Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
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Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent
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 ...
in the
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 Ag ...
of
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 ...
in
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 ...
. It stretches north from
Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...
in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
to West 143rd Street in
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), ...
. It is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Fifth Avenue carries two-way traffic from 142nd to 135th Street and carries
one-way traffic One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typical ...
southbound for the remainder of its route. The entire street used to carry two-way traffic until 1966. From 124th to 120th Street, Fifth Avenue is cut off by
Marcus Garvey Park Marcus Garvey Park (formerly and also named Mount Morris Park) is a park on the border between the Harlem and East Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The park, centered on a massive and steep outcropping of schist, interrupts th ...
, with southbound traffic diverted around the park via Mount Morris Park West. Most of the avenue has a bus lane, though not a bike lane. Fifth Avenue is the traditional route for many celebratory
parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
s in New York City, and is closed on several Sundays per year. Fifth Avenue was originally only a narrower thoroughfare but the section south 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 ...
was widened in 1908. The midtown blocks between 34th and 59th Streets were largely a
residential area A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...
until the turn of the 20th century, when they were developed as commercial areas. The section of Fifth Avenue in the 50s is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world, and the section between 59th and 96th Streets across Central Park was nicknamed " Millionaire's Row" in the early 20th century due to the high concentration of mansions there. A section of Fifth Avenue running from 82nd to 110th Streets, also alongside Central Park, is also nicknamed Museum Mile due to the large number of museums there.


History


Early history

Fifth Avenue between 42nd Street and
Central Park South 59th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from York Avenue and Sutton Place on the East Side of Manhattan to the West Side Highway on the West Side. The three-block portion between Columbus Circle an ...
(59th Street) was relatively undeveloped through the late 19th century. The surrounding area was once part of the common lands of the city of New York, which was allocated "all the waste, vacant, unpatented, and unappropriated lands" as a result of the 1686
Dongan Charter The ''Dongan Charter'' is the 1686 document incorporating Albany, New York, as a city. Albany's charter was issued by Governor Thomas Dongan of the Province of New York, a few months after Governor Dongan issued a similarly worded, but less det ...
. The city's Common Council came to own a large amount of land, primarily in the middle of the island away from the
Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
and
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 Queens ...
s, as a result of grants by the Dutch provincial government to the colony of New Amsterdam. Although originally more extensive, by 1785 the council held approximately , or about 9 percent of the island. The lots along what is now Fifth Avenue were laid out in the late 18th century following the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. The city's Common Council had, starting in June 1785, attempted to raise money by selling property. The land that the Council owned was not suitable for farming or residential estates, and it was also far away from any roads or waterways. To divide the common lands into sellable lots, and to lay out roads to service them, the Council hired
Casimir Goerck Casimir Theodor Goerck (born c.1755Koeppel (2015), pp.20-21 – died November 19 or December 11, 1798) was one of a handful of officially recognized "city surveyors" for New York City from 1788 until his death from yellow fever in 1798. Goerc ...
to survey them. Goerck was instructed to make lots of about each and to lay out roads to access the lots. He completed his task in December 1785, creating 140 lots of varying sizes, oriented with the east–west axis longer than the north–south axis. As part of the plan, Goerck drew up a street called Middle Road, which eventually became Fifth Avenue. The topography of the lots contributed to the public's reluctance to buy the lots. By 1794, with the city growing ever more populated and the inhabited area constantly moving north towards the Common Lands, the Council decided to try again, hiring Goerck once more to re-survey and map the area. He was instructed to make the lots more uniform and rectangular and to lay out roads to the west and east of Middle Road, as well as to lay out east–west streets of each. Goerck's East and West Roads later became Fourth and Sixth Avenues, while Goerck's cross streets became the modern-day numbered east–west streets. Goerck took two years to survey the 212 lots which encompassed the entire Common Lands. 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 u ...
, which prescribed the street plan for Manhattan, was heavily inspired from Goerck's two surveys.


