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Park Avenue (Manhattan)
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...
borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
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...
. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated by New Yorkers as "Lex," is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street...
to the east.
The flowers and greenery in the median of Park Avenue are maintained by the Fund for Park Avenue. Begonia
Begonia
Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae and is a perennial. The only other members of the family Begoniaceae are Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands, and the genus Symbegonia which more recently was included in Begonia...
s are a flower of choice for the Funds gardeners because there is no automatic watering system and they can cope with hot sun.
Each December, Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
s are placed in the median in a tradition that started in 1945 as a memorial to soldiers killed in action. The first time they were erected colored lights were used and accidents occurred because of confusion with traffic signals in front of them. Today only yellow and white lights are used.
Route
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
. From Cooper Square
Cooper Square
__notoc__Cooper Square is a junction of streets in lower Manhattan, New York City located at the confluence of the neighborhoods of The Bowery to the south, NoHo to the west and southwest, Greenwich Village to the west and northwest, the East Village to the north and east, and the Lower East Side...
at 8th Street to Union Square
Union Square (New York City)
Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...
at 14th Street
14th Street (Manhattan)
14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street rivals the size of some of the well-known avenues of the city and is an important business location....
, it is known as Fourth Avenue. Above 14th Street, it turns slightly east of north to align with other avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811
Commissioners' Plan of 1811
The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design plan for the streets of Manhattan, which put in place the grid plan that has defined Manhattan to this day....
. From 14th Street to 17th Street
17th Street (Manhattan)
17th Street is an east-west running street between First Avenue and Eleventh Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs one way along the street, from east to west excepting the stretch between Broadway and Park Avenue South, where traffic runs in both directions.17th Street...
, it forms the eastern boundary of Union Square and is known as Union Square East; its southbound lanes merge with Broadway for this distance. From 17th Street to 32nd Street, it is known as Park Avenue South, and above 32nd Street, for the remainder of its distance, it is known as Park Avenue.
Between 33rd Street and 40th Street, the left-hand northbound lane descends into the Murray Hill Tunnel
Murray Hill Tunnel
The Park Avenue Tunnel passes under Park Avenue in the New York City borough of Manhattan, leading towards Grand Central Terminal. It once carried the New York and Harlem Railroad and later that company's streetcar line and was called the Murray Hill Tunnel...
. Immediately across from 40th Street, the center lanes of Park Avenue rise onto an elevated structure that goes around Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
and the MetLife Building
MetLife Building
The MetLife Building, originally called the Pan Am Building, is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
(formerly the PanAm Building), carrying each direction of traffic on opposite sides of the buildings. The bridge, one of two structures in Manhattan known as the Park Avenue Viaduct, returns to ground level at 46th Street after going through the Helmsley Building
Helmsley Building
The Helmsley Building is a 35-story located at 230 Park Avenue in New York City. Before the erection of the Pan Am Building, now the MetLife Building, this building stood out over the city's second most prestigious avenue as it was the tallest structure in the great "Terminal City" complex around...
(also referred to as the New York Central Building or 230 Park Avenue). The IRT Lexington Avenue Line
IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The Lexington Avenue Line is one of the lines of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Downtown Brooklyn or Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in East Harlem. The portion in Lower and Midtown Manhattan was part of the first subway line in New York...
runs under this portion of the street. Once the line reaches Grand Central, it shifts east to Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated by New Yorkers as "Lex," is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street...
.
As Park Avenue enters Midtown north of Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, it is distinguished by many glass-box skyscrapers that serve as headquarters for corporations such as JPMorgan Chase at 270 Park Avenue
270 Park Avenue
The JPMorgan Chase Tower or the Union Carbide Building is a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, designed by the office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It was built in 1961, and served as the headquarters for Union Carbide until the company moved to Danbury, Connecticut. It is currently the world...
and 277 Park Avenue
277 Park Avenue
277 Park Avenue is an office building in New York City and is the current home of the JPMorgan Chase's Investment Banking Division. JP Morgan's takeover of Bear Stearns in 2008 will mean most employees will be moved to 383 Madison Avenue to reduce the leased real estate footprint in Midtown...
, UBS at 299 Park Avenue
299 Park Avenue
299 Park Avenue is an office building in New York City located on Park Avenue between 48th and 49th streets. The building is home to the New York headquarters of UBS Investment Bank which occupies approximately two-thirds of the floors as well as MeadWestvaco and GE Capital; private equity firms...
, Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
, Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products . Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of...
