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Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Encyclopedia
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side 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 New York City
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...
, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
neighborhood at Abingdon Square (where Hudson Street
Hudson Street (Manhattan)
Hudson Street is a north/south oriented street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from TriBeCa to Greenwich Village and through Hudson Square, Hudson Street has two distinct one-way traffic patterns that meet at Abingdon Square, at the street's intersection with Eighth Avenue and...
becomes 8th Avenue at an intersection with Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
) and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
, the Garment District
Garment District, Manhattan
The Garment District, also known as the Garment Center, the Fashion District, or the Fashion Center, is a neighborhood located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The dense concentration of fashion-related uses give the neighborhood, which is generally considered to span between Fifth Avenue...
, Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
's east end, Midtown and the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
Theatre District
Theatre District, New York
The Theater District is an area in Midtown Manhattan where most Broadway theaters are located, as well as many other theaters, movie theaters, restaurants, hotels and other places of entertainment. It extends from 40th Street to 54th Street, and from west of Sixth Avenue to east of Eighth Avenue,...
before if finally enters 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).
North of Columbus Circle, the roadway becomes Central Park West
Central Park West
Central Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the United States....
, a two-way street along 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...
. North of the traffic circle
Traffic circle
A traffic circle or rotary is a type of circular intersection in which traffic must travel in one direction around a central island. In some countries, traffic entering the circle has the right-of-way and drivers in the circle must yield. In many other countries, traffic entering the circle must...
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....
, it is Frederick Douglass Boulevard, though sometimes still unofficially referred to as Eighth Avenue. Fredrick Douglass Boulevard eventually terminates near the Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
at the Harlem River Drive
Harlem River Drive
The Harlem River Drive is a north–south parkway in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs along the west bank of the Harlem River from the Triborough Bridge in East Harlem to 10th Avenue in Inwood, where the parkway continues north as Dyckman Street. The portion of the Harlem River Drive...
around West 159th Street. While the avenue has different names at different points in Manhattan, it is actually one continuous stretch of road.
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 Eighth Avenue.
Since the 1990s, the stretch of Eighth Avenue that runs through Greenwich Village and its adjacent Chelsea neighborhood has been a center of the city's gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
community, with bars and restaurants catering to gay men. In fact, New York City's annual gay pride parade
Gay pride parade
Pride parades for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage...
takes place along the Greenwich Village section of Eighth Avenue. Also, along with Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, the portion of Eighth Avenue from 42nd Street
42nd Street (Manhattan)
42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...
to 50th Street
50th Street (Manhattan)
50th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street runs eastbound from 12th Avenue, across the full width of the island, ending at Beekman Place and carries the M50 bus line, which returns on 49th Street...
was an informal red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s before it was controversially renovated into a more family friendly
Family-friendliness
Entertainment or information is called "family friendly" if it is considered suitable for all members of the average family. In particular it means that it is not considered inappropriate for children, which may imply restrictions on engagement in, or depiction of, nudity, sex, violence, horror,...
environment under the first mayoral administration of Rudolph Giuliani.
Points of interest on or within one block of Eighth Avenue include:
- The Hotel ChelseaHotel ChelseaThe Hotel Chelsea, also known as the Chelsea Hotel, or simply the Chelsea, is a historic New York City hotel and landmark, known primarily for its history of notable residents...
(on 23rd Street23rd Street (Manhattan)23rd Street is a broad thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is one of few two-way streets in the gridiron of the borough. As with Manhattan's other "crosstown" streets, it is divided at Fifth Avenue, in this case at Madison Square Park, into its east and west sections. Since...
between Seventh and Eighth) - The Fashion Institute of TechnologyFashion Institute of TechnologyThe Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
(at 26th/27th Streets) - Madison Square GardenMadison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
and Penn Station (between 31st and 33rd Streets) - James Farley Post OfficeJames Farley Post OfficeThe James A. Farley Post Office Building is the main post office building in New York City. Its ZIP code designation is 10001. Built in 1912, the building is famous for bearing the inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of...
- The New York Times BuildingNew York Times BuildingThe New York Times Building is a skyscraper on the west side of Midtown Manhattan that was completed in 2007. Its chief tenant is The New York Times Company, publisher of The New York Times as well as The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune, and other newspapers...
at 40th Street - The Port Authority Bus TerminalPort Authority Bus TerminalThe Port Authority Bus Terminal is the main gateway for interstate buses into Manhattan in New York City...
(between 40th and 42nd Streets) - One Worldwide PlazaOne Worldwide PlazaOne Worldwide Plaza is part of a three-building, mixed-use commercial and residential complex completed in 1989, in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known collectively as Worldwide Plaza. One Worldwide Plaza is a commercial office tower on Eighth Avenue...
- Hearst TowerHearst Tower (New York City)The Brilliant Hearst Tower is located at 300 West 57th Street, 959 8th Avenue, near Columbus Circle in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York...
- Soros FoundationSoros FoundationA Soros Foundation is one of a network of national foundations, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, which fund volunteer socio-political activity, created by George Soros, international financier and self-proclaimed philanthropist, and coordinated since early 1994 by a management team called the...
and Open Society InstituteOpen Society InstituteThe Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
headquarters on West 59th Street - 111 Eighth Avenue111 Eighth Avenue111 Eighth Avenue is a full-block Art Deco building located between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and 15th and 16th Streets in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
the Art DecoArt DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
former Inland Freight Terminal of the Port AuthorityPort Authority of New York and New JerseyThe Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...
is the eighth-largest commercial structure in Manhattan. In 2010 the East Coast headquarters of GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
moved in.
External links
- New York Songlines: Eighth Avenue, a virtual walking tour