Central Park West
Encyclopedia
Central Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the New York City
borough
of Manhattan
, in the United States
.
As its name indicates, CPW forms the western edge of Central Park
. It also forms the eastern boundary of the Upper West Side
. It runs 51 blocks from Columbus Circle
(at 59th Street
, or Central Park South
) to Frederick Douglass Circle
(at 110th Street
, or Cathedral Parkway). The gates into Central Park along its western edge are: Merchants Gate at 59th Street, Women's Gate at 72nd, Naturalists Gate at 77th, Hunters Gate at 81st, Mariners Gate at 85th, Gate of all Saints at 96th, Boys Gate at 100th, and Strangers Gate at 106th. Central Park West's expensive housing rivals that of Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side
.
South of Columbus Circle, in Midtown
, CPW becomes Eighth Avenue
. North of Frederick Douglass Circle, in Harlem
, it is alternately known as Eighth Avenue
or Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Unlike many Manhattan avenues, CPW has traffic running in two directions. The IND Eighth Avenue Line
runs under the avenue, serving local stations.
Central Park West is the address of several famous residences, including The Dakota
(where John Lennon
lived with Yoko Ono
, who still resides there, and outside of which he was murdered in 1980), The San Remo
(home to U2
's Bono
, Demi Moore
, Diane Keaton
, & Steve Martin
), The El Dorado
, The Beresford
(home to Diana Ross
& Jerry Seinfeld
), The Langham
, The Century
, 15 Central Park West
(home to Sting), 41 Central Park West
(home to Madonna
), 455 Central Park West, The St. Urban, and The Majestic (which was home to some of the former heads of the Genovese crime family
, including Meyer Lansky
, Lucky Luciano
and Frank Costello
. In 1957, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante
shot Frank Costello in the lobby of The Majestic in a failed assassination attempt).
According to New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger
, the street's buildings, both the new ones like 15 Central Park West
and the old ones such as The Century
, "fit together the same way the ones in that hypothetical Main Street do, and for the same reason. For more than a hundred years, their architects honor the unspoken agreement to work together, to line their buildings up with each other and to work in a consistent scale with materials that are compatible."
Most of these housing cooperative
s were built around 1930, replacing late 19th century hotels with the same names. Some, including The Century, The San Remo, and The Majestic, are twin towers. Other landmarks and institutions along its length include the New-York Historical Society
and the American Museum of Natural History
. The area from 61st to 97th Streets is included in the Central Park West Historic District
.
The building located at 55 Central Park West
is the infamous "Spook Central" from the movie Ghostbusters
. The famed New York City restaurant Tavern on the Green
is located off of Central Park West, at 66th Street
, within the grounds of Central Park.
In 1899, while exiting a streetcar, Henry Bliss
was run over by a taxi at CPW and 74th Street, becoming the first person to be run down and killed by a motor car in the Americas.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
As its name indicates, CPW forms the western edge of Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. It also forms the eastern boundary of the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
. It runs 51 blocks from Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle, named for Christopher Columbus, is a major landmark and point of attraction in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South , and Central Park West, at the southwest corner of Central Park. It is the point from...
(at 59th Street
59th Street (Manhattan)
59th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan runs east-west, from York Avenue to the West Side Highway, with a discontinuity between Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West for the Time Warner Center. Although it is bi-directional for most of its length, the...
, or Central Park South
Central Park South
Central Park South is the portion of 59th Street that forms the southern border of Central Park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It runs from Columbus Circle at Eighth Avenue on the west to Grand Army Plaza at Fifth Avenue on the east...
) to Frederick Douglass Circle
Frederick Douglass Circle
Frederick Douglass Circle is a traffic circle located at the Northwest corner of Central Park at the foot of Frederick Douglass Boulevard and of Cathedral Parkway in the New York City borough of Manhattan...
(at 110th Street
110th Street (Manhattan)
110th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is commonly known as the boundary between Harlem and Central Park, along which it is known as Central Park North. In the west, it is also known as Cathedral Parkway....
, or Cathedral Parkway). The gates into Central Park along its western edge are: Merchants Gate at 59th Street, Women's Gate at 72nd, Naturalists Gate at 77th, Hunters Gate at 81st, Mariners Gate at 85th, Gate of all Saints at 96th, Boys Gate at 100th, and Strangers Gate at 106th. Central Park West's expensive housing rivals that of Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
.
South of Columbus Circle, in Midtown
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
, CPW becomes Eighth Avenue
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
. North of Frederick Douglass Circle, in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, it is alternately known as Eighth Avenue
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
or Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Unlike many Manhattan avenues, CPW has traffic running in two directions. The IND Eighth Avenue Line
IND Eighth Avenue Line
The Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway...
runs under the avenue, serving local stations.
