| Third Avenue | |
| Length Mi: | 10.7 |
| Location: | Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City |
| Owner: | City of New York |
| Maint: | NYCDOT |
| Direction A: | South |
| Terminus A: | Astor Place / St. Mark's Place in Cooper Square |
| Junction: | in East Harlem in Mott Haven in Morrisania/Tremont |
| Direction B: | North |
| Terminus B: | in Fordham |
| Commissioning Date: | March 1811 |
| East: | Second Avenue |
| West: | Fourth Avenue (between 8th and 14th Streets) Irving Place (between 14th and 20th Streets Lexington Avenue (north of 21st Street) |
Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, as well as in the center portion of the Bronx. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Square, and further south, the Bowery, Chatham Square, and Park Row. The Manhattan side ends at East 128th Street. Third Avenue is two-way from Cooper Square to 24th Street, but carries only northbound (uptown) traffic while in Manhattan above 24th Street; in the Bronx, it is again two-way. However, the Third Avenue Bridge carries vehicular traffic in the opposite direction, allowing only southbound vehicular traffic, rendering the avenue essentially non-continuous to motor vehicles between the boroughs.
The street leaves Manhattan and continues into the Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to East Fordham Road at Fordham Center, where it intersects with U.S. 1. It is one of the four streets that form The Hub, a site of both maximum traffic and architectural density in the South Bronx.[1]
Third Avenue was unpaved like most urban streets until the late 19th century. In May 1861, according to a letter to the editor of The New York Times, the street was the scene of practice marching for the poorly equipped troops in the 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment: "The men were not in uniform, but very poorly dressed, - in many cases with flip-flap shoes. The business-like air with which they marched rapidly through the deep mud of Third Avenue was the more remarkable."[2]
On July 17, 1960, the section of Third Avenue in Manhattan north of 24th Street was converted into a one-way road.[3] Starting in July 2023, a bus lane and a protected bike lane were installed on Third Avenue between 59th and 96th Streets, and that section of the avenue was narrowed from five to three vehicular travel lanes.[4] [5]
Several routes in Manhattan serve portions of Third Avenue. Buses serving Third Avenue include the Third and Lexington Avenues Line (or Third and Amsterdam Avenues Line). The southbound M98, M101, M102, and M103 service operates on Lexington Avenue north of East 24th Street.
between Hunter College and the Harlem River Drive
between Cooper Square and East 116th Street
Along the Bronx's Third Avenue also run several bus routes:
between East 138th Street to East 149th Street
between East 138th Street and Boston Road
Third Avenue was the location of the Third Avenue Railroad, a horsecar line established in 1853 that evolved into one of the most extensive streetcar systems in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester County. Later, it was served by the Third Avenue elevated line, which operated from 1878[6] until 1955 in Manhattan and 1973 in the Bronx. The Bx55 replaced the Third Avenue Line in the Bronx in 1973. When the El was being torn down in Manhattan, there was a movement to rename the whole of Third Avenue in Manhattan "the Bouwerie" (but not the portion in the Bronx). However, it had never been part of the Bowery.[7] Today, the Third Avenue – 149th Street station and Third Avenue – 138th Street station are served by the New York City Subway.
In Manhattan, several crosstown subway routes have entrances on Third Avenue:
Notes
Bibliography