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| 85th Street (Manhattan) | |
|---|---|
| Name | 85th Street |
| Length mi | 1.7 |
| Location | Manhattan, New York City |
| Terminus a | Riverside Drive |
| Terminus b | East End Avenue |
| Directions | West–East |
| Neighborhoods | Upper West Side, Yorkville, Upper East Side |
85th Street (Manhattan) is an east–west cross-town street on the island of Manhattan in New York City, running from Riverside Drive at the Hudson River to East End Avenue near the East River. The street traverses several notable neighborhoods including the Upper West Side, the Central Park transverse area, and the Upper East Side, intersecting major north–south avenues such as Broadway (Manhattan), Amsterdam Avenue, Columbus Avenue, Central Park West, Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, and Lexington Avenue. 85th Street is characterized by a mixture of residential brownstones, mid-rise apartment houses, cultural institutions, and access to green spaces, linking riverfront promenades with the heart of Manhattan’s museum and academic corridors.
Starting at Riverside Park and Riverside Drive, 85th Street proceeds eastward through the Upper West Side grid, crossing avenues that include Broadway (Manhattan), Amsterdam Avenue, and Columbus Avenue. It runs along the northern border of several residential blocks before meeting Central Park West and the western rim of Central Park, where proximity to the Jakob K. Javits Center-era landmarks shifts into cultural districts near Fifth Avenue. East of Fifth Avenue, 85th Street skirts the southern reaches of The Metropolitan Museum of Art district and continues across Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, and Lexington Avenue, entering the Yorkville and Upper East Side sectors. The street terminates a short distance east of East End Avenue near the approach to the FDR Drive corridor and the East River shoreline. Throughout its length the architecture transitions from brownstone townhouses associated with Richard Upjohn-era influences to Art Deco apartment buildings influenced by developers active in the 1920s.
The alignment of 85th Street emerged from the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which established Manhattan’s numbered grid and set the template for cross streets including 85th. During the mid-19th century, the avenue’s surroundings evolved as elite townhouses and rowhouses were constructed in tandem with the development of Riverside Drive by the landscape architects who followed the models of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, institutions and private clubs expanded along nearby avenues influenced by figures such as Andrew Carnegie and philanthropic patrons associated with the Gilded Age. The 20th century brought transit improvements from companies like the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the New York City Transit system, which altered traffic and real estate patterns along the street. Postwar urban planning debates involving the Robert Moses era and preservation efforts led by organizations like the Landmarks Preservation Commission and Historic Districts Council shaped zoning, resulting in landmark designations for select structures and conservation of streetscape character into the 21st century.
85th Street is served by multiple surface transit options including bus routes operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and bicycle lanes promoted by Vision Zero initiatives. Nearby subway access is provided by stations on lines such as the IND Eighth Avenue Line and the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at stations near Columbus Avenue and Broadway (Manhattan), plus stations on the BMT/IND and IRT Lexington Avenue Line corridors close to Lexington Avenue. Vehicular traffic is regulated under Manhattan’s grid rules with alternating one-way avenues, with 85th Street itself functioning as an important local access route for crosstown circulation and for service vehicles delivering to residential buildings, cultural institutions, and commercial storefronts. River crossings and connections to the FDR Drive and Henry Hudson Parkway influence commuting patterns, while municipal programs from the New York City Department of Transportation have implemented pedestrian safety enhancements and curb regulations along the corridor.
Notable buildings along or near 85th Street include historic brownstones and apartment houses associated with architects such as C. P. H. Gilbert and Emery Roth. The street provides proximity to landmarked properties and institutions including residences listed by the National Register of Historic Places and individual New York City landmarks recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. In the western segment, buildings reflect the affluent 19th-century residential boom exemplified by mansions connected historically to families such as the Roosevelts and the Vanderbilts. Mid-block churches and synagogues—some designed by firms like Carrère and Hastings—contribute to the architectural diversity. Several prewar apartment buildings dating to the 1920s and 1930s display Art Deco and Beaux-Arts motifs with lobbies and façades preserved through cooperative ownership and condominium conversions, often tied to developers with portfolios involving neighborhoods across Manhattan.
85th Street borders or provides access to green and cultural sites including Riverside Park, the northwestern edge of Central Park, and community gardens supported by nonprofits such as the Horticultural Society of New York. Cultural institutions and academic facilities in the vicinity include satellite facilities of Columbia University, branches of the New York Public Library, and galleries connected historically to collectors and curators associated with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and smaller organizations like the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum network. Community institutions such as settlement houses and neighborhood theaters—some affiliated with organizations like the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts by extension of the Upper West Side cultural ecosystem—add to the neighborhood’s civic fabric.
Across its blocks, 85th Street has housed notable residents from literary figures associated with The New Yorker and The New York Times journalists to performers and academics from institutions such as Columbia University and Barnard College. The street has been the site of community rallies connected to preservation fights orchestrated by groups like the Municipal Art Society of New York and of annual block parties coordinated with city agencies including the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Over the decades, notable private and public events—from period house openings tied to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to neighborhood cultural festivals—have marked 85th Street as a microcosm of Upper Manhattan civic life.
Category:Streets in Manhattan