19th century

From the early 19th century, some plots on Fifth Avenue in Midtown were acquired by the wealthy and by institutions. In the mid-19th century, Fifth Avenue between 40th and 59th Streets was home to several institutions such as the
Colored Orphan Asylum The Colored Orphan Asylum was an institution in New York City, open from 1836 to 1946. It housed on average four hundred children annually and was mostly managed by women. Its first location was on Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets in M ...
, the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, and St. Luke's Hospital. Other uses such as a cattle farm remained until the 1860s. The portion of Fifth Avenue in Midtown became an upscale
residential area A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...
following the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Among the first people to develop such structures was Mary Mason Jones, who built the "Marble Row" on the eastern side of Fifth Avenue from 57th to 58th Streets between 1868 and 1870. Her sister Rebecca Colford Jones erected ornate houses of her own one block south. Further development came in the late 1870s with the construction of three
Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...
residences along Fifth Avenue between 51st and 59th Streets (the William H., William K., and Cornelius II mansions). In the 1880s and 1890s, the ten blocks of Fifth Avenue south of Central Park (at 59th Street) were known as "Vanderbilt Row". The Vanderbilts' relocation prompted many business owners on Fifth Avenue between Madison Square and 34th Street to move uptown. The upper section of Fifth Avenue on the
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
, facing the newly created
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 ...
, was not developed at that time because of what the ''Real Estate Record and Guide'' described as the presence of "no opposite neighbors", as 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 ...
was not yet developed.


Early 20th century

The midtown blocks were largely a residential area until the turn of the 20th century, when they were developed as commercial areas. As early as 1900, rising traffic led to proposals to restrict traffic on the avenue. The section south of Central Park was widened starting in 1908, sacrificing wide sidewalks to accommodate the increasing traffic. As part of the widening project, the New York City government ordered the removal of stoops and other "encroachments" onto the sidewalk in February 1908. The buildings that needed to be trimmed included the Waldorf–Astoria hotel. By early 1911, the avenue had been widened south of 47th Street. Later that year, when widening commenced on the section between 47th and 59th Streets, many of the mansions on that stretch of Fifth Avenue were truncated or demolished. In addition, the front facades of St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church were relocated, and the gardens in front of the St. Regis and Gotham hotels had to be destroyed. The first commercial building on Fifth Avenue was erected by
Benjamin Altman Benjamin Altman (July 12, 1840 – October 7, 1913) was a New York City department store owner and art collector who is best known today for his large art collection, which he donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Life and career Benjami ...
who bought the corner lot on the northeast corner of 34th Street in 1896. The B. Altman and Company Building was erected between 1906 and 1914, occupying the whole of its block front. The result was the creation of a high-end shopping district that attracted fashionable women and the upscale stores that wished to serve them. The
Lord & Taylor Building The Lord & Taylor Building is an 11-story commercial building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that formerly served as Lord & Taylor's flagship department store in the city. It is at 424–434 Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets. ...
, formerly
Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...
's flagship store and now a
WeWork WeWork Inc. is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated of space, including in the United States and Canada, in 756 locatio ...
office, was built at Fifth Avenue and 38th Street in 1914. The
Saks Fifth Avenue Building The Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store is a department store in Midtown Manhattan, New York City on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. The original 10-story structure at 611 Fifth Avenue has served as the flagship store of Saks Fifth Ave ...
, serving as
Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...
's flagship, opened between 49th and 50th Streets in 1924. The
Bergdorf Goodman Building Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman. To ...
between 57th and 58th Streets, the flagship of
Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman. ...
, opened in stages between 1928 and 1929. By the 1920s, Fifth Avenue was the most active area for development in Midtown, and developers were starting to build north of 45th Street, which had previously been considered the boundary for profitable developments. The most active year for construction in that decade was 1926, when thirty office buildings were constructed on Fifth Avenue. The two-block-wide area between Fifth and
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
s, which represented eight percent of Manhattan's land area, contained 25% of developments that commenced between 1924 and 1926. In the 1920s, traffic towers controlled important intersections along the lower portion of Fifth Avenue. The idea of using patrolmen to control traffic at busy Fifth Avenue intersections was introduced as early as 1914. The first such towers were installed in 1920 upon a gift by Dr. John A. Harriss, who paid for patrolmen's sheds in the middle of Fifth Avenue at 34th, 38th,
42nd 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...
, 50th and 57th Streets. Two years later, the Fifth Avenue Association gave seven bronze traffic towers, designed by Joseph H. Freedlander, at important intersections between 14th and 57th Streets for a total cost of $126,000. The traffic signals reduced travel time along Fifth Avenue between 34th and 57th Streets, from 40 minutes before the installation of the traffic towers to 15 minutes afterward. Freedlander's towers were removed in 1929 after they were deemed to be obstacles to the movement of traffic. He was commissioned to design bronze traffic signals at the corners of these intersections, with statues of Mercury atop the signals. The Mercury signals survived through 1964, and some of the statues were restored in 1971.


