 Broadway at Union Avenue | |
| Owner | City of New York |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | NYCDOT |
| Length | 4.4 mi (7.1 km)[1] |
| Location | Brooklyn |
| Postal code | 11211 11206 11221 11207 |
| Nearest metro station | Jamaica Line   Broadway  |
Broadway is an roadway in theNew York Cityborough ofBrooklyn that extends from theEast River in the neighborhood ofWilliamsburg in a southeasterly direction toEast New York for a length of 4.32 miles (6.95 km). It was named for theBroadway inManhattan. The East New York terminus is a complicated intersection with East New York Avenue,Fulton Street,Jamaica Avenue, and Alabama Avenue. TheBMT Jamaica Line (J, M, and Z trains) of theNew York City Subway runs on elevated tracks over Broadway from theWilliamsburg Bridge to East New York on its way to Queens. Broadway forms the boundary between the neighborhoods ofBushwick, which lies above Broadway to the northeast, andBedford–Stuyvesant, which is to the southwest.
When Williamsburg was an independent city, the length of Broadway from the East River to South 6th Street was known as South 7th Street. From that point to Division Avenue, it took over the path of South 6th Street. Both of these segments opened in the 1830s. From that intersection to its terminus in East New York it was named Division Avenue,[2] which was laid on the municipal boundaries separating thecity of Brooklyn from the town of Bushwick (and village of Williamsburg, which was then part of the town). At each of the roadbed changes in Williamsburg, Broadway bends a little more to the south until it runs straight southeast to East New York.
TheBroadway Ferry provided service (from the early 19th century) from the foot of Broadway to several points in Manhattan and by the mid-1860s was carrying over 200,000 passengers per day.[3] The ferry terminal was linked first tostreetcars and then elevated rapid transit in 1889.[4] With these connections, the central commercial area of Williamsburg began to migrate to Broadway fromGrand Street.[3] This was further spurred by the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge although the section of Broadway from the new bridge plaza to the ferry landing river declined since it was now effectively bypassed.[5] Prominent extant buildings in Williamsburg located on Broadway include theWilliamsburgh Savings Bank (at #175, built in 1875), Nassau Trust Company (at #134-136, built in 1888),Kings County Savings Bank (#135, built in 1868),Peter Luger Steak House (at 178, built in 1876), and several cast iron buildings such as the Sparrow Shoe Factory (#195, across Driggs Avenue from Williamsburgh Savings, built in 1882).[6][7]
During theNew York City blackout of 1977, Broadway was the epicenter and worst hit of the looting, rioting, and violence that hit the city. Thirty-five blocks of Broadway from Williamsburg to Bedford-Stuyvesant were destroyed, 134 stores looted, 45 of them set ablaze. The riots acceleratedwhite flight from the area, as many of the destroyed properties were never rebuilt and remained empty lots well into the 1980s.[8][9] Broadway remained a high-crime, destitute area untilgentrification in the 2000s which has initiated a resurgence of new businesses, construction of luxury condominiums, and a return ofchain stores to the area. In 2019, theNew York City Department of City Planning released a Bushwick rezoning plan, which would allow for high-density development on Broadway and Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues.[10]
The Broadway corridor in Brooklyn is served by the following:
40°41′39.29″N73°55′48.68″W / 40.6942472°N 73.9301889°W /40.6942472; -73.9301889