Avenue of the Americas | |
Namesake | The Americas |
---|---|
Owner | City of New York |
Maintained by | NYCDOT |
Length | 3.7 mi (6.0 km) [1] |
Location | Manhattan, New York City |
South end | Church / Franklin Streets in Tribeca |
Major junctions | Herald Square in Midtown |
North end | Central Park South / Center Drive in Midtown |
East | Fifth Avenue (north of Waverly Pl) |
West | Varick Street (south of Houston Street) Seventh Avenue (Houston Street to 34th Street) Broadway (between 34th and 45th Streets) Seventh Avenue (between 45th and 59th Streets) |
Construction | |
Commissioned | March 1811 |
Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial for much of its length.
Sixth Avenue begins four blocks below Canal Street, at Franklin Street in Tribeca, where the northbound Church Street divides into Sixth Avenue to the left and the local continuation of Church Street to the right, which then ends at Canal Street. From this beginning, Sixth Avenue traverses SoHo and Greenwich Village, roughly divides Chelsea from the Flatiron District and NoMad, passes through the Garment District and skirts the edge of the Theater District while passing through Midtown Manhattan. Although it is officially named "Avenue of the Americas", this name is seldom used by New Yorkers. [2] [3] [4]
Sixth Avenue's northern end is at Central Park South, adjacent to the Artists' Gate entrance to Central Park via Center Drive. Historically, Sixth Avenue was also the name of the road that continued north of Central Park, but that segment was renamed Lenox Avenue in 1887 and co-named Malcolm X Boulevard in 1987. [5]
Sixth Avenue was laid out in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. As originally designed, Sixth Avenue's southern terminus was at Carmine Street in Greenwich Village, and it continued northward to 147th Street in Harlem. Central Park was added to the street grid in 1857 and created an interruption in Sixth Avenue between 59th and 110th Streets. Proposals to extend the street south of Carmine Street were discussed by the city's Board of Aldermen as early as the mid-1860s. [6] The IRT Sixth Avenue Line elevated railway (the "El") was constructed on Sixth Avenue in 1878, darkening the street and reducing its real-estate value. In the early and mid-1800s Sixth Avenue passed by the popular roadhouse and tavern, Old Grapevine, at the corner of 11th Street, which at the time was the northern edge of the city. [7]
In late 1887, the Harlem portion of what was then considered Sixth Avenue was renamed Lenox Avenue [8] for philanthropist James Lenox; a century later it was co-named Malcolm X Boulevard, in honor of the slain civil rights leader Malcolm X. [9] [10]
Starting in 1926, as part of the construction of the Holland Tunnel, Sixth Avenue was widened and extended from Minetta Lane to Canal Street. [11] Smaller side streets in the extension's path were also demolished or incorporated into the extended avenue. [11] The Sixth Avenue extension also allowed for the construction of the Independent Subway System (IND)'s Eighth Avenue Line, which was to run below Sixth Avenue south of Eighth Street. [12] To accommodate the new subway, buildings were condemned and demolished to extend Sixth Avenue southward. [12] Construction of the extension resulted in considerable dislocation to existing residents, as ten thousand people were evicted to make way for the Sixth Avenue extension. [13] One historian stated that most of the displaced residents were "Italian immigrants who knew no other home in America". [14] According to the WPA Guide to New York City , the extension resulted in blank side walls facing the "uninspiring thoroughfare" and small leftover spaces. Dozens of buildings, including the original Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, were demolished. [15] After the renumbering of the street's properties in 1929, [16] the Sixth Avenue extension was opened to traffic in 1930, [17] and the subway line was completed two years later. [18] Sixth Avenue, the only numbered avenue to extend south of Houston Street, thus became the southernmost numbered avenue in Manhattan. House numbering of existing buildings was adjusted. [12]
By the 1930s, a coalition of commercial establishments and building owners along Sixth Avenue campaigned to have the El removed. The El was closed on December 4, 1938, and came down in stages, beginning in Greenwich Village in 1938–39. [15] The replacement Sixth Avenue subway, which ran between Houston and 53rd Streets with a transfer to the Eighth Avenue line at West Fourth Street, opened in 1940. [19]
The demolition of the Sixth Avenue elevated railway also resulted in accelerated commercial development of the avenue in Midtown. Beginning in the 1960s, the avenue was entirely rebuilt above 42nd Street as an all-but-uninterrupted avenue of corporate headquarters housed in glass slab towers of International Modernist style. [20] : 394 Among the buildings constructed was the CBS Building at 52nd Street, by Eero Saarinen (1965), dubbed "Black Rock" for its full-height black-granite piers; [21] [20] : 406–410 this designated landmark is Saarinen's only skyscraper. [22] Another group of modernist structures along Sixth Avenue in midtown was the "XYZ Buildings" (1971–1974) at 1211, 1221, and 1251 Sixth Avenue. [20] : 410–416
