Sixth Avenue Line (Manhattan surface)

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The Sixth Avenue Line was a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running mostly along Sixth Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Central Park. Originally a streetcar line and later a bus route, it has been absorbed into the M5 bus route, which replaced the Broadway Line, as its northbound direction.

Manhattan Borough in New York City and county in New York, United States

Manhattan, often referred to locally as the City, is the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City and its economic and administrative center, cultural identifier, and historical birthplace. The borough is coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state of New York. The borough consists mostly of Manhattan Island, bounded by the Hudson, East, and Harlem rivers; several small adjacent islands; and Marble Hill, a small neighborhood now on the U.S. mainland, physically connected to the Bronx and separated from the rest of Manhattan by the Harlem River. Manhattan Island is divided into three informally bounded components, each aligned with the borough's long axis: Lower, Midtown, and Upper Manhattan.

Lower Manhattan Central business district in New York, United States

Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York, is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in the City of New York, which itself originated at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in 1624, at a point which now constitutes the present-day Financial District. The population of the Financial District alone has grown to an estimated 61,000 residents as of 2018, up from 43,000 as of 2014, which in turn was nearly double the 23,000 recorded at the 2000 Census.

Central Park Public park at the center of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States

Central Park is an urban park in Manhattan, New York City. It is located between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side, roughly bounded by Fifth Avenue on the east, Central Park West on the west, Central Park South on the south, and Central Park North on the north. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States, with 40 million visitors in 2013, and one of the most filmed locations in the world. In terms of area, Central Park is the fifth-largest park in New York City, covering 843 acres (341 ha).

Contents

Route description

The Sixth Avenue Line begins at the South Ferry, and runs north along State Street and then west on Battery Place. It then turns right onto Greenwich Street. Greenwich Street changes names to Trinity Place, and then Church Street. It then bears left onto Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas. It follows Sixth Avenue until its end at Central Park South (West 59th Street).

South Ferry (Manhattan)

South Ferry is at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City and is the embarkation point for ferries to Staten Island and Governors Island. Battery Park, abutting South Ferry on the west, has docking areas for ferries to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Its name is derived from an historical ferry company which provided service to Brooklyn, run by the South Ferry Company.

Greenwich Street street in New York City

Greenwich Street is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It extends from the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District at its northernmost end to its southern end at Battery Park.

Church Street (Manhattan) street in New York City

Church Street is a short, but heavily travelled, north-south street in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its southern end is at Trinity Place, of which it is a continuation, and its northern end is at Canal Street.

The Fifth and Sixth Avenues Line (M5/M55) follows the same route as the former Sixth Avenue Line. [1]

History

The Sixth Avenue Railroad opened the line from Chambers Street and West Broadway north along West Broadway, Canal Street, Varick Street, Carmine Street, and Sixth Avenue to 43rd Street (soon 44th Street) on August 11, 1852; [2] the Eighth Avenue Railroad began using the trackage along and south of Canal Street on August 30. [3] In 1853, it was extended south along West Broadway to the new depot at Barclay Street, and a branch was added on Canal Street east to Broadway. On October 7, 1853, trackage was added on Church Street, Chambers Street, and Barclay Street to form a loop. [4] The grant given to the Sixth and Eighth Avenue Railroads specified that they would run to Broadway and Vesey Street; [5] this extension, in Church and Vesey Streets, was opened by 1865. [6]

Chambers Street (Manhattan) street in Manhattan

Chambers Street is a two-way street in the New York City borough of Manhattan.

Canal Street (Manhattan) street in Manhattan

Canal Street is a major east–west street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, running from East Broadway between Essex and Jefferson Streets in the east, to West Street between Watts and Spring Streets in the west. It runs through the neighborhood of Chinatown, and forms the southern boundaries of SoHo and Little Italy as well as the northern boundary of Tribeca. The street acts as a major connector between Jersey City, New Jersey, via the Holland Tunnel (I-78), and Brooklyn, New York City, via the Manhattan Bridge. It is a two-way street for most of its length – from West Street to the Manhattan Bridge – with two unidirectional stretches between Forsyth Street and the Manhattan Bridge.

Varick Street street in New York City

Varick Street runs north-south primarily in the Hudson Square district of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Varick Street's northern terminus is in the West Village, where it is a continuation of Seventh Avenue South south of Clarkson Street. It continues downtown through Hudson Square and TriBeCa until it reaches Leonard Street, where it merges with West Broadway. Motor traffic is one-way southbound. Major east-west streets crossed include Houston Street and Canal Street. Approaching Broome Street, the two rightmost lanes of Varick Street are reserved for traffic entering the Holland Tunnel, where backups often occur at rush hour.