Mid-20th century to present

In 1954, rising traffic led to a proposal to limit use of the avenue to buses and taxis only. On January 14, 1966, Fifth Avenue below 135th Street was changed to carry only one-way traffic southbound, 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 Stre ...
was changed to one-way northbound. Both avenues had previously carried bidirectional traffic. Through the late 1960s and early 1970s, many of the upscale retailers that once lined Fifth Avenue's midtown section moved away or closed altogether. According to a 1971 survey of the avenue, conducted by the Office of Midtown Planning under the leadership of Jaquelin T. Robertson, only 57 percent of building frontages between 34th and 57th Street were used as stores. The remaining frontage, including was used for companies such as banks and airline ticket offices. The section between 34th and 42nd Street, once the main shopping district on Fifth Avenue, was identified in the survey as being in decline. The section between 42nd and 50th Street was characterized as having almost no ground-level retail. The section between 50th Street 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 ...
was identified as having a robust retail corridor that was starting to decay. In February 1971, New York City mayor
John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
proposed a special
zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
district to preserve the retail character of Fifth Avenue's midtown section. The legislation prescribed a minimum percentage of retail space for new buildings on Fifth Avenue, but it also provided "bonuses", such as additional floor area, for buildings that had more than the minimum amount of retail. The legislation also encouraged the construction of several mixed-use buildings with retail at the lowest stories, offices at the middle stories, and apartments at the top stories. The types of retail included in this legislation were strictly defined; for example, airline ticket offices and banks did not count toward the retail space. Furthermore, new skyscrapers on the eastern side of the avenue were allowed to be built up to the boundary of the sidewalk. To align with the buildings of
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
, new buildings on the western side had to contain a setback at least deep at a height of or lower. The
New York City Planning Commission The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
approved this legislation in March 1971. The legislation was adopted that April. Just before the legislation was enacted,
American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
leased a ground-level storefront on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street; Robertson initially disputed the move, even though it had been finalized before the legislation was proposed. As part of an experiment in 1970, Lindsay closed Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 57th Street to vehicular traffic for seven hours on Saturdays. In 1998, a midblock crosswalk was installed south of the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, part of an experiment to allow vehicular traffic to turn without conflicting with pedestrians. At the time, it was one of a few midblock crosswalks in the city. The former southern crosswalk at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street was fenced off. A similar crosswalk was later installed south of 49th Street. Both crosswalks were removed in 2019. During three Sundays in December 2022, the NYCDOT closed Fifth Avenue between 48th and 57th Streets to all vehicular traffic. Excluding special events such as parades, this was the first time since the 1970s that the midtown section of Fifth Avenue was closed to vehicular traffic.


