6½ Avenue

KML is from Wikidata

6½ Avenue is a north-south pedestrian passageway^[1]^[2] in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, running from West 51st to West 57th Streets between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.^[3]

The pedestrian-only avenue is a one-quarter mile (400 m) corridor of privately owned public spaces, such as open-access lobbies and canopied space,^[4] which are open during the day. There are stop signs and stop ahead signs at six crossings between 51st and 56th Streets. The mid-block crossing at 57th Street is equipped with a traffic light.^[5] At the crosswalk areas, there are sidewalk pedestrian ramps with textured surface and flexible delineators to prevent vehicles parking in the areas.^[6]

Each intersection along the thoroughfare has a street name sign that reads "6+1⁄2 AV" and the name of the cross street to officially mark the street name.^[7] The mid-block stop signs are unusual for Manhattan, and the fractional avenue name is a new idea for the numbered street system of New York City.^[4]

History

In 2011, the Friends of Privately Owned Public Spaces proposed the creation of a six-block pathway from 51st to 57th Streets that would be mid-block between Sixth and Seventh Avenues to ease pedestrian traffic. The proposal called for connecting public spaces in the area, that were not known to most pedestrians, into a pedestrian corridor and naming it Holly Whyte Way.^[8] The idea was presented to the Community Board 5 Transportation Committee and the full Community Board 5, then the board sent a formal request to the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) in May 2011.^[1]

In March 2012, NYCDOT announced the plan, with a list of improvements, to construct a new pedestrian-only avenue.^[4] The Community Board 5 Transportation Committee unanimously voted in favor of a resolution to support the project as presented by NYCDOT on March 26, 2012.^[9] The $60,000 project was completed in July 2012.^[10]

Criticism

Drivers often fail to obey the avenue's stop signs, which presents a public safety issue.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b Chaban, Matt (March 26, 2012). "Meet Me on 6½th Avenue: DOT Planning Public Promenade Through Middle of Midtown Towers". The New York Observer. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
^ "New York City Mulls '6 1/2 Avenue' Proposal, Linking Pedestrian Walkways In Midtown". CBS New York. March 30, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
^ "NYC DOT Announces Completion Of "6 ½ Avenue," Connecting Midtown Public Spaces With New, Safer Pedestrian Crossings" (press release). New York City Department of Transportation. September 6, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c Flegenheimer, Matt (March 29, 2012). "For Walkers, a Sixth-and-a-Half Ave. May Take Shape". The New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
^ Colvin, Jill (November 11, 2011). "City to Create New Mid-Block Crossing on West 57th Street". DNAInfo.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
^ "Midtown Mid-Block Crossings", New York City Department of Transportation (May 10, 2012). Accessed: July 12, 2012
^ Grynbaum, Michael M.; Flegenheimer, Matt (July 13, 2012). "City Room: Officially Marking a New Manhattan Avenue". The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
^ Colvin, Jill (April 27, 2011). "Secret Midtown Passageways Seek More Exposure". DNAInfo.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
^ Johnson, Mary (March 27, 2012). "Avenue of Midtown Plazas Could Be Connected by the Summer". DNAInfo. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
^ Johnson, Mary (July 12, 2012). "New Crosswalks Connect to Form '6 1/2 Avenue' in Midtown". DNAInfo.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012.
^ "Stop Signs Along Midtown's 6 1/2 Avenue Catching Drivers By Surprise", CBS New York (July 19, 2012). Accessed: July 30, 2012

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 6½ Avenue.

NYCDOT presentation

Midtown (42nd–59th Streets)

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

West of
5th Av

Rockefeller Center	1 Rockefeller Plz 10 Rockefeller Plz 30 Rockefeller Plz 50 Rockefeller Plz 75 Rockefeller Plz 1211 6th Av 1221 6th Av 1251 6th Av 1271 6th Av British Empire Building International Building La Maison Francaise
Times Square	1 Astor Plz 1 Times Sq 3 Times Sq 4 Times Sq 11 Times Sq 20 Times Sq 229 W 43rd St 255 W 43rd St 1500 Broadway 1501 Broadway 1540 Broadway 1552 Broadway 1585 Broadway TSX Broadway

East of
5th Av

Former

Theaters

Broadway theaters	Ambassador August Wilson Belasco Bernard B. Jacobs Booth Broadhurst Broadway Circle in the Square Ethel Barrymore Eugene O'Neill Gerald Schoenfeld Gershwin Hayes Hudson Imperial James Earl Jones John Golden Lena Horne Longacre Lunt-Fontanne Lyceum Lyric Majestic Marquis Minskoff Music Box Neil Simon Palace Richard Rodgers St. James Samuel J. Friedman Shubert Stephen Sondheim Studio 54 Todd Haimes Walter Kerr Winter Garden
Other venues	55th Street Playhouse Carnegie Hall Ed Sullivan Theater The ImaginAsian New Victory Theater New York City Center Paris Theater Radio City Music Hall Sony Hall The Theater Center The Town Hall York Theatre
Closed/demolished	44th Street 48th Street Apollo Center Capitol Earl Carroll Edison Embassy Fulton George M. Cohan's Loew's State Lyric New Century Olympia Roxy Strand Times Square Victoria Ziegfeld (1927) Ziegfeld (1969)

