View source for Christopher Street

{{short description|Street in Manhattan, New York}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox street
| name                    = Christopher Street
| native_name             = 
| marker_image            =
| image                   = Christopher Street shops between Bleecker and Hudson Streets.jpg
| image_size              = 300px
| caption                 = Shops on Christopher Street between [[Bleecker Street|Bleecker]] and [[Hudson Street (Manhattan)|Hudson]] Streets
| image_map               = {{maplink-road}}
| other_name              =
| former_names            = 
| namesake                = Charles Christopher Amos
| postal_code             = 10014
| addresses               =
| length_m                =
| length_ft               =
| length_mi               =
| length_km               =
| length_ref              =
| width                   = 
| location                = [[West Village]], [[Lower Manhattan]], [[New York City]]
| client                  =
| maint                   =
| coordinates             = {{Coord|40|44|00|N|74|00|18|W|type:landmark_dim:4km|display=inline,title}}
| direction_a             = West
| terminus_a              = [[West Street]]
| direction_b             = East
| terminus_b              = [[Sixth Avenue]]
| junction                =
| commissioning_date      =
| construction_start_date =
| completion_date         = 
| inauguration_date       = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| demolition_date         =
| north                   =
| south                   =
| east                    =
| west                    =
}}

'''Christopher Street''' is a street in the [[West Village]] neighborhood of the [[New York City]] [[Boroughs of New York City|borough]] of [[Manhattan]]. It is the continuation of [[9th Street (Manhattan)|9th Street]] west of [[Sixth Avenue]] in [[Lower Manhattan]].

It is most notable for the [[Stonewall Inn]], which is located on Christopher Street near the corner of [[Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)|Seventh Avenue South]]. As a result of the [[Stonewall riots]] in 1969, the street became the center of the world's [[gay rights]] movement in the 1970s. To this day, the inn and the street serve as an international symbol of [[gay pride]].

Christopher Street is named after Charles Christopher Amos, the owner of the inherited estate which included the location of the street. Amos is also the namesake of nearby [[Charles Street (Manhattan)|Charles Street]], and of the former Amos Street, which is now [[West 10th Street (Manhattan)|West 10th Street]].<ref>{{cite streetbook}}, pp. 37, 39</ref><ref>{{cite naming|page=85}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Christopher St PATH entry jeh.jpg|thumb|left|260px|{{stl|PATH|Christopher Street}} [[PATH (rail system)|PATH]] station]]

Christopher Street is, technically, the oldest street in the [[West Village]], as it ran along the south boundary of [[Peter Warren (Royal Navy officer)|Admiral Sir Peter Warren]]'s estate, which abutted the old Greenwich Road (now [[Greenwich Avenue]]) to the east and extended north to the next landing on the North River, at present-day Gansevoort Street. The street was briefly called Skinner Road after Colonel William Skinner, Sir Peter's son-in-law. The street received its current name in 1799, when the Warren land was acquired by Warren's eventual heir, Charles Christopher Amos. Charles Street remains, but Amos Street is now [[10th Street (Manhattan)|10th Street]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Block |first=Lawrence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/20/magazine/greenwich-village-glorying-its-differentness-for-300-years-world-apart-lawrence.html |title=Greenwich Village: Glorying in its differentness; For 300 Years, A World Apart |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 20, 1988 |access-date=October 7, 2007}}</ref><ref>"A portion of the West Village was carved from a farm owned by a man named Charles Christopher Amos, and his three names were parceled out among three of the new streets." ({{cite streetbook}})</ref>

The road ran past the churchyard wall of the [[Church of St. Luke in the Fields]] (built 1820–22; rebuilt after a fire, 1981–85) still standing on its left, down to the [[ferry landing]], commemorated in the block-long Weehawken Street<ref>[[Weehawken, New Jersey]], lies on the opposite shore.</ref> (laid out in 1829), the shortest street in the West Village. At the [[Hudson River]], with its foundation in the river and extending north to 10th Street, Newgate Prison, the first New York State Prison, occupied the site from 1796 to 1829, when the institution was removed to [[Sing Sing]] and the City plotted and sold the land.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/press/05_02_06.pdf |title=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission: Weehawken Street Historic District, May 2, 2006 |access-date=August 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828224821/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/press/05_02_06.pdf |archive-date=August 28, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[West Street]] is on more recently filled land, but the procession of boats that had made the inaugural pass through the [[Erie Canal]] stopped at the ferry dock at the foot of Christopher Street, November 4, 1825, where it was met by a delegation from the city; together they proceeded to the Lower Bay, where the cask of water brought from the Great Lakes was ceremoniously emptied into the salt water.<ref>Frank Bergen Kelley, Edward Hagaman Hall. ''Historical Guide to the City of New York'' (City History Club of New York), 1909:75.</ref>