Extensions to the north opened to 49th Street in March 1856 and to 59th Street by 1865. Cars were later extended west on 59th Street and north on Columbus Avenue, Broadway, and Amsterdam Avenue into Upper Manhattan, and a branch (the Sixth Avenue Ferry Line) was added via the Metropolitan Crosstown Line, along Watts Street and West Street to the Desbrosses Street Ferry.

Upper Manhattan neighborhood in New York City

Upper Manhattan denotes the most northern region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park at 110th Street, 125th Street or 155th Street are some common usages.

The Metropolitan Crosstown Line was a surface public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, connecting the 14th Street Ferry and Desbrosses Street Ferry on the Hudson River with the Grand Street Ferry on the East River. It was owned by the New York Railways Company, and contained the Spring and Delancey Streets Line streercars. The company was discontinued September 21, 1919 but restored from February 1, 1920 to May 20, 1931 by court order.

By 1935, the last full year of operation, the Sixth Avenue line, now run by the New York Railways Company, ran from 4th Street to 59th Street. The fare, as for all street car lines at the time, was 5 cents, with transfers costing an additional 2 cents. [7]

New York Railways Company

The New York Railways Company operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, United States between 1911 and 1925. The company went into receivership in 1919 and control was passed to the New York Railways Corporation in 1925 after which all of its remaining lines were replaced with bus routes.

4th Street (Manhattan) street in New York City

4th Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It starts at Avenue D as East 4th Street and continues to Broadway, where it becomes West 4th Street. It continues west until the Avenue of the Americas, where West 4th Street turns north and confusingly intersects with West 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th Streets in Greenwich Village. Most of the street has the same 40-foot (12 m) width between curbstones as others in the prevailing street grid, striped as two curbside lanes and one traffic lane, with one-way traffic eastbound. The portion from Seventh to Eighth Avenues is westbound and is approximately 35 feet (11 m) wide, a legacy of the original Greenwich Village street grid. The section of four short blocks from MacDougal Street to University Place which forms the southern border of Washington Square Park is called Washington Square South.

Buses were substituted for streetcars by the New York City Omnibus Corporation (which numbered it 5) on March 3, 1936. When Sixth Avenue between 34th and 59th Streets, Broadway between 34th Street and Columbus Circle, and Seventh Avenue between Times Square and 59th Street became one-way streets on March 10, 1957, the 5's southbound route from 59th to 34th Street was rerouted to Seventh Avenue and then Broadway before rejoining Sixth Avenue. [8] After another set of one-way conversions on June 3, 1962, the southbound 5 in lower Manhattan was rerouted to West Broadway between Lispenard and Vesey Streets. [9] After the rest of Sixth Avenue below 34th Street, and Broadway between 34th and 23rd Streets and between 14th and Canal Streets, were converted to one-way streets on November 10, 1963, the 5 was discontinued and absorbed into the NYCO's bus 6 (which replaced the Broadway Line), which was rerouted largely over the former Sixth Avenue Line northbound. [10]

Related Research Articles

The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan, New York City, United States. As of November 2016, it is served by four services, all colored yellow: the N and ​Q trains on the express tracks and the R and ​W trains on the local tracks during weekdays. The line is often referred to as the "N and R", since those were the only services on the line from 1988 to 2001, when the Manhattan Bridge's southern tracks were closed for rebuilding. The Broadway Line was built to give the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company access to Midtown Manhattan.

New York City Subway chaining

New York City Subway chaining is a method to precisely specify locations along the New York City Subway lines. It measures distances from a fixed point, called chaining zero, following the twists and turns of the railroad line, so that the distance described is understood to be the "railroad distance," not the distance by the most direct route.

M23 (New York City bus) Bus route in Manhattan, New York

The 23rd Street Crosstown is a surface transit line on 23rd Street in Manhattan, New York City, United States. It currently hosts the M23 SBS bus route of MTA's Regional Bus Operations. The M23 runs between Chelsea Piers, along the West Side Highway near 22nd Street, via 23rd Street, to Avenue C and 20th Street in Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village.

34th Street (Manhattan) street in Manhattan

34th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs the width of Manhattan Island from West Side Highway on the West Side to the FDR Drive on the East Side. 34th Street is used as a crosstown artery between New Jersey to the west and Queens to the east, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey with the Queens Midtown Tunnel to Long Island.

IRT Third Avenue Line former elevated line in New York

The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue Elevated, Third Avenue El, or Bronx El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by the New York Elevated Railway, an independent railway company, it was acquired by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and eventually became part of the New York City Subway system.

M10 and M20 buses Bus routes in Manhattan, New York

The Eighth Avenue Line is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along Eighth Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Harlem. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M10 bus route and the M20 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority. The M10 bus now only runs north of 57th Street, and the M20 runs south of 66th Street. The whole line was a single route, the M10, until 2000 when the M20 was created.

