Avenue B (Manhattan)
Route map: Bing
|
45-51 Avenue B between 3rd and 4th Streets | |
| From | East Houston Street |
|---|---|
| To | East 14th Street |
| East | Avenue C |
| West | Avenue A |
Avenue B is a north-south avenue located in the Alphabet City area of the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, east of Avenue A and west of Avenue C. It runs from Houston Street to 14th Street, where it continues into a loop road in Stuyvesant Town, to be connected with Avenue A. Below Houston Street, Avenue B continues as Clinton Street to South Street. It is the eastern border of Tompkins Square Park.
On the Upper East Side, Avenue B reappears as East End Avenue; principally residential in character, it only runs from East 79th Street to East 90th Street through the Yorkville neighborhood. It was called Avenue B under the original Commissioners' Plan of 1811, but is no longer given that designation. Carl Schurz Park, the location of Gracie Mansion, is adjacent to the avenue at this point. In 1928, a New York City Board of Estimate ruling restricted development on the avenue to residential use, below East 84th Street.[1]
Landmarks
- The Christodora House, a former women's Settlement House and now a condominium, is located on Avenue B at 9th Street
- The Charlie Parker Residence at 151 Avenue B between 9th and 10th Streets, where jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker lived from 1950 to 1954, is a New York City landmark[2]
Transportation
Currently, there is no bus that travels on Avenue B. The M9 bus formerly used this street from East Houston Street to 14th Street. The M9 now travels on Avenue C from Houston to 23rd Streets.
In popular culture
- In 1922 Fannie Brice recorded "The Sheik of Avenue B", a parody of "The Sheik of Araby" written by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar[3]
- In Jonathan Larson's musical Rent, most of the characters live on Avenue B and 11th Street
- In 1983 Pierce Turner, Larry Kirwan and Thomas Hamlin wrote "Avenue B (is the place to be)", which was recorded by their band Major Thinkers
- A 1999 Iggy Pop album is entitled Avenue B, written while he was living at Christodora House
- A song by The Fleshtones entitled Take a Walk with the Fleshtones on their album Beautiful Light describes the street scene, starting at "Eleven Eleven" with the chorus repeating "...on Avenue B"
- Gogol Bordello wrote a song called "Avenue B"
- Several scenes from the 1986 film "Crocodile Dundee" were filmed in and around a bar located at 108 Avenue B where that street intersects with East 7th Street, otherwise known as Tompkins Square.
References
Notes
- ↑ Leahy, Michael. If You're Thinking of Living In…: All About 115 Great Neighborhoods In & Around New York. New York: Random House, 2007.
- ↑ New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Postal, Matthew A. (ed. and text); Dolkart, Andrew S. (text). (2009) Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.) New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, p.69
- ↑ "The Sheik of Avenue B" on the Library of Congress National Jukebox
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avenue B (Manhattan). |
- New York Songlines: Avenue B, a virtual walking tour