Grand Street is a street inLower Manhattan,New York City. It runs west/east parallel to and south ofDelancey Street, fromSoHo throughChinatown,Little Italy,the Bowery, and theLower East Side. The street's western terminus isVarick Street, and on the east it ends at the service road for theFDR Drive.
Grand Street was once part of the lands ofJames De Lancey Jr. When his sister Ann marriedJudge Thomas Jones he gave them a two-acre estate known as "Mount Pitt", near the site of present-day Pitt and Grand Streets.[1] It was one of the highest natural points on Manhattan island. In early 1776, a circular redoubt was built there, whereGeneral Joseph Spencer established a battery.[2] The British captured the defenses the following November and renamed it Jones Hill Fort. The hill was later leveled and some of the field stone used for the construction ofSt. Augustine's Church onHenry Street.[3]
Bayard Mount at the site of present-day Grand and Mott Streets was the tallest hill in lower Manhattan, and overlooked theCollect Pond. In April 1776, the Bayard's Hill redoubt, (also known as Fort Bunker Hill) was constructed as part of the defenses across Manhattan Island.[4] After the war, this became a popular site for dueling. In 1802 work began on leveling Mount Bayard.
St. Mary's Catholic Church is located at 438-440 Grand Street between Pitt and Attorney Streets.[5] The parish was established in 1826 to serve Irish immigrants living in the neighborhood, it is the third-oldest Catholic parish in New York.[6] The church itself was built in 1832–33, and its facade replaced in 1871 by the noted architectPatrick Charles Keely. The original portion is the second-oldest Roman Catholic structure in the city, afterSt. Patrick's Old Cathedral, which was built in 1815.[7]
Ferrara Bakery and Cafe was established at 195 Grand Street in 1892.
TheBowery Savings Bank building at130 Bowery, extending to Grand and Elizabeth Streets, was designed byStanford White of the architecture firm ofMcKim, Mead & White, and built in 1893–95. It is aNew York City designated landmark[8] and on theNational Register of Historic Places.[9]
Thebialy bakeryKossar's Bialys was founded in 1936.
Cooperative Village, a collection ofhousing cooperatives, covers several blocks near the eastern portion of Grand Street. Other notable buildings include the oldPolice Headquarters Building, theHome Savings of America building, and theBialystoker Synagogue.
As part of an experiment, in 1948, Grand Street west ofChrystie Street was converted to a one-way eastbound street.[10] Grand Street is one-way to motor vehicles west of Chrystie Street and two-way to its east. Grand Street is the location of an on-street bikeway which, west of Chrystie street, is between a lane of parked vehicles and the curb, and east of Chrystie Street, is indicated byshared lane markings of various types.[11]
In the 19th century, before the construction of theWilliamsburg Bridge, theGrand Street Ferry connected Grand Street toits counterpart inBrooklyn.
TheNew York City Subway'sGrand Street station, serving theB and D trains, is at the intersection of Grand and Chrystie Streets.[12]
The following bus routes serve Grand Street, all of which terminate at its eastern end:
In addition, downtownM1 buses that run the full route serve Grand Street in the eastbound direction from Broadway to Centre Street, where it terminates.
Media related toGrand Street (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons