Canal Street (Manhattan)

Canal Street is a very important road in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It stretches for over a mile from East Broadway in the east to West Street in the west. This street goes right through the busy neighborhood of Chinatown and marks the southern edge of SoHo and Little Italy, while also forming the northern edge of Tribeca.

The street connects many places, linking Jersey City, New Jersey through the Holland Tunnel to Brooklyn in New York City via the Manhattan Bridge. For most of its length, cars can travel in both directions, but there are a couple of sections where traffic only goes one way.

Long ago, Canal Street was built over old water systems made to drain marshy areas and ponds, including a place called Collect Pond. Today, it remains a busy and famous part of New York City.

History

By 1800, Collect Pond, one of New York City's natural sources of fresh water, had become polluted with sewage and run-off from tanneries, breweries, and other factories. To solve this, the city drained the pond and built a canal to carry away the water. Canal Street was completed in 1820, following the path of this covered canal and named for it. Over time, the area changed, with jewelry shops moving away and new markets growing.

Canal Street became known for its busy markets and street vendors. It is filled with shops selling many items at low prices, including some that are not officially licensed. After the events of September 11, 2001, Canal Street was near the area that was closed off while recovery efforts took place.

Transportation

Canal Street has many subway stops along it, making it easy to get around. Trains stop at seven different places from west to east. You can catch various train lines like the A, C, E, J, N, Q, R, W, and Z at these stops.

The street is also close to many bus routes, even though the buses don’t drive on Canal Street itself. Buses such as the M20, M55, M103, M15/M15 SBS, and M9 stop nearby at different streets intersecting Canal Street.