Third Avenue

Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Cooper Square north for over 120 blocks. Third Avenue continues into The Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to West Fordham Road at Fordham Center. It is one of the four streets that form The Hub, a site of both maximum traffic and architectural density, in the South Bronx.^[1]

Third Avenue carries only northbound (uptown) traffic north of 24th Street, south of which it is two-way, and again reprises this role in The Bronx. However, the Third Avenue Bridge carries traffic in the opposite direction, allowing only southbound traffic, rendering the avenue essentially non-continuous between the boroughs. In Manhattan, street signs read "3 Ave", while in the Bronx, street signs read "Third Ave"

The street was not always paved. In May 1861, according to a letter to the editor of The New York Times, the street was the scene of practice marching for the poorly equipped troops in the 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (spelling and punctuation as in the original): "The men were not in uniform, but very poorly dressed, — in many cases with flip-flap shoes. The business-like air with which they marched rapidly through the deep mud of the Third-avenue was the more remarkable."^[2]

Public transportation

Above ground

General cab service is available for hailing. The following buses use Third Avenue:

• M98: To West 193rd Street/Fort Tryon Park via the Harlem River Drive
• M101: To West 193rd Street via Amsterdam Avenue
• M102: To West 146th Street
• M103: To East 125th Street

Third Avenue was also once home to the Third Avenue Elevated line until 1955 in Manhattan, and 1973 in the Bronx.

See also

• The Hub

References

Links

• Third Avenue Elevated at forgotten-ny.com