Lexington Avenue

Route map:
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Lexington Avenue (disambiguation).

Lexington Avenue
Irving Place
131st Street in East Harlem
EastThird Avenue
WestPark Avenue
Construction
Commissioned1832
Completion1836

Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the

20th Street to East 14th Street
.

Lexington Avenue was not one of the streets included in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 street grid, so the addresses for cross streets do not start at an even hundred number, as they do with avenues that were originally part of the plan.

History

Lexington Avenue seen from 50th Street with the Chrysler Building in the background

Both Lexington Avenue and

Battle of Lexington in the American Revolutionary War.[4][5]

In 1899, Lexington Avenue was the location of the first arrest in

cabdriver Jacob German, who had been racing down the avenue at the "reckless" speed of 12 mph (19 km/h).[6] The portion of Lexington Avenue above East 42nd Street was reconstructed at the same time as the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. The widened street and the subway line both opened on July 17, 1918.[7]

Portions of the avenue were widened in 1955, which required eminent domain takings of the facades of some structures along Lexington.[8]

Lexington Avenue has carried one-way (downtown) traffic since July 17, 1960.[9]

The 2007 New York City steam explosion sent a geyser of hot steam up from beneath the avenue at 41st Street, resulting in one death and more than 40 injuries.

Description

Lexington Avenue

Lexington Avenue runs one-way southbound for its entire length from

49th Street
, and apartment buildings farther north.

There are numerous structures designated as

New York City Landmarks (NYCL), National Historic Landmarks (NHL), and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on Lexington Avenue. From south to north (in increasing address order), they include:[10][11]

Irving Place

Pete's Tavern

In contrast to Lexington Avenue, the six-block stretch of

Union Square in 1839, the Irving Place area became one of the most sought-after residential neighborhoods in the city, a situation which was only enhanced by the development of Gramercy Park to the north and Stuyvesant Square to the east.[5]

An assortment of restaurants and bars line Irving Place, including

17th Street. Also at 17th, a small bed-and-breakfast, the Inn at Irving Place, occupies two Greek Revival architecture
townhouses built in 1840–1841 and renovated between 1991 and 1995.

Historically and architecturally significant are 47 and 49 Irving Place—the latter where Washington Irving is said to have lived, but did not

19 Gramercy Park on the corner of 20th Street, part of the Gramercy Park Historic District
.

Offices located on Irving Place include those of

Washington Irving High School and the headquarters of the New York City Human Resources Administration.[12] The bottom of the street is anchored by the rear of the Zeckendorf Towers condominium apartment complex on the west side, and the Consolidated Edison Building on the east.[12]

Public transportation

The following buses use Lexington Avenue between the following streets (northbound buses run along Third Avenue):[13][14][15]

  • M98
    : Between East 120th and East 67th Streets
  • M103
    (Third and Lexington Avenues Line): Between Harlem and East 24th Streets; turns east at East 24th Street. M101 and M103 run to 125th Street; M102 runs to 116th Street and turns west there.
  • BxM1
    : Between East 106th and East 34th Streets
  • SIM6
    : Between East 57th and East 23rd Streets
  • SIM11
    : Between East 57th and East 23rd Streets
  • SIM22
    : Between East 57th and East 42nd Streets
  • SIM26
    : Between East 57th and East 42nd Streets

The

<F>​ and Q trains) is also located at Lexington Avenue, but it does not have a direct interchange with the Lexington Avenue Line.[16]

In popular culture

Lexington Avenue became part of a classic American cinematic moment in the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch in which Marilyn Monroe shot what would become her most famous scene. While standing on a subway grating outside the Loew's Lexington Theatre, her skirt billowed up from the wind underneath. While the footage showing the theatre in the background appeared in the finished film, the footage featuring the subway grate shot on September 15, 1954, on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 51st Street, was more of a publicity stunt; retakes were shot on a studio soundstage, and shots from both are seen in the film.[17]

This street was also featured in the film 1408.

The street is referenced in the Elton John song "Island Girl", the first single from the album Rock of the Westies in 1976.

See also

  • Lexington Avenue bombing
  • Southern
    Asian Indian restaurants and spice shops along a stretch of Lexington Avenue between 25th and 30th Streets in the Rose Hill neighborhood which has become known as Curry Hill.[18]

References

Notes

  1. ISBN 9780486273709
    – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Google (September 10, 2015). "Lexington Avenue" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  3. ^ Google (September 10, 2015). "Irving Place" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  4. ISBN 978-0-8232-1275-0
    .
  5. ^ a b c Harris, Gale and Shockley, Jay. "East 17th Street/Irving Place Historic District Designation Report" Archived March 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (June 30, 1988).
  6. ^ Lewis, Mary Beth. "Ten Best First Facts", in Car and Driver, 1/88, p. 92.
  7. ^ Cunningham, Joseph and DeHart, Leonard: A History of the New York City Subway System, 1993. p. 51.
  8. ^ "Congregation Orach Chaim History". Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  9. ^ Spiegel, Irving (July 18, 1960). "2 One-Way Shifts Go Smoothly". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  10. ^ Interactive map: "Discover New York City Landmarks". New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved December 21, 2019 – via ArcGIS.
  11. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c "Lexington Avenue an Irving Place" on New York City Songlines
  13. ^ "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "Bronx Bus Service" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  15. ^ "Staten Island Bus Service" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  16. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  17. ^ "Marilyn" Essay by George S. Zimbel. Montreal, July 2000.
  18. ^ Kris Ensminger (October 10, 2008). "Good Eating Curry Hill More Than Tandoori". The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2014.

Further reading

External links

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