New York University (NYU) is a private, nonsectarian American research university based in New York City. Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the largest private non-profit institutions of American higher education. NYU is organized into more than twenty schools, colleges, and institutes, located in six centers throughout Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. NYU's main campus is located at Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan with institutes and centers on the Upper East Side, academic buildings and dorms down on Wall Street, and the Brooklyn campus located at MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn. The University also established NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU Shanghai and maintains 11 other Global Academic Centers in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Washington, D.C.