Information about Broadway (New York City)

A view of Broadway in 1909

Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City. While New York has several other Broadways, in the context of the city it frequently refers to the Manhattan avenue which also runs into the Bronx and Westchester County. It is the oldest north-south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name Broadway is an English translation of the Dutch name, Breede weg. A stretch of Broadway is famous as the pinnacle of the American theater industry.

History

Broadway originated as a Native American trail called the Wickquasgeck Trail, which was carved into the brush land of Manhattan.^[1] This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the trail soon became the main road through the island from New Amsterdam at the southern tip. The Dutch explorer and entrepreneur David de Vries gives the first mention of it in his journal for the year 1642 ("the Wickquasgeck Road over which the Indians passed daily"). The Dutch named the road "Heerestraat".^[2] In the 18th century Broadway ended at the town commons north of Wall Street, where Eastern Post Road continued through the East Side and Bloomindale Road the west side of the island. In the late 19th century the widened and paved part of Bloomingdale Road north of Columbus Circle was called "The Boulevard" but at the end of the century the whole old road was renamed to Broadway.

Route

Broadway runs the length of Manhattan, from Bowling Green at the south, to Inwood at the northern tip. South of Columbus Circle, it is a one-way southbound street; through traffic is blocked at Times Square, where it is prevented from crossing Seventh Avenue directly. From the northern tip of Manhattan, it crosses Spuyten Duyvil Creek via the Broadway Bridge and continues through the Bronx into Westchester County. US 9 continues to be known as Broadway through its junction with NY 117.

Diagonally crossing the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 of Manhattan streets, its intersections with avenues have been marked by "squares" (some merely triangular slivers of open space) and induced some interesting architecture, such as the famous Flatiron Building.

A view up Broadway from Bowling Green, with the Chrysler Building visible in the background

The section of lower Broadway from its origin at Bowling Green to City Hall Park is the historical location for the city's ticker-tape parades, and is sometimes called the "Canyon of Heroes" during such events. West of Broadway as far as Canal Street was the city's fashionable residential area until circa 1825; landfill has more than tripled the area and the Hudson shore now lies far to the west, beyond TriBeCa and Battery Park City.

Broadway marks the east boundary of Greenwich Village, passing Astor Place. It is a short walk from there to New York University near Washington Square Park, which is at the foot of Fifth Avenue. A bend in front of Grace Church allegedly avoids an earlier tavern.

At Union Square, Broadway continues its diagonal course across Manhattan, crossing 14th Street.

At Madison Square, Broadway crosses Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street.

At Herald Square, Broadway crosses Sixth Avenue (the Avenue of the Americas). Macy's Department Store is located on the western corner of Herald Square; it is one of the largest department stores in the world, if not the single largest.

One famous stretch near Times Square, where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue in midtown Manhattan, is the home of many Broadway theatres, housing an ever-changing array of commercial, large-scale plays, particularly musicals. This area of Manhattan is often called the Theater District or the Great White Way, a nickname originating in the headline "Found on the Great White Way" in the February 3 1902 edition of the New York Evening Telegram. The journalistic sobriquet was inspired by the millions of lights on theater marquees and billboard advertisements that illuminate the area.

After becoming New York's de facto Red Light District in the 1960s and 1970s (as can be seen in the films Taxi Driver and Midnight Cowboy), since the late 1980s Times Square has emerged as a family tourist center, in effect being Disneyfied following the company's purchase and renovation of the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street in 1993. Times Square is the location of The New York Times, from which the Square gets its name, published at offices on West 43rd Street. Broadway, in this area, is second only to Tokyo for its lighted advertising, but first as the most recognized street filmed in the world.

At the southwest corner of Central Park, Broadway crosses Eighth Avenue at West 59th Street at Columbus Circle, one-time home of a convention center and now home of a new shopping center at the foot of the new Time Warner Center, home of Time Warner.

North of Columbus Circle, Broadway retains planted center islands as a vestige of the central mall of "The Boulevard" that became the spine of the Upper West Side.

At the intersection of Columbus Avenue and West 65th Street, Broadway passes by the Juilliard School and Lincoln Center, both well-known performing arts landmarks, as well as a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon or LDS Church).

At its intersection with 79th Street, Broadway shifts direction, to continue directly uptown aligned with the Commissioners' grid. At the bend are The Apthorp and the First Baptist Church in the City of New York, an historic sanctuary built in 1891. The FBC's presence in New York City dates to 1762 at a location on Gold Street.