Description

Fifth Avenue originates at
Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...
in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
and runs northwards through the heart of Midtown, along the eastern side 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 ...
, where it forms the boundary of the
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
and through
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), ...
, where it terminates at the
Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York, United States, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyte ...
at 142nd Street. Traffic crosses the river on the
Madison Avenue Bridge __notoc__ The Madison Avenue Bridge is a four-lane swing bridge crossing the Harlem River in New York City, connecting Madison Avenue in Manhattan with East 138th Street in the Bronx. It was designed by Alfred P. Boller and built in 1910, doubl ...
. Fifth Avenue serves as the dividing line for
house numbering House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a postal address. The term describes the num ...
and west–east streets in Manhattan; for example, it separates East 59th Street from West 59th Street. Higher-numbered avenues such as
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 ...
are to the west of Fifth Avenue, while lower-numbered avenues such as
Third Avenue Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, as well as in the center portion of the Bronx. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Square ...
are to the east. Address numbers on west–east streets increase in both directions as one moves away from Fifth Avenue. A hundred street address numbers were provided for every block to the east or west of Fifth Avenue; for instance, the addresses on West 50th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues were numbered 1–99 West 50th Street, and between Sixth and Seventh Avenues 100–199 West 50th Street. The building lot numbering system worked similarly on the East Side before Madison and Lexington Avenues were added to the street grid laid out in 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 u ...
. Unlike at other avenues, west–east street addresses do not increment to the next hundred to the east of Madison and Lexington Avenues. The "most expensive street in the world" moniker changes depending on currency fluctuations and local economic conditions from year to year. For several years starting in the mid-1990s, the shopping district between 49th and 57th Streets was ranked as having the world's most expensive retail spaces on a cost per square foot basis.Foderaro, Lisa W
"Survey Reaffirms 5th Ave. at Top of the Retail Rent Heap"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', April 29, 1997. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
In 2008, ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine ranked Fifth Avenue as being the most expensive street in the world. Some of the most coveted real estate on Fifth Avenue are the penthouses perched atop the buildings. The American Planning Association (APA) compiled a list of "2012 Great Places in America" and declared Fifth Avenue to be one of the greatest streets to visit in America. This historic street has many world-renowned museums, businesses and stores, parks, luxury apartments, and historical landmarks that are reminiscent of its history and vision for the future.


Traffic pattern

Fifth Avenue from 142nd Street to 135th Street carries two-way traffic. Fifth Avenue carries
one-way traffic One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typical ...
southbound from 143rd Street to 142nd Street and from 135th Street to
Washington Square North Waverly Place is a narrow street in the Greenwich Village section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, that runs from Bank Street to Broadway. Waverly changes direction roughly at its midpoint at Christopher Street, turning about 120 de ...
. The changeover to one-way traffic south of 135th Street took place on January 14, 1966, at which time
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 Stre ...
was changed to one way uptown (northbound). From 124th Street to 120th Street, Fifth Avenue is cut off by
Marcus Garvey Park Marcus Garvey Park (formerly and also named Mount Morris Park) is a park on the border between the Harlem and East Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The park, centered on a massive and steep outcropping of schist, interrupts th ...
, with southbound traffic diverted around the park via Mount Morris Park West.


Parade route

Fifth Avenue is the traditional route for many celebratory
parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
s in New York City; thus, it is closed to traffic on numerous Sundays in warm weather. The longest running parade is the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Parades held are distinct from the ''
ticker-tape parade A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker tap ...
s'' held on the ''" Canyon of Heroes"'' on lower
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 ...
, and the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...
held on Broadway from 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 ...
downtown to
Herald Square Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct ''New ...
. Fifth Avenue parades usually proceed from south to north, with the exception of the LGBT Pride March, which goes north to south to end in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
. The Latino literary classic by New Yorker
Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...
, entitled "Empire of Dreams", takes place on the
Puerto Rican Day Parade The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) takes place annually in the United States along Fifth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The parade is held on the second Sunday in June, in hon ...
on Fifth Avenue.