In 1961, [[Jane Jacobs]], resident in the area and author of ''The Death and Life of Great American Cities'' published that same year, headed a group that successfully stopped [[Robert F. Wagner Jr.|Mayor Robert Wagner]]'s plan to demolish twelve blocks along West Street north of Christopher Street, including the north side of Christopher Street to [[Hudson Street (Manhattan)|Hudson Street]], and an additional two blocks south of it, slated for "[[urban renewal]]".<ref>Landmarks Preservation Commission: Weehawken Street Historic District, May 2, 2006</ref>

==Gay icon<span class="anchor" id="As a gay icon"></span>==
{{further|LGBT culture in New York City|Transgender culture of New York City|NYC Pride March}}
[[File:Stonewall_Inn_5_pride_weekend_2016.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Stonewall Inn]] on Christopher Street in [[Greenwich Village]], a designated U.S. [[National Historic Landmark]] and [[Stonewall National Monument|National Monument]], as the site of the June 1969 [[Stonewall riots]] and the cradle of the modern [[gay rights]] movement<ref name=GayGreenwichVillage1>{{cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/why-new-york-city-is-a-major-destination-for-lgbt-travelers/|title=Why New York City Is a Major Destination for LGBT Travelers|first=Julia|last=Goicichea|publisher=The Culture Trip|date=August 16, 2017|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/diversity/stonewall.htm |title=Workforce Diversity The Stonewall Inn, National Historic Landmark National Register Number: 99000562 |publisher=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=May 1, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/nyregion/stonewall-inn-named-national-monument-a-first-for-gay-rights-movement.html |title=Stonewall Inn Named National Monument, a First for the Gay Rights Movement |first=Eli |last=Rosenberg |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 24, 2016 |access-date=June 25, 2016}}</ref>|alt=A two-story building with brick on the first floor, with two arched doorways, and gray stucco on the second floor off of which hang numerous rainbow flags.]]

Christopher Street is the site of the [[Stonewall Inn]], the [[Bar (establishment)|bar]] whose patrons fought back violently in June 1969 against a police raid, sparking the [[Stonewall riots]] that are widely seen as the birth of the [[gay liberation]] movement.<ref name="GayGreenwichVillage1" /> The Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee formed to commemorate the first anniversary of that event, the beginning of the international tradition of a late-June event to celebrate gay pride.<ref name="wbchris">{{cite web|url=http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/christopher.html |title=Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day: 1970|last=Stryker|first=Susan|publisher=PlanetOut|access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080331061402/http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/christopher.html |archive-date = 31 March 2008}}</ref> The annual gay pride festivals in [[Berlin]], [[Cologne]], and other German cities are known as [[Christopher Street Day]]s.

In part because of the riots at the Stonewall Inn, the LGBT community came to congregate around Christopher Street.<ref name="p119296802a">{{cite news |last=Johnston |first=Laurie |date=26 July 1971 |title=Christopher Street: From Farm to Gay Center |work=The New York Times |page=27 |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|119296802}}}}</ref><ref name="wp-1982-08-01">{{Cite news |last=Wadler |first=Joyce |date=1982-08-01 |title=No, Dorothy, You and Toto Certainly Aren't in Kansas Anymore |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/08/01/no-dorothy-you-and-toto-certainly-arent-in-kansas-anymore/e12008c4-f2e6-44e3-80e0-a26c2b2f616e/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> By the early 1970s, other LGBT businesses had opened along the street, even as the bar itself had closed.<ref name="p119296802a" /><ref name="p2371013923a">{{Cite magazine |last=Lounsberry |first=Milton |date=Jul 5, 1972 |title=Remember the Stonewall(?) A dark and shuttered shrine |magazine=  The Advocate |page=2 |issue=89 |id={{ProQuest|2371013923}}}}</ref> A commentator for ''The Advocate'' wrote in 1972 that the riots had succeeded in associating Christopher Street's name with LGBT culture,<ref name="p2371013923a" /> while a 1982 [[The Washington Post|''Washington Post'']] article described the street, and particularly the bar's site, as the "birthplace of the gay rights movement in this country".<ref name="wp-1982-08-01" /> Large numbers of gay men would stroll its length at seemingly all hours. Gay bars and stores selling [[sexual fetishism|leather fetish clothing]] and artistic decorative items flourished at that time. This changed dramatically with the loss of many gay men during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, as well as the growth of other nearby Manhattan neighborhoods (such as [[Chelsea, Manhattan|Chelsea]] and [[Hell’s Kitchen]]) as centers of gay life.