Hotels

Current

Former

Other points of interest

Restaurants/ nightlife	21 Club 54 Below Alto Anthos Aureole Burger Heaven Le Bernardin Cafe Chambord Campbell Apartment La Caravelle Caviar Russe Del Pezzo Restaurant Ellen's Stardust Diner Four Twenty Five Gabriel Kreuther Gallagher's Steakhouse Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant La Grenouille Iridium Jazz Club Le Jardinier King Cole Bar Kurumazushi Latin Quarter Lespinasse Marea Naro The Pool and the Grill Oceana The Original Soupman P. J. Clarke's Patsy's Le Pavillon Prime Burger The Quilted Giraffe Rainbow Room Restaurant Aquavit Rumpelmayer's Russian Tea Room Sardi's Satsuki Shun Lee Palace Stage Deli The Campbell
Museums/ cultural centers	Austrian Cultural Forum New York Girl Scout Museum and Archives John M. Mossman Lock Museum Korean Cultural Center New York Madame Tussauds New York Museum of Arts and Design Museum of Broadway Museum of Modern Art New York Transit Museum Paley Center for Media Rose Museum Spyscape
Stores	Argosy Book Store Gotham Book Mart
Clubhouses	American Fine Arts Society The Brook Century Association Cornell Club of New York Harvard Club of New York City New York Athletic Club New York City Bar Association New York Friars Club New York Yacht Club Penn Club of New York Racquet and Tennis Club University Club of New York Women's National Republican Club Yale Club of New York City
Clubhouses (former)	Princeton Club of New York
Green spaces	Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden Central Park Grand Army Plaza Greenacre Park Paley Park
Educational institutions	53rd Street Library Circle in the Square Theatre School CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies High School of Performing Arts Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School for International Careers Saint Thomas Choir School SUNY College of Optometry
Art galleries	Galerie St. Etienne Rehs Galleries

Transportation

Subway stations	Fifth Avenue/53rd Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street Seventh Avenue 42nd Street–Bryant Park/Fifth Avenue 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center 49th Street 50th Street 50th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 57th Street 59th Street–Columbus Circle Grand Central–42nd Street Lexington Avenue/51st Street Lexington Avenue/59th Street Times Square–42nd Street
Railroad stations	Grand Central Madison Grand Central Terminal
Streets and intersections	Third Avenue Fifth Avenue Sixth Avenue Six and a Half Avenue Seventh Avenue Eighth Avenue 42nd 47th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 57th 59th Broadway Columbus Circle Duffy Square Grand Army Plaza George Abbott Way Lexington Avenue Madison Avenue Park Avenue Park Avenue Viaduct Pershing Square Shubert Alley Times Square Vanderbilt Avenue

Related topics
Billionaires' Row Little Brazil Midtown South Minnesota Strip

See also: Manhattan Community Board 5

Streets of Manhattan

North–south

Major avenues	1st Av 2nd Av 3rd Av Lexington Av Park Av Madison Av 5th Av Broadway 6th Av (Av of the Americas) Lenox Av 7th Av (Fashion Av) 8th Av 9th Av 10th Av 11th Av 12th Av
Financial District	South Pearl Broad William Nassau Theatre Alley Whitehall Canyon of Heroes State West
Lower East Side	Allen Pike Baxter Centre Market Pl Bowery Centre Division Chrystie Coenties Slip Eldridge Elizabeth Essex Forsyth Lafayette Doyers Rivington Ludlow Mott Mulberry Orchard Park Row Spring Cherry
Lower West Side	Cortlandt Alley Trinity Pl Church Greenwich Hudson Jones MacDougal Patchin Pl Sullivan Gay Thompson Varick Washington W Broadway LaGuardia Pl Weehawken West Side Hwy Bank 13th Av
East Village / Gramercy	Ave D Ave C Ave B Ave A Asser Levy Pl Shevchenko Pl Irving Pl 4th Av Union Square E Park Av S University Pl Union Square W
Midtown	Beekman Pl Sutton Pl Park Av Viaduct Park Av Tunnel Vanderbilt Av Rockefeller Plz 6½ Av Great White Way Shubert Alley Dyer Av Hudson Blvd
Upper East / Upper West	East End Av York Av Museum Mile East Dr Center Dr West Dr Central Park W Columbus Av Amsterdam Av West End Av Riverside Dr
Harlem / Wash. Hts.	Pleasant Av Lenox Av (Malcolm X Blvd) Powell Blvd Douglass Blvd Morningside Dr Audubon Av St. Nicholas Av (Duarte Blvd) Claremont Av Ft. Washington Av Cabrini Blvd Sylvan Pl Tiemann Pl

East–west

Financial District	Bridge Stone Marketfield Beaver Exchange Pl Wall Albany Liberty Cortlandt St/Wy Maiden La Dey Fulton Vesey Ann
Downtown	Spruce Roosevelt Chambers E Broadway Henry Madison Cherry Worth N Moore Broome Canal Hester Grand Delancey Stanton Houston Vandam Bleecker Bond Great Jones 4th Waverly Pl Washington Square N Astor Pl Washington Mews Stuyvesant Macdougal Alley 8th St. Mark's Pl Greenwich Av Christopher Charles 14th
Midtown	23rd 34th 42nd 45th (George Abbott Way) 47th 50th 51st 52nd (Swing Alley / St of Jazz) 53rd 54th 55th 57th 59th (Central Park S)
Uptown	66th / Peter Jennings Way 72nd 74th 79th 85th 86th 89th 93rd 95th 96th 110th (Cathedral Pkwy / Central Park N) 116th 125th (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd) 130th (Astor Row) 132nd 133rd 139th (Strivers' Row) 145th 155th Bogardus Pl Dyckman Plaza Lafayette

Intersections

Circles	Columbus Duke Ellington Frederick Douglass
Squares	Chatham Cooper Duarte Duffy Foley Gramercy Park Grand Army Plz Hanover Herald Hudson Jackson Lincoln Madison Mulry Pershing Petrosino Sherman Stuyvesant Times Tompkins Union Verdi Washington Zuccotti Park