52nd Street is a -long
one-way street traveling west to east across
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Jazz center
![52nd Street, New York, by Gottlieb, 1948](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/52nd_Street%2C_New_York%2C_by_Gottlieb%2C_1948.jpg)
Following the repeal of
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
in 1933, 52nd Street replaced
133rd Street as "Swing Street" of the city. The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and
Seventh Avenue became renowned for the abundance of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
clubs and lively street life. The street was convenient to musicians playing on Broadway and the 'legitimate' nightclubs and was also the site of a
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
studio. Musicians who played for others in the early evening played for themselves on 52nd Street.
In the period from 1930 through the early 1950s, 52nd Street clubs hosted such jazz musicians as
Louis Prima
Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...
,
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...
,
Fats Waller
Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...
,
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...
,
Trummy Young
James "Trummy" Young (January 12, 1912 – September 10, 1984) was an American trombonist in the swing era. He established himself as a star during his 12 years performing with Louis Armstrong in Armstrong's All Stars. He had one hit with his v ...
,
Harry Gibson
Harry "The Hipster" Gibson (June 27, 1915 – May 3, 1991), born Harry Raab, was an American jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter. He played New York style stride piano and boogie woogie while singing in a wild, unrestrained style. His music car ...
,
Nat Jaffe,
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
,
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...
,
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
,
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
,
Marian McPartland
Margaret Marian McPartland OBE ( Turner;Hasson, Claire"Marian McPartland: Jazz Pianist: An Overview of a Career" PhD Thesis. Retrieved 12 August 2008. 20 March 1918 – 20 August 2013), was an English–American jazz pianist, composer, and wri ...
, and many more. Although musicians from all schools performed there, after
Minton's Playhouse
Minton's Playhouse is a jazz club and bar located on the first floor of the Cecil Hotel at 210 West 118th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. It is a registered trademark of Housing and Services, Inc. a New York City nonprofit provider ...
in uptown
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, 52nd Street was the second most important place for the dissemination of
bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...
;. In fact, a tune called "
52nd Street Theme" by
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...
became a bebop anthem and jazz standard.
![52nd Street, New York City, NY 0001 original](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/52nd_Street%2C_New_York_City%2C_NY_0001_original.jpg)
Virtually every great jazz player and singer of the era performed at clubs:
52nd, between 6th & 7th
*
Kelly's Stable, 137 W 52
*The Hickory House, 144 W 52
52nd, between 5th & 6th
*
21 Club, 21 W 52 (1929–2020)
*Leon & Eddie's, 33 W 52
*
Famous Door
The Famous Door was a jazz club on New York's 52nd Street. It opened in 1935 and was one of the major clubs on the street, hosting leading jazz musicians until 1950, through changes of location and periods of closure.
History
The Famous Door op ...
:: 35 W 52 (Mar 1935–May 1936)
:: 66 W 52 (Dec 1937–Nov 1943)
:: 201 W 52 (Nov 1943–1944)
:: 56 W 52 (1947–1950)
:: Note: The Cotton Club (unconnected to the defunct club with the same name) opened in 1943 on the site formerly occupied by the Famous Door; the club was initially managed by Russell Carter
*
Jimmy Ryan's, 53 W 52 (1934–1962)
::154 W 54th (1962–1983)
*Spotlight Club, 56 W 52
*Club Samoa
:: 62 W 52 (1940–1943)
:: became a
strip club
A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...
in 1943
*
The Onyx
The Onyx or OnyxPete Frame ''Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'roll Landmarks'' 0711969736
1999 "WADEBRIDGE Home of psychedelic group Onyx, who recorded for Pye." were a psychedelic rock band formed in Wadebridge, Cornwall, England ...
:: 35 W 52 (1927–1933) (owned by Joe Helbock)
:: 72 W 52 (1933–1937) (owned by Joe Helbock)
:: 62 W 52 (1937–1939) (owned by Joe Helbock, et al.)
:: 57 W 52 (1942–1949) (unrelated to the original Onyx)
:: became a
strip club
A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...
in 1949
*Yacht Club, 66 W 52
*Club Downbeat, 66 W 52
*Club Carousel, 66 W 52
*3 Deuces, 72 W 52
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
Symphony Sid frequently did
live broadcast A live broadcast, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of media that are broadcast without a significant delay.
The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a news broadcasting.
Ot ...
s from the street which were transmitted across the country.
By the late 1940s, the jazz scene began moving elsewhere around the city and
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
began to take hold of the street. By the 1960s, most of the legendary clubs were razed or fell into disrepair. The last jazz club there closed in 1968, though one remains as a restaurant. Today, the street is full of banks, shops, and department stores and shows little trace of its jazz history. The block from 5th to 6th Avenues is formally co-named "Swing Street" and one block west is called "
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...
s Place". The
21 Club was the sole surviving club on 52nd Street that also existed during the 1940s. It closed in 2020. The venue for the original
Birdland at 1674 Broadway (between 52nd & 53rd), which came into existence in 1949, is now a strip club. The current
Birdland is on 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues.
Notable places on 52nd Street
This is a list of notable places within one block of 52nd Street.
West Side Highway
*The route begins at the West Side Highway (
New York Route 9A
New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) is a state highway in the vicinity of New York City in the United States. Its southern terminus is at Battery Place near the northern end of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in New York City, where it inter ...
). Opposite the intersection is the
New York Passenger Ship Terminal
The Manhattan Cruise Terminal, formerly known as the New York Passenger Ship Terminal or Port Authority Passenger Ship Terminal is a ship terminal for ocean-going passenger ships in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City.
History
The New ...
and the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
*
Hustler Club
The Hustler Club is a series of bars and chain of go-go clubs licensed by ''Hustler'' magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
Early history
Flynt was discharged from the Navy in 1964 where he had served as a radar operator. After this stint in the Nav ...
on south side
*
De Witt Clinton Park
DeWitt Clinton Park is a List of New York City parks, New York City public park in the Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, between 52nd Street (Manhattan), West 52nd and 54th Street (Manhattan), 54 ...
on north (the whole west side neighborhood of
Clinton derives its name from the park
*Studios of ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
'' broadcast (south)
Eleventh Avenue
The section between Eleventh and Tenth Avenues is signed "Joe Hovarth Way" in tribute to Joseph Hovarth (1945–1995) who located the
Police Athletic League
The Police Athletic League (PAL; Police Activities League) is an organization in many American police departments in which members of the police force coach young people, both boys and girls, in sports, and help with homework and other school-rel ...
William J. Duncan Center on the block after moving from its original location. The Duncan Center is named for a patrolman who was shot while chasing a stolen car in the neighborhood on May 17, 1930.
Tenth Avenue
*Closed Midtown Branch of
Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York d/b/a as Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent's, or SVCMC) was a healthcare system, anchored by its flagship hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, locally referred to a ...
(formerly St. Clares Hospital) (south)
Ninth Avenue
*The Manhattan School – Public School 35, special ed. (317 West 52nd) (north)
*Radio City Station Post Office (zip code 10019) (south)
*The Link (south), 43-story, 215–unit, glass tower condominium (height = 471 feet), opened in 2007 on site of the S.I.R. (Studio Instrument Rentals, Inc.) building at 310 W 52nd, known as the Palm Gardens Building. S.I.R. occupied the building from 1974 until 2004. Cheetah, the well-known club that had once been at 53rd and Broadway, occupied the Palm Gardens building from 1968 to 1974. Cheetah became a popular Latin-American dance club that helped popularize
Salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
...
to mainstream America.
Eighth Avenue
*
Neil Simon Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for ...
(south)
*
August Wilson Theatre
The August Wilson Theatre (formerly the Guild Theatre, ANTA Theatre, and Virginia Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 245 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, the theater was designed ...
(north)
*
Gallagher's Steak House
Gallagher's Steakhouse is a steakhouse restaurant at 228 West 52nd Street in the Theater District in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in November 1927 by Helen Gallagher, a former Ziegfeld girl, and wife of Edward Gallagher (1873–1929) ...
(south)
*
Novotel
Novotel is a French midscale hotel brand owned by Accor. Created in 1967 in France, the company grew into what became the Accor group in 1983, and Novotel remained a pillar brand of Accor's multi-brand strategy. Novotel manages 559 hotels in 6 ...