Bicycling route

Bicycling on Fifth Avenue ranges from segregated with a
bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...
south of 23rd Street, to scenic along
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 ...
, to dangerous through Midtown with very heavy traffic during rush hours. There is no dedicated bike lane along most of Fifth Avenue. A protected bike lane south of 23rd Street was added in 2017, and another protected lane for bidirectional bike traffic between 110th and 120th Streets was announced in 2020. In July 1987, then New York City Mayor
Edward Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...
proposed banning bicycling on Fifth, Park, and Madison Avenues during weekdays, but many bicyclists protested and had the ban overturned. When the trial was started on 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,
mopeds A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typi ...
would not be banned. On August 31, 1987, a state appeals court judge halted the ban for at least a week pending a ruling after opponents against the ban brought a lawsuit.


Public transportation


Bus

Fifth Avenue is one of the few major streets in Manhattan along which
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s did not operate. Instead, transportation along Fifth Avenue was initially provided by the
Fifth Avenue Transportation Company The Fifth Avenue Transportation Company was a transportation company based in New York which was founded in 1885 and operated of horse-and-omninbus transit along Fifth Avenue, with a route running from 89th Street to Bleecker Street using horse ...
, which provided horse-drawn service from 1885 to 1896. It was replaced by Fifth Avenue Coach, which continued to offer bus service. Double-decker buses were operated by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company until 1953 and again by
MTA Regional Bus Operations 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 ...
from 1976 to 1978. A bus lane for Fifth Avenue within Midtown was announced in 1982. Initially it ran from 59th to 34th Streets. The bus lane opened in June 1983 and was restricted to buses on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In June 2020, mayor
Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
announced that the city would test out busways on Fifth Avenue from 57th to 34th Street. Despite a deadline of October 2020, the Fifth Avenue busway was not in place at that time. Today, local bus service along Fifth Avenue is provided by the MTA's Fifth and Madison Avenues Line, M1, M2, M3, and M4 buses. The M5 (New York City bus), M5 and Q32 (New York City bus), Q32 also run on Fifth Avenue in Midtown, while the M55 (New York City bus), M55 runs on Fifth Avenue south of 44th Street. Numerous express buses from Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island also run along Fifth Avenue.


Subway

The New York City Subway has never built a line underneath Fifth Avenue, likely because wealthy Fifth Avenue residents would have objected to any such line. However, there are several subway stations along streets that cross Fifth Avenue: * at * at * at Fifth Avenue station (IRT Flushing Line), Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street * at 23rd Street station (BMT Broadway Line), Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street


Nicknames


Upper Fifth Avenue/Millionaire's Row

In the late 19th century, the very rich of New York began building mansions along the stretch of Fifth Avenue between 59th Street and 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street, looking onto Central Park. By the early 20th century, the portion of Fifth Avenue between 59th and 96th Streets had been nicknamed " Millionaire's Row", with mansions such as the Mrs. William B. Astor House and William A. Clark House. Entries to Central Park along this stretch include Inventor's Gate at 72nd Street, which gave access to the park's carriage drives, and Engineers' Gate at 90th Street, used by equestrians. A milestone change for Fifth Avenue came in 1916, when the grand corner mansion at 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue that James A. Burden Jr. had erected in 1893 became the first private mansion on Fifth Avenue above 59th Street to be demolished to make way for a grand apartment house. The building at 907 Fifth Avenue began a trend, with its 12 stories around a central court, with two apartments to a floor. Its strong cornice above the fourth floor, just at the eaves height of its neighbors, was intended to soften its presence. In January 1922, the city reacted to complaints about the ongoing replacement of Fifth Avenue's mansions by apartment buildings by restricting the height of future structures to , about half the height of a ten-story apartment building.J. E. R. Carpenter, The Architect Who Shaped Upper Fifth Avenue
''The New York Times'', August 26, 2007, Christopher Gray.
Architect J. E. R. Carpenter brought suit, and won a verdict overturning the height restriction in 1923. Carpenter argued that "the avenue would be greatly improved in appearance when deluxe apartments would replace the old-style mansions." Led by real estate investors Benjamin Winter, Sr. and Frederick Brown, the old mansions were quickly torn down and replaced with apartment buildings. This area contains many notable apartment buildings, including 810 Fifth Avenue and the Park Cinq, many of them built in the 1920s by architects such as Rosario Candela and J. E. R. Carpenter. A very few post-World War II structures break the unified limestone frontage, notably the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum between 88th and 89th Streets.


