View source for Houston Street

{{Short description|Street in Manhattan, New York}}
{{About |the street in Manhattan, New York City|the city in Texas|Houston, Texas|other uses}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Attached KML|display=title}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox street
| name                    = Houston Street
| native_name             =
| marker_image            =
| namesake                = [[William Houstoun (lawyer)|William Houstoun]]
| image                   = East Houston Street NYC 9183.JPG
| image_size              = 325px
| caption                 = Looking east from [[Orchard Street]]
| image_map               = 
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| other_name              =
| former_names            =
| postal_code_type        = ZIP Codes
| postal_code             = 10002, 10009, 10012, 10014
| addresses               =
| length_m                =
| length_ft               =
| length_mi               = 2.0
| length_km               = 3.2
| length_ref              =
| width                   =
| location                = [[Manhattan|New York]]
| client                  =
| maint                   =
| coordinates             =
|direction_a=West
|terminus_a=[[File:NY-9A.svg|20px]] [[New York State Route 9A|NY 9A]]/[[West Side Highway]]
|direction_b=East
|terminus_b=[[File:FDR Drive Shield.svg|25px]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive]] (FDR Drive)
| junction                =
| commissioning_date      =
| construction_start_date =
| completion_date         =
| inauguration_date       = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| demolition_date         =
| north                   =
| south                   =
| east                    =
| west                    =
}}

'''Houston Street''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aʊ|s|t|ən}} {{Respell|HOW|stən}})<ref>[https://nypost.com/2025/06/01/us-news/these-are-nycs-most-mispronounced-neighborhoods/ Donlevy, Katherine. "Here are some of the most mispronounced neighborhoods, streets and bridges in NYC," ''New York Post'', Sunday 1 June 2025.] Retrieved 7 August 2025.</ref> is a major east–west thoroughfare in [[Lower Manhattan]] in [[New York City]], New York. It runs the full width of the island of [[Manhattan]], from [[FDR Drive]] along the [[East River]] in the east to the [[West Side Highway]] along the [[Hudson River]] in the west. The street is divided into west and east sections by [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]].

Houston Street generally serves as the boundary between neighborhoods on the [[East Side (Manhattan)|East Side]] of Manhattan—[[Alphabet City, Manhattan|Alphabet City]], the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]], [[NoHo, Manhattan|NoHo]], [[Greenwich Village]], and the [[West Village]] to the north; and the [[Lower East Side]], most of the [[Bowery]], [[Nolita]], and [[SoHo, Manhattan|SoHo]] to the south.  The numeric street-naming grid in Manhattan, created as part of the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]], begins immediately north of Houston Street with [[1st Street (Manhattan)|1st Street]] at [[Avenue A (Manhattan)|Avenue A]].<ref name="Parks" />

The street's name is pronounced "{{Respell|HOW|stən}}" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aʊ|s|t|ən}}), in contrast to the city of [[Houston]], Texas, whose name is pronounced "{{respell|HYOO|stən}}" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|juː|s|t|ən}}). The street was named for [[William Houstoun (lawyer)|William Houstoun]], whose surname was pronounced "{{Respell|HOW|stən}}", while the city was named for [[Sam Houston]].<ref name="NYBookshelf">{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/nyregion/thecity/08book.html |title=New York Bookshelf; An Oddly Named Street, A Dark Night, a Gamy Club|date=February 8, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2011}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:George Luks - Houston Street.jpg|thumb|''Houston Street'' (1917) by [[George Luks]]]]

At its east end, Houston Street meets [[FDR Drive]] in an interchange at [[East River Park]]. West of FDR Drive, it intersects with [[Avenue D (Manhattan)|Avenue D]]. Further west, other streets, including [[First Avenue (Manhattan)|First Avenue]], the [[Bowery]], [[Lafayette Street (Manhattan)|Lafayette Street]] and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], intersect Houston Street. The Broadway intersection is the division point between East Houston Street and West Houston Street. [[Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)|Sixth Avenue]] intersects Houston Street at a curve in the road in [[Greenwich Village]]. East of Sixth Avenue, Houston street is bidirectional and separated by a [[median]]; west of Sixth, the street is narrower and unidirectional westbound.<ref name=ssi10>[http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/ssi10-houston.pdf West Houston Street - NYC.gov]</ref> West Houston Street terminates at an intersection with [[West Street]] near [[Pier 40]] on the Hudson River.

==History==
[[File:East Houston Street 1920s.jpg|thumb|East Houston Street between Clinton and Suffolk Streets in the 1920s]]

Houston Street is named for [[William Houstoun (lawyer)|William Houstoun]], who was a delegate from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|the state of Georgia]] to the [[Congress of the Confederation|Continental Congress]] from 1784 through 1786 and to the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] in 1787.<ref name=Parks>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=6509 Peretz Square], [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]]. Accessed July 12, 2007. "North Street, then the northern boundary of settled Manhattan, was later renamed for William Houstoun, a Georgia delegate to the Continental Congress; at the time of the renaming, the more famous Sam Houston was an unknown teenager"</ref> The street was christened by [[Nicholas Bayard#Descendants|Nicholas Bayard]] (b. 1736), whose daughter, Mary, was married to Houstoun in 1788.<ref name="STREETBOOK">Moscow, Henry. ''The Street Book: An Encyclopedia of Manhattan's Street Names and Their Origins.''  New York: Fordham University Press, 1990.  {{ISBN|0-8232-1275-0}}. p. 61.</ref> The couple met while Houstoun, a member of an ancient and aristocratic Scottish family, was serving in the Congress. Bayard cut the street through a tract he owned in the vicinity of [[Canal Street (Manhattan)|Canal Street]] in which he lived, and the city later extended it to include [[North Street (Manhattan)|North Street]], the northern border of New York's east side at the beginning of the 19th century.<ref name="STREETBOOK"/>

The current spelling of the name is a corruption: the street appears as ''Houstoun'' in the city's Common Council minutes for 1808 and the official map drawn in 1811 to establish the street grid that is still current. In those years, the [[Texas]] hero [[Sam Houston]], for whom the street is sometimes incorrectly said to have been named, was an unknown teenager in [[Tennessee]].<ref name=Parks/> Also mistaken is the explanation that the name derives from the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] words ''huis'' for ''house'' and ''tuin'' for ''garden.''<ref name="STREETBOOK"/> The narrow, westernmost stretch of the current Houston Street, from [[Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)|Sixth Avenue]] to the [[West Side Highway]], was known as "Hammersley Street" (also spelled "Hamersly Street") until the middle 19th century,<ref>[http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/M120B/ New York City Parks Department] Hammersley Street</ref> and was inside [[Greenwich Village]].  It later came to be regarded as the Village's southern boundary.

In 1891, [[Nikola Tesla]] established his laboratory on Houston Street. Much of Tesla's research was lost in an 1895 fire.

The street, originally narrow, was markedly widened from Sixth Avenue to [[Essex Street (Manhattan)|Essex Street]] in the early 1930s during construction of the [[Independent Subway System]]'s [[IND Sixth Avenue Line|Sixth Avenue Line]]. The street widening involved demolition of buildings on both sides of the street, resulting in numerous small, empty lots.<ref>{{cite news |title=Amid the Giant Ad Signs, New Buildings Sprout |first=Christopher |last=Gray |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02EFDC1E38F93BA25757C0A9629C8B63 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 18, 2004 |access-date=July 29, 2010}}</ref> Although some of these lots have been redeveloped, many of them are now used by vendors, and some have been turned into playgrounds and, more recently, [[community garden]]s.

[[File:WALL PAINTING ON A BUILDING ON HOUSTON STREET IN NEW YORK CITY'S MANHATTAN. THE INNER CITY TODAY IS AN ABSOLUTE... - NARA - 555910 crop.jpg|thumb|left|Houston Street at [[Lafayette Street (Manhattan)|Lafayette Street]] in 1974]]

Lower Manhattan's [[SoHo]] district takes its name from an [[acronym]] for "South of Houston", as the street serves as SoHo's northern boundary; another, narrower neighborhood north of Houston Street is correspondingly called [[NoHo, Manhattan|NoHo]].

