Theatre Alley is a block-long cobblestone alley in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, between Ann and Beekman Streets. [1] It is one of Manhattan's few alleys that is not privately owned, and prior to the expansion of 5 Beekman Street adjacent to the alley c. 2010, it was "dank and claustrophobic". [2]
The alley was named for adjacent Park Theatre, which burned down in 1848. [2] According to Forgotten NY, it was New York's first one-way street, created to alleviate traffic jams caused by horse-drawn carriages arriving at the theater. [3]
