Second Avenue (Manhattan)

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

Template:Attached KML/Second Avenue (Manhattan)
KML is from Wikidata
Second Avenue
128th Street in East Harlem
EastFirst Avenue
WestThird Avenue
Construction
CommissionedMarch 1811

Second Avenue is located on the East Side of the

Chrystie Street south to Canal Street
.

A

bicycle lane runs in the leftmost lane of Second Avenue from 125th to Houston Streets. The section from 55th to 34th Streets closes a gap in the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway
.

Second Avenue passes through a number of Manhattan neighborhoods including (from south to north) the

Spanish Harlem.[2][3]

History

Second Avenue facing north from 42nd Street in 1861

Downtown Second Avenue in the

bakeries, and the famous Second Avenue Deli
(which closed in 2006, later reopening on East 33rd Street and Third Avenue).

The

Second Avenue Elevated train line ran above Second Avenue the full length of the avenue north of 23rd Street, and stood from 1880 until service was ended on June 13, 1942. South of Second Avenue, it ran on First Avenue and then Allen and Division Street.[4] The elevated trains were noisy and often dirty (in the 19th century they were pulled by soot-spewing steam locomotives). This depressed land values along Second Avenue during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Partially because of the presence of the El, most buildings constructed during this era were working class tenements. The line was finally torn down in 1942 because it was deteriorated and obsolete, and the cost of World War II made upkeep impossible.[5]
Second Avenue maintains its modest architectural character today, despite running through a number of high income areas.

Second Avenue has carried one-way traffic since June 4, 1951, before which it carried traffic in both the northbound and southbound directions.[6]

A protected bike lane on the left, or east, side of the avenue between 59th and 68th streets was completed in 2019. This, along with previous bike lane projects, gave the avenue a continuous bike lane from 125th to 43rd Street.[7][8] In March 2024, the NYCDOT announced plans to widen the bike lane on Second Avenue from 59th to Houston Street, as well as relocate the bus lane away from the curb.[9][10]

2015 gas explosion

Main article: 2015 East Village gas explosion

On March 26, 2015, a gas explosion and resulting fire in the

St. Mark's Place. At least twenty-two people were injured, four critically, and two people were initially listed as missing.[11] Later, two men were found dead in the debris of the explosion and were confirmed to be the ones listed as missing.[12][13] There had previously been an illegal tap installed into the gas line feeding 121 Second Avenue.[14] In the days before the explosion, work was ongoing in the building for the installation of a new 4-inch gas line to service the apartments in 121, and some of the tenants had smelled gas an hour before the explosion.[14]

Eleven other buildings were evacuated as a result of the explosion, and Con Ed turned off the gas to the area. A few residents were allowed to return to some of the vacated buildings several days later.[14]

Transportation

Bus service

The

M34A Select Bus Service runs along Second Avenue between East 34th Street and East 23rd Street en route to Waterside Plaza.[15]

Subway

The Q train serves Second Avenue from 96th Street to 72nd Street before turning onto 63rd Street with a stop at Lexington Avenue, which has an exit at Third Avenue. A Second Avenue Subway line has been planned since 1919,[16] with provisions to construct it as early as 1929.[17]

Two

96th Streets, serving the Q train. Phase 1 opened on January 1, 2017.[20] Phase 2, which would extend the line to East Harlem at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, is expected to be completed between 2027 and 2029.[21] When the whole Second Avenue subway line is completed, it is projected to serve about 560,000 daily riders.[22]

Bike lane

There is a bicycle lane along the avenue south of 125th St.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ Google (September 1, 2015). "Second Avenue (Manhattan)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  2. ^ [1] "The Study Area includes many distinctive urban elements in a densely developed area: the East River waterfront, well known residential enclaves such as Tudor City, Turtle Bay, Beekman Place, and Sutton Place with historic buildings and features, Stuyvesant Square, the United Nations, and other older residential neighborhoods intermixed with more recent apartment towers and superblock housing developments, as well as two massive power plant complexes, several superblocks of hospital facilities, and neighborhood parks."
  3. ^ Yorkville, Manhattan: Senior Pedestrian Crashes 2001-2006
  4. ^ "Second Avenue 'El' Coming to a Stop", The Christian Science Monitor, June 13, 1942. Accessed October 12, 2008.
  5. ^ "Second Avenue Subway: Route 132-C". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  6. ^ Ingraham, Joseph (June 5, 1951). "Autos Speeded 15% on 1st And 2nd Aves". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  7. ^ Nieves, Alicia (August 16, 2019). "Cyclists celebrate 2nd Avenue bike lane". PIX11. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "New York City opens bike lane on dangerous section of 2nd Avenue". ABC7 New York. August 16, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  9. ^ Lane, Charles (March 5, 2024). "Manhattan's 2nd Avenue would get 24/7 bus lane, wider bike lane under proposed redesign". Gothamist. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  10. ^ Simko-Bednarski, Evan (March 5, 2024). "NYC DOT plans revamp of Second Ave. bus and bike lanes". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  11. ^ Flegenheimer, Matt and Surico, John "Two Men Remain Missing as Remnants of Explosion Are Scoured in Manhattan" The New York Times (March 28, 2015)
  12. ^ Barr, Meghan. "Official: 2 found dead in rubble believed to be missing men", Yahoo! News (March 30, 2015)
  13. ^ Dolan, Jim (April 3, 2015). "Crews Reach Basement In Manhattan Building Explosion Clean-up". WABC-TV. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  14. ^ a b c Sandoval, Edgar and Smith, Greg B. "City probing whether East Village building owner illegally tapped into gas main as family mourns Nicholas Figueroa" New York Daily News (March 31, 2015)
  15. ^ "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  16. ^ Staff. "Second Avenue 'El' Coming to a Stop", The Christian Science Monitor, June 13, 1942. Accessed October 12, 2008.
  17. ^ "100 Miles of Subway in New City Project; 52 of them in Queens". The New York Times. September 16, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  18. ^ "Second Avenue Subway: Route 132-C". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  19. ^ "The Line That Time Forgot – Second Avenue Subway". Nymag.com. April 5, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  20. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  21. ^ "New York City 2nd Ave Subway Phase 2 Profile" (PDF). FTA. December 27, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  22. ^ Smith, Stephen J. (October 2, 2013). "The Next 20 Years for New York's MTA – Next City". Nextcity.org. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  23. ^ "Manhattan Bike Map: Manhattan Bike Paths, Bike Lanes & Greenways". NYC Bike Maps. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  24. ^ Miller, Stephen (September 17, 2013). "DOT Proposes Filling the Gap in Second Avenue Protected Bike Lane | Streetsblog New York City". Streetsblog.org. Retrieved June 5, 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2nd Avenue (Manhattan).
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