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Tenth Avenue (Manhattan)

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This article is about the Manhattan roadway. For other uses, see Tenth Avenue (disambiguation).
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Tenth Avenue, known as Amsterdam Avenue between 59th Street and 193rd Street, is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It carries uptown (northbound) traffic as far as West 110th Street (also known as Cathedral Parkway), after which it continues as a two-way street.

Tenth Avenue
Amsterdam Avenue (north of 59th Street)
Tenth Avenue at 17th Street, as seen from the High Line
Map
OwnerCity of New York
Maintained byNYCDOT
Length10.5 mi (16.9 km)[1]
LocationManhattan, New York City, U.S.
South end NY 9A / West Side Highway
North endFort George Avenue
EastNinth Avenue (below 59th St)
Columbus Avenue (above 59th St)
WestEleventh Avenue (below 59th St)
West End Avenue (above 59th St)
Construction
CommissionedMarch 1811
Amsterdam Avenue looking north from 119th Street toward Harlem
New residential tower at 60th Street

Geography

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Tenth Avenue begins a block below Gansevoort Street and Eleventh Avenue in the West Village / Meatpacking District. For the southernmost stretch (the four blocks below 14th Street), Tenth Avenue runs southbound. North of 14th Street, Tenth Avenue runs uptown (northbound) for 45 blocks as a one-way street. At its intersection with 59th Street, it becomes Amsterdam Avenue and continues as a one-way street northbound until 110th Street (Cathedral Parkway), where two-way traffic resumes.[2][3]

As Amsterdam Avenue, the thoroughfare stretches 129 blocks north – narrowing to one lane in each direction as it passes through Yeshiva University's Wilf Campus, between 184th and 186th Streets – before connecting with Fort George Avenue south of Highbridge Park at West 193rd Street.

On the north side of Highbridge Park, unconnected to Amsterdam Avenue on the south side, Tenth Avenue then runs for slightly less than a mile from the northern terminus of the Harlem River Drive at Dyckman Street, to the intersection of West 218th Street where it merges into Broadway.

History

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Tenth Avenue runs through the Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods on the west side of the borough, and then as Amsterdam Avenue, through the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Washington Heights. Much of these areas were working-class or poor for much of the 20th century. The street has long been noted for its commercial traffic. The street had grade-level railroad lines through the early 20th century.[4]

The Hudson River Railroad's West Side Line ran along Tenth Avenue from its intersection with West Street to the upper city station at 34th Street, after which it veered to Eleventh Avenue; the line was completed to Peekskill, New York in 1849. Over this part of the right-of-way, the rails were laid at grade along the streets, and since by the corporation regulations locomotives were not allowed, the cars were drawn by a dummy engine, which, according to an 1851 description, consumed its own smoke. While passing through the city the train of cars was preceded by a man on horseback known as a "West Side cowboy" or "Tenth Avenue cowboy" who gave notice of its approach by blowing a horn.[5][6][7][8] However, so many accidents occurred between freight trains and other traffic that the nickname "Death Avenue" was given to both Tenth[8][9] and Eleventh Avenues.[10]

Public debate about the hazard began during the early 1900s.[11] In 1929, the city, the state, and New York Central agreed on the West Side Improvement Project,[12] conceived by Robert Moses.[13] The 13-mile (21 km) project eliminated 105 street-level railroad crossings and added 32 acres (13 ha) to Riverside Park; it also included construction of the West Side Elevated Highway. It cost more than $150 million (about $2 billion in 2017 dollars).[14]

The part of Tenth Avenue north of West 59th Street was renamed "Amsterdam Avenue" in 1890 at the request of local merchants seeking to distance themselves from "Death Avenue" and to increase the value of their properties in an area that had yet to "catch on".[15] The name was intended to recall the Dutch roots of Manhattan's earliest colonization in the 17th century, when the city was known as New Amsterdam. They hoped that the area would become a "the New City" and a "new, New Amsterdam".[16] The Board of Alderman approved the name change, but only after first considering "Holland Avenue"; the change was made just before the vote on the resolution. In their approval, the Board noted that other name changes in the area, including that of Eleventh Avenue to West End Avenue, had "a marked and beneficial effect on property" and that they held such name changes "as second in importance only to the advantages of increased rapid transit."[17]

The Fort George Amusement Park, now a seating area in Highbridge Park, was located at the northern end of Amsterdam Avenue from 1895 to 1914.[18]

Tenth Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue were converted to carry one-way traffic northbound in two stages. South of its intersection with Broadway, the avenue was converted on November 6, 1948.[19][20] The remainder, to 110th Street, was converted on December 6, 1951.[21] Amsterdam Avenue continues to carry two-way traffic north of 110th Street.