Broadway at Dyckman Street in Inwood.

Further north, Broadway follows the old Bloomingdale Road as the main spine of the Upper West Side, passing the campus of Columbia University at 116th Street in Morningside Heights and CUNY—City College in Harlem as it continues northwards. New York-Presbyterian Hospital lies on Broadway near 166th, 167th, and 168th Streets in Washington Heights. At this point, Broadway becomes part of US 9.

Public transit

From south to north, Broadway at one point or another runs over or under the IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4 5 6 <6>), the BMT Broadway Line (N Q R W), the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (1 2 3), and the IND Eighth Avenue Line (A):

The IRT Lexington Avenue Line runs under Broadway from Bowling Green to City Hall.
The BMT Broadway Line runs under it from City Hall to Times Square–42nd Street.
The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line runs under and over Broadway from Times Square to 168th Street, and from 218th Street to its terminal in the Bronx at Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street.
The northern portion of the IND Eighth Avenue Line runs under Broadway from 168th Street to Inwood–207th Street.

Early street railways on Broadway included the Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad's Broadway and University Place Line (1864?) between Union Square (14th Street) and Times Square (42nd Street), the Ninth Avenue Railroad's Ninth and Amsterdam Avenues Line (1884) between 65th Street and 71st Street, the Forty-second Street, Manhattanville and St. Nicholas Avenue Railway's Broadway Branch Line (1885?) between Times Square and 125th Street, and the Kingsbridge Railway's Kingsbridge Line north of 169th Street. The Broadway Surface Railroad's Broadway Line, a cable car line, opened on lower Broadway (below Times Square) in 1893, and soon became the core of the Metropolitan Street Railway, with two cable branches: the Broadway and Lexington Avenue Line and Broadway and Columbus Avenue Line.

These streetcar lines were replaced with bus routes in the 1930s and 1940s. Before Broadway became one-way, the main bus routes along it were the New York City Omnibus Company's (NYCO) 6 (Broadway below Times Square), 7 (Broadway and Columbus Avenue), and 11 (Ninth and Amsterdam Avenues), and the Surface Transportation Corporation's M100 (Kingsbridge) and M104 (Broadway Branch). Additionally, the Fifth Avenue Coach Company's (FACCo) 4 and 5 used Broadway from 135th Street north to Washington Heights, and their 5 and 6 used Broadway between 57th Street and 72nd Street. With the implementation of one-way traffic, the northbound 6 and 7 were moved to Sixth Avenue.

As of 2007, Broadway is now served by the M1 (used Lafayette Street until that became one-way), M4 (ex-FACCo 4), M5 (ex-FACCo 5), M6 (ex-NYCO 6), M7 (ex-NYCO 7), M100, and M104. Other routes that use part of Broadway include the M10, M20, M27, M60, Bx7, and Bx20.

Great White Way

Great White Way is a nickname for a section of Broadway in the Midtown section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, specifically the portion that encompasses the Theatre District, between 42nd and 53rd Streets. Nearly a mile of Broadway was illuminated in 1880 by Brush arc lamps, making it the first electrically lighted avenue in the United States.

The headline "Found on the Great White Way" appeared in the February 3, 1902, edition of the New York Evening Telegram. The journalistic sobriquet was inspired by the millions of lights on theater marquees and billboard advertisements that illuminate the area, especially around Times Square.

Broadway

Modern traffic flow

Broadway was once a two-way street for its entire length. The present status, in which it runs one-way southbound south of Columbus Circle (59th Street), came about in several stages. First, on June 6, 1954, Seventh Avenue became southbound and Eighth Avenue became northbound south of Broadway. None of Broadway became one-way, but the increased southbound traffic between Columbus Circle (Eighth Avenue) and Times Square (Seventh Avenue) caused the city to restripe that section of Broadway for four southbound and two northbound lanes.^[3] Broadway became one-way from Columbus Circle south to Herald Square (34th Street) on March 10, 1957, in conjunction with Sixth Avenue becoming one-way from Herald Square north to 59th Street and Seventh Avenue becoming one-way from 59th Street south to Times Square (where it crosses Broadway).^[4] On June 3, 1962, Broadway became one-way south of Canal Street, with Trinity Place and Church Street carrying northbound traffic.^[5] Another change was made on November 10, 1963, when Broadway became one-way southbound from Herald Square to Madison Square (23rd Street) and Union Square (14th Street) to Canal Street, and two routes - Sixth Avenue south of Herald Square and Centre Street, Lafayette Street, and Fourth Avenue south of Union Square - became one-way northbound.^[6] Finally, at the same time as Madison Avenue became one-way northbound and Fifth Avenue became one-way southbound, Broadway was made one-way southbound between Madison Square (where Fifth Avenue crosses) and Union Square on January 14, 1966, completing its conversion south of Columbus Circle.^[7]^[8]

