to the bull god contingent.
“For me, it will be Fifth Avenue around 57th Street: Tea on the Plaza, a walk across the park, horse-drawn carriages. The entire area looks primed for the Riddler to attack at any moment. That level of tacky, ostentatious glamour is ripe for Taurean takeover,” he said.
Taurus is an unrepentant glutton — one other Latest Yorker argues the bull is Bay Ridge, on account of the abundance of low cost places to eat.
Soho
Gemini is the sign of swinging high and moving fast, of commerce, communication, and the sacred spirit of curiosity.
“In Soho, there’s the sensation that the whole lot is converging directly and moving a mile a millisecond. Like a Gemini, Soho is coercive and persuasive in its try and have what it desires and each sign and neighborhood desire the bustling and the attractive,” artist, musician, actress, and triple Gemini Nina Pilar told The Post.
“There is no such thing as a shortage of funny little alleyways or decaying tenements. You never know what you may encounter standing on the corner, but I can guarantee it won’t be boring.”
East Village
Cancer rules the fourth house of the house and is expounded to the archetype of the mother.
In kind, and through the late Nineteenth and early twentieth century, the East Village became home to a big selection of immigrants, making it America’s first foreign language neighborhood.
True to the maternal energy of this cardinal water sign, the East Village has either birthed or fostered a gradual stream of scenes, from beats to punks to hippies to homegrown Hare Krishnas.
Sage writer and apex Cancer Richard Goodman called the East Village home for a few years. To him, the neighborhood is Cancer at its highest expression.
“The East Village is filled with nostalgia; Auden lived there, Ginsberg. There’s the Public Theater on Lafayette where so many plays began — like ‘A Chorus Line’ — and were nurtured. I like the vestiges of the past which are there,” he told The Post.
Times Square/Morris Heights
Leo is ruled by the sun — and governs the beating heart of that shameless ham.
“Leo is clearly Times Square,” said comedian Becky Goodman.
“The flashing lights, the sounds, the ball drop? Please — all of it screams, ‘PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!’ We get it, Leo,” she said.
“You desire to be the focal point identical to Times Square desires to be the middle of Manhattan. Tourists think you’re entertaining, but us real Latest Yorkers? Those who really know you? We saw you within the 70s. We all know what you’re attempting to hide and, frankly, we’re over it.”
On account of the seedy, low cost sex peddling past of this electric section of town, my money says Times Square has a Scorpio moon.
Also, if we consider that Hip Hop was born within the Bronx under the sign of the lion, Morris Heights is Leo territory.
Park Slope
My best pal Layth Sihan is a author/UX designer and card-carrying Virgo who resides in Bay Ridge but deems Park Slope the Virgo of Latest York.
“It’s busy and established, but quirky and bookish. It’s got all of the Brooklyn trimmings of fancy restaurants and multi-million dollar brownstones without feeling intimidating,” Sihan told The Post.
“The neighborhood is a brilliant, organized, and socially inclined Virgo who’s in the course of all of it, but standing simply to the left of anything excessive.”
Upper West Side/Rockaway
Ruled by Venus, planet of aesthetics and ease, Libra is soothed by beauty and unsettled by the ugly.
Within the spirit of pretty, Tommy, a mononymed Libra from Queens tells The Post, “Libras need a mix of nature and luxury, peace and tranquility, with a view of the water or a park.”
Tommy says Libra is the Upper West Side facing Central Park in case you’re a wealthy b—h — and Rockaway overlooking the ocean in case you’re not.
Lower East Side
Scorpio is a threshold sign that rules the reproductive organs and the eighth house of sex, death, secrets, vengeance and transformation.
True to form, within the seventeenth century what’s now generally known as the Lower East Side was first the blood-soaked site of the Corlears Hook Massacre. The realm was described as “a resort for the lewd and abandoned of each sexes,” with “streets abounding every night with preconcerted groups of thieves and prostitutes.”
