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Varick Street runs north–south primarily in the
Hudson Square district of
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
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 ...
, United States. Varick Street's northern terminus is in the
West Village, where it is a continuation of
Seventh Avenue South south of Clarkson Street. It continues downtown through
Hudson Square and
TriBeCa until it reaches
Leonard Street
Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname.
The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...
, where it merges with
West Broadway
West Broadway is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, separated into two parts by Tribeca Park. The northern part begins at Tribeca Park, near the intersection of Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), Walker Stree ...
. Motor traffic is one-way southbound. Major east–west streets crossed include
Houston Street and
Canal Street. Approaching
Broome Street
Broome Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan. It runs nearly the full width of Manhattan island, from Hudson Street in the west to Lewis Street in the east, near the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The street is interrupted in ...
, the two rightmost lanes of Varick Street are reserved for traffic entering the
Holland Tunnel, where backups often occur at rush hour.
History
Varick Street is named for
Richard Varick, an early
New York lawmaker and the
mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
from 1789 to 1801, who owned property in the area.
Varick Street was widened during the southward extension of
Seventh Avenue in 1917. A number of old buildings were torn down during the widening project, including
St. John's Chapel, which facilitated construction of the
IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line and opened up a new vehicular route between
Midtown and lower Manhattan.
The downtown
M20 bus route runs the entire length of Varick Street. Additionally, the crosstown
M21 bus intersects Varick Street at
Houston Street in the westbound direction and at
Spring Street Spring Street may refer to:
* Spring Street (Los Angeles), USA
* Spring Street (Manhattan), New York City, USA
* Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia
* Spring Street, Singapore
* Spring St (website), a US based lifestyle website
Subway and trolle ...
in the eastbound direction. The
Houston Street,
Canal Street, and
Franklin Street subway stations on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line () are located under Varick Street.
In 1853,
Heinrich Englehard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway)
founded the first American
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...
factory in a loft at the back of 85 Varick Street.
References
Notes
External links
7th Avenue With Varick Street: A New York Songline– virtual walking tour
Streets in Manhattan
Hudson Square
{{NYC-road-stub