Editing 42nd Street (Manhattan) (section)

==History==
===Early history===
During the [[American Revolutionary War]], a cornfield near 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue was where General [[George Washington]] angrily attempted to rally his troops after the British [[landing at Kip's Bay]], which scattered many of the American militiamen. Washington's attempt put him in danger of being captured, and his officers had to persuade him to leave. The rout eventually subsided into an orderly retreat.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=260}}</ref>

[[John Jacob Astor]] purchased a {{convert|70|acre|ha|adj=on}} farm in 1803 that ran from 42nd Street to 46th Street west of Broadway to the [[Hudson River]].<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=338}}</ref>

=== 19th century ===
The street was designated by the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]] that established the [[Manhattan]] [[grid plan|street grid]] as one of 15 crosstown (east-west) streets that would be {{convert|100|ft}} in width, while other streets were designated as {{convert|60|ft}} in width.<ref>[[Gouverneur Morris|Morris, Gouverneur]], [[Simeon De Witt|De Witt, Simeon]], and [[John Rutherfurd|Rutherford, John]] {{sic}} (March 1811) [http://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"] {{Webarchive|url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/2566/20211028212005/http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu/DOCS/nyc1811.htm |date=October 28, 2021 }}, [[Cornell University Library]]. Accessed June 27, 2016. "These streets are all sixty feet wide except fifteen, which are one hundred feet wide, viz.: Numbers fourteen, twenty-three, thirty-four, forty-two, fifty-seven, seventy-two, seventy-nine, eighty-six, ninety-six, one hundred and six, one hundred and sixteen, one hundred and twenty-five, one hundred and thirty-five, one hundred and forty-five, and one hundred and fifty-five—the block or space between them being in general about two hundred feet."</ref>

In 1835, the city's Street Committee, after receiving numerous complaints about lack of access for development above 14th Street, decided to open up all lots which had already been plotted on the city grid up to 42nd Street, which thus became – for a time – the northern boundary of the city.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=579}}</ref>

[[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] began the construction of [[Grand Central Depot]] in 1869 on 42nd Street at Fourth Avenue as the terminal for his Central, [[Hudson Line (Metro-North)|Hudson]], [[Harlem Line|Harlem]] and [[New Haven Line|New Haven]] commuter rail lines, because city regulations required that trains be pulled by horse below 42nd Street.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=944}}</ref> The Depot, which opened in 1871, was replaced by [[Grand Central Terminal]] in 1913.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 29, 1871|title=Local News in Brief|page=8|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1871/09/29/archives/local-news-in-brief-newyork.html|access-date=July 4, 2011|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703021807/https://www.nytimes.com/1871/09/29/archives/local-news-in-brief-newyork.html|url-status=live}}<br>{{cite news|date=October 1, 1871|title=The Grand Central Railroad Depot, Harlem Railroad.|page=6|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1871/10/01/archives/the-grand-central-railroad-depot-harlem-railroad.html|access-date=July 4, 2011|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702233321/https://www.nytimes.com/1871/10/01/archives/the-grand-central-railroad-depot-harlem-railroad.html|url-status=live}}<br>{{cite news|date=November 1, 1871|title=Local News in Brief|page=8|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1871/11/01/archives/local-news-in-brief-newyork-brooklyn-long-island-staten-island.html|access-date=July 4, 2011|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307210341/https://www.nytimes.com/1871/11/01/archives/local-news-in-brief-newyork-brooklyn-long-island-staten-island.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Between the 1870s and 1890s, 42nd Street became the uptown boundary of the [[Theatre District, Manhattan|mainstream theater district]], which started around 23rd Street, as the entertainment district of the [[Tenderloin, Manhattan|Tenderloin]] gradually moved northward.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Burrows|Wallace|1999|pp=1149–1150}}</ref>

=== Early 20th century ===
42nd Street was developed relatively late compared to other crosstown thoroughfares such as [[14th Street (Manhattan)|14th Street]] and [[23rd Street (Manhattan)|23rd Street]], which had grown during the [[American Civil War]], and [[57th Street (Manhattan)|57th Street]], which became prominent in the 1890s. It was only after the beginning of the 20th century that the street saw entertainment venues being developed around [[Times Square]] and upscale office space around Grand Central Terminal.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 452">{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=452}}</ref> In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for [[legitimate theater]] were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.<ref name="p1505606157">{{cite magazine |date=October 12, 1917 |title=Legitimate: New York's Playhouse List Nearing Half Century Mark |magazine=Variety |volume=48 |issue=7 |pages=14 |issn=0042-2738 |id={{ProQuest|1505606157}}}}</ref>

The corner of 42nd Street and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], at the southeast corner of Times Square, is the eastern terminus of the [[Lincoln Highway]], the first road across the [[United States]], which was conceived and mapped in 1913.

