Amsterdam Avenue looking north from 119th Street towardHarlemNew residential tower at 60th Street
Tenth Avenue, known asAmsterdam Avenue between59th Street and 193rd Street, is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side ofManhattan in New York City. It carries uptown (northbound) traffic as far as West110th Street (also known as Cathedral Parkway), after which it continues as a two-way street.
As Amsterdam Avenue, the thoroughfare stretches 129 blocks north – narrowing to one lane in each direction as it passes throughYeshiva University's Wilf Campus, between 184th and 186th Streets – before connecting with Fort George Avenue south ofHighbridge Park at West193rd Street.
On the north side of Highbridge Park, unconnected to Amsterdam Avenue on the south side, Tenth Avenue then runs for slightly less than a mile from the northern terminus of theHarlem River Drive atDyckman Street, to the intersection of West218th Street where it merges intoBroadway.
TheHudson River Railroad'sWest Side Line ran along Tenth Avenue from its intersection withWest Street to the upper city station at34th Street, after which it veered toEleventh Avenue; the line was completed toPeekskill, New York in 1849. Over this part of the right-of-way, the rails were laid at grade along the streets, and since by the corporation regulations locomotives were not allowed, the cars were drawn by adummy engine, which, according to an 1851 description, consumed its own smoke. While passing through the city the train of cars was preceded by a man on horseback known as a "West Side cowboy" or "Tenth Avenue cowboy" who gave notice of its approach by blowing a horn.[5][6][7][8] However, so many accidents occurred between freight trains and other traffic that the nickname "Death Avenue" was given to both Tenth[8][9] and Eleventh Avenues.[10]
Public debate about the hazard began during the early 1900s.[11] In 1929, the city, the state, and New York Central agreed on the West Side Improvement Project,[12] conceived byRobert Moses.[13] The 13-mile (21 km) project eliminated 105 street-level railroad crossings and added 32 acres (13 ha) toRiverside Park; it also included construction of theWest Side Elevated Highway. It cost more than $150 million (about $2 billion in 2017 dollars).[14]
The part of Tenth Avenue north of West 59th Street was renamed "Amsterdam Avenue" in 1890 at the request of local merchants seeking to distance themselves from "Death Avenue" and to increase the value of their properties in an area that had yet to "catch on".[15] The name was intended to recall the Dutch roots of Manhattan's earliest colonization in the 17th century, when the city was known asNew Amsterdam. They hoped that the area would become a "the New City" and a "new, New Amsterdam".[16] The Board of Alderman approved the name change, but only after first considering "Holland Avenue"; the change was made just before the vote on the resolution. In their approval, the Board noted that other name changes in the area, including that of Eleventh Avenue toWest End Avenue, had "a marked and beneficial effect on property" and that they held such name changes "as second in importance only to the advantages of increased rapid transit."[17]
TheFort George Amusement Park, now a seating area in Highbridge Park, was located at the northern end of Amsterdam Avenue from 1895 to 1914.[18]
Tenth Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue were converted to carry one-way traffic northbound in two stages. South of its intersection with Broadway, the avenue was converted on November 6, 1948.[19][20] The remainder, to 110th Street, was converted on December 6, 1951.[21] Amsterdam Avenue continues to carry two-way traffic north of 110th Street.
During the real estate boom of the late 20th century, Amsterdam Avenue from roughly59th Street to96th Street became one of the city's most expensive residential districts.
Downtown buses use 9th Avenue unless specified below:
TheM11 runs from West 14th to West 135th Streets, with service north ofWest 110th Street operated in both directions. It is joined with theM12 andM14D SBS south of West 15th Street.
TheM31 runs from West 54th to West 57th Streets, with downtown buses serving 11th Avenue.
TheM79 SBS runs from West 79th to West 81st Streets.
TheM60 SBS runs in both directions between West 120th and West 125th Streets.
TheM104 runs on two portions of Amsterdam Avenue: from Broadway to West 73rd Street, and fromWest 125th to West 129th Streets, using Broadway and crossing on West 125th downtown, respectively.
TheM100 also runs on two portions. One is on the entire portion of 10th Avenue north of Highbridge Park, with downtown service originating at West 215th Street. The other is on Amsterdam between West 125th Street and either West 163rd Street (uptown) or Saint Nicholas Avenue (downtown).
TheM101 serves Amsterdam in both directions between West 125th and West 190th Streets, with uptown service extended to Fort George Avenue.
TheM3 provides additional service on Amsterdam Avenue north of West 190th Street, duplicating the uptown M101, and between West 155th Street and West 163rd or Saint Nicholas, duplicating the M100.
Both aforementioned buses in the Fort George area use Saint Nicholas Avenue downtown.
TheM2 runs from West 165th to West 168th Streets, with downtown buses serving Broadway.
TheM98 enters the Harlem River Drive from West 178th Street (downtown) or exits to West 179th Street (uptown), via Amsterdam Avenue.[22]
Aprotected bike lane was installed in 2016 from 72nd Street to 110th Street.[27][28] In August 2023, work began on a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) protected bike lane from 38th to 52nd Street,[29][30] which was completed that December.[31][32] Subsequently, the bike lane was extended between 14th and 38th Street in 2024.[33]
InDonald E. Westlake's "Dortmunder" series of crime novels, the fictional O.J. Bar and Grill (the gang's favorite meeting place) is located on Amsterdam Avenue.
In the "Asterisk" episode of the American TV dramaSuits, Mike Ross mentions renting an apartment "off 10th Avenue", to which his colleague Rachel Zane replies, "Does it come with a bullet-proof vest?".
^Meyer, David (June 21, 2018)."Safer Bikeways Slated for Columbus Circle and Amsterdam Avenue".StreetsBlog.Archived from the original on July 17, 2019.On 10th Avenue/Amsterdam Avenue — the street name shifts at 59th Street — DOT plans to extend the protected bike lane design it installed between 72nd Street and 110th Street two years ago.
^Meyer, David (October 16, 2018)."OUTRAGE! DOT Delays Life-Saving Amsterdam Avenue Redesign in Fight With NIMBYs".StreetsBlog.Archived from the original on July 17, 2019.Thompson spoke to Streetsblog after the meeting, where she and the board's Vice Chairman Victor Edwards opposed the traffic-calming plan, which is not even as complete as the improvements made to one-way Amsterdam Avenue below 110th Street. Indeed, instead of a protected bike lane, the plan for the two-way stretch from 110th Street to 162nd Street would install unprotected lanes, painted medians, and turn lanes in both directions.
^Gray, Christopher (December 22, 2011)."When a Monster Plied the West Side".The New York Times.Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. RetrievedMay 12, 2014.The New York World referred to the West Side route as Death Avenue in 1892, long after the Park Avenue problem had been solved, saying 'many had been sacrificed' to 'a monster which has menaced them night and day.'
^Garofalo, Michael (June 26, 2018)."DOT plans new UWS bike lanes".West Side Spirit.Archived from the original on July 17, 2019.The protected lane would continue past 59th Street, where 10th Avenue becomes Amsterdam Avenue, and connect to the existing protected bike lane on Amsterdam Avenue that begins at 72nd Street and runs to 110th Street.
NY 9A /West Side Highway
Media related to10th Avenue (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons