86th Street (Manhattan)

86th Street is a major two-way street in the Upper East Side and Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan.

In the years following World War II, the streets on the east side were a predominantly German community, nicknamed the "German Broadway" until the late 1980s, as nearly all of the stores of this ethnicity have disappeared, save a couple of restaurants on Second Avenue. It was commonly considered a boundary for many public utilities (i.e. local number portability could not occur across the north and south sides of the street), though advances in technology have currently removed any technological distinction between the sides.

A sunken street through the park, often called the 86th Street Transverse, connects to the east side on 84th (eastbound) and 85th (westbound) streets [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10028&ll=40.780395,-73.961581&spn=0.005348,0.012802&hl=en] . Miners Gate provides pedestrian access to the park at East 86th.

At one point before the subway opened on Lexington Avenue in 1917, a stop existed on Park Avenue, currently a right-of-way for the Metro North Railroad between 125th Street and Grand Central Terminal. Only an emergency exit exists currently.

On the west side, the street is entirely within the boundaries of ZIP Code 10024; on the east side, it is 10028, though it is bounded immediately northwards by ZIP Code 10128.

Transportation

It is served by three subway lines, on Lexington Avenue "See: 86th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line station)", Central Park West, and Broadway. The M86 bus serves a majority of the street. Until the 1950s, the Second Avenue El and Third Avenue El lines served the East Side.

The Second Avenue Subway has a planned stop on 86th Street. Construction has not yet begun, but is scheduled to begin service in 2013.

Construction

In mid-2006, 12 brownstones on the eastern side of Lexington Avenue between 85th and 86th Streets were torn down to make way for a highrise building with the address 150 East 86th St., that will contain both apartments and over 100,000 ft² of retail space. While not nearly as large or tall, its facade will resemble that of the Time Warner Center in Midtown Manhattan. Its estimated completion is late-2008. As of July 31, 2006, 150 East 86th St. has signed leases for H&M to occupy 30,000ft²; Barnes and Noble, which currently operates two stores on East 86th Street and within 1000 feet of each other, will consolidate into one store on the site, occupying 50,000ft². [ [http://www.observer.com/printpage.asp?iid=13131&ic=Manhattan+Transfers "While East 86th Street Waits for H. and M., It’s Real-Estate DMZ"] . "New York Observer", July 31, 2006]

A similar project, designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern, with roughly half the floor space of the project on Lexington Avenue is underway on Third Avenue.

Notable locations

*86th Street was the north end of the Receiving Reservoir, which stored water piped down via the Croton Aqueduct from Westchester County that passed 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. The Receiving Reservoir was a fortress-like building 1,826 feet long and 836 feet wide, and held up to 180 million gallons of water. Thirty-five million gallons flowed into it daily from northern Westchester. The original reservoir was filled in to create the Great Lawn, but the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir is a part of Central Park, with its southern border near 86th Street.

Notable Residents

*Robert Redford ("former")
*Isaac Bashevis Singer ("deceased")

ee also

*Yorkville

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10028&ll=40.781809,-73.966784&spn=0.021393,0.051207&hl=en Google Map]

References