Appalling to normies — absolute psychic bait to scorpions.
Today, a pair of city dwelling Scorpions, floral artists Kelsey Williams and Ariana Montalvo told The Post they claim the Lower East Side as their urban underworld because, “it’s grungy and dark and artists, good music and restaurants are there.”
Each are quick to notice that, “Scorpios aren’t Midtown people.”
Red Hook
Artist, musician, Brooklyn-dwelling quintuple Sagittarius king Jonny Connell cites Red Hook because the neighborhood most in keeping with the pirate/poet, soap box spouting, DIY, freedom-huffing, optimist leaning, house is the open road/sea archetype of the archer.
“Red Hook still looks like an old maritime town; cobblestones and warehouses, empty lots and like three bars,” Connell told The Post.
“There are motorcycles in all places and you possibly can still find parking. Atlantic Basin is where the schooner Clipper City sleeps surrounded by the project boats of its crew. Every Halloween there’s a Bike Kill when a punk collective drops off all these crazy-ass Frankenstein bikes and anyone can ride ’em. It’s the last free haven in Brooklyn.”
Get it while you possibly can.
Greenpoint/Dumbo
Situated on the tippy-top of the birth chart, sea goats rule the tenth house of aspirations. In kind, Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Capricorn is the sign of the holy grind — they like things to be difficult in order that they can measure their mettle against the challenge.
Based on aforementioned Scorpio floral artist Ariana Montalvo, Capricorn is Greenpoint.
“It’s hard to get to since the train sucks, but when you get there the whole lot opens up and it’s an awesome neighborhood,” she said.
Hard-won wonder — a Cap poem.
Brooklyn-bred software designer Joi Rogers argues that DumBo is the unique sea goat.
“Dumbo equals views without noise. A spot that was rat-infested, and is now one of the crucial expensive neighborhoods in all of Brooklyn. Cobblestone streets, and brick façades, romantic and iconic it’s a spot to fall in love and a spot to fall out of affection,” she told The Post.
Capricorn loves a come-up, a carousel and a long-game real estate investment, Rogers said.
Can dig.
Roosevelt Island/East Williamsburg
Aquarius identifies with the archetype of the weary outsider and the vantage of the ivory tower.
In kind, Roosevelt Island is home to the remnants of an insane asylum and a Nineteenth-century lighthouse that gives wide-angle views of town beyond.
“Aquarians don’t like labels, and there’s no label for Roosevelt Island. Is it a part of Manhattan? Yes. Does it feel like Manhattan? F–k no. It looks like a town repopulated after an apocalypse,” comedian Becky Goodman said.
“Concurrently unique and boring, Aquarius has a fame for detachedness, and Roosevelt Island is totally detached.”
As a counterpoint, apex Aquarius Greta Wilson considers East Williamsburg the water bearer of Latest York.
She told The Post: “Aquariuses need space and East Williamsburg has warehouses perfect for starting a ceramics studio or hosting an experimental DJ set that’s just automotive accident sounds slowed down.”
“Aquariuses love anonymity, and half of those old industrial spaces don’t even have door numbers so nobody will have the option to locate your apartment. Aquariuses love to maintain people guessing, and Latest Yorkers have spent the higher a part of a decade arguing about whether East Williamsburg is even an actual place.”
Williamsburg
Poet, editor, general luminary and holder of a Pisces moon, Skye Jackson has lived a half-life in Latest York City. She counts Williamsburg because the neighborhood of the fish.
Pisces is ruled by Neptune, the murky planet of fantasy, escape, effervescent drinks and hard drugs.
“Williamsburg is the land of dreams, delulu, and daddy’s bank card,” Jackson told The Post.
Based on Joi Rogers: “Williamsburg, like Pisces, is all hype, no substance. “
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, popular culture, and private experience. She can be an achieved author who has profiled quite a lot of artists and performers, in addition to extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Amongst the numerous intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girl’s guide” to strip clubs, and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.