Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, as well as in the center portion of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Square, and further south, 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. "B ...

, Chatham Square, and Park Row. The Manhattan side ends at East 128th Street. Third Avenue is two-way from Cooper Square to 24th Street, but since July 17, 1960 has carried only northbound (uptown) traffic while in Manhattan above 24th Street; in

, it is again two-way. However, the Third Avenue Bridge carries vehicular traffic in the opposite direction, allowing only southbound vehicular traffic, rendering the avenue essentially non-continuous to motor vehicles between the boroughs. The street leaves Manhattan and continues into the Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to East Fordham Road at Fordham Center, where it intersects with U.S. 1. It is one of the four streets that form

The Hub The Hub may refer to: Places * The Hub, Bronx, an area of the South Bronx, New York, known for its convergence of subway and bus lines * The Hub (Edinburgh), former church in Edinburgh that is now home to the Edinburgh International Festival * T ...

, a site of both maximum traffic and architectural density, in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

. Like most urban streets, Third Avenue was unpaved until the late 19th century. In May 1861, according to a letter to the editor of ''

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 ...

'', the street was the scene of practice marching for the poorly equipped troops in the

7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 7th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was composed almost entirely of German immigrants and is also known as the Steuben Guard or the Steuben Regiment. It shou ...

: "The men were not in uniform, but very poorly dressed, — in many cases with flip-flap shoes. The business-like air with which they marched rapidly through the deep mud of the Third-avenue was the more remarkable."

Public transportation

Buses

Portions of Third Avenue are served by several routes in Manhattan. Buses serving Third Avenue include the

Third and Lexington Avenues Line The Third and Amsterdam Avenues Line, also known as the Third Avenue Line, is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running from Lower Manhattan to Fort George in Washington Heights. Originally a streetcar line, it now consists of ...

(or

Third and Amsterdam Avenues Line The Third and Amsterdam Avenues Line, also known as the Third Avenue Line, is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, running from Lower Manhattan to Fort George in Washington Heights. Originally a streetcar line, it now consists o ...

). Note that southbound M98, M101, M102, and M103 service operates on Lexington Avenue north of East 24th Street. * M98: between

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

and the Harlem River Drive * M101 and M103: between Cooper Square and East 125th Street * M102: between Cooper Square and East 116th Street Along the Bronx's Third Avenue also run several bus routes: * Bx2: between East 138th Street to East 149th Street * Bx15 (and formerly Bx55): between East 149th Street and

Fordham Plaza Fordham Plaza, originally known as Fordham Square, is a major commercial and transportation hub in the Fordham and Belmont sections of the Bronx in New York City, New York, United States. It is located on the south side of Fordham Road at Third ...

* Bx21: between East 138th Street and Boston Road

Subway

Third Avenue was the location of the

Third Avenue Railroad The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also operated the Steinway Lines i ...

, a horsecar line established in 1853 that evolved into one of the largest streetcar systems in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester County. Later it was served by the Third Avenue elevated line, which operated from 1878 until 1955 in Manhattan, and 1973 in the Bronx. The Bx55 replaced the Third Avenue Line in the Bronx in 1973. At the time the El was being torn down in Manhattan, there was a movement to rename the whole of Third Avenue in Manhattan "the Bouwerie" (but not the portion in the Bronx), although it had never been part of the

.Nevius, p.171 Today, the Third Avenue – 149th Street station () and Third Avenue – 138th Street station () are 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 ...

. In Manhattan, several crosstown subway routes have entrances on Third Avenue: * :

Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station The Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station (formerly Lexington Avenue) is a New York City Subway station in Lenox Hill, Manhattan, shared by the IND and BMT 63rd Street Lines. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street, it ...

* :

Lexington Avenue–59th Street station The Lexington Avenue/59th Street station (signed as 59th Street–Lexington Avenue) is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and the BMT Broadway Line. It is located at Lexington Avenue between 59th a ...

* :

Lexington Avenue–53rd Street station The Lexington Avenue/51st Street station is a New York City Subway station complex on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and IND Queens Boulevard Line. The station is located on Lexington Avenue and stretches from 51st Street to 53rd Street in Midtow ...

* : Third Avenue station

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

Third Avenue Elevated
at forgotten-ny.com

{{Streets of Manhattan *03 Streets in the Bronx East Harlem East Village, Manhattan Gramercy Park Kips Bay, Manhattan Midtown Manhattan Murray Hill, Manhattan Upper East Side

Public transportation

Buses

Subway

See also

References

External links