Myrtle Avenue (New York City)
Encyclopedia
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...
is a street that runs from Flatbush Avenue Extension
Flatbush Avenue (Brooklyn)
Flatbush Avenue is one of the major avenues in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens...
in Downtown
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
to Jamaica Avenue
Jamaica Avenue
Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue starts at Broadway and Fulton Street in the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn, and goes to the city line in Bellerose, Queens, where it becomes Jericho...
in Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill, Queens
Richmond Hill is a neighborhood in central-southern Queens, New York City, USA. It is bordered by Kew Gardens to the north, Woodhaven and Ozone Park to the west, South Ozone Park to the south and South Jamaica to the east...
, Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
.
In Queens
Myrtle Avenue has been a major thoroughfareThoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...
since the early 19th century, named after the myrtle trees that were plentiful in the area. Most likely, Myrtle Avenue began in Queens and was a plank road
Plank road
A plank road or puncheon is a dirt path or road covered with a series of planks, similar to the wooden sidewalks one would see in a Western movie. Plank roads were very popular in Ontario, the U.S. Northeast and U.S. Midwest in the first half of the 19th century...
that charged a toll
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
. The road eventually hosted the Knickerbocker Stage Coach Line, that ran stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
and omnibus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
services.
After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Myrtle Avenue in Glendale, Queens
Glendale, Queens
Glendale is a neighborhood in the west-central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Cooper Avenue to the north, Woodhaven Boulevard to the east, Myrtle Avenue to the south and Fresh Pond Road to the West...
was a popular destination for picnic
Picnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
kers. With a steam trolley
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
running on the avenue, and its ample adjacent beer garden
Beer garden
Beer garden is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local food are served. The concept originates from and is most common in Southern Germany...
s and park space, people from as far as Eastern Brooklyn came to Myrtle. In the mid 1920s, the parks closed as a result of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
. Ultimately, the parks became incorporated by the city into what is known today as Forest Park
Forest Park (Queens)
Forest Park is a park in the New York City borough of Queens. It has an area of 538 acres . The park is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.-History:...
.
Currently, Myrtle Avenue is one of the primary shopping strips of Ridgewood
Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Historically, the neighborhood straddled the Queens-Brooklyn boundary. The neighborhood is part of Queens...
, along with Fresh Pond Road whose south end is at Myrtle Avenue. It is also the primary shopping strip in nearby Glendale, although this stretch of Myrtle Avenue isn't as busy as the Ridgewood stretch. It was also home to the Ridgewood Theatre, which was the longest continuously operated theater in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, having operated for 91 years before its closure in March 2008.
Although Myrtle Avenue isn't a very big street, it is the head of many other major throughfares in Queens that were built later. This includes Union Turnpike
Union Turnpike (New York)
Union Turnpike is a thoroughfare stretching across central and eastern Queens in New York City. It runs from Myrtle Avenue in Glendale to Marcus Avenue in North New Hyde Park, about a mile into Nassau County, New York. Initially designed as a toll road, it takes a straight-arrow path from Kew...
, whose west end is in Glendale near Woodhaven Boulevard, and Hillside Avenue
New York State Route 25B
New York State Route 25B is a 7.25 mile long east–west state highway located on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The western terminus of the route is at NY 25 in Queens. The eastern terminus is at an interchange with NY 25 in Westbury...
, which starts off from Myrtle Avenue in Richmond Hill.
The Queens stretch of Myrtle Avenue is served by the Q55 bus
Richmond Hill Line
The Richmond Hill Line is a surface transit line on Myrtle Avenue in Queens, New York City, United States. Once a streetcar line owned by the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, it is now the Q55 Myrtle Avenue bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority....
line.
In Brooklyn
Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Part of Brooklyn Community Board 2, Fort Greene is listed on the New York State Registry and on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a New York City-designated Historic District...
and Clinton Hill
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is bordered on the east by Bedford-Stuyvesant, on the west by Fort Greene, on the north by Wallabout Bay and on the south by Prospect Heights...