Museum Mile

Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue running from 82nd to 110th streets on the
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
, in an area sometimes called Upper Carnegie Hill. The Mile, which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world, is actually three blocks longer than one mile (1.6 km). Nine museums occupy the length of this section of Fifth Avenue. A ninth museum, the Museum for African Art, joined the ensemble in 2009; its museum at 110th Street (Manhattan), 110th Street, the first new museum constructed on the Mile since the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Guggenheim in 1959, opened in late 2012. In addition to other programming, the museums collaborate for the annual Museum Mile Festival to promote the museums and increase visitation. The Museum Mile Festival traditionally takes place here on the second Tuesday in June from 6 – 9 p.m. It was established in 1979 by Lisa Taylor (museum director), Lisa Taylor to increase public awareness of its member institutions and promote public support of the arts in New York City. The first festival was held on . The nine museums are open free that evening to the public. Several of the participating museums offer outdoor art activities for children, live music and street performers. During the event, Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic. Museums on the mile include: *110th Street – The Africa Center *105th Street – El Museo del Barrio *103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York *92nd Street – Jewish Museum (Manhattan), The Jewish Museum *91st Street – Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution) *89th Street – National Academy of Design, National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts *88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum *86th Street – Neue Galerie New York *82nd Street – Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Further south, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th Street, lies the Henry Clay Frick House, which houses the Frick Collection.


Historical landmarks

Buildings on Fifth Avenue can have one of several types of official landmark designations: * The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency that is responsible for identifying and designating the city's landmarks and the buildings in the city's historic districts. New York City landmarks (NYCL) can be categorized into one of several groups: individual (exterior), interior, and scenic landmarks. * The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. * The National Historic Landmark (NHL) focuses on places of significance in American history, architecture, engineering, or culture; all NHL sites are also on the NRHP. * World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO as having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, and are legally protected by international treaties.


Individual landmarks

Below is a list of historic sites on Fifth Avenue, from north to south. Historic districts are not included in this table, but are mentioned in . Buildings within historic districts, but no individual landmark designation, are not included in this table.


Historic districts

There are numerous historic districts through which Fifth Avenue passes. Buildings in these districts with individual landmark designations are described in . From north to south, the districts are: * The Carnegie Hill Historic District, a city landmark district, which covers 400 buildings, primarily along Fifth Avenue from 86th to 98th Street, as well as on side streets extending east to Madison, Park, and Lexington Avenues. * The Metropolitan Museum Historic District, a city landmark district, which consists of properties on Fifth Avenue between 79th and 86th Streets, outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as properties on several side streets. * The Upper East Side Historic District, a city and NRHP district. The city district runs from 59th to 78th Streets along Fifth Avenue, and up to Third Avenue at some points. * The Madison Square North Historic District, a city landmark district, which covers 96 buildings from 25th to 29th Streets around Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and side streets. * The Ladies' Mile Historic District, a city landmark district, which covers 440 buildings from roughly 15th Street to 24th Street and from Park Avenue South to west of
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 Greenwich Village Historic District, a city landmark district, which covers much of Greenwich Village and includes almost all buildings on Fifth Avenue south of 12th Street. In the 1980s, there was also a proposal for a historic district on Fifth Avenue between 48th and 58th Streets. At the time, St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Thomas Church, the Cartier Building at number 651, the University Club, the Rizzoli Building at number 712, and the Coty Building at number 714 were official city landmarks. However, other structures on that strip had no protection yet, including Rockefeller Center, the Elizabeth Arden Building at 689 Fifth Avenue, the St. Regis Hotel, the Peninsula Hotel, and the Bergdorf Goodman Building.