, and MetLife at the MetLife Building
MetLife Building
The MetLife Building, originally called the Pan Am Building, is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
.
From Grand Central to 97th Street, Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
tracks run in a tunnel underneath Park Avenue (the Park Avenue Tunnel
Park Avenue Tunnel (railroad)
The Park Avenue Tunnel connects four tracks of the Metro-North Railroad from Grand Central Terminal at 42nd Street to 97th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The tunnel portal rises to a full viaduct by 99th Street.- History :...
). There are no cross-walk signals or overhead traffic lights along this stretch of Park Avenue due to the presence of the tunnels underneath, and the inability to anchor the heavy devices into solid ground. At 97th, the tracks come above ground, rising onto the other Manhattan structure known as the Park Avenue Viaduct. The first street to pass under the viaduct is 102nd Street; from there to 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...
the railroad viaduct runs down the middle of Park Avenue.
In the 1920s the portion of Park Avenue from Grand Central Terminal to 96th Street saw extensive apartment building construction. This long stretch of the avenue contains some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Real estate at 740 Park Avenue
740 Park Avenue
740 Park Avenue is a luxury apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which has been the home to many wealthy and famous residents. The building also carries the address 71 East 71st Street.-History:...
, for example, sells for several thousand dollars per square foot. Current and former residents in this stretch of the thoroughfare include Blackstone Group
Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...
co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, former Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
executive Zoe Cruz
Zoe Cruz
Zoe Cruz is a Greek-born American senior banking executive and former co-president of Morgan Stanley. In 2006, she was on the list of Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Women of the World and ranked the #10 spot. She was known as the highest paid and most powerful woman on Wall Street.-Early life:Cruz was...
, private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
investor Ronald O. Perelman, John D. Rockefeller Jr. and others. James Cash Penney lived at 888, and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
at 898.
Park Avenue ends north of 132nd Street, with connections to 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...
. The name is continued on the other side of the river in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
by the street just east of the railroad.
The following institutions are either headquartered or have significant business presences on Park Avenue:
- AlcoaAlcoaAlcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
- American Multimedia Systems
- Americas SocietyAmericas SocietyThe Americas Society is an organization dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue in the Americas; established in 1965 by David Rockefeller. The Americas Society promotes the understanding of the economic, political, and cultural issues that define and challenge the Americas today, including...
- Asia SocietyAsia SocietyThe Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
- Bankers TrustBankers TrustBankers Trust was an historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1998.-History:A consortium of banks created Bankers Trust to perform trust company services for their clients....
- The Blackstone Group at 345 Park Avenue345 Park Avenue345 Park Avenue is a 634ft tall skyscraper in New York City, New York. It was completed in 1969 and has 44 floors. Emery Roth & Sons designed the building, which is the 60th tallest in New York....
- Boston Consulting GroupBoston Consulting GroupThe Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm with offices in 42 countries. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world. It is one of only three companies to appear in the top 15 of Fortunes "Best Companies to Work For" report for...
- Bristol Myers Squibb
- Cantor Fitzgerald at 499 Park Avenue
- CitigroupCitigroupCitigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
at 399 Park Avenue399 Park Avenue399 Park Avenue is a 41-story office building that is the world headquarters of Citigroup in New York City, United States.Citigroup's chairman and chief executive officer operate from the building's second floor... - Colgate-PalmoliveColgate-PalmoliveColgate-Palmolive Company is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products . Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of...
at 300 Park Avenue - Consulate General of Japan
- Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
- C. V. Starr at 90 Park Avenue
- Deutsche BankDeutsche BankDeutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
- DigitasDigitasDigitas is an integrated advertising agency and a member of the Publicis Groupe. The company currently has over 3,000 employees in 32 offices in 19 countries. Digitas also owns The Third Act: , Digitas Health, , Prodigious Worldwide and Solutions | Digitas...
- Environmental Defense Fund
- FerrariFerrariFerrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
- MaseratiMaseratiMaserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
- Heineken International
- Hilb, Rogal, & Hobbs
- Hunter CollegeHunter CollegeHunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
- ING Clarion
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.JPMorgan Chase & Co.JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational banking corporation of securities, investments and retail. It is the largest bank in the United States by assets and market capitalization.It is a major provider of financial services, with assets of $2 trillion and according to Forbes magazine is...
at 270 Park Avenue270 Park AvenueThe JPMorgan Chase Tower or the Union Carbide Building is a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, designed by the office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It was built in 1961, and served as the headquarters for Union Carbide until the company moved to Danbury, Connecticut. It is currently the world... - KPMGKPMGKPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
- Leucadia NationalLeucadia NationalLeucadia National Corporation is a holding company that, through its subsidiaries, engages in mining & drilling services, telecommunications, healthcare services, manufacturing, banking and lending, real estate, and winery businesses with a market cap of about $8.0 billion as of June 15, 2011. ...
- Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
- Mercedes-BenzMercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
- MetLife at 200 Park AvenueMetLife BuildingThe MetLife Building, originally called the Pan Am Building, is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
- M&T BankM&T BankM&T Bank is an American commercial bank that was founded in 1856 in western New York, and today remains headquartered in Buffalo at One M & T Plaza...
- Mutual of AmericaMutual of AmericaMutual of America Life Insurance Company, also referred to as Mutual of America, is a Fortune 1000 mutual company based in New York, New York. Founded in 1945, it is ranked on the Forbes 500 list as the tenth-largest insurance company in the United States.Mutual of America specializes in providing...
at 320 Park Avenue
- Needham & CompanyNeedham & CompanyNeedham & Company is an independent investment bank and asset management firm specializing in advisory services and financings for growth companies...
- New York Life
- Reed ElsevierReed ElsevierReed Elsevier is a publisher and information provider operating in the science, medical, legal, risk and business sectors. It is listed on several of the world's major stock exchanges. It is a FTSE 100 and FT500 Global company...
- St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, New York
- Sanofi-AventisSanofi-AventisSanofi S.A. is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, the world's fourth-largest by prescription sales. Sanofi engages in the research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products for sale principally in the prescription market, but the...
- Scandinavia House
- Seligman
- Sonenshine PartnersSonenshine PartnersSonenshine Partners, is a boutique investment bank based in New York City that offers integrated strategic and financial advisory services. The firm was founded in 2000 and is led by Marshall Sonenshine and Carlo Bronzini Vender, who were members of Wolfensohn....
- Tata Consultancy ServicesTata Consultancy ServicesTata Consultancy Services Limited is a global IT services, business solutions and outsourcing company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is the largest provider of information technology in Asia and second largest provider of business process outsourcing services in India...
- Vivendi SA
- UBS at (299 Park Avenue299 Park Avenue299 Park Avenue is an office building in New York City located on Park Avenue between 48th and 49th streets. The building is home to the New York headquarters of UBS Investment Bank which occupies approximately two-thirds of the floors as well as MeadWestvaco and GE Capital; private equity firms...
) - The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at 301 Park Avenue
History
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
starting in the 1830s. The railroad originally built an open cut through Murray Hill
Murray Hill, Manhattan
Murray Hill is a Midtown Manhattan neighborhood in New York City, USA. Around 1987 many real estate promoters of the neighborhood and newer residents described the boundaries as within East 34th Street, East 42nd Street, Madison Avenue, and the East River; in 1999, Frank P...
, which was covered with grates and grass between 34th and 40th Street in the early 1850s. A section of this "park" was renamed Park Avenue in 1860. In 1867, the name applied all the way to 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...
. When Grand Central Depot was opened in the 1870s, the railroad tracks between 56th and 96th Streets were sunk out of sight, and, in 1888, Park Avenue was extended to the Harlem River.
In 1936 the elevated Grand Central Terminal Park Avenue Viaduct
Grand Central Terminal Park Avenue Viaduct
The Grand Central Terminal Park Avenue Viaduct is a roadway that brings Park Avenue around Grand Central Terminal and the MetLife Building, the two buildings that interrupt Park Avenue's broad boulevard in the Manhattan borough of New York City...
was built around the station to allow automobile traffic to pass unimpeded. In October 1937, a part of the Murray Hill Tunnel
Murray Hill Tunnel
The Park Avenue Tunnel passes under Park Avenue in the New York City borough of Manhattan, leading towards Grand Central Terminal. It once carried the New York and Harlem Railroad and later that company's streetcar line and was called the Murray Hill Tunnel...
was reopened for road traffic. Efforts to promote a Grand Park Avenue Expressway to Grand Concourse in the Bronx were unavailing.
On May 5, 1959, the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
voted 20–1 to change the name of Fourth Avenue between 17th and 32nd Streets to Park Avenue South. In 1963, the Pan Am Building was built straddling Park Avenue atop Grand Central Terminal, between the automotive viaducts.
External links
- New York Songlines: Fourth Avenue with The Bowery and Park Avenue, a virtual walking tour