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Madison Avenue

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Not to be confused withMadison Street (Manhattan).
For other uses, seeMadison Avenue (disambiguation).
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Madison Avenue
Looking north from 40th Street seen in 2005
NamesakeMadison Square, named afterJames Madison
OwnerCity of New York
Maintained byNYCDOT
Length6.0 mi (9.7 km)[1]
LocationManhattan,New York City
Postal code10010, 10016, 10017, 10022, 10065, 10021, 10075, 10028, 10128, 10029, 10035, 10037
South end23rd StreetinFlatiron
Major
junctions		Harlem River Drive/Madison Avenue BridgeinEast Harlem
North endHarlem River Drive/142nd StreetinHarlem
EastPark Avenue
WestFifth Avenue
Construction
Commissioned1836

Madison Avenueis a north-south avenue in theboroughofManhattaninNew York City,United States,that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs fromMadison Square(at23rd Street) to meet the southboundHarlem River Driveat142nd Street,passing throughMidtown,theUpper East Side(includingCarnegie Hill),East Harlem,andHarlem.It is named after and arises from Madison Square, which is itself named afterJames Madison,the fourthPresident of the United States.

Madison Avenue was not part of the original Manhattan street grid established inthe Commissioners' Plan of 1811,and was carved betweenPark Avenue(formerly Fourth) andFifth Avenuein 1836, due to the effort of lawyer and real estate developerSamuel B. Ruggles,who had previously purchased and developed New York'sGramercy Parkin 1831, and convinced the authorities to createLe xing ton AvenueandIrving Placebetween Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South) andThird Avenuein order to service it.

The street's name has beenmetonymouswith the Americanadvertisingindustry since the 1920s. Thus, the term "Madison Avenue" refers specifically to the agencies and methodology of advertising.[2]"Madison Avenue techniques" refers, according toWilliam Safire,to the "gimmicky, slick use of the communications media to play on emotions."[3]

Route[edit]

Madison Avenue carriesone-way trafficuptown (northbound) from East 23rd Street toEast 135th Street,with the changeover from two-way traffic taking place on January 14, 1966, at which time Fifth Avenue was changed to one-way downtown (southbound).[4]This changeover was accelerated by seven weeks due to the transit strike which began on January 1. Between East 135th Street and East 142nd Street, Madison Avenue carries southbound traffic only and runs parallel to theHarlem River Drive.

Landmarks[edit]

There are numerous structures designated asNew York City Landmarks(NYCL),National Historic Landmarks(NHL), andNational Register of Historic Places(NRHP) on Madison Avenue. From south to north (in increasing address order), they include:[5][6]

Role in advertising industry[edit]

The term "Madison Avenue" is often used metonymically to stand for the American advertising industry. Madison Avenue became identified with advertising after that sector's explosive growth in this area in the 1920s.[8]

According to "The Emergence of Advertising in America", by the year 1861, there were 20 advertising agencies in New York City, and the New York City Association of Advertising Agencies was founded in 1911, predating the establishment of theAmerican Association of Advertising Agenciesby several years.[8]

Among various depictions in popular culture, the portion of the advertising industry which centers on Madison Avenue serves as a backdrop for theAMCtelevision dramaMad Men,which focuses on industry activities during the 1960s.[8]

In recent decades, many agencies have left Madison Avenue, with some moving further downtown and others moving west.[9][10]The continued presence of large agencies in the city made New York the third-largest job market per capita in the U.S. in 2016, according to a study by marketing recruitment firm MarketPro.[11]Today, several agencies are still located in the oldbusiness clusteron Madison Avenue, including StrawberryFrog,TBWA Worldwide,Organic, Inc.,andDDB Worldwide.However, the term is still used to describe the agency business as a whole and large, New York–based agencies in particular.[8]

TheBeaux-ArtsAppellate Division Courthouse of New York Stateon Madison Avenue, across the street fromMadison Square Park

Madison Square Park and Madison Square Garden[edit]

Main articles:Madison Square ParkandMadison Square Garden

Madison Square Parkis a 6.2-acre (2.5-hectare)[12]public park which runs along Madison Avenue fromEast 26th StreettoEast 23rd Street.It is bordered on the west byFifth AvenueandBroadwayas they cross. The park was named forJames Madison,fourthPresident of the United States.[13]

Madison Square Gardentook its name from the location ofthe first building of that name,located on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue at 26th Street, across from the Park. The first Garden was a former railroad terminal for thePark Avenue main line,which was converted into an open-air circus venue byP. T. Barnumin 1871 and was renamed "Madison Square Garden" in 1879. (TheNew York Life Insurance Buildingnow occupies that entire city block.) The original Garden was demolished in 1889 and replaced bya new indoor arenadesigned byStanford Whitethat opened the following year. The second Garden had a bronze statue of the Roman goddessDianaon the tower of the sports arena. When it moved toa new buildingat 50th Street andEighth Avenuein 1925 it kept its old name. Madison Square Garden is now located atEighth Avenuebetween 31st and 33rd Street; however, it still retains the name.

