Tenth Avenue (Manhattan) Explained

Tenth Avenue
Other Name:Amsterdam Avenue (north of 59th Street)
Length Mi:10.5
Location:Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Owner:City of New York
Maint:NYCDOT
Direction A:South
Terminus A: / West Side Highway
Direction B:North
Terminus B:Fort George Avenue
Commissioning Date:March 1811
East:Ninth Avenue (below 59th St)
Columbus Avenue (above 59th St)
West:Eleventh Avenue (below 59th St)
West End Avenue (above 59th St)

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.

Geography

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.[1] [2]

As Amsterdam Avenue, the thoroughfare stretches 129 blocks northnarrowing to one lane in each direction as it passes through Yeshiva University's Wilf Campus, between 184th and 186th Streetsbefore 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

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.[3]

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.[4] [5] [6] However, so many accidents occurred between freight trains and other traffic that the nickname "Death Avenue" was given to both Tenth[7] [8] and Eleventh Avenues.[9]

Public debate about the hazard began during the early 1900s.[10] In 1929, the city, the state, and New York Central agreed on the West Side Improvement Project,[11] conceived by Robert Moses.[12] The 13miles project eliminated 105 street-level railroad crossings and added 32acres 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).[13]

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".[14] 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".[15] 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."[16]

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.[17]

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.[18] [19] The remainder, to 110th Street, was converted on December 6, 1951.[20] 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

The M11 bus runs northbound along Tenth and Amsterdam Avenues from 14th to 110th Street and in both directions from 110th to 135th Street. North of 72nd Street, the M7 bus also runs northbound on the avenue until 106th Street. The M100 and M101 serve Amsterdam Avenue north of 125th Street.

As part of the 7 Subway Extension, the New York City Subway's were extended to 34th Street in 2015.[21] An intermediate stop, Tenth Avenue, was originally planned[22] but was dropped from the official plans in 2008.[23] The serves two stations along the Inwood portion of Tenth Avenue: 207th Street and 215th Street. 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.[24] [25] In August 2023, work began on a 10adj=midNaNadj=mid protected bike lane from 38th to 52nd Street.[26] [27]

Notable sites

In popular culture

Notes and References

  1. News: Safer Bikeways Slated for Columbus Circle and Amsterdam Avenue . Meyer . David . June 21, 2018 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190717142658/https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/06/21/safer-bikeways-slated-for-columbus-circle-and-amsterdam-avenue/ . July 17, 2019 . live . 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..
  2. News: OUTRAGE! DOT Delays Life-Saving Amsterdam Avenue Redesign in Fight With NIMBYs . Meyer . David . October 16, 2018 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190717142413/https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/10/16/outrage-dot-delays-lifesaving-amsterdam-avenue-redesign-in-fight-with-nimbys/ . July 17, 2019 . live . 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..
  3. News: Transforming the West Side: A Huge Project Marches On . Robbins . L.H. . June 3, 1934 . . July 17, 2019.
  4. Book: Hudson River and the Hudson River Rail-Road . September 18, 2015 . 1851 . Bradbury & Guild . Boston . 12.
  5. http://blog.thehighline.org/2008/03/12/photo-of-the-week-west-side-cowboy-twofer/ Highline Photo of the Week
  6. Web site: High Line History . Friends of the High Line . https://web.archive.org/web/20140922013251/http://www.thehighline.org/about . September 22, 2014 . dead . mdy-all.
  7. News: Newspaper was there at High Line's birth and now its rebirth . Amateau . Albert . April 30, 2008 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20110713012549/http://www.thevillager.com/villager_261/newspaperwasthere.html . July 13, 2011 . dead . 48 . 77 . mdy-all.
  8. News: Gray . Christopher . Christopher Gray (architectural historian) . When a Monster Plied the West Side . live . The New York Times . December 22, 2011 . 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.' . https://web.archive.org/web/20140517135519/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/realestate/the-railroad-tracks-that-turned-a-street-into-death-avenue.html . May 17, 2014 . mdy-all.
  9. News: Dunlap . David W. . David W. Dunlap . New York City Rail Crossings Carry a Deadly Past . The New York Times . February 18, 2015 . February 12, 2018 . 0362-4331.
  10. News: 'Death Ave.' Ends as Last Rusty Rail Goes; Huge West Side Improvement Completed . The New York Times . June 26, 1941 . February 12, 2018 . en-US . 0362-4331.
  11. Web site: The Highline: past and present . dead . . May 13, 2010 . October 23, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141023213640/http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/pbcote/courses/archive/2010/gsd6447/bighorse/ . October 23, 2014 . mdy-all.
  12. Web site: Walsh . Kevin . "High Line"'s Last Frontier . live . . September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141024043604/http://forgotten-ny.com/2012/09/high-lines-last-frontier/ . October 24, 2014 . mdy-all.
  13. Web site: High Line History . live . Friends of the High Line . August 2, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140922013251/http://www.thehighline.org/about . September 22, 2014 . mdy-all.
  14. News: Shepard . Richard F. . Exploring the New Amsterdam Avenue . February 6, 1981 . The New York Times . July 17, 2019 . en-US . 0362-4331.
  15. 169.
  16. 22.
  17. Web site: Martens . Victoria . Fort George Amusement Park . Museum of the City of New York . August 1, 2019 . September 2, 2019.
  18. News: Ingraham . Joseph . Traffic Speeded on 9th, 10th Aves. By One-way Plan . 28 August 2012 . The New York Times . 7 November 1948.
  19. News: Ninth and Tenth Avenues Are One Way Permanently . 28 August 2012 . The New York Times . 14 May 1949.
  20. News: Two More Avenues One-way Thursday . 28 August 2012 . The New York Times . 4 December 1951.
  22. News: Chan . Sewell . Sewell Chan . Bagli . Charles V. . M.T.A. Links Stadium Bid to Rail Extension . The New York Times . April 2, 2005.
  23. Web site: Neuman . William . No. 7 Extension Won't Include 10th Ave. Station . The New York Times . September 19, 2008.
  24. News: Meyer . David . Eyes on the Street: First Signs of Amsterdam Avenue's Protected Bike Lane . live . . May 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190717135942/https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2016/05/20/eyes-on-the-street-first-signs-of-amsterdam-avenues-protected-bike-lane/ . July 17, 2019.
  25. News: Garofalo . Michael . DOT plans new UWS bike lanes . live . . June 26, 2018 . 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. . https://web.archive.org/web/20190717135714/http://www.westsidespirit.com/local-news/20180626/dot-plans-new-uws-bike-lanes . July 17, 2019.
  26. Web site: Carlin . Dave . New bicycle lane on 10th Avenue to be among widest in Manhattan, and it already has New Yorkers taking sides . CBS New York . August 29, 2023 . September 1, 2023.
  27. Web site: Brachfeld . Ben . 10th Avenue build out: DOT set to create protected bike lane on Midtown/Hell’s Kitchen thoroughfare . amNewYork . August 23, 2023 . September 1, 2023.

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