Avenue D (Manhattan)

Avenue D is the easternmost named avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, east of Avenue C and west of the FDR Drive. It runs through East 13th and Houston Streets, and continues south of Houston Street as Columbia Street until petering out at Grand Street. Avenues A, B, C and D are the origin of the name of the section of the East Village neighborhood through which they run, Alphabet City.

History

The street was created by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, as one of 16 north–south streets specified as Template:Convert in width; they include 12 numbered avenues, and four (located east of First Avenue) designated by letter.<ref>Morris, Gouverneur; De Witt, Simeon; and Rutherford, John Template:Sic (March 1811) "Remarks of the Commissioners for Laying Out Streets and Roads in the City of New York, Under the Act of April 3, 1807", Cornell University Library. Accessed June 27, 2016. "These are one hundred feet wide, and such of them as can be extended as far north as the village of Harlem are numbered (beginning with the most eastern, which passes from the west of Bellevue Hospital to the east of Harlem Church) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. This last runs from the wharf at Manhattanville nearly along the shore of the Hudson river, in which it is finally lost, as appears by the map. The avenues to the eastward of number one are marked A, B, C, and D."</ref>

By March 1926, the segment of Avenue D between 14th and 15th Streets was identified as being "closed and discontinued" on the city map to accommodate future expansion of the East River Generating Station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite map</ref> After the events of September 11, 2001, the segment of Avenue D between 13th and 14th Streets was closed to traffic for security purposes due to the presence of the power plant.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>

Transportation

The M14D SBS is the primary server of the Avenue D/Columbia Street corridor, running south of East 10th Street either to Houston Street (southbound) or from Delancey Street (northbound); the latter is shared with the westbound Template:NYC bus link bus until Houston Street. Both routes serve the Baruch Houses.<ref>Template:Cite NYC bus map</ref>

Structures

Among the structures along this avenue are:

• Dry Dock Park, located at the northern end (11th and Avenue D), a small park with a public pool—named for the neighborhood's former tradition of ship repair. The corner was formerly the site of the Corn Exchange Bank Trust Co.Template:Citation needed
• Many of the larger Public Housing projects in Alphabet City are on Avenue D. The east side of Avenue D is flanked by the Jacob Riis Houses (NYCHA housing), named for photographer Jacob Riis, who chronicled the plight of the city's poorest residents. The development was designed by Walker & Gillette and was completed in 1949. Other projects include Baruch Houses, LaGuardia Houses, and the Lillian Wald Houses, named for Lillian D. Wald (1867–1940), who provided aid to the Lower East Side through the Henry Street Settlement and the Visiting Nurses Society.
• Between 5th and 6th Streets, east of Avenue D, was formerly the location of the "Boys Brotherhood Republic", a self-governing youth project of the Henry Street Settlement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• New York Songlines: Avenue D, a virtual walking tour
• Kadinsky, Sergey; Walsh, Kevin Avenue D 2025 Forgotten NY February 9, 2025