The Ninth and Tenth Avenues Line or Ninth Avenue Line is a surface transit line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running mostly along Ninth Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Manhattanville. Originally a streetcar line operated by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, it is now the M11 bus route operated by the New York City Transit Authority.

The Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad was a street railway company in the U.S. state of New York. It owned and operated a system in Lower Manhattan, and became part of the Metropolitan Street Railway.

M5 and M55 buses Bus routes in Manhattan, New York

The M5 and M55 constitute a public transit corridor in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running along the Fifth / Sixth Avenues / Riverside Drive Line as well as the southern portion of the Broadway Line after the discontinuation of the M6. The routes primarily run along Broadway, Fifth and Sixth Avenues, and Riverside Drive from South Ferry, Lower Manhattan to Washington Heights. The M5 covers the northern portion of the route north of 31st Street, while the M55 operates along the southern portion of the route south of 44th Street. The two routes overlap in Midtown Manhattan. The portion along Broadway south of East 8th Street was originally a streetcar line.

The Eighth and Ninth Streets Crosstown is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along Eighth Street, Ninth Street, Tenth Street, and Christopher Street through the West Village, Greenwich Village, and East Village. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M8 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority.

M7 (New York City bus) Bus route in Manhattan, New York

The Columbus Avenue Line is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along Columbus Avenue, 116th Street, and Lenox Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Harlem. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M7 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority, a division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The 17th and 18th Streets Crosstown Line was a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along 14th Street, 17th Street, and 18th Street from the West 14th Street Ferry in Chelsea and Christopher Street Ferry in the West Village to the East 23rd Street Ferry at Peter Cooper Village. It was not replaced with a trolley line or bus route when it was abandoned in 1913.

M9 (New York City bus) Bus route in Manhattan, New York

The M9 is a local bus routes that operates along the Avenue C Line, in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The route runs mostly along Essex Street and Avenue C from Battery Park City to Kips Bay. Originally a streetcar line, the Avenue C Line is now part of the M9 route, as well as the M21, which operates on the Houston Street Line. Both the Avenue C and Houston Street segments were served by a single route, the M21, until June 2010. The M9 and M21 are operated by the New York City Transit Authority, and based out of the Michael J. Quill Depot.

The Seventh Avenue Line is a surface public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, connecting Lower Manhattan with Central Park along Seventh Avenue. Once a streetcar line, it is now part of the southbound direction of the M10 and M20 bus routes.

M104 (New York City bus) Bus route in Manhattan, New York

The Broadway Line is a surface transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mainly along 42nd Street and Broadway from Murray Hill to Harlem. Formerly a streetcar line operated by the Third Avenue Railway, it is now the M104 bus route operated by the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. This bus route no longer runs along the entire route of the former streetcar.

The 53rd Street Crosstown Line was a surface transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running along 53rd Street in Midtown, between Sixth Avenue and Ninth Avenue. It served as a connection between north-south lines during the times that they were not affiliated with the 59th Street Crosstown Line. The street is no longer used by buses, which now use 59th Street to make the crosstown connection.

Lenox Avenue Line (surface)

The Lenox Avenue Line is a surface transit line on Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, United States. The line was once operated separately, but later became the northern end of the Broadway and Columbus Avenue Line and Broadway and Lexington Avenue Line, now the M7 and M102 bus routes.

M86 (New York City bus) Bus route in Manhattan, New York

The 86th Street Crosstown Line is a bus line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along 86th Street on the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. Originally a streetcar line, it now comprises the M86 bus line.

References

  1. ↑ "M5 bus timetable" (PDF). (561 KB), effective April 2012
  2. ↑ The New York Times , Sixth-Avenue Railroad, August 11, 1852
  3. ↑ The New York Times , Eighth-Avenue Railroad, August 30, 1852
  4. ↑ The New York Times , Sixth and Eighth-Avenue Railroads, October 8, 1853
  5. ↑ The New York Times , Board of Councilmen, April 19, 1855
  6. ↑ The New York Times , Our City Railroads, December 26, 1865
  7. ↑ Red Book New York City. New York: Interstate Map Co. 1935. p. 183.
  8. ↑ "Midtown Gets New Traffic Pattern; One-Way Plan Starts Smoothly—Big Test Will Come Today." The New York Times, March 11, 1957, page 1 (cont'd page 22)
  9. ↑ "BARNES TO SPEED DOWNTOWN FLOW; New One-Way Designations on the West Side to Go Into Effect Sunday; BUS ROUTES AFFECTED; Broadway to Go South Only—Truck Traffic Eased Near Union Terminal." The New York Times, May 28, 1962, page 33
  10. ↑ New York Times, City to Extend One-Way Traffic To 3 Manhattan Routes Sunday, November 5, 1963, page 1
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