Wikipedia

14th Street (Manhattan)

For other uses, see14th Street.

14th Streetis a major crosstown street in theNew York CityboroughofManhattan,traveling betweenEleventh Avenueon Manhattan'sWest SideandAvenue Con Manhattan'sEast Side.It forms a boundary between several neighborhoods and is sometimes considered the border betweenLower ManhattanandMidtown Manhattan.

14th Street
14th Street looking as seen from the east atFifth Avenue
Map
Maintained byNYCDOT
Length2.0 mi (3.2 km)[1]
LocationManhattan,New York City
Postal code10014, 10011, 10003, 10009
Coordinates40°44′09″N73°59′34″W/ 40.7357°N 73.9929°W/40.7357; -73.9929
West endNY 9A(11th Avenue) inChelsea/Meatpacking
East endAvenue CinEast Village/Stuyvesant Town
North15th Street
South13th Street
Construction
CommissionedMarch 1811

AtBroadway,14th Street forms the southern boundary ofUnion Square.It is also considered the southern boundary ofChelsea,Flatiron/Lower Midtown,andGramercy,and the northern boundary ofGreenwich Village,Alphabet City,and theEast Village.West ofThird Avenue,14th Street marks the southern terminus ofwestern Manhattan's grid system.North of 14th Street, the streets make up a near-perfectgridthat runs in numerical order. South of 14th, the grid continues in the East Village almost perfectly, except in Greenwich Village, where an older and less uniform grid plan applies.

In the early history of New York City, 14th Street was an upscale location. However, it lost its glamour and status as the city grew northward and today it is primarily zoned as a commercial street.[2]In October 2019, abuswayrestriction was put in place between Third and Ninth Avenues, prohibiting most types of vehicles during the daytime.

History

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The street was designated in theCommissioners' Plan of 1811as the southernmost of 15 east–west streets that would be 100 feet (30 m) in width (while other streets were designated as 60 feet (18 m) wide).[3]Roughly at the midpoint of 14th Street wasUnion Square,which opened in 1839.[4]During the mid-19th century, residential and commercial development in Manhattan began tomigrate uptownalongBroadway,reaching 14th Street by the 1850s. In conjunction with this, several hotels, theaters, and stores were built along the central portion of 14th Street, includingSteinway Halland theAcademy of Music.[5]: 2 By the late 19th century, there were numerous piano showrooms around 14th Street.[6]Many large retailers opened stores around the street, includingMacy's,Siegel-Cooper,andOhrbach's,while other retailers such asTiffany & Co.,Lord & Taylor,Arnold Constable & Company,andB. Altman and Companywere located a few blocks away.[7]

In the early 20th century,Tammany Hall,the Academy of Music, and numerousvaudevilletheaters were clustered around New York City.[8]One source referred to the center portion of 14th Street as "the Mecca of New York shoppers, and Sixth Avenue was the liveliest part of it".[9][5]: 2 As development continued to move further north, most of the major retailers on 14th Street relocated northward in the 1920s.[5]: 6 Lower-end stores began opening along the street,[7]including many stores that sold women's clothing.[5]: 6 TheWPA Guide to New York Citydescribed 14th Street in 1939 as "perhaps the city's largest outlet for low-priced women's merchandise".[10]

By the 1970s,J.W. MaysandS. Kleinwere the only major retailers remaining on 14th Street, and the street was lined with independent retailers and discount stores. There were only a few traces of 14th Street's heyday as a commercial center, includingLüchow'srestaurant and Union Square Park.[7]TheNew York City Department of Transportation(NYCDOT) began to reconstruct the entirety of 14th Street in 1990, replacing the roadway, sidewalks, and water and sewer pipes. As part of the project, the NYCDOT planted trees, installed new "bishop's-crook" streetlights, and added new gray sidewalks that were intended to resemble old granite sidewalks.[11]By the 2000s, many residential buildings and shops were clustered around 14th Street, and technology companies had relocated to the street. The western end of the street, near theMeatpacking District,contained numerous nightclubs, restaurants, and art galleries.Dotcom companies,advertisers, designers, publishers, and photographers were clustered around 14th Street between Eighth and Fifth Avenue.[8]

Description

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West 14th Street begins at an interchange withNew York State Route 9Anortheast ofGreenwich Village.[12]At the end of the interchange, it intersects with10th Avenue.The street continues east, intersecting withWashington Street,Ninth Avenue/Hudson Street,Eighth Avenue,Seventh Avenue,Sixth Avenue,and Fifth Avenue.[12]After Fifth Avenue, West 14th Street becomes East 14th Street and goes on to form the southern border ofUnion SquarebetweenUniversity Placeand Fourth Avenue. East of Fourth Avenue, 14th Street forms the southern end of Irving Place, a north–south road that terminates atGramercy Park.14th Street then intersects with Third Avenue, which forms the border between the neighborhoods of theEast Villageto the south andGramercyto the north. The street goes on to intersect with Second Avenue.[12]At First Avenue, 14th Street widens from a four-lane road to a six-lane dividedboulevardwith a westbound service road. It then intersects with the main thoroughfares of Alphabet City: Avenue A, Avenue B, and Avenue C, where the street terminates. It formerly terminated atFDR Drivevia an on-ramp to the southbound FDR before theSeptember 11 attacks,when theNew York Police Departmentvacated the portion between Avenue C and FDR due to the presence of the nearbyConEdisonEast River Generating Station along 14th and 15th Streets as a possible terrorist target.[12]

Since October 2019, vehicle restrictions are in place on 14th Street between Third and Ninth Avenues from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.[13][14]The only vehicles that can use the busway are buses, trucks making deliveries on 14th Street, emergency andAccess-A-Ridevehicles, and local traffic traveling for no more than one block.[15]: 63–64 

Public transportation

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14th Street–Union Square station

14th Street is well served by theNew York City Subway.TheBMT Canarsie Line(Ltrain) runs underneath 14th Street fromEighth Avenueto theEast River,stopping atEighth Avenue,Sixth Avenue,Union Square,Third Avenue,andFirst Avenue.Additionally, every subway route that crosses 14th Street has a stop there, except for theBand ​Dtrains:[16]

A station at Second Avenue and 14th Street is planned as part of Phase 3 of theSecond Avenue Subway,which is currently unfunded.[17]

PATHalso makes a stop at14th Streetat its intersection withSixth Avenue.[18]

In the past, every former IRT elevated line had a station at 14th Street:

The following bus routes serve 14th Street:

  • TheM14AandM14Dare the primary servers. The former only runs between Avenue A and Hudson Street, with eastbound service originating at 8th Avenue. The latter is extended to 10th Avenue westbound and Avenue C eastbound, originating at 9th Avenue. Both areSelect Bus Serviceroutes.
  • Additional service is provided by theM12westbound from 8th to 10th Avenues and is joined with theM11at 9th Avenue.
  • TheM7runs eastbound from 7th to 6th Avenues.[19]

Bus priority and truck access

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Alongside theCanarsie Tunnel closurebetween 2019 and 2020, theNew York City Department of Transportationbegan planning conversion of 14th Street betweenThirdandNinth Avenuesinto a bus-only corridor during rush hours. The department began planning a newSelect Bus Servicebus rapid transitroute to be implemented across 14th Street.[20][21][22]At the time, the M14A/D routes were among the busiest and slowest NYCT bus routes.[23]The M14A/D were converted to Select Bus Service routes on July 1, 2019.[13][14]

The 14th Street busway was inspired byToronto's successfulKing Street Pilot Project,which sped up transit times for transit riders on the504 Kingstreetcar route, theToronto Transit Commission's busiest surface route.[24]As part of the busway plan, the only motor vehicles that could use the busway, between 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, would be buses, trucks making deliveries on 14th Street, emergency andAccess-A-Ridevehicles. Local traffic would be required to turn off 14th Street at the next intersection.[15]: 63–64 Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer who lives on nearby12th Street,blocked the plan[25][23]by filing several injunctions to halt its implementation.[26][27][25]As a result, the busway was not implemented as scheduled in July 2019;[28][29]pushing its implementation back to August 2019.[24][26]The plan was blocked once again, pending an appeal.[27][25]The August ruling was later overturned by a panel of judges who approved the busway's implementation, which took effect on October 3, 2019.[30][31]The busway was so successful on its first day that M14 buses had to be slowed down in order to keep from running ahead of their posted schedules.[32]

