Avenue D (Manhattan)

History

The street was created by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, as one of 16 north–south streets specified as 100 feet in width; they include 12 numbered avenues, and four (located east of First Avenue) designated by letter.

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. 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.

In 1969, the segment of Columbia Street between Grand and Delancey Streets was named in honor of Abraham E. Kazan.

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 bus until Houston Street. Both routes serve the Baruch Houses.

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.
• 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.

References

References

1. {{google maps. link
2. [[Gouverneur Morris. Morris, Gouverneur]]; [[Simeon De Witt. De Witt, Simeon]]; and [[John Rutherfurd. Rutherford, John]] {{sic (March 1811) [https://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu/DOCS/nyc1811.htm "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."
3. (September 12, 1925). "Craig Sees Hylan As An Edison Aid". The New York Times.
4. Borough of Manhattan Department of Public Works. (March 17, 1926). "Map Showing a Change of Grade on East Street Between East 14th Street and East 15th Street, East 14th Street Between East Street and Avenue D, East 15th Street Between East Street and Avenue D".
5. (October 27, 2005). "Con Edison East 14th and East 15th Streets Environmental Assessment Statement". Allee King Rosen & Fleming.
6. (October 11, 1969). "New York City Honors Kazan By Street Name". The News of Cumberland County.
7. Fogelson, Robert M.. (2022). "Working-Class Utopias: A History of Cooperative Housing in New York City". Princeton University Press.
8. {{cite NYC bus map. M
9. "Boys and Girls Republic".