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Delancey Street is one of the main

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highwa ...

s of

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 Un ...

's Lower East Side in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, running from the street's western terminus at the

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. ...

to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the

Williamsburg Bridge The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressw ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

at Clinton Street. It is an eight-lane, median-divided street west of Clinton Street, and a service road for the Williamsburg Bridge east of Clinton Street. West of Bowery, Delancey Street becomes Kenmare Street, which continues as a four-lane, undivided street to

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 ...

. Delancey Street is named after James De Lancey Sr., chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York, whose farm was located in what is now the Lower East Side. Businesses range from delis to check-cashing stores to bars. Delancey Street has long been known for its discount and bargain clothing stores. Famous establishments include the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. ''Rolling Stone'' magaz ...

, built in 1929,

Ratner's Ratner's was a famous Jewish kosher dairy (''milkhik'') restaurant on the Lower East Side of New York City. Since it did not serve meat in deference to the kosher prohibition against mixing milk and meat products, it was often regarded as a comp ...

kosher restaurant (now closed), and the

Essex Street Market Essex Market (formerly known as Essex Street Market) is a food market with independent vendors at the intersection of Essex Street and Delancey Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The market is known for its many local sh ...

, which was built by Mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...

to avoid pushcart congestion on the neighborhood's narrow streets. Until the middle 20th century, Delancey Street was a main shopping street in the predominantly Jewish Lower East Side. Since the late 2000s, the neighborhood around Delancey is more diverse; including African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Chinese.

Gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

has brought more upscale retail and nightlife establishments. The New York City Subway's serve the Delancey Street/Essex Street station, and the also stop at the

Bowery station The Bowery station is a station on the BMT Nassau Street Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Bowery and Delancey Street in the Lower East Side and Little Italy neighborhoods, it is served by the J train at all times ...

. 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 ...

's routes stop on Delancey Street. The

Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal The Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal, also called the Essex Street Trolley Terminal or Delancey Street Trolley Terminal, was a trolley terminal located underground adjacent to the Essex Street subway station in the Lower East Side of Manhat ...

, beneath Delancey and Essex Streets, was a station and

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

for streetcars crossing the

from Brooklyn. The Lowline, an underground public park in which natural light would be directed using fiber optics to create a setting in which trees and grass could be grown indoors, was proposed in 2011. Because of the extreme width of Delancey Street, and the high rate of fatalities along it, safety measures were erected along its length in the 2000s and 2010s. This includes pedestrian plazas, bans on left turns along the street, and pedestrian countdown signals.

Kenmare Street

Nolita Hotel 153 Elizabeth and Kenmare sunny jeh

Kenmare Street runs westward for a total of five blocks from the Bowery to Lafayette Street. It is a major thoroughfare for traffic travelling westbound to the

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 ...

. The street was founded in 1911 by Tim Sullivan, the son of immigrants Daniel O’Sullivan and Catherine Connelly, who came from

Kenmare Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. Location Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare Ba ...

, County Kerry,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

.The story of how New York's Kenmare St got its name from famine emigrants
/ref>

References

Notes

External links

- photographs of buildings and stores along Delancey Street.

- a virtual walking tour
Cuban Pete
- Desi and Lucy performing "Cuban Pete" {{Streets of Manhattan Streets in Manhattan Lower East Side