Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along its , 110-block route, Lexington Avenue runs through Harlem, Carnegie Hill, the Upper East Side, Midtown, and Murray Hill to a point of origin that is centered on Gramercy Park. South of Gramercy Park, the axis continues as Irving Place from 20th Street to East 14th Street.
Lexington Avenue was not one of the streets included in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 street grid, so the addresses for cross streets do not start at an even hundred number, as they do with avenues that were originally part of the plan.
History
Both Lexington Avenue and Irving Place began in 1832 when Samuel Ruggles, a lawyer and real-estate developer, petitioned the New York State Legislature to approve the creation of a new north–south avenue between the existing Third and Fourth Avenues, between 14th and 30th Streets. Ruggles purchased land in the area and was developing it as a planned community of townhouses around a private park, which he called Gramercy Park. He was also developing property around Union Square and wanted the new road to improve the value of these tracts. The legislation was approved, and, as the owner of most of the land along the route of the new street, Ruggles was assessed for the majority of its cost. Ruggles named the southern section, below 20th Street, which opened in 1833, after his friend Washington Irving. The northern section, which opened three years later, in 1836, was named after the Battle of Lexington in the American Revolutionary War.
In 1899, Lexington Avenue was the location of the first arrest in New York City for speeding when a bicycle patrolman overtook cabdriver Jacob German, who had been racing down the avenue at the "reckless" speed of . The portion of Lexington Avenue above East 42nd Street was reconstructed at the same time as the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. The widened street and the subway line both opened on July 17, 1918.
Portions of the avenue were widened in 1955, which required eminent domain takings of the facades of some structures along Lexington.
Lexington Avenue has carried one-way (downtown) traffic since July 17, 1960.
The 2007 New York City steam explosion sent a geyser of hot steam up from beneath the avenue at 41st Street, resulting in one death and more than 40 injuries.
Description
Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue runs one-way southbound for its entire length from 131st Street to 21st Street. Parallel to Lexington Avenue lies Park Avenue to its west and Third Avenue to its east. The avenue is largely commercial at ground level, with offices above. There are clusters of hotels in the 30s and 40s, roughly from the avenue's intersection with 30th Street through to its intersection with 49th Street, and apartment buildings farther north.
There are numerous structures designated as New York City Landmarks (NYCL), National Historic Landmarks (NHL), and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on Lexington Avenue. From south to north (in increasing address order), they include: Russell Sage Foundation Building and Annex (NYCL) George Washington Hotel, 23 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NHL) 69th Regiment Armory, 68 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NHL, NYCL) Chester A. Arthur House, 123 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NHL) New York School of Applied Design for Women, 160 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NYCL) Chanin Building, at 42nd Street (NRHP, NYCL) Socony–Mobil Building, at 42nd Street (NYCL) Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NYCL) Graybar Building, 420 Lexington Avenue (NYCL) The Lexington Hotel NYC, 511 Lexington Avenue (NYCL) Shelton Hotel, 525 Lexington Avenue (NYCL) Waldorf Astoria New York, between 49th and 50th Streets (NYCL) Beverly Hotel (now The Benjamin), at 50th Street Summit Hotel, 569 Lexington Avenue (NYCL) General Electric Building, 570 Lexington Avenue (NYCL) Citigroup Center, 601 Lexington Avenue (NYCL) Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NHL, NYCL) Barbizon 63, at 63rd Street (NRHP, NYCL) Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, 869 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NYCL) Seventh Regiment Armory, between 66th and 67th Streets (NRHP, NYCL) 131-135 East 66th Street (NYCL) 130-134 East 67th Street (NYCL) St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, 1067-1071 Lexington Avenue (NRHP, NYCL) Public School 72, 1674 Lexington Avenue (NYCL)