Midtown South is generally used to refer to the portion of Midtown below roughly 42nd Street,^[2] particularly the south-central part of Midtown.^[3]

One definition of "Midtown South" refers to the boundaries of the Midtown South police precinct. The New York City Police Department (NYPD)'s Midtown South Precinct is bounded by 29th Street to the south, 45th Street to the north, Ninth Avenue to the west, and Lexington Avenue to the east (except for the portion between 40th and 34th Streets, for which Madison Avenue is the eastern boundary).^[4]

Midtown South has a different definition in the commercial real estate context, where it is used to refer to the relatively low-rise office submarket located roughly between 34th or 30th Street and Canal or Chambers Street.^[5][6][7]

As described by The Wall Street Journal, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by 45th Street to the north, 29th Street to the south, Ninth Avenue to the west, and Lexington Avenue to the east,^[5][8] which corresponds closely with the Midtown South police precinct. According to Newsday, Midtown South is bounded by 42nd Street to the north, 23rd Street to the south, Lexington Avenue to the east, and Eighth Avenue to the west.^[9] As used by The New York Times Real Estate Pricing Guide, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by 42nd Street to the north, 23rd Street to the south, Sixth Avenue to the west, and Park Avenue to the east.^[10]

Midtown South encompasses several neighborhoods, including Chelsea, Hudson Yards and the Garment District on the West Side; Koreatown centrally; and Kips Bay, Murray Hill, and Rose Hill on the East Side. Midtown is also sometimes subclassified into "Midtown East" and "Midtown West", or divided by north and south as in the New York City Police Department's Midtown North and Midtown South precincts.

A list of the neighborhoods relative to streets and avenues in the Midtown South macro-neighborhood is as follows:

• Chelsea, from 34th Street to 23rd Street and from the Hudson River to the Avenue of the Americas, including the Hudson Yards development
• Hudson Yards, between West 30th and 42nd Streets from the Hudson River to Eighth Avenue
• The Garment District, from West 42nd to 34th Streets and from Ninth Avenue to Fifth Avenue
• Greeley Square and Herald Square, at the intersection of Broadway and Sixth Avenue, between West 32nd and 35th Streets
• Kips Bay, between 34th Street and 27th Street and from Third Avenue to the East River
• Koreatown, from 36th Street to 31st Street and from Madison Avenue to Sixth Avenue; Korea Way, on 32nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway
• Murray Hill, from East 42nd Street to East 34th Street and from Fifth Avenue to Second Avenue
• Rose Hill, or Curry Hill, from 32nd Street to 23rd Street and between Madison Avenue and Third Avenue