Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)

The Eighth Avenue (also: 8th Avenue ) runs north -south through New York City borough of Manhattan.

Location and History

The Eighth Avenue begins as a one-way street in the district of West Village at Abingdon Square and runs 44 blocks through the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, Garment District, the eastern end of Hell's Kitchens, Midtown Manhattan and the Theater District, before they at 59th Street Columbus Circle flows.

North of Columbus Circle the road is called Central Park West, which runs along Central Park - in this section rather than one-way street. North of Frederick Douglass Circle at the 110th Street is the name of Frederick Douglass Boulevard Avenue then, although it is still sometimes informally referred to as the 8th Avenue. The Fredrick Douglass Boulevard finally ends near the Harlem River to the Harlem River Drive at about the level of 159th Street. Although the Avenue carries different names on different sections, it is actually a continuous road.

Transport

Under the 8th Avenue IND Eighth Avenue Line, an underground line of the New York City Subway runs.

Social & Cultural

Since the 1990s, is the part of Eighth Avenue, and the adjacent Chelsea neighborhood passes through Greenwich Village, has become a center of the gay scene - with bars and restaurants for gay men. So is also an annual New York City Gay Pride Parade on the Eighth Avenue section instead, which runs through Greenwich Village.

To the north of this, the Eighth Avenue in the late 1960s and in the 1970s and 1980s was with the Times Square 42nd Street to 50th Street, the informal red-light district of New York. Through a controversial redevelopment of the area during the tenure of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani this section was family friendly.

Attractions

The following downtown attractions can be found on the 8th Avenue or max. one block away from:

• The Chelsea Hotel, 23rd Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue
• The Fashion Institute of Technology at the 26th Street Street/27th
• Madison Square Garden and Penn Station ( between 31st Street and 33rd Street )
• James Farley Post Office
• The New York Times Tower on 40th Street
• The Port Authority Bus Terminal ( between 40th Street and 42nd Street )
• One Worldwide Plaza
• Hearst Tower
• The Soros Foundation and Open Society Institute, headquartered at the on West 59th Street
• The eighth largest tissue building in Manhattan, which is also the East Coast headquarters of Google - an Art Deco buildings of the former Inland Freight Terminal of the Port Authority is located at 111 Eighth Avenue.
• The St. Urban is an exclusive, traditional Beaux -Arts building on W89th Street.