Points of interest

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From west to east, points of interest include:

See also

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References

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  1. ^"14th Street (Manhattan)"(Map).Google Maps.RetrievedAugust 31,2015.[dead link‍]
  2. ^"NYC's Zoning & Land Use Map".ZoLa.Archivedfrom the original on July 26, 2019.RetrievedJune 11,2019.
  3. ^Morris, Gouverneur,De Witt, Simeon,andRutherford, John[sic] (March 1811)"Remarks Of The Commissioners For Laying Out Streets And Roads In The City Of New York, Under The Act Of April 3, 1807"ArchivedJune 22, 2016, at theWayback Machine,Cornell University Library.Accessed June 27, 2016. "These streets are all sixty feet wide except fifteen, which are one hundred feet wide, viz.: Numbers fourteen, twenty-three, thirty-four, forty-two, fifty-seven, seventy-two, seventy-nine, eighty-six, ninety-six, one hundred and six, one hundred and sixteen, one hundred and twenty-five, one hundred and thirty-five, one hundred and forty-five, and one hundred and fifty-five--the block or space between them being in general about two hundred feet."
  4. ^Garmey, Stephen (1984).Gramercy Park, an illustrated history of a New York neighborhood.New York: Balsam Press Distributed by Kampmann & Co.ISBN978-0-917439-00-1.OCLC10799569.
  5. ^abcdR. H. Macy & Co. Store, 14th Street Annex(PDF)(Report).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.December 20, 2011.RetrievedApril 30,2023.
  6. ^Steinway Hall(PDF)(Report).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.November 13, 2001. p. 3.
  7. ^abcSheinman, Mort (May 13, 1970). "14th Street Baghdad on the square".Women's Wear Daily.Vol. 120, no. 93. pp. 18–19.ProQuest1565243923.
  8. ^abBrozan, Nadine (August 13, 2000)."On 14th Street, Less Grit, More Glamour".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 30,2023.
  9. ^Hower, R.M. (2013).History of Macy's of New York, 1858-1919.Harvard Studies in Business History Series. Harvard University Press. p. 264.ISBN978-0-674-86370-5.
  10. ^Federal Writers' Project(1939).New York City Guide.New York: Random House. p. 202.ISBN978-1-60354-055-1.(Reprinted by Scholarly Press, 1976; often referred to asWPA Guide to New York City.)
  11. ^Dunlap, David W. (May 20, 1990)."Commercial Property: Rebuilding 14th Street; Merchants Ambivalent About Their Prospects".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 30,2023.
  12. ^abcd"14th Street - New York City"(Map).Google Maps.RetrievedJuly 20,2007.
  13. ^ab"Commuter Alert: Most Of 14th Street Will Be Closed To Cars Most Of The Time Starting July 1".CBS New York.June 11, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on June 11, 2019.RetrievedJune 11,2019.
  14. ^abSpivack, Caroline (June 11, 2019)."Dedicated busway on 14th Street will roll out on July 1".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on June 11, 2019.RetrievedJune 11,2019.
  15. ^ab"MTA New York City Transit Canarsie Tunnel Project Supplemental Environmental Assessment and Section 4(f) Review: Appendices"(PDF).mta.info.New York City Transit Authority.July 2018.Archived(PDF)from the original on July 27, 2018.RetrievedJuly 27,2018.
  16. ^"Subway Map"(PDF).Metropolitan Transportation Authority.September 2021.RetrievedSeptember 17,2021.
  17. ^Second Avenue Subway MapArchivedJuly 17, 2016, at theWayback Machine,MTA's website
  18. ^"14th Street Station - PATH".The Port Authority of NY & NJ.Archivedfrom the original on August 6, 2018.RetrievedAugust 6,2018.
  19. ^"Manhattan Bus Map"(PDF).Metropolitan Transportation Authority.July 2019.RetrievedDecember 1,2020.
  20. ^"L train shutdown to close portion of 14th Street to cars during rush hour: MTA".New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV.December 13, 2017.Archivedfrom the original on December 15, 2017.RetrievedDecember 15,2017.
  21. ^Walker, Ameena (December 13, 2017)."Long-awaited L train shutdown plan finally released".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on December 15, 2017.RetrievedDecember 15,2017.
  22. ^Nir, Sarah Maslin (December 13, 2017)."Rerouting Thousands: City Plans for L Train Closure".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on December 16, 2017.RetrievedDecember 16,2017.
