Museum Mile
"Museum Mile" along Fifth Avenue contains the following: El Museo del Barrio at 104th Street Museum of the City of New York at 103rd Street International Center of Photography at 94th…
Music Row (West 48th Street)
New York City's "Music Row" was a collection of music instrument stores and repair shops along Manhattan's West 48th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. The stores began…
Newspaper Row
Newspapers in the 19th century liked to be close to the source of news -- city hall. In the second half of the nineteenth century (roughly 1875-1900), Park Row in Manhattan was also called…
Old Glory Corner (Fifth Avenue and 16th Street)
The New York City firm of Annin and Company (or Annin Flagmakers) began at Fulton and William Streets in Manhattan in 1847, Its address was nicknamed "Old Glory Corner" because it made so…
Palace Beach (Broadway and West 47th Street, outside Palace Theatre)
New York's Palace Theatre at 1564 Broadway (at West 47th Street) was the biggest vaudeville venue. Performers (often waiting for auditions and calls) could be found on the sidewalk in front of…
Panic Beach or Panic Island (Broadway and West 47th Street, opposite Palace Theatre)
The Palace Theatre (Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets) opened in 1913 and hosted vaudeville acts until 1932, when it became a movie palace. The Palace Theatre now is home to Broadway shows. To…
Park Avenuer (wealthy/snobby person who lives on Park Avenue)
A person who lives on Park Avenue -- a street known for its wealthy residences -- is a "Park Avenuer" or "Park Avenoor." The term "Park Avenoor" was popularized by…
Parkway
Thanks to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, we drive on a "parkway." We also park on a "driveway," but that's another story. Merriam-Webster's dictionary has 1887 for…
Peacock Alley
If you're staying at the Waldorf, perhaps this bit of "alley" history will prove interesting. OSCAR OF THE WALDORFby Karl SchriftgiesserNew York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.1943Pg.…
Pickle Alley (Essex Street)
The Lower East Side of Manhattan had many Jewish immigrants in the early years of the 1900s; Essex Street was once the home to many shops that sold pickles. Food52 wrote about "A History of…
Play Street
A "play street" is a street closed to vehicular traffic so that children can play. "Play streets" -- cited in New York since 1915 -- usually are designated during the summer,…
Political Row (East 7th Street, between Avenues C and D)
Entry in progress -- B.P. 31 March 1892, The World (New York, NY), pg. 6, col. 1:QUOTA OF POLITICAL ROW.An East-Side Street Prolific of Office Holders.It must be a very undesirable office when…
Ptomaine Road (Broadway, between 42nd and 49th Streets)
Syndicated newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (1897-1972) wrote in a column in March 1949: “Sights You Never See on the New York Map: (...) 'Ptomaine Road' (a stretch in the Broadway…
Pub Alley (West 38th Street)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Zero HedgeFAA Fines Drone Operator For Multiple "Reckless" Crashes In ManhattanSubmitted by Tyler Durden on 05/02/2014 16:40 -0400Filed under - WTF Headline of…
Queen of Avenues (Fifth Avenue)
Manhattan's Fifth Avenue has been called the "Queen of Avenues." The term "queen of avenues" (lower case) was cited in print in 1949. Jack McCarthy, a broadcaster of the…
Queens Topographical Poem
A Queens topographical poem -- written in 1926 by Ellis Parker Butler -- attempted to easily explain the new street numbering. 3 December 1926, New York Times, pg. 8:VERSE AFFORDS MEANSTO GET ABOUT…
Radio Row or Electronics District (Cortlandt Street)
New York City's "Radio Row" was a collection of electronics retail and repair stores that was located on Manhattan's Cortlandt Street. City Radio opened the first store on…
Ragpickers’ Row (59 Baxter Street)
"Ragpickers' Row" (also called "Ragpicker's Row") was located at 59 Baxter Street, Manhattan, in the mid-19th century. Residents of the neighborhood were so poor that…
Ragtime Rialto (West 28th Street)
"Ragtime Rialto" was another name for what is now called "Tin Pan Alley," where the song publishers assembled on West 28th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The…
Renwick Row or English Terrace Row (West 10th Street, Manhattan)
"English Terrace Row" (or "Renwick Row") in Manhattan is located on West 10th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas). The row of houses was…