Other

In addition, the housing cooperative, cooperative apartment building at 2 Fifth Avenue was named a New York cultural landmark on December 12, 2013, by the Historic Landmark Preservation Center, as the last residence of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.


Economy

Between 49th Street (Manhattan), 49th Street and 60th Street (Manhattan), 60th Street, Fifth Avenue is lined with prestigious boutiques and flagship stores and is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Many luxury goods, fashion, and sport brand boutiques are on Fifth Avenue, including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. (whose Tiffany & Co. flagship store, flagship is at 57th Street), Gucci, Prada, Armani, Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, Tommy Hilfiger, Cartier (jeweler), Cartier, Omega SA, Omega, Chanel, Harry Winston, Inc., Harry Winston, Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., Salvatore Ferragamo, Nike, Inc., Nike, Escada, Rolex, Bulgari, Bvlgari, Emilio Pucci, Ermenegildo Zegna, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister Co., De Beers, Emanuel Ungaro, Gap Inc., Gap, Versace, Lindt Chocolate Shop, Henri Bendel, National Basketball Association, NBA Store, Oxxford Clothes, Microsoft Store (retail), Microsoft Store, Sephora, Tourneau, and Wempe. Luxury department stores include
Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...
and
Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman. ...
. Fifth Avenue also is home to an Apple Store. Many airlines at one time had ticketing offices along Fifth Avenue. In the years leading up to 1992, the number of ticketing offices along Fifth Avenue decreased. Pan American World Airways went out of business, while Air France, Finnair, and KLM moved their ticket offices to other areas in Midtown Manhattan.POSTINGS: Air France Takes Flight; Au Revoir, Fifth Avenue
" ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. May 24, 1992. Page 101, New York Edition. Retrieved February 13, 2010.


Gallery

File:(King1893NYC) pg319 BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF FIFTH AVENUE; NORTH OF 51ST STREET.jpg, Bird's-eye view looking north from 51st St. c. 1893 File:New York NY 5th Ave Presby PHS821.jpg, Street view looking north from 51st St. c. 1895 File:5 Av 51 St North March 2015b jeh.jpg, The same shot in March 2015 File:Christmasonfifthavenue 1896.jpg, Christmas on Fifth Avenue in 1896 File:5thavenue1.jpg, Fifth Avenue, 1918 File:Washington Square by Matthew Bisanz.JPG, Fifth Avenue begins at the Washington Square Arch in
Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...
File:Manhattan Central Park Richard Morris Hunt Memorial.JPG, Memorial to New York architect Richard Morris Hunt, Fifth Avenue between 70th and 71st Streets File:Plaza Hotel.jpg, The Plaza Hotel, c.1907


See also

* List of shopping streets and districts by city * Jerome Avenue, a shopping street and major thoroughfare in the Bronx * Fifth Avenue Mile, annual road race


References

Notes Further reading * * * (Note: Erroneously states the northern boundary of Museum Mile is East 104th Street.)


External links


Fifth Avenue Photos

Fifth Avenue Directory and Images

Greek Independence Day Parade, Fifth Avenue



APA Great Places in America

National Historic Landmarks in New York State
{{Authority control Fifth Avenue, Streets in Manhattan, *05 Economy of New York City Art gallery districts Culture of Manhattan Museum districts Museums in Manhattan Tourist attractions in Manhattan East Harlem Flatiron District Greenwich Village Harlem Midtown Manhattan Upper East Side Upper class culture in New York City