In 1971, Houston Street became the southernmost street in Manhattan to extend between both the Hudson and East Rivers, when the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] was constructed and deprived [[Fulton Street (Manhattan)|Fulton Street]] of that title.<ref name="Southernmost">{{cite web |title=Lower Manhattan Necrology |url=https://forgotten-ny.com/1999/09/lower-manhattan-necrology/ |website=Forgotten New York |date=September 3, 1999|access-date=April 22, 2020}}</ref> With the reconstruction of the [[World Trade Center (2001–present)|World Trade Center]], Fulton Street was extended past Church Street to [[West Street (Manhattan)|West Street]], but is closed off to vehicular traffic west of [[Church Street and Trinity Place|Church Street]].<ref name="NYTimes-WTCSite-Intersection-2014">{{cite web |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |title=At World Trade Center Site, Rebuilding Recreates Intersection of Long Ago |website=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 1, 2014 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/nyregion/rebuilding-recreates-intersection-of-long-ago.html | access-date=February 23, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161540/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/nyregion/rebuilding-recreates-intersection-of-long-ago.html | archive-date=February 28, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref>

A reconstruction project rebuilt parts of the street between 2005 and 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/ddc/downloads/pdf/brochures/hwm738.pdf |title=HWM738 - Reconstruction of Houston Street |publisher=New York City Department of Design and Construction |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

==Transportation==
{{As of|2024}}, Houston Street is served by the {{NYC bus link|M21}} [[New York City Bus]] route from Columbia to [[Washington Street (Manhattan)|Washington Streets]] westbound, and from 6th Avenue to the [[FDR Drive (Manhattan)|FDR Drive]] eastbound. The bus route itself had replaced an [[Avenue C Line (Manhattan)|earlier streetcar line]], which is now the {{NYC bus link|M9}} between Avenues A and [[Avenue C (Manhattan)|C]]. Additional service is provided by the eastbound {{NYC bus link|M14D SBS}} east of Avenue D and the downtown {{NYC bus link|M15}} from Second Avenue to Allen Street. The {{NYC bus link|M15 SBS}} does not make any stops on Houston Street.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manhattan Bus Map|url=http://web.mta.info/nyct/maps/busman.pdf |website=[[Metropolitan Transportation Authority|mta.info]]|publisher=[[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]]|access-date=August 19, 2015|date=2015}}</ref>

A portion of the [[New York City Subway]]'s [[IND Sixth Avenue Line]] runs under Houston Street, between Sixth Avenue to just before [[Avenue A (Manhattan)|Avenue A]];<ref>[http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Station:_2nd_Avenue_(6th_Avenue_Line) 2nd Avenue] – nycsubway.org</ref> there are stations at [[Second Avenue (IND Sixth Avenue Line)|Second Avenue]] ({{NYCS trains|Sixth south}}) and [[Broadway – Lafayette Street (IND Sixth Avenue Line)|Broadway – Lafayette Street]] ({{NYCS trains|Sixth}}). Additionally, there is a station at Seventh Avenue, for the [[Houston Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)|Houston Street]] ({{NYCS trains| Broadway-Seventh south local}}).<ref>{{NYCS const|map}}</ref> The [[Bleecker Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|Bleecker Street]] station ({{NYCS trains|Lexington local}}) has station entrances on the north side of Houston Street, due to its connection with the [[Broadway – Lafayette Street (IND Sixth Avenue Line)|Broadway – Lafayette Street]] station as part of a larger station complex.<ref>{{Cite NYCS map|neighborhood|East Village}}</ref>

Exit 5 on the [[FDR Drive]] is on Houston Street. The street also connects directly with the [[West Side Highway]]; however, by then, Houston Street is westbound-only.{{clear left}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Knight, Sam. [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/nyregion/thecity/17hous.html?ex=1255752000&en=564ad37de237065f&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland "What a Street! (But Do You Ever Remember Being There?)"] ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 17, 2004.
* {{cite web
|title=Houston Street
|url=http://www.nysonglines.com/houston.htm
|work=New York Songlines
|first=Jim
|last=Naureckas
}}
* {{cite web
|title=Houston
|url=http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/houston/houston.html
|work=Forgotten New York – Street Scenes
|first=Kevin
|last=Walsh
|access-date=February 4, 2007
|archive-date=February 16, 2007
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216075340/http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/houston/houston.html
|url-status=dead
}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Houston Street (Manhattan)}}

{{Greenwich Village}}
{{East Village, Manhattan}}
{{Lower East Side}}
{{SoHo, Manhattan}}
{{Streets of Manhattan|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:East Village, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Greenwich Village]]
[[Category:Lower East Side]]
[[Category:SoHo, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Streets in Manhattan]]
[[Category:West Village]]