79th Street (Manhattan)

79th Street is a major two-way street in the Upper East Side and Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East 79th Street stretches from East End Avenue to Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, where it enters Central Park through Miners' Gate. The 79th Street Transverse crosses Central Park, connecting Hunters Gate at West 81st Street on the Upper West Side to Children's Gate on East 79th. 79th Street does not exist between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, due to the "superblock" occupied by the American Museum of Natural History. West of Columbus Avenue, 79th Street continues and terminates at an exit/entrance ramp for the West Side Highway, under which sit the Boat Basin Cafe and 79th Street Boat Basin.On the west side, the street is entirely within the boundaries of ZIP Code 10024; on the east side, as of July 1, 2007, the ZIP Code for this part of the Lenox Hill Post Office Branch changed from 10021 to 10075. [ [http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue_detail&issue=291&Itemid=35 10021 Zip Code Split] , Representative Carolyn Maloney press release. Accessed August 1, 2008.]

History

The interchange on the Hudson River and the boat basin were constructed by 1937, during the tenure of Robert Moses as Parks Commissioner, as part of the grand architectural multi-level entry and exit from the Henry Hudson Parkway under the name of the "79th Street Grade Crossing Elimination Structure", and first proposed in 1934. The project was designed to have 79th Street pass under the Parkway, eliminating a railroad grade crossing. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70713FF395D13728DDDAC0994DE405B848FF1D3&scp=1&sq=79th%20Street%20Grade%20Crossing%20Elimination%20Structure&st=cse "WEST SIDE TRAFFIC TO RUN ON 4 LEVELS; Grade Elimination Structure at 79th St. Announced as Part of Park Plan. MOTORISTS TO BE AIDED Express Highway Will Pass Over Central Tracks With Pedestrian Arcade Below."] , "The New York Times", June 15, 1934. Accessed August 2, 2008.] Designed by Gilmore David Clarke, the Works Projects Administration provided $5.1 million for the project, which included an underground parking garage (still functioning) and a restaurant as well as the marina. [ [http://www.nycroads.com/roads/henry-hudson/ Henry Hudson Parkway] .]

Transportation

The 79th Street station on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line is located at the intersection of 79th Street and Broadway. It is served by the NYCS service|1 train (all times), and by the NYCS service|2 train (late nights).

The M79 79th Street crosstown bus route runs from between the 79th Street Boat Basin and East End Avenue at all times. [ [http://www.mta.info/nyct/bus/schedule/manh/m079cur.pdf M79 Bus Timetable] , New York City Bus, effective June 2008. Accessed August 1, 2008.]

Notable locations

*East 79th Street is an unnumbered southbound only entrance to the FDR Drive.
*East 79th Street is the southern end of East End Avenue, which runs north-south to 90th Street.
*Mayor Michael Bloomberg lives in a five-story townhouse on 79th Street, between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue. [Jones, Richard Lezin. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6DC1238F932A25752C1A9679C8B63 "Billionaire Next Door Is a Regular Kind of Guy"] , "The New York Times", November 11, 2001. Accessed August 1, 2008. "At Mr. Bloomberg's home -- a five-story, $5 million limestone town house at 17 East 79th Street -- the special round-the-clock police detail that typically keeps guard over the mayor-elect has already begun."] Other notable residents include Tom Wolfe, Art Garfunkel [Arnold, Hallie. [http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id=74958&newsid=15126073&PAG=461&rfi=9 "One more drug offense could land Garfunkel in jail"] , "Kingston Daily Freeman", August 31, 2005. Accessed August 1, 2008. "Garfunkel, who lives on East 79th Street in Manhattan, pleaded guilty in that case and paid a $100 fine and a $100 surcharge."] and Eliot Spitzer. [Hakim, Danny; and O'Connor, Ahmad. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/nyregion/12cnd-spitzer.html?ex=1363060800&en=35c68170047b4130&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss "Spitzer to Resign Soon; Paterson Set as Successor"] , "The New York Times", March 12, 2008. Accessed August 1, 2008. "Mr. Spitzer, who had been holed up at his apartment at Fifth Avenue and 79th Street in Manhattan since issuing an apology on Tuesday, emerged at about 11:15 a.m."] Socialite Nan Kempner lived on 79th Street at Park Avenue. [Haden-Guest, Anthony. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2001/aug/12/life1.lifemagazine5 "Vanity fare: She is the legendary New York socialite: stick thin, fabulously wealthy and dressed head to toe in couture. Here, Nan Kempner reveals why she hates fat people... but loves high fashion and junk food"] , "The Observer", August 12, 2001. Accessed August 1, 2008. "There are two paintings by the great Surrealist René Magritte in the living room of the apartment where Kempner lives with her broker husband, Thomas, on Park Avenue and 79th Street."]
*West 79th Street was the south end of the Receiving Reservoir, a vital storage part of the Croton Aqueduct of 1842. Water was piped down from Westchester County, over the Harlem River and down the west side to the Receiving Reservoir, located between 79th and 86th Streets and Sixth and Seventh Avenues in an area then known as Yorkville. [Acitelli, Tom. [http://www.observer.com/2008/morrison-heckscher-park "The Sit-Down:Morrison Heckscher, On the Park"] , "The New York Observer", March 25, 2008. Accessed August 1, 2008. "And the receiving reservoir of the Croton Aqueduct System—on a high plot of land between 79th and 86th streets, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, right outside my office there—that was completed in 1842."] The Reservoir was a fortress-like building convert|1826|ft|m long and convert|836|ft|m wide, and held up to 180 million gallons of water. Thirty-five million gallons flowed into it daily from northern Westchester.

References