| Central Park West (59th–110th Streets) Frederick Douglass Boulevard (north of 110th Street) | |
 Facing north on Eighth Avenue from 32nd Street | |
 | |
| Owner | City of New York |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | NYCDOT |
| Length | 7.8 mi (12.6 km)[1] |
| Location | Manhattan,New York City, U.S. |
| South end | Hudson /Bleecker Streets inWest Village |
| Major junctions | Columbus Circle inMidtown Frederick Douglass Circle inHarlem |
| North end |  Harlem River Drive inWashington Heights |
| East | Greenwich Avenue &4th Street (below14th Street) Seventh Avenue (14th–59th Streets) West Drive (59th–110th Streets) Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (above 110th Street) |
| West | Hudson Street (below 14th Street) Ninth Avenue (14th–59th Streets) Columbus Avenue (59th–100th Streets) Manhattan Avenue (100th–124th Streets) St. Nicholas Avenue (above 124th Street) |
| Construction | |
| Commissioned | March 1811 |
Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side ofManhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of theCommissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, though today the name changes twice: At 59th Street/Columbus Circle, it becomesCentral Park West, where it forms the western boundary ofCentral Park, and north of 110th Street/Frederick Douglass Circle, it is known asFrederick Douglass Boulevard before merging ontoHarlem River Drive north of 155th Street.
Eighth Avenue begins in theWest Village neighborhood atAbingdon Square (whereHudson Street becomes Eighth Avenue at an intersection withBleecker Street) and runs north for 44 blocks throughChelsea, theGarment District,Hell's Kitchen's east end,Midtown and theTheater District, before it finally entersColumbus Circle at 59th Street and becomes Central Park West. North ofFrederick Douglass Circle, it resumes its Eighth Avenue designation, but is also known as Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The avenue ends north of155th Street, and merges into theHarlem River Drive.
TheNew York City Subway'sIND Eighth Avenue Line, serving theA, C, and E trains in Lower Manhattan and theA, B, C, and D trains on the Upper West Side, runs under Eighth Avenue.[2][3]
MTA Regional Bus Operations primarily operates the following bus routes on the avenue. All routes are uptown unless specified below:
The southernmost section is known solely as Eighth Avenue between Abingdon Square and Columbus Circle. This portion of Eighth Avenue has carried traffic one-way northbound since June 6, 1954.[5]
Since the 1990s, the stretch of Eighth Avenue that runs throughGreenwich Village and its adjacent Chelsea neighborhood has been a center of the city'sgay community, with bars and restaurants catering to gay men. New York City's annualgay pride parade takes place along the Greenwich Village section of Eighth Avenue. Also, along withTimes Square, the portion of Eighth Avenue from42nd Street to50th Street was an informalred-light district in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s before it was controversially renovated into a morefamily friendly environment under the first mayoral administration ofRudolph Giuliani.
The Midtown section of Eighth Avenue was frequented by tourists by the 21st century, and the sidewalks in Midtown were widened to accommodate increased crowds. However, that section of the avenue also experienced cleanliness issues, and homeless and mentally ill people were prevalent. In addition, due to the sidewalk-widening projects, parts of Eighth Avenue narrow to two lanes in Midtown.[6]
North of Columbus Circle, the roadway becomesCentral Park West (abbreviated toCPW). Unlike many Manhattan avenues, CPW has traffic running in two directions, and its address numbering system is different from that of the rest of Eighth Avenue. As its name indicates, CPW forms the western edge ofCentral Park. It also forms the eastern boundary of theUpper West Side. It runs 51 blocks fromColumbus Circle (at59th Street, orCentral Park South) toFrederick Douglass Circle (at110th Street, or Cathedral Parkway). The gates into Central Park along its western edge are: Merchants Gate at 59th Street, Women's Gate at 72nd, Naturalists Gate at 77th, Hunters Gate at 81st, Mariners Gate at 85th, Gate of All Saints at 96th, Boys Gate at 100th, and Strangers Gate at 106th. Central Park West's expensive housing rivals that ofFifth Avenue on theUpper East Side.
Several notable residences on Central Park West include:
According toThe New York Times's architecture criticPaul Goldberger, the street's buildings, both the new ones like15 Central Park West and the old ones such asThe Century, "fit together the same way the ones in that hypothetical Main Street do, and for the same reason. For more than a hundred years, their architects honor the unspoken agreement to work together, to line their buildings up with each other and to work in a consistent scale with materials that are compatible."[14]
Most of thesehousing cooperatives were built around 1930, replacing late-19th century hotels with the same names. Some, including The Century, The San Remo, The Majestic, and The El Dorado, are twin towers. Other landmarks and institutions along its length include theNew-York Historical Society and theAmerican Museum of Natural History. The area from 61st to 97th Streets is included in theCentral Park West Historic District.[15]
The building located at55 Central Park West is the infamous "Spook Central" from the movieGhostbusters.[16][17] The famed New York City restaurantTavern on the Green is located off Central Park West, at66th Street, within the grounds of Central Park.[18][19]
In 1899, while exiting a streetcar,Henry Bliss was run over by a taxi at CPW andWest 74th Street, becoming the first person to be run down and killed by a motor car in the Americas.[20]
North ofFrederick Douglass Circle at110th Street inHarlem, it isFrederick Douglass Boulevard, though sometimes still unofficially referred to as Eighth Avenue. The stretch was renamed in 1977.[21] Frederick Douglass Boulevard eventually terminates near theHarlem River at theHarlem River Drive around West 159th Street. While Central Park West hasits own address system, address numbers on Frederick Douglass Boulevard continue as if Central Park West had used Eighth Avenue's numbering system.
The corridor along Frederick Douglass Boulevard wasrezoned in 2003, allowing for larger residential buildings of greater density, and resulting in the construction of condominiums, rental buildings, restaurants, and cafes. Formerly described as havingurban blight, it is nowgentrified,[22] especially in the restaurants along its route, giving it the nickname "Restaurant Row".[23][24] This gentrification is partly due to massive city investment. According toThe New York Times the demographic too has changed:
A 2007–2011 census survey estimated that 61 percent of the 57,897 people living along and around Eighth were black, down from 74 percent in 2000. The share of whites jumped to 12.4 percent from 2.3 percent. Median household income rose 28 percent, to $34,694.[22]
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![The original New York Cancer Hospital,[26] built between 1884 and 1886, now housing, at 455 Central Park West and 106th Street](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNycanchospjeh.JPG)
Notes
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