The street's name has beenmetonymous with the Americanadvertising industry since the 1920s. Thus, the term "Madison Avenue" refers specifically to the agencies and methodology of advertising.[2] "Madison Avenue techniques" refers, according toWilliam Safire, to the "gimmicky, slick use of the communications media to play on emotions."[3]
Madison Avenue carriesone-way traffic uptown (northbound) from East 23rd Street toEast 135th Street, with the changeover from two-way traffic taking place on January 14, 1966, at which time Fifth Avenue was changed to one-way downtown (southbound).[4] This changeover was accelerated by seven weeks due to the transit strike which began on January 1. Between East 135th Street and East 142nd Street, Madison Avenue carries southbound traffic only and runs parallel to theHarlem River Drive.
The term "Madison Avenue" is often used metonymically to stand for the American advertising industry. Madison Avenue became identified with advertising after that sector's explosive growth in this area in the 1920s.[8]
According to "The Emergence of Advertising in America", by the year 1861, there were 20 advertising agencies in New York City, and the New York City Association of Advertising Agencies was founded in 1911, predating the establishment of theAmerican Association of Advertising Agencies by several years.[8]
Among various depictions in popular culture, the portion of the advertising industry which centers on Madison Avenue serves as a backdrop for theAMC television dramaMad Men, which focuses on industry activities during the 1960s.[8]
In the late 20th century, many agencies left Madison Avenue, with some moving further downtown and others moving west.[9][10] The continued presence of large agencies in the city made New York the third-largest job market per capita in the U.S. in 2016, according to a study by marketing recruitment firm MarketPro.[11] Today, several agencies are still located in the oldbusiness cluster on Madison Avenue, includingStrawberryFrog,TBWA Worldwide,Organic, Inc., andDDB Worldwide. However, the term is still used to describe the agency business as a whole and large, New York–based agencies in particular.[8]
Madison Square Garden took its name from the location ofthe first building of that name, located on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue at 26th Street, across from the Park. The first Garden was a former railroad terminal for thePark Avenue main line, which was converted into an open-air circus venue byP. T. Barnum in 1871 and was renamed "Madison Square Garden" in 1879. (TheNew York Life Insurance Building now occupies that entire city block.) The original Garden was demolished in 1889 and replaced bya new indoor arena designed byStanford White that opened the following year. The second Garden had a bronze statue of the Roman goddessDiana on the tower of the sports arena. When it moved toa new building at 50th Street andEighth Avenue in 1925 it kept its old name. Madison Square Garden is now located atEighth Avenue between 31st and 33rd Street; however, it still retains the name.
Madison Avenue is served by the following routes uptown. All crosstown service is eastbound unless specified below. Downtown service runs along 5th Avenue:
TheM1,M2 andM3 localNew York City Transit buses are the primary servers, running from East 25th to East 110th Streets, with M1 service extended to East 135th Street.
TheM4 andQ32 join in north of East 32nd Street, running to East 110th and East 59th Streets, respectively.
From East 65th Street, theM66 andM72 run to East 68th and East 72nd Streets, respectively.
TheM86 SBS runs from East 84th to East 86th Streets.
From East 96th Street, theM106 runs to East 106th Street, and the westboundM96 runs to East 97th Street.
TheBx33 runs in both directions north of East 135th Street and crosses the Madison Avenue Bridge.
Pursuant to Section 4-12(m) of the New York City Traffic Rules,[18] driving a vehicle other than a bus in the bus lane on Madison Avenue to turn right during the restricted hours specified by sign between 42nd Street and 59th Street is prohibited, then permitted at 60th Street, but ataxicab carrying a passenger may use the bus lane to turn right at 46th Street. Bikes are excluded from this prohibition.
In July 1987, then-New York City MayorEdward Koch proposed banning bicycling on Fifth, Park and Madison Avenues during weekdays, but many bicyclists protested and had the ban overturned.[19] When the trial was started on Monday, August 24, 1987, for 90 days to ban bicyclists from these three avenues from 31st Street to 59th Street between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays,mopeds would not be banned.[20]
Harlem River Drive /Madison Avenue Bridge inEast Harlem
Media related toMadison Avenue at Wikimedia Commons
