Swing Street (52nd Street)
"Swing Street" is the name for 52nd Street. At one time, many swing clubs were located here. The name dates from the swing era of the 1930s. 21 November 1937, New York Times, pg.…
"Swing Street" is the name for 52nd Street. At one time, many swing clubs were located here. The name dates from the swing era of the 1930s. 21 November 1937, New York Times, pg.…
"The Block Beautiful" is the name for East 19th Street, between Third Avenue and Irving Place. A few old homes were saved from demolition and refurbished, and the nickname "The Block…
"Forty Deuce," or "Deuce" for short, is (or was) West 42nd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue. The term dates from the seedy 1960s and 1970s, when the block…
"The Rialto" was the 14th Street theatre district. The theatre district has long since moved uptown, and "the Rialto" is no longer used. The term was extremely popular in the…
"The Stroll" is a term for the center street (the social center) in an area of New York City with a large black population. The Stroll was originally between 26th and 63rd Streets on the…
West 42nd Steet became "Theater Row" in the 1970s. In recent years, "Theater Row" has been redeveloped to accommodate new housing and newer theaters. The shows are small,…
"Thieves' Alley" was a criminal area located at 5 Norfolk Street. It was destroyed in the 1890s to create Mulberry Bend Park, now known as Columbus Park. "Thieves'…
"Thoity Thoid and Thoid" (33rd Street and Third Avenue) is a quintessential example of "New Yorkese," but the phrase has not been historically recorded. This is from page 70 of…
'THRU Streets" is a Department of Transportation program to improve the traffic flow in Manhattan. The program has been declared a success and might be expanded to other streets. The…
"Tin Pan Alley" was the name of the music publishing area of Manhattan on 28th Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue. Music publishers came to the area in the 1880s and began to leave…
A "Tin Pan Alleyite" is someone who worked on the historical Tin Pan Alley on West 28th Street, or who works with a Tin Pan Alley-type of music publisher, or is a fan of Tin Pan…
Syndicated newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (1897-1972) wrote in a column in March 1949: "Sights You Never See on the New York Map: (...) 'Tin Pan Handle Alley' (50th Street near…
Broadway's bright lights gave it the nickname "Tungsten Territory." Broadway columnist Walter Winchell (1897-1972) used "Tungsten Territory" in 1927 and "Tungsten…
One of the popular New York City myths is that the slang term "twenty-three skidoo" comes from the Flatiron Building at Twenty-Third Street and Broadway/Fifth Avenue. Tourist buses pass…
Syndicated newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (1897-1972) wrote in a column in March 1949: "Sights You Never See on the New York Map: (...) 'Ulcer County,' the sector along Madison…
Madison Avenue (home to many advertising agencies) was popularly called "Ulcer Gulch" in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. "Ulcer Gulch" was cited in 1942 as the nickname for the War…
"Vain Stem" (vain + Main Stem) was a nickname for Broadway in Manhattan that was used in the 1930s and 1940s. "The newest name for B'way, 'The Vain Stem,'"…
A "vanity address" is an address that the building owner requests from the borough president's office. In Manhattan, for example, a Fifth Avenue address might sound better than a…
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center affected nearby Vesey Street. PATH rail commuters created a crush of pedestrian traffic on Vesey Street each rush hour, in the…
The term "Wailing Wall Street" (Wailing Wall + Wall Street) is associated with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and "Black Thursday" (October 24th), but printed citations appeared…