Third Avenue
Coordinates: 40°49′54.79″N 73°54′19.57″W / 40.8318861°N 73.9054361°W
 Third Avenue looking north from 9th Street in 2007 | |
| North end | East Fordham Road |
|---|---|
| South end | Cooper Square |
| East | Second Avenue |
| West | Lexington Avenue |
Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Cooper Square north for over 120 blocks. The street leaves Manhattan and continues into The Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to East Fordham Road at Fordham Center. It is one of the four streets that form The Hub, a site of both maximum traffic and architectural density, in the South Bronx.[1]
Third Avenue is two-way from Cooper Square to 24th Street, but since July 17, 1960.[2] has carried only northbound (uptown) traffic while in Manhattan; in the Bronx, it is again two-way. However, the Third Avenue Bridge carries vehicular traffic in the opposite direction, allowing only southbound vehicular traffic, rendering the avenue essentially non-continuous to motor vehicles between the boroughs.
The street was not always paved. In May 1861, according to a letter to the editor of The New York Times, the street was the scene of practice marching for the poorly equipped troops in the 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment: "The men were not in uniform, but very poorly dressed, — in many cases with flip-flap shoes. The business-like air with which they marched rapidly through the deep mud of the Third-avenue was the more remarkable."[3]
Public transportation
Surface transportation
Portions of Third Avenue are served by the following bus routes:
In Manhattan
- M98: between Hunter College and the Harlem River Drive
- M101 and M103: between Cooper Square and East 125th Street
- M102: between Cooper Square and East 116th Street
Southbound M101, M102, and M103 service operates on Lexington Avenue north of East 24th Street.
In the Bronx
- Bx2: between East 138th Street to East 149th Street
- Bx15: between East 149th Street and Fordham Plaza
- Bx21: between East 138th Street and Boston Road
Rail
Third Avenue El
Third Avenue was the location of the Third Avenue Elevated line – which began operation in 1878[4] – until 1955 in Manhattan, and 1973 in the Bronx. The Bx55 replaced the Third Avenue Line in the Bronx in 1973.
At the time the El was being torn down in Manhattan, there was a movement to rename the whole of Third Avenue in Manhattan "the Bouwerie" (but not the portion in the Bronx), although it had never been part of the Bowery.[5]
Subway
The Third Avenue – 149th Street station (2 5 trains), Third Avenue – 138th Street station (6 <6> trains), and the Third Avenue stations (L train) all are served by the New York City Subway.
See also
References
Notes
- ↑ Bronx Hub
- ↑ Spiegel, Irving (July 18, 1960). "2 One-Way Shifts Go Smoothly". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ↑ "A Word in Season on an Important Subject", letter to the editor, New York Times, May 16, 1861, retrieved: June 23, 2008
- ↑ Nevius, p.138-140
- ↑ Nevius, p.171
Bibliography
- Nevius, Michelle and Nevius, James. Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City. New York: Free Press, 2009. ISBN 141658997X
External links
Media related to 3rd Avenue (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons- Third Avenue Elevated at forgotten-ny.com
- New York Songlines: Third Avenue
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