52nd Street is a 1.9-mile-long (3.1 km)one-way street traveling west to east acrossMidtown Manhattan,New York City, United States. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Looking east from 6th Avenue, 52nd Street at night (May 1948); photo byWilliam P. Gottlieb
Following the repeal ofProhibition in 1933, 52nd Street replaced133rd Street as the "Swing Street" of the city. The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth andSeventh Avenues became renowned for the abundance ofjazz clubs and lively street life. The street was convenient to musicians playing on Broadway and the 'legitimate' nightclubs and was also the site of aCBS studio. Musicians who played for others in the early evening played for themselves on 52nd Street.
Note: The Cotton Club (unconnected to the defunct club with the same name) opened in 1943 on the site formerly occupied by the Famous Door; the club was initially managed by Russell Carter
By the late 1940s, the jazz scene began moving elsewhere around the city andurban renewal began to take hold of the street. By the 1960s, most of the legendary clubs were razed or fell into disrepair. The last jazz club there closed in 1968, though one remains as a restaurant. Today, the street is full of banks, shops, and department stores and shows little trace of its jazz history. The block from 5th to 6th Avenues is formally co-named "Swing Street" and one block west is called "W. C. Handys Place".
The21 Club was the sole surviving club on 52nd Street that also existed during the 1940s. It closed in 2020. The venue for the originalBirdland at 1674 Broadway (between 52nd & 53rd), which came into existence in 1949, is now a strip club. The currentBirdland is on 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues.
The section between Eleventh and Tenth Avenues is signed "Joe Hovarth Way" in tribute to Joseph Hovarth (1945–1995) who located thePolice Athletic League William J. Duncan Center on the block after moving from its original location.[3] The Duncan Center is named for a patrolman who was shot while chasing a stolen car in the neighborhood on May 17, 1930.[4]
The Manhattan School – Public School 35, special ed. (317 West 52nd) (north)
Radio City Station Post Office (zip code 10019) (south)
The Link (south), 43-story, 215–unit, glass tower condominium (height = 471 feet), opened in 2007[5] on site of the S.I.R. (Studio Instrument Rentals, Inc.) building at 310 W 52nd, known as the Palm Gardens Building.[6] S.I.R. occupied the building from 1974 until 2004. Cheetah, the well-known club that had once been at 53rd and Broadway, occupied the Palm Gardens building from 1968 to 1974. Cheetah became a popular Latin-American dance club that helped popularizeSalsa to mainstream America.[7]
CBS Building, headquarters of the network and popularly referred to as "Black Rock" (north)
31 West 52nd Street 30-floor, 411 ft (125 m) completed in 1986 originally for theE.F. Hutton headquarters. Currently the New York office of the international law firm,Clifford Chance (north) and the New York office of investment bankTD Securities, as well as the New York office for the international law firmHolland & Knight LLP.
75 Rockefeller Center, 33-story, 424 ft (129 m) building completed in 1947 the last of the original Rockefeller Center buildings that was originally used for the headquarters of the RockefellerEsso Oil Company[17] (north)
52nd between Lexington and Third Avenue is signedIsrael Bonds Way (the Development Corporation for Israel which issues the bonds is headquartered at the intersection in the Grolier Building).
Billy Joel has a studio album titled52nd Street. The songs, including the hit single "Honesty", have a jazz flavoring not found on his other albums.[31]
Toshiki Kadomatsu wrote a song titled "52nd Street 'Akiko'", which is on his albumSea Is a Lady.[32]
Van Morrison's 1972 song "Saint Dominic's Preview" includes the lyrics "And meanwhile we're over on a 52nd Street apartment/Socializing with the wino few".
Daniel Okrent invented Rotisserie League Baseball, a form offantasy baseball, in 1979. The name comes from the name of the restaurant, La Rôtisserie Française restaurant on New York City's East 52nd Street, where he first suggested the idea to his friends.
NY 9AWest Side Highway
