42-я улица: История и достопримечательности Манхэттена

West east street in Manhattan, New York

42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, spanning the entire breadth of Midtown Manhattan, from Turtle Bay at the East River, to Hell's Kitchen at the Hudson River on the West Side. The street hosts some of New York's best known landmarks, including (from east to west) the headquarters of the United Nations, the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library Main Branch, Times Square, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The street is known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square, and as such is also the name of the region of the theater district (and, at times, the red light district) near that intersection.

During the American Revolutionary War, a cornfield near 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue was where General George Washington angrily attempted to rally his troops after the British landing at Kip's Bay, which scattered many of the American militiamen. Washington's attempt put him in danger of being captured, and his officers had to persuade him to leave. The rout eventually subsided into an orderly retreat. John Jacob Astor purchased a farm in 1803 that ran from 42nd Street to 46th Street west of Broadway to the Hudson River.

The street was designated by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that established the Manhattan street grid as one of 15 crosstown (east west) streets that would be 100 feet (30 m) in width, while other streets were designated as 60 feet (18 m) in width. In 1835, the city's Street Committee, after receiving numerous complaints about lack of access for development above 14th Street, decided to open up all lots which had already been plotted on the city grid up to 42nd Street, which thus became – for a time – the northern boundary of the city. Cornelius Vanderbilt began the construction of Grand Central Depot in 1869 on 42nd Street at Fourth Avenue as the terminal for his Central, Hudson, Harlem and New Haven commuter rail lines, because city regulations required that trains be pulled by horse below 42nd Street. The Depot, which opened in 1871, was replaced by Grand Central Terminal in 1913. Between the 1870s and 1890s, 42nd Street became the uptown boundary of the mainstream theatre district, which started around 23rd Street, as the entertainment district of the Tenderloin gradually moved northward.

42nd Street was developed relatively late compared to other crosstown thoroughfares such as 14th Street and 23rd Street, which had grown during the American Civil War, and 57th Street, which became prominent in the 1890s. It was only after the beginning of the 20th century that the street saw entertainment venues being developed around Times Square and upscale office space around Grand Central Terminal. In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for legitimate theatre were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, at the southeast corner of Times Square, is the eastern terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States, which was conceived and mapped in 1913. An elevated railroad line, running above East 42nd Street from Third Avenue to the Grand Central station, was closed in 1923, leading to the development of such structures as the Chanin Building and 110 East 42nd Street west of Lexington Avenue. The street east of Lexington Avenue continued to be made up of mostly low rise buildings; these blocks were adjacent to the Second Avenue and Third Avenue elevated lines, and accordingly, initially considered unattractive for major development. By the 1920s, The New York Times reported that several high rise developments were "radically changing the old time conditions" along East 42nd Street, including the Chanin, Lincoln, Chrysler, and Daily News Buildings, as well as Tudor City. The block of 42nd Street between Second and First Avenues was originally only 40 feet (12 m) wide, passing through a steep bluff known as Prospect Hill. On either side of the street, 30 feet (9 m) service roads ascended to Tudor City Place, which crossed over 42nd Street. Despite opposition from Tudor City residents, city officials said the street widening was necessary because 42nd Street already carried high amounts of vehicular traffic to and from the nearby FDR Drive. The New York City Planning Commission approved the plans in September 1948, and the Board of Estimate approved $1.848 million for the project that December. The board provisionally authorized the street widening in June 1949, and Manhattan's borough president announced in December 1949 that work would commence shortly. The neighboring stretch of 42nd Street was temporarily closed from February 1951 to October 1952 while the widening was underway.

In the early 1990s, city government encouraged a cleanup of the Times Square area. In 1990, the city government took over six of the historic theatres on the block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, and New 42nd Street, a not for profit organization, was formed to oversee their renovation and reuse, as well as to construct new theatres and a rehearsal space. In 1993, Disney Theatrical Productions bought the New Amsterdam Theatre, which it renovated a few years later. Since the mid 1990s, the block has again become home to mainstream theatres and several multi screen mainstream movie theatres, along with shops, restaurants, hotels, and attractions such as Madame Tussauds wax museum and Ripley's Believe It or Not that draw millions to the city every year. This area is now co signed as "New 42nd Street" to signify this change. In the 1990s, the renovation of Bryant Park between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, as well as the renovations of Times Square and Grand Central Terminal, led to increases in office occupancy along both sections of 42nd Street.

MTA Regional Bus Operations's M42 bus runs the length of 42nd Street between the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises ferry terminal on the Hudson River and the headquarters of the United Nations on the East River. Its predecessor, the 42nd Street Crosstown Line streetcar, had used 42nd Street. In 2019, bus lanes were installed along the length of the street. 42nd Street is also used by the Staten Island express buses.