 Fulton Mile shopping district at Franklin Avenue | |
 Interactive map of Fulton Street | |
| Namesake | Robert Fulton |
|---|---|
| Owner | City of New York |
| Maintained by | NYCDOT |
| Length | 6.4 mi (10.3 km)[1] |
| Location | Brooklyn |
Fulton Street is a long east–west street in northernBrooklyn,New York City. This street begins at the intersection of Adams Street and Joralemon Street inBrooklyn Heights, and runs eastward toEast New York andCypress Hills. At the border withQueens, Fulton Street becomes 91st Avenue, which ends at 84th Street inWoodhaven.
The street isnamed afterRobert Fulton; astreet of the same name inManhattan was linked to this street by Fulton with his steam ferries. For a hundred years before the Fulton Ferry monopoly, Fulton Street was the Ferry Road throughJamaica Pass and, in the centuries before any ferry service, Indian path to theHempstead Plains. It began at theFulton Ferry Landing and climbed south through Brooklyn Heights pastBrooklyn Borough Hall to where it now begins at Adams Street. Part of the original Fulton Street survives as Old Fulton Street in Brooklyn Heights andDumbo, and asCadman Plaza West in Downtown Brooklyn. The segment of Fulton Street that traveled past Borough Hall has been turned into a pedestrian esplanade.
The initial segment of Fulton Street as it exists today is the Fulton Mall between Adams Street andFlatbush Avenue. East of Flatbush Avenue, Fulton Street becomes a major artery ofDowntown Brooklyn,Fort Greene andClinton Hill. At Franklin Avenue, Fulton Street then becomes the signature street ofBedford–Stuyvesant. At Broadway Junction inEast New York, the street is interrupted by the intersection ofBroadway andJamaica Avenue, but continues on the other side as a one-way residential street through East New York andCypress Hills until Norwood Avenue, once again as a two-way street reaching the Queens border at Elderts Lane inWoodhaven,Queens. There it becomes 91st Avenue, which continues until 84th Street in Queens.
On March 10, 2005, Fulton Street was co-namedHarriet Ross Tubman Avenue along most of its length from Rockaway Avenue inBedford-Stuyvesant to Elm Place inDowntown Brooklyn, on the anniversary of the death of the ex-slave and abolitionist, which has been designated "Harriet Tubman Day of Commemoration" in New York State.
Fulton Street is served by the following subway lines:
These bus routes serve the corridor:
Fulton Mall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Locale | Downtown Brooklyn,New York City |
| Subway services | A, C, F, <F>, N, R, and W trains atJay Street – MetroTech B, D, N, Q, R, and W trains atDeKalb Avenue A, C, and G trains atHoyt–Schermerhorn Streets 2, 3, 4, and 5 trains atNevins Street andHoyt Street |
| Bus routes | B25,B26,B38,B41,B45,B52,B54,B57,B61,B62,B65,B67,B103 |
Fulton Mall is apedestrian street andtransit mall inDowntown Brooklyn that runs on Fulton Street betweenFlatbush Avenue and Adams Street. It contains 230 stores[2] anddedicated bus lanes. For the mall's length, only buses, commercial vehicles, local truck deliveries, and emergency vehicles are allowed to use the street. The center of the mall is an open public space known asAlbee Square.
Fulton Street's first period of great vigor occurred before the era of enclosed shopping malls, the era when huge department stores likeAbraham & Straus,Frederick Loeser & Co. andA. I. Namm & Son reigned on the street. The current era dates from the 1970s, when through the persistent efforts of the street's merchants, the city agreed to a revitalization program through which it would narrow the roadway, widen the sidewalk, and create, with the exception of buses, a traffic-free shopping area.[3] ArchitectLee Harris Pomeroy redesigned the mall in the early 1980s: he designed street furniture and equipment for the project including large, free-standing canopies, vendors’ kiosks, directory and telephone kiosks, and high mast lighting.[4] The graphics program he also designed for the project consists of informational, directional and street signage. Pomeroy's renovation was completed in 1984 for $24 million and received anAlbert S. Bard Award from theCity Club of New York.[5] Nonetheless, the mall initially failed to attract tenants.[5] In 2024, the city began renovating Fulton Mall again for $8 million, adding benches and trees.[6]
Subway stations atJay Street–MetroTech,DeKalb Avenue,Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets,Nevins Street, andHoyt Street and bus lines service the Fulton Mall area.[7][8] The area is New York City's third-largest commercial center afterHerald Square and a stretch ofMadison Avenue.[9] The mall has attracted major investments from prominent Brooklyn retail real estate developers such asStanley Chera,Albert Laboz, Joseph Jemal, andEli Gindi.[10][11][12]
Fulton Mall includes major retailers such asMacy's,H&M,Gap,GameStop,Foot Locker,Modell's Sporting Goods, andFinish Line. The Fulton Mall Improvement Association[13] is the localbusiness improvement district. According to the Improvement Association, in 2003 the Fulton Mall area saw between 100,000 and 125,000 visitors a day.[14] The mall has spurred additional commercial development in its immediate vicinity, such as theCity Point development,[15] and has become the most expensive place to do business in downtown Brooklyn.[citation needed] Fulton Street's retail space was $301 per square foot in 2016 and $326 per square foot in 2017.[16][17]
The Macy's store at 422 Fulton Street was originallyAbraham & Straus's flagship store. The building was designed inArt Deco style by Starrett & Van Vleck and built in 1933.[18] It was formerly the showroom for the W.C. Vosburgh Mfg. Co.[19] As of 2017, the building is undergoing a $194 million renovation byTishman Speyer. Its new portion will have 10 floors dedicated to Class A office space. Macy's is also renovating its part of the building.[20]
TheOfferman Building on Fulton Mall was built in 1893 byHenry Offerman, a businessman in the sugar industry. It was designed in theRomanesque Revival architectural style and originally hosted retail on the ground floor.[21] The Offerman Building was designated aNew York City Historic Landmark in 2005,[22] and by 2017 had been converted into a 121-unit residential complex.[21] Across the street is another designated city landmark, theA. I. Namm & Son Department Store.[23]
