Broadway (New York City)
For Broadway in the theatrical sense, see Broadway theatre. For other streets and topics with the name Broadway, see Broadway. |
A view of Broadway in 1909 |
Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in
New York City, and 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. The street is famous as the pinnacle of the
American theater industry. (Although this article is about the world-known
Manhattan avenue, there are other streets called "Broadway" throughout New York City, one each in the
boroughs of
Brooklyn,
Queens, and
Staten Island. In addition, there exist short, often isolated stretches of streets that use the name, including East Broadway, West Broadway, and Old Broadway.)
Broadway originated as an
Indian trail called the
Wickquasgeck Trail, which was carved into the brush land of Manhattan. 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").
Broadway runs the length of Manhattan, being the only street running from almost the southern tip of the island, at
Bowling Green, to the northern tip. South of
Columbus Circle, it is a one-way street with all vehicle traffic traveling southbound. It crosses
Spuyten Duyvil Creek via the
Broadway Bridge and continues through
the Bronx to
Westchester County.
Broadway continues running through several
Hudson River towns as
U.S. Route 9, before becoming the "New York-
Albany Post Road," and running through the state capital,
Albany, terminating in
Champlain, New York at the Canadian border. 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.
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). The original
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. This part of Broadway, also known as the
Great White Way, draws millions of tourists from around the world. Starring in a successful Broadway musical is considered by most
singers,
dancers, and
actors as the ultimate success in their chosen profession, and many songs, stories, and musicals have themselves been based around the idea of such success. The annual
Tony Awards recognize some of the most successful new shows and revivals each year. Since the late
1980s Times Square has emerged as a family tourist center for the New York area. Times Square is the location of
The New York Times newspaper, published at offices on West 43rd Street off Broadway. 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.
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.
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 as it continues northwards.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital lies on Broadway near 166th, 167th, and 168th Streets in
Washington Heights.
From south to north, Broadway at one point or another runs over the
IRT Lexington Avenue Line (),
BMT Broadway Line (),
IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line (), and
IND Eighth Avenue Line (). 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
242nd Street-Van Cortlandt Park. The northern portion of the IND Eighth Avenue Line runs under Broadway from
168th Street to
207th Street.
On the surface,
MTA New York City Transit's , , , , , , , , , and bus services all use Broadway. The
Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad and
Broadway Surface Railroad streetcar lines used to use Broadway.
*
Grand Central Hotel*
Singer Building*
Trinity Church, New York*
Winter Garden Theatre*
Woolworth Building*
History of Broadway (and Manhattan)
