Canal Street (Manhattan)
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Canal Street is a major east–west street of over in Lower Manhattan,
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, running from East Broadway between
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and Jefferson Streets in the east, to
West Street 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 t ...
between Watts and
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Streets in the west. It runs through the neighborhood of
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
, and forms the southern boundaries of
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and
Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...
as well as the northern boundary of
Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stree ...
. The street acts as a major connector between
Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...
(
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), and
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in New York City via the Manhattan Bridge. It is a two-way street for most of its length, with two unidirectional stretches between
Forsyth Street Forsyth Street runs from Houston Street south to Henry Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street was named in 1817 for Lt. Colonel Benjamin Forsyth. Forsyth Street's southernmost portion, south of Canal Street, runs parall ...
and the Manhattan Bridge.


History

By 1800,
Collect Pond Collect Pond, or Fresh Water Pond,, p. 250. was a body of fresh water in what is now Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, New York City. For the first two centuries of European settlement in Manhattan, it was the main New York City water supply syste ...
, one of New York City's few natural sources of fresh water, had become completely polluted with sewage and run-off from the
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, breweries, and other workshops and factories around it. Run-off from the pond, including one "sluggish stream" which traveled part of the route of the future Canal Street, fed nearby swamps and marshes which prevented the city from continuing its northward growth. To deal with this, the city's Common Council ordered that the swamps be drained and, in 1803, that the pond itself be filled in. A drain was built continuing the path of the "sluggish stream" to the
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, which redirected the underground springs which watered the swamps. The pond was successfully drained by 1813 or 1815. The area was developed, but the springs remained and caused the "dry" land to be boggy and uneven. The Common Council then authorized a
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
, in the form of a 40-foot wide, 8-foot deep ditch, which would continue carrying off the excess water. Because it was not efficient, and did not have sufficient flow, it, too, became an open sewer. The city covered it over in 1819, but as it had no air traps, the covered canal became a stinking covered sewer., p.33 Canal Street was completed in 1820, following the path of the covered canal and named for it.Yakas, Benjamin. "Canal Street" in The historic
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s and newer
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s that had been built along Canal Street quickly fell into disrepair, and the eastern stretch of Canal Street came within the ambit of the notorious Five Points slum as property values and living conditions plummeted. Early in the 20th century, the jewelry trade centered on the corner of Canal Street and Bowery, but moved mid century to the modern Diamond District on 47th Street. In the 1920s, the Citizens Savings Bank built a notable domed headquarters at the intersection's southwest corner which remains a local landmark. The portion of Canal Street around Sixth Avenue was New York's principal market for electronics parts for a quarter-century after the closing of
Radio Row Radio Row is a nickname for an urban street or district specializing in the sale of radio and electronic equipment and parts. Radio Rows arose in many cities with the 1920s rise of broadcasting and declined after the middle of the 20th century ...
to make way for the building of the
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.


Reputation as hawkers' haven

Canal Street is a bustling commercial district, crowded with comparatively low-rent open storefronts, and street vendors to the west; banks and jewelry shops to the east. For a generation after World War II, the former segment hosted many stores selling exotic high-tech components to would-be inventors and engineers. Canal Street is also the main Chinese jewelry business district of Chinatown. Tourists as well as locals pack its sidewalks every day to frequent the open-air stalls and bare-bones stores selling items such as perfume, purses, hardware, and industrial plastics at low prices. Many of these goods are
grey market A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term " parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market pr ...
imports and many notoriously counterfeit, with fake
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
ed
brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
s on electronics, clothing and personal accessories (including the fake Rolex watches that have become a Manhattan cliché). Bootleg CDs and DVDs are common, and are offered for sale on Canal Street—often before they are even officially released in stores or the theater—in makeshift stands and suitcases or simply laid out on bedsheets. Widespread sale of these counterfeit goods persists along Canal Street and in its hidden back rooms despite frequent
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raids.Kalman, Alex and Sinreich, Lola
"Op Ed: New York’s Street of Schemes"
''
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'' (January 16, 2010)
In addition, legislation was proposed in 2013 to try to make purchasing counterfeit items a crime; this would let the city's economy earn back at least $1 billion annually in taxes.


Transportation

Canal Street is served by the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
at seven stations, west to east: *
Canal Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) Canal Street may refer to: Places * Canal Street (Buffalo), a historically notorious street and district at the western terminus of the Erie Canal in Buffalo, New York, USA * Canal Street (Manhattan), New York City, New York, USA ** Canal Street ...
at
Varick Street __NOTOC__ Varick Street runs north–south primarily in the Hudson Square district of Lower Manhattan in New York City, United States. Varick Street's northern terminus is in the West Village, where it is a continuation of Seventh Avenue South ...
, served by the * Canal Street (IND Eighth Avenue Line) at Sixth Avenue, served by the * Canal Street (BMT Broadway, Manhattan Bridge, and Nassau Street Lines, and IRT Lexington Avenue Line) at
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
,
Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...
, and Centre Street, served by the at four separate sets of platforms *
East Broadway (IND Sixth Avenue Line) The East Broadway station is a station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at East Broadway and Rutgers Street in the Lower East Side, it is served by the F train at all times and the <F> train during rush ...
at East Broadway, served by the Canal Street is also served by the
New York City Bus MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...
system, though no routes actually run on Canal Street. Routes intersecting with the street include M20 at Hudson Street (northbound) and at
Varick Street __NOTOC__ Varick Street runs north–south primarily in the Hudson Square district of Lower Manhattan in New York City, United States. Varick Street's northern terminus is in the West Village, where it is a continuation of Seventh Avenue South ...
(southbound); M55 at Sixth Avenue (northbound) and
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
(southbound); M103 at
Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...
;
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at Allen Street; and M9 (at East Broadway).


See also

*


References

Notes


External links


Canal Street Map
(from A Journey Through Chinatown)

– photographs of buildings and stores along Canal Street.
Canal Street Panoramic Video Tour
– Kogeto's Dotspot immersive, panoramic video of a walking tour captured on an iPhone.

– a virtual walking tour. {{Authority control Chinatown, Manhattan Five Points, Manhattan Lower Manhattan SoHo, Manhattan Streets in Manhattan