40°43′47.6″N73°59′18.7″W / 40.729889°N 73.988528°W /40.729889; -73.988528
 Looking east from #21 | |
 Interactive map of Stuyvesant Street | |
| Namesake | Petrus Stuyvesant |
|---|---|
| Length | 0.22 mi (0.35 km) |
| Location | New York |
| ZIP Codes | 10003 |
| Coordinates | 40°43′47.6″N73°59′18.7″W / 40.729889°N 73.988528°W /40.729889; -73.988528 |
| West end | Cooper Square |
| East end | Second Avenue |
Stuyvesant Street is one of the oldest streets in theNew York Cityborough ofManhattan. It runs diagonally from9th Street atThird Avenue to10th Street nearSecond Avenue, all within theEast Village, Manhattan, neighborhood. The majority of the street is included in theSt. Mark's Historic District.
Although the street runs diagonally in relation to the Manhattan street grid, geographically it is one of the few true east–west streets in Manhattan, since most of the grid runs southwest–northeast at a 28.9 degree offset. It is a one-way street, running eastbound.
Stuyvesant Street originally ran east through Petrus Stuyvesant's farm or"bowery" from Bowery Road, which today isFourth Avenue, to the Stuyvesant manor house. The manor house burned down in October 1778 and the family sold the remaining cemetery and chapel, which today is the site ofSt. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery.
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, Stuyvesant Street remained an important thoroughfare and market street, but today it is a quaint street with single family homes and apartment buildings, and is often used for movie shoots of "Old New York". All of the north side of Stuyvesant Street, from #21 to #37, and the south side from #42 to 46, are part of theSt. Mark's Historic District created in 1969 by theNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect the area around St. Mark's Church.[1] In addition, theHamilton Fish House at 21 Stuyvesant Street, also known as the Stuyvesant Fish House, is aNew York City landmark owned byCooper Union and occupied by its president.[2]
TheCommissioner's Plan of 1811 called for strict use of a grid in Manhattan, but Stuyvesant Street was an exception in the plan. Into the 20th century, Stuyvesant Street ran east all the way through to Second Avenue, frontingSt. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, but the portion of the street between 10th Street and Second Avenue, directly in front of the church, is nowAbe Lebewohl Park. For street-pattern reasons this small plot of land had been turned into a sitting area in 1938 by theWorks Progress Administration and called St. Mark’s Park, but by the 1970s it had become filthy and drug-ridden. Marilyn Appleberg, president of the 10th and Stuyvesant Streets Block Association, found that theNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation was responsible for the upkeep of the property. In 1980 she, along with Beth Flusser andAbe Lebewohl, the owner of the nearbySecond Avenue Deli, began a petition to save the park. On March 4, 1996, Lebewohl was shot and killed while handling a bank transaction at a neighborhood bank. That same year, the park underwent a long-awaited renovation by the Parks Department. Appleberg fought to have the name of the park changed to honor Lebewohl and she again won.[3] In 2012, theGreenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation gave Appleberg a Village Award in recognition of her many efforts in the neighborhood.[4]
Another section of the original street between Third and Fourth Avenues became the location of a block-wide building, 45 Fourth Avenue, built in 1960[5] to be part of the Cooper Union campus. This section of the street was restored in 2011-2012 as a pedestrian plaza by the construction of51 Astor Place and new park space implemented by theDepartment of Transportation.[6]
East of Second Avenue, there are still several buildings whose footprints conform to the east–west path of Stuyvesant Street. Examples include 407 East 12th Street.
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