26-floor, hotel opened in 1984 (south)
*
1675 Broadway - 35-floor, office building opened in 1990 (north)
Broadway
*
Sheraton Manhattan Hotel at Times Square, 22-story, opened in 1962 (south)
Seventh Avenue
*Seventh to Sixth is signed
W.C. Handy's Place
*
AXA Center
Axa Equitable Center (originally the Equitable Tower or Equitable Center West) is an office skyscraper at 787 Seventh Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1986 and design ...
, 54-floor, office tower opened in 1986 (south)
*
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, 51-story, opened in 1962 (north)
*
Flatotel New York City, 46-floor, Flatotel that opened in 1992 and is the street's(north)
*
Credit Lyonnais Building 45-floor, office building that opened in 1964 (north)
*
1285 Avenue of the Americas, 42-story, office building (south)
Sixth and a Half Avenue
*In the middle of block between Sixth and Seventh Avenues is a
pedestrian corridor named by the city "
Sixth and a Half Avenue", which runs from
51st to
57th Streets.
Sixth Avenue
*Sixth Avenue to Fifth Avenue is signed "Swing Street".
*
AXA Financial Center 43-story, completed in 1963. It has a large
Thomas Hart Benton mural in lobby. (south)
*
CBS Building
The CBS Building, also known as Black Rock, is the headquarters of the CBS broadcasting network at 51 West 52nd Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 38-story, building, the only skyscraper designed by Eero Saari ...
, headquarters of the network and popularly referred to as "Black Rock" (north)
*
31 West 52nd Street 30-floor, completed in 1986 originally for the
E.F. Hutton
EF Hutton was an American brokerage firm, stock brokerage firm founded in 1904 by Edward Francis Hutton and his brother, Franklyn Laws Hutton. Later, it was led by well known Wall Street trader Gerald M. Loeb. Under their leadership, EF Hutton b ...
headquarters. Currently the New York office of the international law firm,
Clifford Chance (north) and the New York office of investment bank
TD Securities, as well as the New York office for the international law firm
Holland & Knight LLP
Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm provides repr ...
.
*
Paley Center for the Media (north)
*
75 Rockefeller Center
75 may refer to:
* 75 (number)
* one of the years 75 BC, AD 75, 1875 CE, 1975 CE, 2075 CE
* ''75'' (album), an album by Joe Zawinul
* M75 (disambiguation), including "Model 75"
* Highway 75, see List of highways numbered 75
*Alfa Romeo 75, a c ...
, 33-story, building completed in 1947 the last of the original Rockefeller Center buildings that was originally used for the headquarters of the Rockefeller
Esso
Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...
Oil Company (north)
*
21 Club (north)
*
666 Fifth Avenue
660 Fifth Avenue (formerly 666 Fifth Avenue and the Tishman Building) is a 41-story office building on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The office tower was d ...
(north)
*
650 Fifth Avenue
650 Fifth Avenue (earlier known as the Piaget Building and the Pahlavi Foundation Building) is a 36-story building on the edge of Rockefeller Center on 52nd Street in New York City.
The building was designed by John Carl Warnecke & Associate ...
(south) 36-story, office tower completed in 1978
Fifth Avenue
*The Street between Fifth and Madison is signed "Place de Cartier" because of the
Cartier SA
Cartier International SNC, or simply Cartier (; ), is a French high-end luxury goods conglomerate that designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells jewellery, leather goods, and watches. Founded by Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904) in Paris ...
store at
653 Fifth Avenue (south).
*
Olympic Tower
Olympic Tower is a 51-story, building at 641 and 645 Fifth Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the mixed-use development contains ...
(south)
*
Austrian Cultural Forum Building for
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
*
Hanover Bank Building
The Hanover Bank Building or Hanover National Bank Building was an early skyscraper at the southwest corner of Pine Street and Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1901-1903 and demolished in 1931.
History
Const ...
, 30-story, completed in 1962
*
Omni Berkshire Place
The Omni Berkshire Place hotel is located at 21 East 52nd Street, near Madison Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is owned and operated by Omni Hotels & Resorts. The hotel was also inducted into Historic Hotels of America, the o ...
