Fifth Avenue

Fifth Avenue
Museum Mile
Fifth Avenue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 81st Street
OwnerCity of New York
Maintained byNYCDOT
Length6.197 mi (9.973 km)[1][2]
LocationManhattan, New York City
South endWashington Square North in Greenwich Village
Major
junctions
Madison Square in Flatiron
Grand Army Plaza in Midtown
Duke Ellington Circle in East Harlem
Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem
Madison Avenue Bridge in Harlem
Harlem River Drive in Harlem
North end Harlem River Drive / 143rd Street in Harlem
EastUniversity Place (south of 14th)
Broadway (14th to 23rd)
Madison Avenue (north of 23rd)
WestSixth Avenue (south of 59th)
Central Park-East Drive (59th to 110th)
Lenox Avenue (north of 110th)
Construction
CommissionedMarch 1811

Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world.[3][4]

Fifth Avenue carries two-way traffic from 142nd to 135th Street and carries one-way traffic southbound for the remainder of its route. The entire street used to carry two-way traffic until 1966. From 124th to 120th Street, Fifth Avenue is cut off by Marcus Garvey Park, with southbound traffic diverted around the park via Mount Morris Park West and northbound to Madison Avenue. Most of the avenue has a bus lane, though not a bike lane. Fifth Avenue is the traditional route for many celebratory parades in New York City, and is closed on several Sundays per year.

Fifth Avenue was originally only a narrower thoroughfare but the section south of Central Park was widened in 1908. The midtown blocks between 34th and 59th Streets were largely a residential area until the turn of the 20th century, when they were developed as commercial areas. The section of Fifth Avenue in the 50s is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world, and the section between 59th and 96th Streets across Central Park was nicknamed "Millionaire's Row" in the early 20th century due to the high concentration of mansions there. A section of Fifth Avenue running from 82nd to 110th Streets, also alongside Central Park, is also nicknamed Museum Mile due to the large number of museums there.

  1. ^ Google (September 12, 2015). "Fifth Avenue (south of 120th Street)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  2. ^ Google (September 12, 2015). "Fifth Avenue (north of 124th Street)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  3. ^ "Fifth Avenue The World's Most Expensive Shopping Street (PHOTOS)". Huffington Post. September 21, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2010. For the 9th year in a row, Fifth Avenue between 39th and 60th Streets ranks first among Cushman & Wakefield's Main Streets Across the World Report, according to the New York Post.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimes 19970429 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).