Sauerkraut Boulevard (East 86th Street in Yorkville)
“Little Germany” (Kleindeutschland) was originally located on Manhattan’s lower east side. The German community there was devasted by the 1904 Slocum ship tragedy; gradually, “Little Germany” moved uptown to Yorkville.
Yorkville’s East 86th Street has long been called “German Broadway” or “German Boulevard,” and “Sauerkraut Boulevard.” (Sauerkraut accompanies German dishes, such as sausages.) Yorkville’s German population has steadily decreased; these names are largely historical today.
Other ethnically named streets in Yorkville include Bohemian Boulevard or Bohemian Broadway (East 72nd Street) and Hungarian Boulevard or Hungarian Broadway (East 79th Street).
Wikipedia: 86th Street (Manhattan)
86th Street is a major two-way street on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs in two major sections: between East End and Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, and between Central Park West and Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side.
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Until the years following World War II, Yorkville on the East Side was a predominantly German community, and East 86th Street was nicknamed the German Broadway. The early settlement originally clustered around the 86th Street stop of the New York and Harlem Railroad. Since the late 1980s, nearly all distinctly German shops have disappeared, apart from a few restaurants on Second Avenue.
Newspapers.com
9 October 1953, Daily News (New York, NY), pg. 63, col. 2 ad:
October Beer Festival
ON 86TH STREET Between 2nd and 3rd AVES.
A Gala reprpdocution of the romantic festivity of an Old-World Harvest Celebration…a full week of Canival Gaiety on “SAUERKRAUT BOULEVARD.”
Newspapers.com
27 April 1980, Fort Lauderdale (FL) News and Sun-Sentinel, “Yorkville: Tasty touch of Germany in Manhattan” by Robert Tolf, pg. 8J, col. 1:
I surveyed the sausage scene at the home counters of that house of quality called Schaller and Weber on Second Avenue, and what is affectionately known to the old-timers as Sauerkraut Boulevard and to today’s tourists as 86th Street.
Newspapers.com
11 July 1982, Daily News (New York, NY), “Joy in Bensonhurst and Yorkville” by Jack WIlkinson, pg. 58, col. 3:
Now it’s known as Manhattan’s Upper Eat Side, but for some people, it will always be Yorkville. If Bensonhurst has 18th Ave., Yorkville has E. 86th St. “Sauerkraut Boulevard,” Otto called it.
X/Twitter
Corcoran Sunshine
@CorcSun
#CSTalks / “Due to the influx of German eateries, East 86th Street was called Sauerkraut Boulevard.” -
@BoweryBoys #Yorkville #Citizen360
5:10 PM · Nov 17, 2016
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The Bowery Boys Podcast
@BoweryBoys
The new Bowery Boys podcast visits the streets of Yorkville on the Upper East Side, once NYC’s thriving center for German, Czech and Hungarian culture. From breweries to the delights of Sauerkraut Boulevard! Listen on Stitcher and other podcast players: https://bit.ly/3ex7yW5
12:03 PM · Jun 26, 2020
Google Books
East 86 NYC: Sauerkraut Boulevard
By Rengha Rodewill
Berlin, Germany: Artisinex Verlag
2026
New York Almanack
Sauerkraut Boulevard & NYC’s German-American Enclave
June 29, 2026 by Jaap Harskamp
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Sometimes referred to as “German Broadway,” East 86th Street was Yorkville’s main commercial and cultural artery. It was nicknamed “Sauerkraut Boulevard.”
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Darlene Liebman
October 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM ·New York, NY ·
Did you know Manhattan’s 86th Street was once nicknamed “Sauerkraut Boulevard”?
In the early 1900’s, Yorkville was the heart of New York’s German community. Walking down 86th Street meant hearing brass bands and smelling bratwurst, schnitzel, and fresh sauerkraut.
German immigrants shaped the neighborhood’s food culture, local businesses, and traditions. Even the classic New York hot dog with sauerkraut reflects that lasting culinary influence.