(north)
*
Look Building (south)
Madison Avenue
*
Park Avenue Plaza Building
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...
, 45-story, building completed in 1981 above the
Racquet and Tennis Club
The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
History
The Racquet Court Club opened in 1876 at 55 We ...
(north)
Park Avenue
*
Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with minor assistance from Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, ...
, 38-floor, building completed in 1958, formerly home to the
Four Seasons Restaurant
The Four Seasons Restaurant (known colloquially as the Four Seasons) was a New American cuisine restaurant in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City from 1959 to 2019. The Four Seasons operated within the Seagram Building at 99 ...
(north)
*
345 Park Avenue, 44-story, building completed in 1969 (south)
Lexington Avenue
*52nd between Lexington and Third Avenue is signed
Israel Bonds
Israel Bonds, the commonly-known name of Development Corporation for Israel (DCI), is the U.S. underwriter of debt securities issued by the State of Israel. DCI is headquartered in New York City, and is a broker-dealer and member of the Financial ...
Way (the Development Corporation for Israel which issues the bonds is headquartered at the intersection in the Grolier Building).
*
Grolier Building 33-story, building completed in 1958
*
599 Lexington Avenue, 50-story, building completed in 1986 (north)
*
150 East 52nd Street, 35-story, building completed in 1983
Third Avenue
*
875 3rd Avenue 29-story, building completed in 1983 (north)
*
MacMillan Building 31-story, building completed in 1966
*
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
Consulate
*
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
Mission to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
*
Rockefeller Guest House
The Rockefeller Guest House is a building at 242 East 52nd Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. Situated on the southern sidewalk of 52nd Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, it w ...
, 242 East 52nd Street (south)
Second Avenue
*
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
Consulate and Mission to the United Nations
First Avenue
*52nd Street is
two-way
Two-way or Two Way may refer to:
* " 2-Way", single by rapper Lil' Romeo
* Two-way, Cincinnati chili topped on spaghetti
* "Two Way" (KT Tunstall and James Bay duet), 2016
See also
*
*
*
* 3-Way (disambiguation)
{{Disambiguation ...
traffic east of First Avenue since it dead ends on a bluff above the
FDR Drive.
*Southgate Apartment
*Rivergate Apartment
*450 East 52nd - ''"The Campanile"'' is a 14-story brick
cooperative apartment building
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distin ...
overlooking the East River. It was home to celebrities such as
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
and
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
.
In literature and popular culture
In
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
's poem "
September 1, 1939
"September 1, 1939" is a poem by W. H. Auden written on the outbreak of World War II. It was first published in ''The New Republic'' issue of 18 October 1939, and in book form in Auden's collection ''Another Time'' (1940).
Description
The po ...
", about the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Auden narrates himself as being on 52nd Street.
A 1948 amateur recording of
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
at the
Onyx Club
The Onyx Club was a jazz club located on 52nd Street (Manhattan), West 52nd Street in New York City. ...
, ''
Bird on 52nd St.
''Bird on 52nd St.'' is a live album by the saxophonist Charlie Parker. It was recorded in July 1948 at the Onyx Club (though the album's liner notes suggest it might have been recorded at the nearby Three Deuces clubBird at 52nd St. liner notes, ...
'', was released by Jazz Workshop in 1957.
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
has a studio album titled ''
52nd Street''. The songs, including the hit single "
Honesty
Honesty or truthfulness is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft ...
", have a jazz flavoring not found on his other albums.
Toshiki Kadomatsu made a song titled "52nd Street "Akiko"" which is on his album ''Sea is a Lady''.
''The Twilight Zone'', episode 32,
A Passage for Trumpet
"A Passage for Trumpet" is episode 32 of the American television series ''The Twilight Zone''.
Opening narration
The narration continues after dialogue between Joey and Baron.
Plot
Joey Crown is a hapless trumpet player in New York City; he ...
, refers to the jazz clubs of 52nd Street.
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
's 1972 song "
Saint Dominic's Preview
''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...
" includes the lyrics "And meanwhile we're over on a 52nd Street apartment / Socializing with the wino few".
References
Notes
External links
52nd Street: A New York Songline- virtual walking tour
{{Manhattan streets, state=collapsed
052
Midtown Manhattan