Central Park West is the address of several famous residences, including The Dakota
The Dakota
The Dakota, constructed from October 25, 1880 to October 27, 1884, is a co-op apartment building located on the northwest corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City...
(where John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
lived with Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, who still resides there, and outside of which he was murdered in 1980), The San Remo
The San Remo
The San Remo is a luxury, 27-floor, co-operative apartment building in New York City located between 74th and 75th streets, about 1/10 of a mile north of the Dakota building The San Remo is described by Glen Justice of the New York Times as "a dazzling two-tower building with captivating views...
(home to U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
, Demi Moore
Demi Moore
Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
, Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
, & Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
), The El Dorado
The Eldorado
The Eldorado at 300 Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of New York City, is the northernmost of four twin-towered luxury housing cooperatives that face the west side of Central Park...
, The Beresford
The Beresford
The Beresford, at 211 Central Park West, between 81st and 82nd Streets, is an upscale, 23-floor apartment building in New York City. The architect, Emery Roth, was famous for building luxury apartments and hotels throughout the city...
(home to Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
& Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
), The Langham
The Langham
The Langham is an apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, United States, located along Central Park West. After the site stood idle for more than 15 years, the building was constructed between 1905 and 1907. Built at a cost of US $2 million, the structure included modern amenities, such as...
, The Century
The Century (building)
The Century is a 1931 Art Deco apartment building located along Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City. It was constructed at a cost of $6.5 million and designed by the firm of Irwin S. Chanin....
, 15 Central Park West
15 Central Park West
15 Central Park West, located at the corner of West 61st Street and Central Park West, is an apartment building built in 2006-8 and designed by the architect Robert A.M. Stern....
(home to Sting), 41 Central Park West
Harperly Hall
Harperly Hall, 41 Central Park West, is an apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building is located along prestigious Central Park West and was built in 1910, it opened in 1911. Cast in the Arts and Crafts style, a rarity for New York City, Harperly Hall was designed...
(home to Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
), 455 Central Park West, The St. Urban, and The Majestic (which was home to some of the former heads of the Genovese crime family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
, including Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
, Lucky Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
and Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
. In 1957, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante
Vincent Gigante
Vincent Gigante was a short lived professional light heavyweight boxer who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 25 matches and lost four, boxing 121 rounds. On February 19, 1945, he fought Pete Petrello in Madison Square Garden and won by a knock out in the second round. During his successful...
shot Frank Costello in the lobby of The Majestic in a failed assassination attempt).
According to New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger is the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the magazine's celebrated "Sky Line" column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City...
, the street's buildings, both the new ones like 15 Central Park West
15 Central Park West
15 Central Park West, located at the corner of West 61st Street and Central Park West, is an apartment building built in 2006-8 and designed by the architect Robert A.M. Stern....
and the old ones such as The Century
The Century (building)
The Century is a 1931 Art Deco apartment building located along Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City. It was constructed at a cost of $6.5 million and designed by the firm of Irwin S. Chanin....
, "fit together the same way the ones in that hypothetical Main Street do, and for the same reason. For more than a hundred years, their architects honor the unspoken agreement to work together, to line their buildings up with each other and to work in a consistent scale with materials that are compatible."
Most of these housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
s were built around 1930, replacing late 19th century hotels with the same names. Some, including The Century, The San Remo, and The Majestic, are twin towers. Other landmarks and institutions along its length include the New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library located in New York City at the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan. Founded in 1804 as New York's first museum, the New-York Historical Society presents exhibitions, public programs and research that...
and the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
. The area from 61st to 97th Streets is included in the Central Park West Historic District
Central Park West Historic District
The Central Park West Historic District is located in Manhattan, New York City, United States along historic Central Park West, between 61st and 97th Streets. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1982...
.
The building located at 55 Central Park West
55 Central Park West
The building at 55 Central Park West, also known as the Ghostbusters Building, is a 19-floor housing cooperative located in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.A. The building was built in 1929 and designed by the firm Schwartz and Gross. Both the interior and the exterior possess unique architectural...
is the infamous "Spook Central" from the movie Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
. The famed New York City restaurant Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green was a privately owned American cuisine restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. It remained in operation from 1934 to 2009 under various owners...
is located off of Central Park West, at 66th Street
66th Street (Manhattan)
66th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan with portions on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side connected across Central Park via the 65th Street Transverse...
, within the grounds of Central Park.
In 1899, while exiting a streetcar, Henry Bliss
Henry Bliss (road accident victim)
Henry Hale Bliss was the first person killed by a motor vehicle accident in the United States, and the first known in the Americas. On September 13, 1899 he was disembarking from a streetcar at West 74th Street and Central Park West in New York City, when an electric-powered taxicab struck him...
was run over by a taxi at CPW and 74th Street, becoming the first person to be run down and killed by a motor car in the Americas.