42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district (and, at times, the red-light district) near that intersection. The street has held a special place in the mind of New Yorkers since at least the turn of the 20th century, and hosts some of New York's most important buildings, including (east to west) the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, at the southeast corner of Times Square, is the eastern terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States of America, which was conceived and mapped in 1913. The Lincoln Highway proceeded west on 42nd Street to the Weehawken Ferry. After crossing the Hudson River to Weehawken, New Jersey, the Lincoln Highway continued 3,389 miles (5,454 km) across the country to its western terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco, California.
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The former Longacre Square was renamed to honor The New York Times, which established its offices and printing plant nearby.
For a long period in the mid-20th century, the area of 42nd Street near Times Square was home to activities often considered unsavory,[1] including peep shows. A comedian once said, "They call it 42nd Street because you're not safe if you spend more than forty seconds on it."
A popular 1933 movie musical named 42nd Street, set in Depression Manhattan, colorfully described the bawdy mixture of Broadway shows and prostitution during the early 20th century. In 1980, it was turned into a successful Broadway musical, which was revived in 2001 in a theatre that was itself on 42nd Street. The following is an excerpt from the musical:
From the late 1950s until the late 1980s, 42nd Street was the cultural center of American grindhouse theatres, which spawned an entire subculture. The book Sleazoid Express, a travelogue of the 42nd Street grindhouses and the films they showed, describes in detail the unique blend of people who made up the theatre-goers, including black pimps, low-grade mafiosi, transvestites, Latino gangsters, "rough trade" homosexuals, aggressive lesbians, trench coat-clad perverts, and thrill-seeking squares. The street became the title of a film by Busby Berkeley in 1933 (42nd Street) and a stage musical based on it from 1980 (42nd Street), which experienced a revival in 2001.
In the early 1990s, city government encouraged a clean-up of the Times Square area. In 1990, the city government took over six of the historic theaters on the block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. In 1993, the Walt Disney Corporation signed a boughtNew Amsterdam Theater, which in renovated a few years later. Since the mid-1990s, the block has again became home to a "legitimate" theatre, along with shops and restaurants that draw millions to the city every year. This area is now co-signed as "New 42nd St" to signify this change.
Every subway line that crosses 42nd Street has a stop on 42nd Street, whether the line is express or local:
The IRT 42nd Street Shuttle runs under 42nd Street between Broadway/Seventh Avenue (Times Square) and Park Avenue (Grand Central Terminal); the IRT Flushing Line begins at 41st Street/Seventh Avenue, runs between 41st and 42nd from Sixth Avenue to Park Avenue, curves onto 42nd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, and continues under the East River to Queens. Each line stops at Times Square and Grand Central; the Flushing Line also stops at Fifth Avenue.
Additionally, MTA New York City Transit's M42 bus runs the length of 42nd Street between the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises ferry terminal on the Hudson River and the headquarters of the United Nations on the East River. The 42nd Street Crosstown Line streetcar used 42nd Street.
Places located along 42nd Street include (from East to West):
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