59th Street (Manhattan)

59th Street (Manhattan)
BigMacSC99 of English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	59th Street
Length mi	1.9
Location	Manhattan, New York City
Direction a	West
Terminus a	West Drive and Columbus Avenue at Central Park (Columbus Circle)
Direction b	East
Terminus b	FDR Drive at East River

Contents

59th Street (Manhattan) is a major east–west thoroughfare on the island of Manhattan in New York City. The street forms the southern border of Central Park at Columbus Circle, crosses major avenues such as Broadway (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, and terminates at the East River near the FDR Drive. 59th Street links neighborhoods including Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Midtown Manhattan, and Yorkville and intersects with transportation hubs such as Columbus Circle and Grand Army Plaza.

Route description

59th Street begins at the intersection with Central Park West and Columbus Circle adjacent to the Heckscher Playground and the USS Maine memorial, proceeds eastward across the Upper West Side, crosses Broadway and Seventh Avenue near the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, continues through the Theater District and Midtown Manhattan past Time Warner Center, intersects Fifth Avenue at the southeast corner of Central Park near the Grand Army Plaza and the Plaza Hotel, then traverses Madison Avenue and Park Avenue before reaching Lexington Avenue, Third Avenue, Second Avenue, and First Avenue, and terminates at the FDR Drive and the East River shoreline in Yorkville. The street carries vehicular traffic, includes a central transverse at Central Park, and features mixed-use zoning with residential towers, commercial buildings, and institutional sites such as Carnegie Hall-area cultural institutions.

The street grid including 59th Street originated from the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which established numbered streets across Manhattan Island. 59th Street's alignment and development accelerated with the construction of Central Park in the 1850s under designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and later with the expansion of New York City Subway lines by companies such as the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation. The neighborhood around Columbus Circle was transformed by the opening of Sherman Square projects and later by the Basho-era skyscraper boom exemplified by the Time Warner Center development spearheaded by developers tied to Mitsui and Related Companies. Over the 20th century, 59th Street saw the rise and replacement of hotels like the Plaza Hotel and department stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, and experienced infrastructural changes tied to projects by the New York City Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Prominent sites on or near 59th Street include Columbus Circle with the USS Maine memorial and the Americas Monument by Daniel Chester French; the Time Warner Center complex housing Jazz at Lincoln Center and retail anchors; the historic Plaza Hotel at Fifth Avenue and 59th; cultural venues such as Carnegie Hall within walking distance; luxury retail at Fifth Avenue including Bergdorf Goodman; residential landmarks like the San Remo and Berger House-era mansions along the parkfront; and institutional buildings including offices for Bloomberg L.P. and headquarters-style sites for finance firms formerly clustered near Park Avenue. Nearby civic sites include the Grand Army Plaza and its William Tecumseh Sherman equestrian statue, meeting places tied to Playwrights Horizons and cultural institutions supportive of performing arts programming.

59th Street is served by multiple transit options: the New York City Subway stations at 59th Street–Columbus Circle connecting the IND Eighth Avenue Line and the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line; the Fifth Avenue/59th Street station on the BMT Broadway Line and the Lexington Avenue/59th Street complex linking the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and BMT Broadway Line. Surface transit includes several New York City Bus routes that traverse the corridor and crosstown services connecting to Upper Manhattan and Queens. Vehicular flows on 59th Street interface with the Henry Hudson Parkway via Columbus Circle, and the street provides access to the FDR Drive and ferry services at nearby East River piers serving commuter and recreational lines associated with NYC Ferry operations.

59th Street has appeared in literature, film, and music: it features in works set in New York City by authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and E. B. White, appears in films shot around Central Park and Columbus Circle including productions by studios like Warner Bros., and is referenced in songs by performers associated with Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building era. The Plaza Hotel and Time Warner Center on or near 59th Street have been backdrops in motion pictures starring actors represented by agencies such as Creative Artists Agency, and the block figures in visual art projects exhibited at institutions including Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public events on 59th Street have included parades and rallies linked to organizations such as New York Road Runners and cultural festivals promoted by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.