Wall Street (from a graveyard to a river)
Wall Street (the financial capital of the United States) is, according to the old saying, "between a river and a graveyard" -- the East River and Trinity Church Cemetery. The comment has…
White Light Belt (Broadway)
Broadway is known for its bright lights, and has been called the "Bulb Belt," "Great Bright Way," "Great White Way," "Incandescent District," "Lane of…
Whoopee Row (West 133rd Street)
"Whoopee Row" was West 133rd Street in Harlem, between Lenox Avenue and Seventh Avenue. Many night clubs, speakeasies and fried chicken restaurants were located there. "'Whoopee…
World’s Longest Parking Lot (Long Island Expressway)
The Long Island Expressway (LIE) extends into New York City as the Queens-Midtown Expressway and the Horace Harding Expressway. The LIE has long been known for its bumper-to-bumper traffic. The LIE…
Yappian Way (Broadway)
"O. Henry" called Broadway the "Yappian Way." It's a pun on Rome's "Appian Way" for the New Yorkers who "yap" (talk excessively). The term has…
Yashkin Street (Orchard Street)
Orchard Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan has long been known for its discount shopping, leading to the nickname of the "Bargain District." The early 20th-century entrepreneurs…
Yiddish Broadway or Yiddish Rialto (Second Avenue in Manhattan)
The Lower East Side of Manhattan had numerous Yiddish theaters in the early 1900s, but most of them disappeared by the 1940s. The area was called the "Yiddish Rialto" by at least 1908.…
Zoo Lots Avenue (New Lots Avenue, Brooklyn)
New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn has several connections to the New York City Subway. However, the areas and the stations are so dangerous -- especially the elevated station at the intersection of New…