, the development of Myrtle Avenue was directly related to the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Brooklyn Navy Yard
The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...
, built in 1801.
In 1847 Fort Greene Park
Fort Greene Park
Fort Greene Park is a municipal park in Brooklyn, New York, comprising 30.2 acres .The park includes the high ground where the Continental Army built Fort Putnam during the American Revolutionary War. The site was chosen and the construction supervised by General Nathanael Greene...
, Brooklyn's first park, was built on the south side of western Myrtle Avenue.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Navy Yard employed more than 71,000 people, many of them African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
shipbuilders
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
. As a result the demand for housing in the area increased, prompting the New York City Housing Authority
New York City Housing Authority
The New York City Housing Authority provides public housing for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the five boroughs of New York City. NYCHA also administers a citywide Section 8 Leased Housing Program in rental apartments...
to build the Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
and Raymond Ingersoll public houses
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
on Myrtle Avenue in 1944.
By the early 1970s the vitality of Myrtle Avenue began to decline, mainly because of the decommissioning of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the curtailing of the elevated railway. At its nadir of decline, the street became known to many Brooklynites as "Murder Avenue".
The western end of Myrtle Avenue was closed to create the pedestrian-only MetroTech Center
MetroTech Center
MetroTech Center is a business and educational center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. Original occupants of this area include JPMorgan Chase, New York City Fire Department Headquarters, Bear Stearns, Keyspan Energy, now National Grid, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Polytechnic University,...
in the 1990s, so cars can no longer take Myrtle to Jay Street.
Today a revitalization movement is in effect by a collaboration of community organization
Community organization
Community organizations are civil society non-profits that operate within a single local community. They are essentially a subset of the wider group of nonprofits. Like other nonprofits they are often run on a voluntary basis and are self funded...
s like the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project LDC (MARP), the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Improvement district
Improvement district
Improvement district can refer to:*Business improvement district, a type of urban zoning*improvement district, a type of rural municipality in Alberta...
BID, and the Myrtle Avenue Merchants Association. Some parts of Myrtle Avenue, for example around Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
, have recently become a main street
Main Street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
of commerce with many trendy restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s and boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
retail shops.
The Brooklyn stretch of Myrtle Avenue is served by the B54 bus line. The M train also runs above Myrtle Avenue through Bushwick and a small stretch through Bedford Stuyvesant
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Bedford-Stuyvesant is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Formed in 1930, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3, Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Brooklyn Community Board 16. The neighborhood is patrolled by the NYPD's 79th and 81st...
.
Subway and elevated services
The Myrtle Avenue ElBMT Myrtle Avenue Line
The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway as part of the BMT division. The extant line is the final remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads...
is an elevated railroad line that runs along Myrtle Avenue The completed line ran from Middle Village, Queens
Middle Village, Queens
Middle Village is a neighborhood in central Queens, a borough of New York City. The neighborhood is located in the western central section of Queens, bounded to the north by Eliot Avenue, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue, and to the west by Fresh Pond Road...
to Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
and Park Row
Park Row (BMT station)
Park Row was a major elevated railway terminal constructed over the New York end of the Brooklyn Bridge, across from New York City Hall in Manhattan that served as the terminal for BMT services operating over the Brooklyn Bridge from the BMT Fulton Street Line, BMT Myrtle Avenue Line and their...
, 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...
, using the avenue for most of its route. Since 1969, the portion of the line east of the Myrtle Avenue – Broadway
Myrtle Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
Myrtle Avenue is a two-level express station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway...
station remains, with the remainder demolished.
Myrtle Avenue is served by the following subway stations, west to east (not counting abandoned or demolished stations):
- Myrtle–Willoughby Avenues (IND Crosstown Line) ( trains)
- Myrtle Avenue – Broadway (BMT Jamaica Line)Myrtle Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)Myrtle Avenue is a two-level express station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway...