''[[Christopher Street (magazine)|Christopher Street]]'' magazine, a respected gay magazine, began publication in July 1976 and folded in December 1995.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/10/20/michael-denneny/ |title=Michael Denneny: On Working in Publishing During the 1970s, Starting ''Christopher Street Magazine'', and the Future of Gay Literature |first=Donald |last=Weise |website=[[Lambda Literary]] |date=October 20, 2014}}</ref> [[Anaïs Nin]] once worked at Lawrence R. Maxwell Books, located at [[45 Christopher Street]].<ref>''Recollections of [[Anaïs Nin]]'', Ohio University Press, 1996, p. 6.</ref>

On June 23, 2015, the Stonewall Inn was the first landmark in New York City to be recognized by the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] on the basis of its status in LGBT history,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northjersey.com/news/nyc-grants-landmark-status-to-gay-rights-movement-building-1.1361241|title=NYC grants landmark status to gay rights movement building|agency=Associated Press|publisher=NorthJersey.com|date=June 23, 2015|access-date=June 23, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201003/http://www.northjersey.com/news/nyc-grants-landmark-status-to-gay-rights-movement-building-1.1361241|archive-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref> and on June 24, 2016, the [[Stonewall National Monument]] was named the first [[List of U.S. National Monuments|U.S. National Monument]] dedicated to the LGBTQ-rights movement.<ref name=StonewallNationalMonument1>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/nyregion/stonewall-inn-named-national-monument-a-first-for-gay-rights-movement.html|title=Stonewall Inn Named National Monument, a First for the Gay Rights Movement|author=Eli Rosenberg|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 24, 2016|access-date=June 25, 2016}}</ref> The visitor center opened on June 28, 2024, as the first official national visitors center dedicated to the LGBTQ+ experience to open anywhere in the world. Numerous politicians and celebrities participated in the inauguration ceremonies,<ref name=nyt-2024-06-28>{{Cite news|last=Bahr|first=Sarah|date=2024-06-28|title=On Pride Weekend, the Stonewall Visitor Center Opens|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/nyregion/stonewall-visitor-center-opens.html|access-date=June 29, 2024|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Taitt 2024 n125">{{cite web | last=Taitt | first=Phil | title=NYC Pride: President Joe Biden to visit Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in Greenwich Village | website=ABC7 New York | date=June 28, 2024 | url=https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-pride-president-joe-biden-visit-stonewall-national/15007800/ | access-date=June 29, 2024|postscript=none}}; {{Cite web | last=Alfonseca | first=Kiara | title=Stonewall Uprising veteran honors protest as historic LGBTQ center opens | website=ABC News | date=June 28, 2024 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/stonewall-uprising-veteran-honors-protest-historic-lgbtq-center/story?id=111454893 | access-date=June 29, 2024}}</ref> and the [[New York City Subway]]'s Christopher Street–Sheridan Square station was renamed the [[Christopher Street–Stonewall station]] on the same day.<ref name=nyt-2024-06-28/><ref>{{cite web | title=NYC Pride: President Joe Biden visits Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in Greenwich Village | website=ABC7 New York | date=June 28, 2024 | url=https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-pride-president-joe-biden-visit-stonewall-national/15007800/ | access-date=June 29, 2024}}</ref>

===Iconic locations===
Near [[Sixth Avenue]], Christopher Street intersects with a short, winding street, coincidentally named [[Gay Street (Manhattan)|Gay Street]].