Economy[edit]

Retail brands with locations on Madison Avenue include:Burberry,Manrico Cashmere,Brooks Brothers,Alexander McQueen,Hermès,Tom Ford,Céline,Proenza Schouler,Lanvin,Valentino,Stuart Weitzman,[14]Damiani,Emporio Armani,Prada,Chloé,Roberto Cavalli,Davidoff,Dolce & Gabbana,Gucci,Calvin Klein,Cartier,Christian Louboutin,La Perla,Jimmy Choo,Jacadi, Mulberry,Victoria's Secret,Barneys New York,Coach,Rolex,Giorgio Armani,Oliver Peoples,Vera Wang,Anne Fontaine,Baccarat,Carolina Herrera,Ralph Laurenand others.[15]

Transportation[edit]

Buses and bus lane[edit]

Madison Avenue is served by theM1,M2,M3,M4andQ32localNew York City Transit buses;theBM1,BM2,BM3,BM4,BM5,BxM3,BxM4,BxM6,BxM7,BxM8,BxM9,BxM10,BxM11,BxM18,QM21,SIM4C,SIM6,SIM8,SIM8X,SIM22,SIM25,SIM26,SIM30,SIM31,SIM33C,X27,X28,X37,X38,X63,X64andX68express New York City Transit buses; and theBxM4CexpressBee Linebus. These buses use a double exclusivebus lanebetween 42nd and 59th Streets, which comprise the onlyexclusive bus lanealong the avenue.[16]

Although noNew York City Subwaystations are named after Madison Avenue, theFifth Avenue/53rd Streetstation on theEand ​Mtrains has an entrance on Madison Avenue.[17]

Pursuant to Section 4-12(m) of the New York City Traffic Rules,[18]driving a vehicle other than a bus in the bus lane on Madison Avenue to turn right during the restricted hours specified by sign between 42nd Street and 59th Street is prohibited, then permitted at 60th Street, but ataxicabcarrying a passenger may use the bus lane to turn right at 46th Street. Bikes are excluded from this prohibition.

Overturned midtown bike ban[edit]

In July 1987, then-New York City MayorEdward Kochproposed banning bicycling on Fifth, Park and Madison Avenues during weekdays, but many bicyclists protested and had the ban overturned.[19]When the trial was started on Monday, August 24, 1987, for 90 days to ban bicyclists from these three avenues from 31st Street to 59th Street between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays,mopedswould not be banned.[20]

References[edit]

  1. ^Google(September 12, 2015)."Madison Avenue"(Map).Google Maps.Google.RetrievedSeptember 12,2015.
  2. ^Martin Mayer,Whatever happened to Madison Avenue?: Advertising in the '90s(Little, Brown, 1991).
  3. ^William Safire,Safire's new political dictionary: The definitive guide to the new language of politics(Random House, 1993) p 428
  4. ^Kihss, Peter."5th and Madison Avenues Become One-Way Friday; Change to Come 7 Weeks Ahead of Schedule to Ease Strike Traffic 5th and Madison to Be Made One-Way Friday",The New York Times,January 12, 1966. Accessed December 6, 2007. "The long-argued conversion of Fifth and Madison Avenues to one-way streets will start at 6 A.M. Friday seven weeks ahead of schedule to ease congestion caused by the transit strike."
  5. ^Interactive map:"Discover New York City Landmarks".New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.RetrievedDecember 21,2019– viaArcGIS.
  6. ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.November 2, 2013.
  7. ^"... named for one of its first tenants — Look magazine, which folded in 1971. Other tenants have included Esquire magazine and Pocket Books."[1]
  8. ^abcd"Advertising Ephemera Collection - Database #A0160".Emergence of Advertising On-Line Project.Advertising & Marketing History, John W. Hartman Center for Sales, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library,Duke University.1997.RetrievedOctober 2,2012.
  9. ^Rothenberg, Randall (February 2, 1989)."Madison Ave. Quits Madison Ave".The New York Times.
  10. ^Deborah Leslie, "Abandoning Madison Avenue: the relocation of advertising services in New York City."Urban Geography(1997) 18#7 pp: 568-590.
  11. ^"The 10 Hottest Job Markets for Digital Marketing Careers Right Now".August 16, 2016.RetrievedAugust 17,2016.
  12. ^Event Horizon: Mad. Sq. Art.: Antony Gormleyinstallation guidepublished by theMadison Square Park Conservancy
  13. ^Mendelsohn, Joyce. "Madison Square" inJackson, Kenneth T.,ed. (1995).The Encyclopedia of New York City.New Haven:Yale University Press.pp. 711–712.ISBN0300055366.
  14. ^nycgo Christina Parrella,Mad About Shopping: Madison Avenue09/11/2013
  15. ^nycMadison Avenue shoppingArchivedDecember 23, 2012, at theWayback Machine
  16. ^"Bus Lanes in New York City"(PDF).nyc.gov.New York City Department of Transportation.RetrievedApril 4,2016.
  17. ^"Map of NYC Subway Entrances".NYC Open Data.City of New York.RetrievedJuly 10,2018.
  18. ^New York City Traffic Rules,New York City Department of Transportation.
  19. ^Dunham, Mary Frances."Bicycle Blueprint – Fifth, Park and Madison"ArchivedMarch 4, 2016, at theWayback Machine,Transportation Alternatives.Accessed April 27, 2009.
  20. ^Yee, Marilynn K."Ban on Bikes Could Bring More Mopeds",The New York Times,Tuesday, August 25, 1987. Accessed April 27, 2009.

External links[edit]

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