On March 10, 1957, Sixth Avenue was reconfigured to carry one-way traffic north of its intersection with Broadway in Herald Square. [23] The rest of the avenue followed on November 10, 1963. [24]
In the mid-1970s, the city "spruced up" the street, including the addition of patterned brick crosswalks, repainting of streetlamps, and new pedestrian plazas. Special lighting, rare throughout the rest of the city, was also installed. [25]
The avenue's official name was changed to Avenue of the Americas in 1945 by the City Council, at the behest of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, [26] who signed the bill into law on October 2, 1945. [27] The intent was to honor "Pan-American ideals and principles" [28] and the nations of Central and South America, and to encourage those countries to build consulates along the avenue. [29] It was felt at the time that the name would provide greater grandeur to a shabby street, [30] and to promote trade with the Western Hemisphere. [31]
After the name change, round signs were attached to streetlights on the avenue, showing the national seals and coats of arms of the nations honored. However, New Yorkers rarely used the avenue's newer name, [4] and in 1955, an informal study found that locals used "Sixth Avenue" more than eight times as often as "Avenue of the Americas". [32] The move was also criticized as "propaganda" by those who wanted to return to the original name. [33] Since then, the thoroughfare has been labelled as both "Avenue of the Americas" and "Sixth Avenue" in recent years. Most of the old round signs with country emblems were gone by the late 1990s, and the ones remaining, which were only present between Canal Street and Washington Place in Greenwich Village and in Midtown around 57th Street began showing signs of age. [31] However, starting in March 2023, the city began to install new signs along most of the length of the avenue, in addition to replacing the remaining original signs, which were aging. [34] [35]
Sights along Sixth Avenue include Juan Pablo Duarte Square; [36] the polychrome High Victorian Gothic Jefferson Market Courthouse, currently occupied by the Jefferson Market Library; [37] the surviving stretch of grand department stores of 1880 to 1900 in the Ladies' Mile Historic District that runs from 18th Street to 23rd Street; [38] the former wholesale flower district; Herald Square at 34th Street, [39] site of Macy's department store; [40] and Bryant Park from 40th to 42nd Streets. [41] The corporate stretch above 42nd Street contains the Bank of America Tower, W. R. Grace Building, International Center of Photography, Rockefeller Center (including the Time-Life Building, News Corp. Building, Exxon Building, McGraw-Hill Building, and Radio City Music Hall) and the CBS Building.
Sixth Avenue is the site of the annual Village Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village [42] and the Dominican Day Parade in Midtown.
Sixth Avenue is served by the New York City Subway with the IND Sixth Avenue Line ( B , D , F , <F> , and M trains) north of Houston Street, and the IND Eighth Avenue Line ( A , C , and E trains) south of Greenwich Avenue. The Harlem portion of Sixth Avenue (Lenox Avenue) is served by the IRT Lenox Avenue Line ( 2 and 3 trains) north of Central Park North (110th Street). [43] The PATH's Uptown Hudson Tubes to New Jersey also run under Sixth Avenue (JSQ–33, HOB-33, and JSQ-33 (via HOB) trains) from 9th to 33rd Streets. [44]
The M55 runs south of West 44th Street, where it terminates, while the M5 and M7 run north of West 31st and West 14th Streets, respectively. The latter begins Harlem service at West 16th Street and uses 7th Avenue downtown; the rest use 5th Avenue. Additional service is provided by the eastbound M21 from Spring to West Houston Streets. [45]
The avenue is referenced both in the name and in the lyrics of "6th Avenue Heartache" by The Wallflowers. [46]
Broadway is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from the south at State Street at Bowling Green for 13 mi (20.9 km) through the borough of Manhattan, over the Broadway Bridge, and 2 mi (3.2 km) through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional 18 mi (29.0 km) through the Westchester County municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow, after which the road continues, but is no longer called "Broadway". The latter portion of Broadway north of the George Washington Bridge/I-95 underpass comprises a portion of U.S. Route 9.
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue stretches downtown (southward) from West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan is the most expensive shopping street in the world.
The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line is a New York City Subway line. It is one of several lines that serves the A Division, stretching from South Ferry in Lower Manhattan north to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street in Riverdale, Bronx. The Brooklyn Branch, known as the Wall and William Streets Branch during construction, from the main line at Chambers Street southeast through the Clark Street Tunnel to Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn, is also part of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line is the only line to have elevated stations in Manhattan, with two short stretches of elevated track at 125th Street and between Dyckman and 225th Streets.