( trains) - Central Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)Central Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)Central Avenue is a station on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Myrtle Avenue and Cedar Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn, it is served by the M train at all times....
( train) - Knickerbocker Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)Knickerbocker Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)Knickerbocker Avenue is a station on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Myrtle and Knickerbocker Avenues in Bushwick, Brooklyn, it is served by the M train at all times....
( train) - Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues; a station complex consisting of:
- Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues (BMT Canarsie Line) ( train)
- Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line) ( train)
Also, DeKalb Avenue ( trains) and 121st Street
121st Street (BMT Jamaica Line)
121st Street is a skip-stop station on the elevated BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 121st Street and Jamaica Avenue in Queens, it is served by the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction, and by the J train at all other times.The station has two...
( trains) are stations near the avenue.
There is an abandoned Myrtle Avenue subway station on the BMT Brighton Line
BMT Brighton Line
The BMT Brighton Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train. The Q is joined by the B express train on weekdays...
. It was closed due to its proximity to and a track reconfiguration north of DeKalb Avenue station.
Rap music
There are references to Myrtle Avenue in hip-hop culture and rap music, reflective of the street passing through African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
neighborhoods in Brooklyn. The popularity of the nickname "Murder Avenue" dates back to the minor 1993 hit of the same name by the Geto Boys
Geto Boys
Geto Boys is a rap group from Houston, Texas, consisting of Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill. The Geto Boys earned notoriety for its lyrics which included misogyny, gore, psychotic experiences, and necrophilia...
.
Other artists that mention Myrtle Avenue include:
- Nas refers to Willoughby and Myrtle Ave in the song "Virgo" with LudacrisLudacrisChristopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
and Doug E. FreshDoug E. FreshDouglas E. Davis , better known by the stage name Doug E. Fresh, is an American rapper, record producer, and beat boxer, also known as the Human Beat Box...
. - ProdigyProdigy (rapper)Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
from Mobb DeepMobb DeepMobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
references Myrtle in "Trife Life" on The InfamousThe InfamousUpon its release, The Infamous earned critical acclaim and was widely considered to be a cornerstone album of New York hardcore rap. Rolling Stone magazine originally rated the album 3½ out of 5 stars, and called it "a darkly nihilistic masterpiece". It, however, gave it a 5 out of 5 star rating in...
album. - Mos DefMos DefDante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
says he's from Myrtle and Broadway in the song "Champion Requiem" on The New DangerThe New DangerThe New Danger is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Mos Def, released October 19, 2004 on Rawkus and Geffen Records in the United States. The album was also released in Canada and continental Europe through Geffen, and it featured distribution in the United Kingdom on Island Records...
, and in the song "Mathematics" on Black on Both SidesBlack on Both SidesBlack on Both Sides is the debut solo album of American rapper Mos Def, released October 12, 1999 on Rawkus Records. Prior to the album's recording, Mos Def had collaborated with rapper Talib Kweli for the duo's studio album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star , which raised high expectations for...
. - Talib KweliTalib KweliTalib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
references the street in the Black Eyed Peas Song, "Like That" - "Like a caribou running down myrtle avenue". - Digable PlanetsDigable PlanetsDigable Planets is an American alternative hip hop trio based in New York City, composed of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler , Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving . They released their debut album Reachin' in 1993, and their follow-up album Blowout Comb in 1994...
reference the ave in the song "9th Wonder (Blackitolism)" when Butterfly rhymes - "Myrtle Ave A Train got the pick in my hair". - Prince PaulPrince PaulPaul Huston, better known by the stage name Prince Paul, is an American disc jockey and hip-hop record producer. He was also a founding member of the Gravediggaz where he used the name The Undertaker.- Biography :...
references Myrtle Avenue in his song "People, Places & Things."
External links
- Brooklyn Bites: Neighborhood Dining Guide for Myrtle Avenue in GO Brooklyn
- The many faces of Myrtle Forgotten-NY