Since 1992, Christopher Park, located at the intersection of Christopher, Grove, and [[4th Street (Manhattan)|West 4th]] Streets, has hosted a duplicate of the sculpture ''[[Gay Liberation Monument]]'' by [[George Segal (artist)|George Segal]] to commemorate the [[gay rights]] traditions of the area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/christopherpark/monuments/575|title=Christopher Park: Gay Liberation|publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation|access-date=August 31, 2013}}</ref> The [[Oscar Wilde Bookshop]], located on the corner of Christopher and Gay, was the oldest [[LGBT]] bookshop in the world until it closed in 2009.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://nymag.com/listings/stores/oscar-wilde-bookshop/ |title=Oscar Wilde Bookshop |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |access-date=August 31, 2013}}</ref>

=={{anchor|Locations}} Other locations ==
[[File:Lucille Lortel Theatre.jpg|thumb|270px|[[Lucille Lortel Theatre]]]]
[[File:Chris Wash book warehouse jeh.jpg|thumb|Former United States Appraiser Store, later a [[Federal Office Building (New York City)|Federal Office Building]], now The Archive, an apartment building on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and a [[New York City landmark]]]]
* McNulty's Tea and Coffee Company, a purveyor dating back to 1895, is on the street.<ref>[http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/new-york/new-york-city/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154654666103 Frommer's review of McNulty's Tea & Coffee Company], ''The New York Times''. Accessed online 23 July 2008.</ref>
* [[Kettle of Fish (bar)|Kettle of Fish]], a bar now on Christopher Street (on the site of the famous Lion’s Head literary bar, was once located above the famous [[The Gaslight Cafe|Gaslight Cafe]] on [[MacDougal Street]]. Since the [[Beat Generation]], it has also become affiliated with [[Green Bay Packers|Green Bay Packers fans]].{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}
* Adjacent to Sheridan Square is Christopher Park, a .145 acre landmark. The park that contains a [[General Philip Henry Sheridan|bronze statue]] of [[Philip Sheridan]] and a reproduction of George Segal's ''Gay Liberation'', originally located at [[Stanford University]].
* St John's Lutheran Church is at 81 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and West 4th Streets.
* The [[Lucille Lortel Theatre]], formerly the Theatre de Lys, an [[Off-Broadway]] playhouse, is located at 121 Christopher Street.
* At the westernmost tip is the [[Christopher Street Pier]], which was recently renovated and converted into a waterfront park.
* [[Christopher Street station (PATH)|Christopher Street]] is the first stop in Manhattan on the 33rd Street branches of the [[PATH (rail system)|PATH]]. The PATH identifies Christopher Street station with a large single capital 'C'.
* The street also hosts a station on the [[New York City Subway]]'s [[IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line]] at {{stl|NYCS|Christopher Street–Stonewall}} ({{NYCS trains|Broadway-Seventh south local}}), Formerly, the [[Christopher Street (IRT Ninth Avenue Line)|Christopher Street]] elevated station served the now-demolished [[IRT Ninth Avenue Line]].
* At the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and Christopher Street is the [[Hess triangle]], a mosaic which reads "Property of the Hess Estate Which Has Never Been Dedicated for Public Purpose".  A surveying error for the subway line left this small triangle remaining in private  possession.

All locations can be accessed via the westbound {{NYC bus link|M8}} bus, which runs along the entire street (eastbound buses use West 10th Street).

