59th Street (Manhattan)

59th Street is a busy road that goes across part of Manhattan in New York City. It starts on the east side near York Avenue and Sutton Place and goes all the way to the West Side Highway on the west side. Three blocks of this street between Columbus Circle and Grand Army Plaza are called Central Park South because they form the southern edge of Central Park.

There is a small gap in the street between Ninth Avenue and Columbus Avenue where the Deutsche Bank Center stands. While Central Park South can go both ways, most of 59th Street is a one-way road.

This street marks the border between Midtown Manhattan and Upper Manhattan. North of 59th Street, the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods continue on either side of Central Park. On the west side, the names of the avenues change north of 59th Street: Eighth Avenue becomes Central Park West, Ninth Avenue becomes Columbus Avenue, Tenth Avenue becomes Amsterdam Avenue, and Eleventh Avenue becomes West End Avenue.

Route description

59th Street is an important road in Manhattan. It runs between Midtown Manhattan and Upper Manhattan. The street is split into east and west by Fifth Avenue.

From the West Side Highway to Ninth/Columbus Avenues, traffic goes west. There is a gap between Ninth/Columbus Avenues and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West where the Deutsche Bank Center stands. The part of the street that forms the southern edge of Central Park, from Columbus Circle to Fifth Avenue, is called Central Park South. Most of this section allows traffic to go both ways, except for a short part near Grand Army Plaza. Between Sixth Avenue and Grand Army Plaza, there is a special lane for people riding horses. You can enter Central Park at several gates along this street.

From Fifth Avenue to Second Avenue, traffic moves east. At Second Avenue, the street leads to the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, often called the 59th Street Bridge. The road continues to York Avenue and Sutton Place, close to the East River. The last part of the street allows traffic to go both ways, but the westbound traffic joins the bridge just past Second Avenue.

History

59th Street was created under the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 as one of the smaller east-west streets in Manhattan.

When Central Park was built in the 1860s and 1870s, fancy hotels, apartments, and other buildings grew up along this part of 59th Street in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Spanish Flats, built in 1883 at Seventh Avenue, was the first of these fancy homes. The original Plaza Hotel, the Hawthorne, and the Navarro Flats were also built in the 1880s and 1890s but were torn down later. Even after a city rule in 1885 stopped homes taller than 80 feet, big hotels kept being built here because they were allowed.

In the early 1900s, more famous buildings like the new Plaza Hotel, the old New York Athletic Club building, and Gainsborough Studios were built on the part of 59th Street called Central Park South. Later, between the World Wars, many more well-known buildings were added, such as 100 Central Park South, a new New York Athletic Club building, Barbizon Plaza, Hampshire House, Essex House, Hotel St. Moritz, and 240 Central Park South. After World War II, more shops opened along Central Park South, even though it was meant for homes. In the early 1950s, city planners thought about changing the rules for that part of the street, but they decided not to after hearing from people who lived there.

Originally, West 59th Street went from Ninth/Columbus Avenues to Columbus Circle. In 1954, that part of the street was closed to make space for the New York Coliseum complex. The Coliseum was later torn down and replaced with the Time Warner Center in the early 2000s.

Transportation

59th Street in Manhattan has several subway stations, including 59th Street–Columbus Circle, Fifth Avenue–59th Street, and Lexington Avenue/59th Street. The Roosevelt Island Tramway also stops near Second Avenue close to 59th Street and goes to Roosevelt Island.

There was a railroad station called 59th Street station on Park Avenue, but it never opened. Today, it is used as an emergency exit for the Metro-North Railroad.

Notable buildings

• Bloomingdale's Department Store between Third and Lexington Avenues
• Bloomberg World Headquarters between Third and Lexington Avenues
• Trump Park Avenue, at Park Avenue
• 500 Park Avenue, at Park Avenue
• 59E59 Theaters, an Off-Broadway theater complex between Park and Madison Avenues
• General Motors Building, southeast corner of Fifth Avenue
• Formerly: Savoy-Plaza Hotel, southeast corner of Fifth Avenue
• The Sherry-Netherland, northeast corner of Fifth Avenue
• Formerly: Hotel New Netherland, northeast corner of Fifth Avenue
• Plaza Hotel, southwest corner of Grand Army Plaza
• Park Lane Hotel, 16 Central Park South
• Ritz-Carlton, southeast corner of Sixth Avenue, flagship of the Ritz-Carlton chain
• Trump Parc, southwest corner of Sixth Avenue
• Hampshire House, 150 Central Park South
• JW Marriott Essex House, 160 Central Park South
• New York Athletic Club, southeast corner of Seventh Avenue
• 200 Central Park South, southwest corner of Seventh Avenue
• 220 Central Park South
• Gainsborough Studios at 222 Central Park South
• 240 Central Park South, southeast corner of Columbus Circle
• 2 Columbus Circle, south corner of Columbus Circle
• Trump International Hotel and Tower, north corner of Columbus Circle
• Time Warner Center, west side of Columbus Circle
• Mount Sinai West at 10th Avenue
• Haaren Hall
• Anya and Andrew Shiva Art Gallery, 524 West 59th Street
• IRT Powerhouse fills the entire block between 58th to 59th Street, and from 11th to 12th Avenues.
• Hudson River Park extends along the Hudson River from Battery Park to 59th Street.