During the real estate boom of the late 20th century, Amsterdam Avenue from roughly 59th Street to 96th Street became one of the city's most expensive residential districts.

Transportation

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Downtown buses use 9th Avenue unless specified below:

  • The M11 runs from West 14th to West 135th Streets, with service north of West 110th Street operated in both directions. It is joined with the M12 and M14D SBS south of West 15th Street.
  • The M31 runs from West 54th to West 57th Streets, with downtown buses serving 11th Avenue.
  • The M7 runs from Broadway to West 106th Street.
  • The M79 SBS runs from West 79th to West 81st Streets.
  • The M60 SBS runs in both directions between West 120th and West 125th Streets.
  • The M104 runs on two portions of Amsterdam Avenue: from Broadway to West 73rd Street, and from West 125th to West 129th Streets, using Broadway and crossing on West 125th downtown, respectively.
  • The M100 also runs on two portions. One is on the entire portion of 10th Avenue north of Highbridge Park, with downtown service originating at West 215th Street. The other is on Amsterdam between West 125th Street and either West 163rd Street (uptown) or Saint Nicholas Avenue (downtown).
  • The M101 serves Amsterdam in both directions between West 125th and West 190th Streets, with uptown service extended to Fort George Avenue.
  • The M3 provides additional service on Amsterdam Avenue north of West 190th Street, duplicating the uptown M101, and between West 155th Street and West 163rd or Saint Nicholas, duplicating the M100.
    • Both aforementioned buses in the Fort George area use Saint Nicholas Avenue downtown.
  • The M2 runs from West 165th to West 168th Streets, with downtown buses serving Broadway.
  • The M98 enters the Harlem River Drive from West 178th Street (downtown) or exits to West 179th Street (uptown), via Amsterdam Avenue.[22]

As part of the 7 Subway Extension, the New York City Subway's 7 and <7>​ trains were extended to 34th Street in 2015.[23] An intermediate stop, Tenth Avenue, was originally planned[24] but was dropped from the official plans in 2008.[25] The 1 train serves two stations along the Inwood portion of Tenth Avenue: 207th Street and 215th Street.[26] The IND Eighth Avenue Line has a station at 163rd Street

A protected bike lane was installed in 2016 from 72nd Street to 110th Street.[27][28] In August 2023, work began on a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) protected bike lane from 38th to 52nd Street,[29][30] which was completed that December.[31][32] Subsequently, the bike lane was extended between 14th and 38th Street in 2024.[33]