==Notable current and past residents==
<!--All names added should either have a Wikipedia article or be accompanied by a citation from a reliable source that established their notability-->
*[[Theodor W. Adorno]], philosopher and cultural theorist, once lived at [[45 Christopher Street]]
*Richard Amos, brother of Charles Christopher Amos, member of the [[Culper Ring|Culper Spy Ring]] in New York City during the [[American Revolutionary War]]{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
*[[Eva Amurri]], actor
*[[Bob Balaban]], actor and writer, lived at 95 Christopher Street
*[[Vincent Canadé]], artist, lived at 86 Christopher Street in the 1930s
*[[James Coco]], actor, once lived at 45 Christopher Street
*[[E. E. Cummings]], poet, lived at 11 Christopher Street in 1918<ref>{{cite book |last=Sawyer-Lauðcanno |first=Christopher |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wpkDRPueLiMC&dq=%22ee+cummings%22+%2211+christopher+street%22&pg=RA1-PA135 |title=E.E. Cummings: A Biography |page=135 |publisher=Sourcebooks |isbn=9781570717758 |access-date=October 7, 2007 |quote=On March 2 he moved out of the Brevoort Hotel, where he had been staying, and took up residence at 11 Christopher Street, in the West Village.}}</ref>
*[[Harlan Ellison]], [[science fiction]] author, lived at 95 Christopher Street in the early 1960s
*[[Dick Francis (illustrator)|Dick Francis]], science fiction illustrator, once lived at 105 Christopher Street
*[[Ben M. Hall]], author and founder of the Theatre Historical Society of America, lived at 181 Christopher Street where he was murdered in 1970
*[[Rosemary Harris]], actress, once lived at 77 Christopher Street
*[[Philip Seymour Hoffman]], actor
*[[Sally Kirkland]], actress, once lived at 84 Christopher Street
*[[Luigi Lucioni]], Italian-American painter known for his [[still life]]s, [[Landscape painting|landscape]]s, and [[portrait]]s. His family emigrated to Christopher Street from [[Malnate]], Italy in 1911.<ref>Embury, Stuart P. (2006). "Chapter One: The Early Years". ''The Art and Life of [[Luigi Lucioni]]''. Embury Publishing Company. pp. 1–3.</ref>
*[[Peter MacNicol]], actor, once lived at 95 Christopher Street
*[[Marshall W. Mason]], theater director, lived at 165 Christopher Street for 43 years
*[[David "Fathead" Newman]], jazz musician who lived at 95 Christopher through the 1980s
*[[Yoko Ono]], singer and artist, once lived at 87 Christopher Street
*[[William Poole]], member of the New York City gang [[Bowery Boys (gang)|Bowery Boys]]
*[[Dawn Powell]], author, lived at 95 Christopher Street from 1963 to 1965<ref>"Dawn Powell, Novelist, Is Dead; Author of Witty, Satirical Books; Middle Class Was the Object of Her Stinging Fiction-13 Books Published", ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 16, 1965. "Miss Powell, who had resided in Greenwich Village most of her life, maintained an apartment at 95 Christopher Street, where she did most of her writing in recent years."</ref>
*[[Lindsay Price]], actress 
*[[Amy Sedaris]], actress and comedian, once lived at 95 Christopher Street
*[[Linda Solomon]], New York editor of ''[[NME|New Musical Express]]'' and ''[[The Village Voice|Village Voice]]'' columnist lived at 95 Christopher from 1960 to 1999
*[[Ted White (author)|Ted White]], author and editor, once lived at 105 Christopher Street

==In popular culture==
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2024}}
*"Christopher Street" is both a song and the main location of the 1953 musical ''[[Wonderful Town]]''.
*The courtyard of 125 Christopher Street was the model for the sets of the 1954 thriller film ''[[Rear Window]]'', directed by [[Alfred Hitchcock]].  The character played by [[James Stewart]], in calling the police, gives the address of the building he has been watching as “125 West 9th Street.”  This address does not exist, because West 9th Street ends at Sixth Avenue and continues west as Christopher Street.
*The 1979 episode "The Spy" of the TV show ''[[Barney Miller]]''—about a group of New York City police detectives working in the fictional 12th Precinct in Greenwich Village—established Miller's home address as 617 Christopher Street.
*In [[Paul Simon]]'s 1983 song "[[Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War]]," artist [[René Magritte]] and his wife Georgette "were strolling down Christopher Street when they stopped in a men's store."
*The 1999 song "My My Metrocard", by [[queercore]] punk band [[Le Tigre]] on [[Le Tigre (album)|their debut album]], mentions the location.
*On the TV show ''[[NYPD Blue]]'', [[NYPD Blue (season 7)|season 7]], episode 3 (June 2000) "The Man with Two Right Shoes" shows Christopher Street directly after detectives mention "hitting the fairy bars" to find a gay, male prostitute.
*The [[Lou Reed]] song "Halloween Parade" from his 1989 album ''[[New York (album)|New York]]'' begins with the line "There's a downtown fairy singing out 'Proud Mary' as she cruises Christopher Street."
*In the comic series "[[Preacher (comics)|Preacher]]", it is referenced as the current address of detective Paul Bridges, implying that the tough, ruthless, and homophobic detective, was in fact homosexual.
*In ''[[The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel]]'' episode "Interesting People on Christopher St.", the main character Miriam mistaking her manager for a lesbian (the character Susie's sexuality is ambiguous), goes to Christopher St. surreptitiously asking for info on a lesbian bar, often being rebuffed as she is mistaken for an undercover cop.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Christopher Street (Manhattan)}}
*[http://newyork.gaycities.com/bars/nid/2906/ Gay/Lesbian nightlife on Christopher Street] from GayCities New York
*[http://www.nysonglines.com/christopher.htm New York: Christopher Street], NYSonglines.com virtual walking tour

{{Greenwich Village}}
{{Streets of Manhattan|state=collapsed}}
{{American gay villages}}

[[Category:Christopher Street| ]]
[[Category:Streets in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Stonewall National Monument]]