Varick Street runs north-south in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Varick Street originates in TriBeCa, at the intersection of Leonard Street and West Broadway. It runs through the western portions of TriBeCa, Hudson Square and the West Village, where it merges with Seventh Avenue South south of Clarkson Street. Motor traffic is one-way southbound. Major east-west streets crossed include Houston Street and Canal Street. At Broome Street, the two rightmost lanes of Varick Street split from the main roadway and enter the Holland Tunnel.
Varick Street is named for Richard Varick, an early New York lawmaker and mayor of New York City from 1789 to 1801, who owned property here.[1]
Varick Street was widened during the extension of Seventh Avenue in 1917. A number of old buildings were torn down during the widening project, including St. John's Chapel, which facilitated construction of the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line and opened up a new vehicular route between midtown and lower Mahattan.[2]
The downtown M20 bus route runs the entire length of Varick Street, from its origin at Seventh Avenue to its end at West Broadway. Additionally, the crosstown M21 bus intersects Varick Street in two places, at Houston Street in the westbound direction and at Spring Street in the eastbound direction.
The Houston Street, Franklin Street and Canal Street subway stations on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line (1 2 trains) are located on Varick Street.