125th Street (Manhattan)
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125th Street, co-named Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is a two-way street that runs east–west in the New York City borough of Manhattan, from First Avenue on the east to Marginal Street, a service road for the Henry Hudson Parkway along the Hudson River in the west. It is often considered to be the "Main Street" of Harlem.
Notable buildings along 125th Street include the Apollo Theater, the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, the Hotel Theresa, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Mount Morris Bank Building, Harlem Commonwealth Council, the Harlem Children's Zone, the Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family, and the former West End Theatre, now home to the La Gree Baptist Church.
History
The street was designated by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that established the Manhattan street grid as one of 15 east–west streets that would be Script error: No such module "convert". in width (while other streets were designated as Script error: No such module "convert". in width).[1]
Neighborhoods
The western part of the street runs diagonally between the neighborhoods of Manhattanville and Morningside Heights from the northwest from the West Harlem Piers and an interchange with the Henry Hudson Parkway at 130th Street. East of Morningside Avenue it runs east–west through central Harlem to Second Avenue, where a ramp connects it to the Robert F. Kennedy (Triborough) Bridge. However, 125th Street continues to First Avenue, where it connects to the southbound FDR Drive and the Willis Avenue Bridge.
West of Convent Avenue, 125th Street was rerouted onto what was, prior to 1920, called Manhattan Street. What remains of the original alignment of 125th Street was renamed La Salle Street at that time. The remaining blocks run between Amsterdam Avenue and Claremont Avenue. The New York Times lamented the name changes, noting that the new names had "somewhat doubtful nomenclature", and that the City's "Aldermen like French names" but gave no rationale for the moves otherwise.[2] A block of the original 125th Street in this area was de-mapped to make the super-blocks where the Grant Houses projects now exist.
A proposal to convert the street into a Trans-Harlem Expressway died when funds were diverted from the proposed 125th Street Hudson River bridge at the street's western end.
Beginning in the late 1990s, many sections of 125th Street have been gentrified and developed with such stores as MAC Cosmetics, Old Navy, H&M, CVS/pharmacy, and Magic Johnson Theaters. In collaboration with the community, the city has developed a plan for the 125th Street corridor focusing on reinforcing and building upon its strengths as an arts and cultural corridor.[3]
Fault line
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". A rift in the crust runs along underneath this street from the East River to New Jersey and is known as the 125th Street Fault or the Manhattanville Fault.[4][5][6] It is suspected to have caused a magnitude-5.2 earthquake in 1737, two smaller ones in 1981,[7] and a 2.4 magnitude quake in 2001.[6] The fault line skims across the top of Central Park and runs to Roosevelt Island to the southeast. It creates a fault valley deep enough to require the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains) to use a trestle between 122nd and 135th Streets, even though the line goes underground at either end and remains at the same elevation above sea level throughout.[8] Riverside Drive also crosses over the fault valley on a high viaduct.
Public transportation
The following New York City Subway stations are located at 125th Street (west to east):[9]
- 125th Street at Broadway, served by the Template:NYCS trains
- 125th Street at St. Nicholas Avenue, served by the Template:NYCS trains
- 125th Street at Lenox Avenue, served by the Template:NYCS trains
- 125th Street at Lexington Avenue, served by the Template:NYCS trains
The following NYC Bus lines serve 125th Street:[10]
- The Template:NYC bus is the corridor's main server, running between Saint Clair Place and either First Avenue (eastbound) or Second Avenue (westbound), with the latter continuing out of service to 12th Avenue and looping around.
- The Template:NYC bus link makes specific stops east of Amsterdam Avenue.
- Additional local service is provided by the Template:NYC bus link between Amsterdam and Lexington (eastbound) or Third Avenues (westbound).
- The Template:NYC bus link runs between Broadway and Amsterdam (eastbound) or Morningside Avenues (westbound).
- The Template:NYC bus link runs between Amsterdam and Saint Nicholas Avenues, where it terminates.
And these bus routes cross the street:
- Template:NYC bus link at Riverside Drive
- Template:NYC bus link at Broadway
- Template:NYC bus link at St. Nicholas Avenue
- Template:NYC bus link at Frederick Douglass Boulevard
- Template:NYC bus link at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (7th Avenue)
- Template:NYC bus link at Lenox Avenue
- Template:NYC bus link at Madison Avenue (northbound) and Fifth Avenue (southbound)
- Template:NYC bus link at Park Avenue (southbound) and Third Avenue (northbound)
- Template:NYC bus link at Lexington Avenue (southbound) and Third Avenue (northbound)
- Template:NYC bus link at Lexington Avenue (eastbound)
- Template:NYC bus link at Second Avenue (southbound) and First Avenue (northbound)
Metro-North Railroad's Harlem–125th Street station is located at the street's intersection with Park Avenue.[11]
The planned second phase of the Second Avenue Subway, continuing north from the 116th Street station, will turn westward onto 125th Street, terminating at a station at Lexington Avenue. The new station would connect to the Metro-North and preexisting Lexington Avenue subway stations there.[12]
Gallery
-
The Studio Museum in Harlem
(144 West 125th St.) -
St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church
the oldest existing church in Harlem and above 44th Street[13]
(401 West 125th St.)
-
Hotel Theresa, now Theresa Towers,
a NYC landmark and on the NRHP
(West 125th St. and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.) -
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building
(163 West 125th Street) -
55 West 125th Street
where Bill Clinton has his office
Notable occupants
- As of 2011, former president Bill Clinton maintains an office on 125th Street.[16][17]
In popular culture
- The intersection of 125th and Lexington Avenue is the location where Lou Reed buys heroin on the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting for the Man" from their seminal 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico.[18]
- Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (1970) is an album by Gil Scott-Heron.
- In 1978's The Wiz (film), Aunt Em says to Dorothy: "Girl, do you know that you're 24 years old, and you've never been south of 125th Street? Well, you haven't!"
References
Notes
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- ↑ Morris, Gouverneur, De Witt, Simeon, and Rutherford, John [sic] (March 1811) "Remarks Of The Commissioners For Laying Out Streets And Roads In The City Of New York, Under The Act Of April 3, 1807", Cornell University Library. Accessed June 27, 2016. "These streets are all sixty feet wide except fifteen, which are one hundred feet wide, viz.: Numbers fourteen, twenty-three, thirty-four, forty-two, fifty-seven, seventy-two, seventy-nine, eighty-six, ninety-six, one hundred and six, one hundred and sixteen, one hundred and twenty-five, one hundred and thirty-five, one hundred and forty-five, and one hundred and fifty-five--the block or space between them being in general about two hundred feet."
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- ↑ a b "Small Earthquakes Strike New York City" Duke Geological Laboratory website
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- ↑ The Velvet Underground, "I'm Waiting for the Man", The Velvet Underground & Nico, Verve, 1967.
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External links
Template:Streets of Manhattan Script error: No such module "Coordinates".