Notable sites

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References

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  1. ^ "Tenth Avenue / Amsterdam Avenue" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  2. ^ Meyer, David (June 21, 2018). "Safer Bikeways Slated for Columbus Circle and Amsterdam Avenue". StreetsBlog. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. On 10th Avenue/Amsterdam Avenue — the street name shifts at 59th Street — DOT plans to extend the protected bike lane design it installed between 72nd Street and 110th Street two years ago.
  3. ^ Meyer, David (October 16, 2018). "OUTRAGE! DOT Delays Life-Saving Amsterdam Avenue Redesign in Fight With NIMBYs". StreetsBlog. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Thompson spoke to Streetsblog after the meeting, where she and the board's Vice Chairman Victor Edwards opposed the traffic-calming plan, which is not even as complete as the improvements made to one-way Amsterdam Avenue below 110th Street. Indeed, instead of a protected bike lane, the plan for the two-way stretch from 110th Street to 162nd Street would install unprotected lanes, painted medians, and turn lanes in both directions.
  4. ^ Robbins, L.H. (June 3, 1934). "Transforming the West Side: A Huge Project Marches On". The New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  5. ^ Hudson River and the Hudson River Rail-Road. Boston: Bradbury & Guild. 1851. p. 12. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  6. ^ Highline Photo of the Week West Side Cowboy
  7. ^ "High Line History". Friends of the High Line. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Amateau, Albert (April 30, 2008). "Newspaper was there at High Line's birth and now its rebirth". The Villager. Vol. 77, no. 48. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
  9. ^ Gray, Christopher (December 22, 2011). "When a Monster Plied the West Side". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014. The New York World referred to the West Side route as Death Avenue in 1892, long after the Park Avenue problem had been solved, saying 'many had been sacrificed' to 'a monster which has menaced them night and day.'
  10. ^ Dunlap, David W. (February 18, 2015). "New York City Rail Crossings Carry a Deadly Past". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  11. ^ "'Death Ave.' Ends as Last Rusty Rail Goes; Huge West Side Improvement Completed" (PDF). The New York Times. June 26, 1941. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  12. ^ "The Highline: past and present". GeoWeb, Harvard University. May 13, 2010. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  13. ^ Walsh, Kevin (September 2012). ""High Line"'s Last Frontier". Forgotten NY. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014.
  14. ^ "High Line History". Friends of the High Line. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  15. ^ Shepard, Richard F. (February 6, 1981). "Exploring the New Amsterdam Avenue". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  16. ^ Feirstein, Sanna (2001). Naming New York: Manhattan Places & How They Got Their Names. New York: New York University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-8147-2712-6.
  17. ^ Moscow, Henry (1978). The Street Book: An Encyclopedia of Manhattan's Street Names and Their Origins. New York: Hagstrom Company. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8232-1275-0.
  18. ^ Martens, Victoria (August 1, 2019). "Fort George Amusement Park". Museum of the City of New York. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  19. ^ Ingraham, Joseph (7 November 1948). "Traffic Speeded on 9th, 10th Aves. By One-way Plan". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  20. ^ "Ninth and Tenth Avenues Are One Way Permanently". The New York Times. 14 May 1949. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  21. ^ "Two More Avenues One-way Thursday". The New York Times. 4 December 1951. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  22. ^ "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  23. ^ *Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (September 10, 2015). "Subway Station for 7 Line Opens on Far West Side". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  24. ^ Chan, Sewell; Bagli, Charles V. (April 2, 2005). "M.T.A. Links Stadium Bid to Rail Extension". The New York Times.
  25. ^ Neuman, William (September 19, 2008). "No. 7 Extension Won't Include 10th Ave. Station". The New York Times.
  26. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  27. ^ Meyer, David (May 20, 2016). "Eyes on the Street: First Signs of Amsterdam Avenue's Protected Bike Lane". StreetsBlog. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019.
  28. ^ Garofalo, Michael (June 26, 2018). "DOT plans new UWS bike lanes". West Side Spirit. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. The protected lane would continue past 59th Street, where 10th Avenue becomes Amsterdam Avenue, and connect to the existing protected bike lane on Amsterdam Avenue that begins at 72nd Street and runs to 110th Street.
  29. ^ Carlin, Dave (August 29, 2023). "New bicycle lane on 10th Avenue to be among widest in Manhattan, and it already has New Yorkers taking sides". CBS New York. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  30. ^ Brachfeld, Ben (August 23, 2023). "10th Avenue build out: DOT set to create protected bike lane on Midtown/Hell's Kitchen thoroughfare". amNewYork. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  31. ^ Torres, Vanessa (December 15, 2023). "New 10-foot-wide bike lanes open on 10th Ave in Hell's Kitchen". www.ourtownny.com. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  32. ^ Brachfeld, Ben (December 13, 2023). "City completes 'double-wide' 10th Avenue protected bike lane in Hell's Kitchen". amNewYork. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  33. ^ McDowell, Michael (August 16, 2024). "Dangerous Stretch Of 10th Ave In Midtown Gets Protected Bike Lane". Midtown-Hell's Kitchen, NY Patch. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
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