6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) and 6 1/2 Avenue (Midtown pedestrian walkway)
As a born and raised New Yorker, I've always referred to "Avenue of the Americas" as 6th Ave.--I noticed (maybe I wasn't looking carefully before), the street signs now have both designations [6th Ave. and AOTA], when did the dual naming happen?
I was driving on W. 54th, and encountered a STOP sign, between 6th and 7th Ave., the "streets" name was 6 1/2 Ave. [it is not actually a street--but a pedestrian "alley" which goes from 51st to 57th streets]--when did this naming occur?
PS: With STOP signs on each of the cross streets, traffic backups must be huge (I noticed this, today 7/4--no traffic.)
As a born and raised New Yorker, I've always referred to "Avenue of the Americas" as 6th Ave.--I noticed (maybe I wasn't looking carefully before), the street signs now have both designations [6th Ave. and AOTA], when did the dual naming happen?
I was driving on W. 54th, and encountered a STOP sign, between 6th and 7th Ave., the "streets" name was 6 1/2 Ave. [it is not actually a street--but a pedestrian "alley" which goes from 51st to 57th streets]--when did this naming occur?
PS: With STOP signs on each of the cross streets, traffic backups must be huge (I noticed this, today 7/4--no traffic.)
6 1/2 Avenue is pretty new, there was an article about it in the Times about a month ago about how one of the groups (DOT, Midtown Partnership, Times Square Cooperative) were trying to promote the route between buildings in this area and campaigning for traffic lights.
I've never called it Avenue of the Americas. Apparently you and I are not alone.
Quote:
The avenue's official name was changed to Avenue of the Americas in 1945 by the City Council, at the behest of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who signed the bill into law on October 2, 1945. The intent was to honor the nations of the Organization of American States. It was felt at the time that the name would provide greater grandeur to a shabby street, and to promote trade with the Western Hemisphere. After the name change, round signs were attached to streetlights on the avenue, showing the national seals of all the nations in the OAS.
....
New Yorkers seldom used the avenue's new name, and the street has been labelled as both "Avenue of the Americas" and "Sixth Avenue" in recent years....
As a born and raised New Yorker, I've always referred to "Avenue of the Americas" as 6th Ave.--I noticed (maybe I wasn't looking carefully before), the street signs now have both designations [6th Ave. and AOTA], when did the dual naming happen?
I was driving on W. 54th, and encountered a STOP sign, between 6th and 7th Ave., the "streets" name was 6 1/2 Ave. [it is not actually a street--but a pedestrian "alley" which goes from 51st to 57th streets]--when did this naming occur?
PS: With STOP signs on each of the cross streets, traffic backups must be huge (I noticed this, today 7/4--no traffic.)
I think the Sixth Ave. signs were installed because tourists got lost looking for Sixth Ave.
I have used the 6 1/2 Ave. route (though I've never called it that) for decades. It's so much quicker and less crowded than walking along the avenues, and it's nice to avoid the rain/wind/heat/cold by ducking through building lobbies.
I think the Sixth Ave. signs were installed because tourists got lost looking for Sixth Ave.
I have used the 6 1/2 Ave. route (though I've never called it that) for decades. It's so much quicker and less crowded than walking along the avenues, and it's nice to avoid the rain/wind/heat/cold by ducking through building lobbies.
I've also used these passageways--but until 7/4/12, I never saw the name "6 1/2 Ave,"
I think the Sixth Ave. signs were installed because tourists got lost looking for Sixth Ave.
I have used the 6 1/2 Ave. route (though I've never called it that) for decades. It's so much quicker and less crowded than walking along the avenues, and it's nice to avoid the rain/wind/heat/cold by ducking through building lobbies.
Ditto, plus if you have a few minutes, there is a large art gallery, Marlborough, on the second floor of the building on the west side of the passage. Just tell the security guard you want to go up to Marlborough.
Definitely not. I know it and refer to it as 6th Avenue. I always thought of the "AOTA" designation as a "nickname". There are a lot of those in NYC, like West 84th Street being known as Edgar Allen Poe Street, that people rarely use.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nugget_Oz
6 1/2 Avenue is pretty new, there was an article about it in the Times about a month ago about how one of the groups (DOT, Midtown Partnership, Times Square Cooperative) were trying to promote the route between buildings in this area and campaigning for traffic lights.
The naming might be new, but the creation of the "alley" is really a zoning requirement to ease pedestrian crowding on 6th and 7th Avenue and Broadway. Although the intent was to create a mid-block setback for office towers fronting the avenues, a few of the newer buildings have more of a "tunnel" effect. Further, although there is no outdoor alleyway, the mid-block connectors actually continue inside the buildings to the south of 51st Street. You can walk through a lobby area in the Time-Life building (betw 51 and 50), 1251 (the old Exxon HQ btw 49 and 50), McGraw Hill (49 and 48, although the new alley way has opened within the last two years next to Oceana restaurant), and the building between 47 and 48. I work in 1251, and this info was provided by a zoning specialist when I was in my MS Real Estate program at NYU.
The naming might be new, but the creation of the "alley" is really a zoning requirement to ease pedestrian crowding on 6th and 7th Avenue and Broadway. . . I work in 1251, and this info was provided by a zoning specialist when I was in my MS Real Estate program at NYU.
[combining replies to several messages]
Get him or her on the phone. Google Maps as well as autmobile GPS data are both notorious for being unable to differentiate between what the City Council enacts as an honorary street name as opposed to the actual street name. For example, both Google as well as Navteq, a large supplier of GPS map data, label a certain street in Brooklyn as Christoforo Colombo Blvd. Let me assure you that if you stop the average person in the neighborhood and ask "Where is Christoforo Colombo Blvd?" either you will get no response or they will wonder what you are smoking because EVERYONE calls this street by its correct name, 18th Avenue. This is not only the reality of Brooklyn but also other boroughs as well.
I have some doubts if there is a 6½ Avenue regardless of any signs but I would need to see the official maps in the Municipal Building to know for sure. Google Maps in this case is legally worthless.
Last edited by Landing Gear; Jul 7, 12 at 8:24 pm..
Oh, I hadn't realized there were actual signs that say "6 1/2 Avenue." That's hysterical, and wonderful. I can't wait to give someone directions to "make a left onto 6 1/2 Ave." They'll think I've had one too many cosmos (not that there's anything wrong with that!).
Oh, I hadn't realized there were actual signs that say "6 1/2 Avenue." That's hysterical, and wonderful. I can't wait to give someone directions to "make a left onto 6 1/2 Ave." They'll think I've had one too many cosmos (not that there's anything wrong with that!).
I hear you can get a good Cosmo on Fashion Avenue.
), the street signs now have both designations [6th Ave. and AOTA], when did the dual naming happen?
.)
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