The IND 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. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND); as such, New Yorkers originally applied the Eighth Avenue Subway name to the entire IND system.
The IND Sixth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in the United States. It runs mainly under Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and continues south to Brooklyn. The B, D, F, and M trains, which use the Sixth Avenue Line through Midtown Manhattan, are colored orange. The B and D trains use the express tracks, while the F, <F> and M trains use the local tracks.
Seventh Avenue—co-named Fashion Avenue in the Garment District and known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park—is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below the park and a two-way street north of it.
The Rector Street station is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Rector Street and Greenwich Street in Financial District of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times.
The 34th Street–Herald Square station is an underground station complex on the BMT Broadway Line and the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at Herald Square in Midtown Manhattan where 34th Street, Broadway and Sixth Avenue intersect, and is served by the D, F, N, and Q trains at all times; the R train at all times except late nights; the B, M, and W trains on weekdays; and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
The Chambers Street station is an express station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Chambers Street and West Broadway in the TriBeCa and the Financial District neighborhoods of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 and 2 trains at all times, and by the 3 train at all times except late nights.
33rd Street station is a terminal station on the PATH system. Located at the intersection of 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue in the Herald Square neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan, New York City, it is served by the Hoboken–33rd Street and Journal Square–33rd Street lines on weekdays, and by the Journal Square–33rd Street line on late nights, weekends, and holidays. 33rd Street serves as the northern terminus of all three lines.
The West Fourth Street–Washington Square station is an express station and transfer stop on the IND Sixth Avenue and IND Eighth Avenue Lines of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of West Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It is served by the A, D, E, and F trains at all times; the B and M trains on weekdays; the C train at all times except late nights; and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
The Uptown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains between Manhattan, New York City, to the east and Jersey City, New Jersey, to the west. The tubes originate at a junction of two PATH lines on the New Jersey shore and cross eastward under the Hudson River. On the Manhattan side, the tubes run mostly underneath Christopher Street and Sixth Avenue, making four intermediate stops before terminating at 33rd Street station. The tubes do not enter Uptown Manhattan; the name reflects their location north of the Downtown Hudson Tubes that connect Jersey City and the World Trade Center.
The 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station is an express station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located along Sixth Avenue between 47th and 50th Streets, on the west side of Rockefeller Center. The station is served by the D and F trains at all times, the B and M trains on weekdays, and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction. In 2019, it was the 12th busiest subway station in the system.
The Christopher Street–Stonewall station, formerly known as Christopher Street–Sheridan Square, is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue South in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times and by the 2 train during late nights.
The 42nd Street–Bryant Park/Fifth Avenue station is an underground New York City Subway station complex, consisting of stations on the IRT Flushing Line and IND Sixth Avenue Line. Located at 42nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, it is served by the 7, D and F trains at all times, the B and M trains on weekdays, and the <7> and <F> trains during rush hours in the peak direction. A free passageway from the IND platforms to the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal station, served by the 1, 2, 3, 7, <7>, A, C, E, N, Q, R, W, and S trains is open during the day from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m.
59th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from York Avenue and Sutton Place on the East Side of Manhattan to the West Side Highway on the West Side. The three-block portion between Columbus Circle and Grand Army Plaza is known as Central Park South, since it forms the southern border of Central Park. There is a gap in the street between Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue and Columbus Circle, where the Deutsche Bank Center is located. While Central Park South is a bidirectional street, most of 59th Street carries one-way traffic.
The 14th Street/Eighth Avenue station is an underground New York City Subway station complex shared by the IND Eighth Avenue Line and the BMT Canarsie Line. Located at Eighth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan, the station is served by the A, E, and L trains at all times and the C train at all times except late nights.
14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, traveling between Eleventh Avenue on Manhattan's West Side and Avenue C on Manhattan's East Side. It forms a boundary between several neighborhoods and is sometimes considered the border between Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan.
The 14th Street/Sixth Avenue station is an underground New York City Subway station complex in the Greenwich Village and Chelsea neighborhoods of Manhattan, on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, the BMT Canarsie Line and the IND Sixth Avenue Line. It is located on 14th Street between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. It is served by the 1, 2, F, and L trains at all times, by the 3 train at all times except late nights, the M train during weekdays, and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
Avenue of the Americas, a name rarely used by New Yorkers
New Yorkers stubbornly resist calling Sixth Avenue by the name it has officially borne since the La Guardia years