Notes

1. ^ Shorto, Russell. "The Streets Where History Lives", The New York Times, February 9, 2004. Accessed June 6, 2007. "And what about a marker for the Wickquasgeck Trail, the Indian path that ran the length of the island, which the Dutch made into their main highway and the English renamed Broadway?"
2. ^ Ellis, Edward Robb (1966). The Epic of New York City. Old Town Books, p. 26.
3. ^ Ingraham, Joseph C. 7th and 8th Aves. Shift to One-Way, The New York Times, June 7, 1954, page 1.
4. ^ New York Times, New One-Way Plan Cuts Delay by 30% In Midtown Traffic, March 12, 1957, page 1.
5. ^ New York Times, Shifts in Traffic Marked by Jams, June 5, 1962, page 1
6. ^ New York Times, City to Extend One-Way Traffic To 3 Manhattan Routes Sunday, November 5, 1963, page 1.
7. ^ Ingraham, Joseph C. 5th and Madison Will Go One-Way Early Next Year, The New York Times, May 12, 1965, page 1.
8. ^ Fowle, Farnsworth. Barnes Suggests Express Bus Runs, The New York Times, January 17, 1966, page 1.

External links

Great White Way Historical citations from word researcher Barry Popik.

• • [ e]

of Manhattan

North-South

Downtown	South St Essex St Orchard St Ludlow St Allen St Forsyth St Pearl St/Bowery Mott St Mulberry St Centre St Lafayette St Broad St Nassau St Broadway West Broadway Patchin Pl Varick St Hudson St Greenwich St Washington St Weehawken St
Midtown	East River Dr/FDR Dr Av D Av C/Loisaida Av Av B/East End Av Av A/Sutton Pl/York Av 1^st Av 2^nd Av 3^rd Av Lexington Av 4^th Av/Park Av Vanderbilt Av Madison Av 5^th Av/Museum Mile 6^th Av/Av of the Americas/Lenox Av/Malcolm X Blvd 7^th Av/Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd 8^th Av/Central Park West/Frederick Douglas Blvd 9^th Av/Columbus Av/Morningside Dr Dyer Av 10^th Av/Amsterdam Av 11^th Av/West End Av Riverside Dr 12^th Av/West Side Hwy 13^th Av Henry Hudson Pkwy
Uptown	Harlem River Dr Audubon Av St. Nicholas Av/Juan Pablo Duarte Blvd Ft Washington Av Cabrini Blvd

East-West

Downtown	Bridge St Wall St Liberty St Fulton St Ann St Park Row Chambers St Cherry St Henry St Worth St East Broadway N. Moore St Beach St Canal St Hester St Grand St Delancey St Rivington St Stanton St Houston St 1-14: (1^st St, Bleecker St, 2^nd St, 3^rd St/Great Jones St, West 4^th St, 6^th St, Waverly Pl/Washington Sq North, Washington Mews, Astor Pl, Gay St, 8^th St/St. Mark's Pl, Christopher St, Stuyvesant St, West 10^th St, 13^th St, 14^th St)
Midtown	15-59: (17^th St, 23-42: (23^rd St, 24^th St, 25^th St, 26^th St, 27^th St/Club Row, 28^th St, 29^th St, 30^th St, 31^st St, 32^nd St/Korea Way, 33^rd St, 34^th St, 35^th St, 36^th St, 37^th St, 38^th St, 39^th St, 40^th St, 41^st St, 42^nd St), 47^th St, 50^th St, 52^nd St, 53^rd St, 57^th St, 59^th St/Central Park South)
Uptown	66^th St 72^nd St 79^th St 85^th St 86^th St 96^th St 110^th St/Central Park North 112^th St 116^th St 118^th St 122^nd St 125^th St Astor Row 132^nd St Trans-Manhattan Expwy 181^st St 187^th St Bogardius Pl Dyckman St Beak St

City of New York
New York City at sunset

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Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps
Location in the state of New York
Coordinates:
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Manhattan is a borough of New York City, New York, USA, with New York County. With a 2000 population of 1,537,195^[2] living in a land area of 22.96 square miles (59.
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The Bronx is New York City's northernmost borough, coterminous with Bronx County. The Bronx is located Northeast of Manhattan. It is the only one of the city's five boroughs situated primarily on the United States mainland rather than on an island.
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'' Westchester County is a primarily suburban county located in the U.S. state of New York with about 950,000 residents. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. It was named after Chester, in England, and the county seat is White Plains.
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New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) was the 17th century Dutch colonial town that later became New York City.

