59th Street is a crosstown street in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, running from York Avenue and Sutton Place on the East Side of Manhattan to the

West Side Highway The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern ...

on the West Side. The three-block portion between

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the ...

and

Grand Army Plaza Grand Army Plaza, originally known as Prospect Park Plaza, is a public plaza that comprises the northern corner and the main entrance of Prospect Park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It consists of concentric oval rings arranged as s ...

is known as Central Park South, since it forms the southern border of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. The street is mostly continuous, except between Ninth Avenue/ Columbus Avenue and Columbus Circle, where the Time Warner Center is located. While Central Park South is a bidirectional street, most of 59th Street carries one-way traffic. 59th Street forms the border between

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 ...

and

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...

. North of 59th Street, the neighborhoods of the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

and

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street (Man ...

continue on either side of Central Park. On the West Side, Manhattan's numbered avenues are renamed north of 59th Street: Eighth Avenue (at Columbus Circle) becomes Central Park West; Ninth Avenue is renamed Columbus Avenue; Tenth Avenue is renamed Amsterdam Avenue; and Eleventh Avenue becomes West End Avenue.

Description

59th Street forms the border between

and

. ''The New York Times'' stated in 2004 that "Fifty-ninth Street stretches across Manhattan like a belt, with Central Park South as its fancy buckle." As with numbered streets in Manhattan,

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 populatio ...

separates 59th Street into "east" and "west" sections. 59th Street is one-way westbound between the

(at 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 Ne ...

) and Ninth/Columbus Avenues. There is a one-block gap between Ninth/Columbus Avenues and Eighth Avenue/

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan ...

. This section is occupied by Time Warner Center. The portion of the street forming the southern boundary of

from Columbus Circle on the west to

on the east is known as Central Park South. Central Park South is largely bidirectional, except for the short block between

and Fifth Avenue, which is one-way eastbound. The block between Sixth Avenue and Grand Army Plaza contains a dedicated lane for westbound equestrian traffic. Entry into Central Park can be made at the Scholars' Gate at Fifth Avenue, the Artists' Gate at

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

, the Artisans' Gate at Seventh Avenue, and the Merchants' Gate at

. The section between

and Second Avenue is one-way eastbound. At Second Avenue, 59th Street branches off onto the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, which is often referred to as the

59th Street Bridge The Queensboro Bridge, officially named the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens with the Upper East ...

. 59th Street continues east to York Avenue and Sutton Place, just short of the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Que ...

. The remaining two and a half blocks are bidirectional traffic; the westbound lane of 59th Street is funneled onto the Queensboro Bridge just east of the intersection with Second Avenue.

History

59th Street was created under the

Commissioners' Plan of 1811 The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street and below 155th Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan on its march uptown ...

as one of the minor east-west streets across Manhattan. Morris, Gouverneur, De Witt, Simeon, and Rutherford, John (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"

Cornell University Library The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over 8 million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 periodical titles are available online. It ...

. Accessed June 27, 2016. The "59th Street" name initially applied to the entirety of the street between the Hudson and East Rivers. The addresses on Central Park South follow those of what had been West 59th Street. The construction of Central Park in the 1860s and 1870s led to the development of upscale hotels, apartments, and other institutions on this section of 59th Street in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The original

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue ...

, the Hawthorne, and the Navarro Flats were all developed in the 1880s and 1890s, though all were subsequently demolished. Even after a city zoning law was passed in 1885, banning residential structures over tall, residential hotels and standard hotels continued to be developed on this part of West 59th Street, as they were exempted from the zoning codes. The three blocks of 59th Street bordering Central Park were renamed after the park in 1896. During the first two decades of the 20th century, the new Plaza Hotel, the old

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...

building, and Gainsborough Studios were built on Central Park South. This was followed by 100 Central Park South, a new New York Athletic Club building, Barbizon Plaza, Hampshire House, Essex House,

Hotel St. Moritz The Hotel St. Moritz was a luxury hotel located at 50 Central Park South, on the east side of Sixth Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The structure was extensively rebuilt from 1999 to 2002, and today it is a hotel/condominium combin ...

, and

240 Central Park South 240 Central Park South is a residential building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Albert Mayer and Julian Whittlesey, it was built between 1939 and 1940 by the J.H. Taylor Construction Company, an enterprise of the Mayer fami ...

between World Wars I and II. Historically, West 59th Street ran from Ninth/Columbus Avenues to Columbus Circle as well. In 1954, that city block of 59th Street was decommissioned to make way for the New York Coliseum complex. The Coliseum, in turn, was demolished and replaced with Time Warner Center in the early 2000s.

Transportation

59th Street is served by the following New York City Subway stations: * 59th Street–Columbus Circle () * Fifth Avenue–59th Street () * Lexington Avenue/59th Street () The Roosevelt Island Tramway terminates at Second Avenue near 59th Street and extends eastward to

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 8 ...

. The

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

59th Street station 59th Street station may refer to: *59th Street (BMT Fourth Avenue Line) in Brooklyn, New York; serving the trains *59th Street (IRT Third Avenue Line) a demolished elevated station in Manhattan *59th Street (IRT Ninth Avenue Line) a demolished ele ...

, a never-opened railroad station, exists on Park Avenue, which now carries the Park Avenue main line of the

Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connecticut ...

. Currently, the station is used as an emergency exit for the Metro-North Railroad in the Park Avenue Tunnel.

Notable buildings

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a divi ...

Department Store between Third and Lexington Avenues * Bloomberg World Headquarters between Third and Lexington Avenues * Trump Park Avenue, at Park Avenue * 500 Park Avenue, at Park Avenue *

59E59 Theaters 59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in New York City that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by ...

, an Off-Broadway theater complex between Park and

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd St ...

s * General Motors Building, southeast corner of Fifth Avenue *''Formerly'': Savoy-Plaza Hotel, southeast corner of Fifth Avenue * The Sherry-Netherland, northeast corner of Fifth Avenue *''Formerly'': Hotel New Netherland, northeast corner of Fifth Avenue *

, southwest corner of

* Park Lane Hotel, 16 Central Park South * Ritz-Carlton, southeast corner of

, flagship of the Ritz-Carlton chain * Trump Parc, southwest corner of Sixth Avenue * Hampshire House, 150 Central Park South * JW Marriott Essex House, 160 Central Park South *

, southeast corner of Seventh Avenue * 200 Central Park South, southwest corner of Seventh Avenue *

220 Central Park South 220 Central Park South is a residential skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, situated along Billionaires' Row on the south side of Central Park South between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. 220 Central Park South was designed by Ro ...

* Gainsborough Studios at 222 Central Park South *

, southeast corner of

* 2 Columbus Circle, south corner of Columbus Circle * Time Warner Center, west side of Columbus Circle * Mount Sinai West at 10th Avenue * Haaren Hall * Anya and Andrew Shiva Art Gallery, 524 West 59th Street * IRT Powerhouse fills the entire block between 58th to 59th Street, and from 11th to 12th Avenues. * Hudson River Park extends along the

from Battery Park to 59th Street.

References

Notes {{Authority control 059 Midtown Manhattan

Description

History

Transportation

Notable buildings

See also

References