Minetta Creek was one of the largest natural watercourses in Manhattan, New York City, United States. Minetta Creek was fed from two tributaries, one originating at Fifth Avenue and 21st Street, and the other originating at Sixth Avenue and 16th Street. They joined near Fifth Avenue and 11th Street then took a southwesterly course. Minetta Creek's name is thought to have originated from either the Native American term "Manette", meaning "Devil's Water", or the Dutch word "Minnetje", meaning "the little one".

Minetta Creek was originally known by the Dutch as Bestevaer's Killetje. During the 18th century, large amounts of wildlife could be seen around the creek. In the early 1820s, the New York City common council commissioned a project to divert Minetta Creek into a covered sewer. The creek was filled in by the mid-19th century, although it persisted as an underground stream through the 20th century.

Ever since the creek was covered in the 19th century, there have been debates over whether the creek still exists. Minetta Creek caused flooding in basements and construction sites from the mid-19th century through the mid-20th century. Pools of water were also found at several construction sites along the creek's course.

Minetta Creek was one of Manhattan's largest natural waterways. Nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) long, Minetta Creek began from two tributaries, the main one having its source near Fifth Avenue and 21st Street, and a secondary one that had its source at Sixth Avenue and 16th Street. The streams flowed southward and joined within the block bound by 11th and 12th Streets between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. From there it flowed southward across modern-day Washington Square Park. It then crossed southwest along the present route of Minetta Lane, one of the creek's namesake streets. The creek then roughly followed the current path of Minetta Street, a one-block road going south from Minetta Lane before curving southwest to meet Sixth Avenue. Minetta Creek then turned west along what is now Downing Street and eventually discharged into the Hudson River near Charlton Street.

Minetta Creek is alternatively called Minetta Brook, Minetta Stream, Minetta Water, or Minetta Waters. It was also referred to by its Dutch name, Bestevaer's Killetje, before the American Revolutionary War. A plaque affixed to the building at Two Fifth Avenue provides one derivation of the "Minetta" name and reads as follows:

A brook winds its erratic way beneath this site

The Indians called it Manette or Devil's Water

To the Dutch settlers it was