The town developed outside of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in the New Netherland territory (1614–1664)
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A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street. The street name usually forms part of the address (though addresses in some parts of the world, notably most of Japan, make no reference to street names).
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Translation is the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language (the "source text") and the production, in another language, of an equivalent text (the "target text," or "translation") that communicates the same message.
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Writing system: Latin alphabet (Dutch variant)
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Official language of: Aruba
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European Union
European Union
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Broadway theatre^[1] is the most well known form of professional theatre to the American general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows.
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American Indian and Alaska Native
One race: 2.5 million^[1]
In combination with one or more other races: 1.6 million^[2]
Regions with significant populations United States

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Motto
"Je maintiendrai" (French)
"Ik zal handhaven" (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"¹
Anthem
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The East Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan Island which abuts the East River and faces Brooklyn and Queens. The major neighborhoods on the East Side include (from north to south) East Harlem, Upper East Side, Midtown, Union Square, East Village, and Lower East Side.
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Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. It is the oldest existing public park in New York City and the location of the Charging Bull bronze sculpture.
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Inwood is the northernmost neighborhood on Manhattan Island in the New York City borough of Manhattan and New York State's County of New York. It is physically bounded by the Harlem River to the north and east, and the Hudson River to the west.
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Columbus Circle, named for Christopher Columbus, is a major landmark and point of attraction in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Completed in 1905 and renovated a century later, it is located at the intersection of Broadway, Central Park West, Central Park South (59th
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Times Square is a major intersection in Manhattan, New York City at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. The Times Square area consists of the blocks between Sixth and Eighth Avenues from east to west, and West 40th and
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Seventh Avenue/Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It carries traffic downtown (southbound) south of Central Park but both ways north of it.
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Spuyten Duyvil Creek, also known as the Harlem River Ship Canal, is a one-mile-long channel connecting the Hudson and Harlem Rivers in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland.
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Broadway Bridge in New York City crosses the Spuyten Duyvil Creek (also known as the Harlem River Ship Canal) between Inwood and Marble Hill, both parts of Manhattan (the latter on the mainland and attached to the Bronx due to the rerouting of the Harlem River).
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NY Route 117

Phelps Way
Bedford Road

15.57 mi^[1] (0 km)

US 9 in Sleepy Hollow

NY 100/NY 9A in Mount Pleasant
Saw Mill Pkwy in Bedford
Westchester

Numbered highways in New York
< NY 116
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The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was a proposal by the New York State Legislature adopted in 1811 for the orderly development and sale of the land of Manhattan between 14th Street and Washington Heights.
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town square is an open area commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, plaza (from Spanish),
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Built/Founded: 1902

Architectural style(s): Renaissance, Skyscraper
Added to NRHP: November 20, 1979

NRHP Reference#: 79001603^[1]

The Fuller Building or as it is better known, the Flatiron Building
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ticker-tape parade is a parade event, held in a downtown urban setting, allowing the jettison of large amounts of shredded paper products from nearby office buildings onto the parade route, creating a triumphal effect by the snowstorm-like flurry.
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Canyon of Heroes is a colloquialism referring to a section of New York City's lower Broadway and the Financial District that is the historic location of the city's ticker-tape parades.

The traditional route of the parade is northward from Bowling Green to City Hall Park.
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Canal Street is a major street in New York City, crossing lower Manhattan to join New Jersey in the west (via the Holland Tunnel I-78) to Brooklyn in the east (via the Manhattan Bridge). It forms the main spine of Chinatown, and separates it from Little Italy.
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TriBeCa is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. The name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street." It runs roughly from Canal Street south to Park Place, and from the Hudson River east to Broadway.
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Battery Park City is a 92 acre (0.4 km²) planned community at the southwestern tip of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The land upon which it stands was created from the Hudson River using 1.
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Broadway (new York City)