  23. ^abKabak, Benjamin (August 20, 2019)."The 14th Street busway fight could determine NYC's transit future".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on August 20, 2019.RetrievedAugust 21,2019.
  24. ^abHu, Winnie (August 8, 2019)."Major Traffic Experiment in N.Y.C.: Cars All but Banned on Major Street".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on August 8, 2019.RetrievedAugust 9,2019.
  25. ^abcSpivack, Caroline (August 9, 2019)."Judge hits brakes on 14th Street busway—again".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on August 11, 2019.RetrievedAugust 12,2019.
  26. ^ab"Court: 14th St. car ban can start".The Villager.August 7, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on August 9, 2019.RetrievedAugust 9,2019.
  27. ^abLee, Vivian (August 10, 2019)."Ban on Most Cars on 14th Street Delayed Amid Last-Minute Appeal".Spectrum News NY1 | New York City.Archivedfrom the original on August 12, 2019.RetrievedAugust 12,2019.
  28. ^"14th Street busway supporters slam lawsuit as classist".am New York.July 2019.Archivedfrom the original on July 3, 2019.RetrievedJuly 3,2019.
  29. ^Spivack, Caroline (June 28, 2019)."14th Street busway blocked by judge".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on July 1, 2019.RetrievedJuly 3,2019.
  30. ^"Busway plan banning most cars from 14th Street kicks off Thursday".Crain's New York Business.September 30, 2019.RetrievedOctober 1,2019.
  31. ^Plitt, Amy (September 27, 2019)."14th Street busway gets the green light from judges".Curbed NY.RetrievedOctober 1,2019.
  32. ^Berger, Paul (October 3, 2019)."Buses Cruise Through Manhattan Corridor as Traffic Change Takes Effect".Wall Street Journal.RetrievedOctober 5,2019.
  33. ^"New York County National Bank"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.June 7, 1988.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  34. ^"New York Savings Bank"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.June 8, 1988.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  35. ^"Andrew Norwood House"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.May 9, 1978.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  36. ^"154 West 14th Street Building"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.June 28, 2011.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  37. ^"144 West 14th Street Building"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.November 18, 2018.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  38. ^"The Salvation Army National and Territorial Headquarters"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.October 17, 2017.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  39. ^Berg, J.C. (January 9, 2011).The Fourteenth Street TheaterArchivedMay 26, 2018, at theWayback Machine,nycvintageimages
  40. ^Cooper, Lee E. (March 1, 1938)."Old Fourteenth St. Theatre to Pass Into Hands of Wreckers on Monday".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on May 26, 2018.RetrievedMay 25,2018.
  41. ^"R. H. Macy & Co. Store, 14th Street Annex"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.December 20, 2011.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  42. ^"Baumann Brothers Furniture and Carpets Store"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.November 18, 2008.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  43. ^"Lincoln Building"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.July 12, 1988.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  44. ^"Consolidated Edison Company Building"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.February 10, 2009.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  45. ^"First German Baptist Church"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.October 28, 2014.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  46. ^"Grace Chapel"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.June 7, 1966.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
  47. ^"Grace Chapel Hospital"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.June 7, 1966.RetrievedOctober 10,2019.
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