Avenue of the Americas
The Avenue of the Americas in the district of Manhattan in New York City is one of the most famous streets of the city. It was called Sixth Avenue until 1945 . In everyday use, the street is still referred to by its old name, so street signs with both names were put up in the 1980s. The old name is also included in the name of the subway line under the street.
course
Like all avenues in Manhattan, the street runs in a north-south direction, branches off Church Street in the south and ends in Central Park in the north . The street leads past Greenwich Village and there the neo-Gothic and ornate Jefferson Market Courthouse (now a branch of the New York Public Library ). The main store of the Macy’s department store chain is located on Herald Square . Across from Bryant Park is New York's fourth tallest building , the Bank of America Tower . Up the street is the Comcast Building , built between 1929 and 1933, and the Radio City Music Hall , opened in 1932, both of which are part of Rockefeller Center . Opposite Rockefeller Center are in the 1960s and in the 1970s built years high-rise buildings in the International Style .
At the northern end of the street, not far from the intersection with 59th Street, there are bronze statues of Simón Bolívar and José Martí .
It runs north of Central Park as Malcolm X Bouleveard .
traffic
The Avenue of the Americas is a one-way street that can only be used to the north. Under the street runs the New York subway IND Sixth Avenue Line .
history
Sixth Avenue was built in the Commissioner's Plan of 1811. The original end of the street was at the meeting point with Carmine Street in Greenwich Village. As early as the mid-1860s, the first plans to extend the road to the south were discussed. The south expansion was finally carried out in the 1920s and should bring relief for the New York city center traffic.
In 1945 the name was officially changed from Sixth Avenue to Avenue of the Americas. The name change happened in honor of the Organization of American States . Street signs showing the coats of arms of all states represented in the OAS were placed on the lanterns along the avenue. Today most of these signs have disappeared or destroyed.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ New York Times (August 12, 1877): Street Improvement , accessed December 21, 2012
- ↑ 6th Avenue's Name Gone With The Wind; Sure Sign Of Sixth Avenue's Passing , accessed December 21, 2012
- ^ New York Times (June 4, 2008): Few Emblems of the Americas Remain on their Avenue , accessed December 21, 2012
Coordinates: 40 ° 44 ′ 34.4 " N , 73 ° 59 ′ 33.9" W.