An [[Elevated railway|elevated railroad]] line, running above East 42nd Street from [[Third Avenue (Manhattan)|Third Avenue]]  to the [[Grand Central station (IRT 42nd Street Branch)|Grand Central station]], was closed in 1923,<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 7, 1923|title=42d St. Elevated Stops; Service on Spur to Grand Central Discontinued Last Midnight.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/12/07/archives/42d-st-elevated-stops-service-on-spur-to-grand-central-discontinued.html|url-status=live|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302000821/https://www.nytimes.com/1923/12/07/archives/42d-st-elevated-stops-service-on-spur-to-grand-central-discontinued.html|archive-date=March 2, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> leading to the development of such structures as the [[Chanin Building]] and [[110 East 42nd Street]] west of [[Lexington Avenue]]. The street east of Lexington Avenue continued to be made up of mostly low-rise buildings; these blocks were adjacent to the elevated [[IRT Second Avenue Line]] and [[IRT Third Avenue Line]], and accordingly, initially considered unattractive for major development.<ref>{{cite web|date=February 25, 2003|title=Socony-Mobil Building|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2117.pdf|access-date=December 14, 2020|publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]]|page=2|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172358/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2117.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> By the 1920s, ''The New York Times'' reported that several high-rise developments were "radically changing the old-time conditions" along East 42nd Street,<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 13, 1929|title=News Building; Tall East 42d Street Edifice Nearing Completion.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/13/archives/news-building-tall-east-42d-street-edifice-nearing-completion.html|access-date=May 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172356/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/13/archives/news-building-tall-east-42d-street-edifice-nearing-completion.html|url-status=live}}</ref> including the Chanin, [[One Grand Central Place|Lincoln]], [[Chrysler Building|Chrysler]], and [[Daily News Building]]s, as well as [[Tudor City]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 3, 1929|title=Manhattan's Building Peak Shifts to Forty-Second St; Five Buildings Cost Over $61,000,000. A Pioneer Movement. Renting From the Plans.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/03/archives/manhattans-building-peak-shifts-to-fortysecond-st-five-buildings.html|access-date=May 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172356/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/03/archives/manhattans-building-peak-shifts-to-fortysecond-st-five-buildings.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The block of 42nd Street between [[Second Avenue (Manhattan)|Second]] and [[First Avenue (Manhattan)|First]] Avenues was originally only {{Convert|40|ft}} wide, passing through a steep bluff known as Prospect Hill.<ref name="nyt-1949-12-22">{{Cite news |date=December 22, 1949 |title=U. N. Approach to Be Beautified By Redevelopment of 42d Street |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172403/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="p1336513318">{{cite news |date=December 17, 1948 |title=Tudor City Plea To Save Park Area Rebuffed: Estimate Board Also Tells 42d Street Group It Must Make Way for U. N. Plan |page=42 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1336513318}}}}</ref> On either side of the street, {{convert|30|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid}} service roads ascended to Tudor City Place, which crossed over 42nd Street.<ref name="p1336513318" /> To improve access to the newly developed [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations headquarters]], in 1948, the city government proposed widening that block of 42nd Street, eliminating the service roads, and constructing a viaduct to carry Tudor City Place over 42nd Street.<ref name="nyt-1949-12-22" /><ref name="p1327415594">{{cite news |last=Yerxa |first=Fendall |date=July 22, 1948 |title=Tudor City Protests City's Plans To Develop Approach to U.N. Site |page=1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327415594}}}}</ref> Despite opposition from Tudor City residents,<ref name="nyt-1948-07-23">{{Cite news |date=July 23, 1948 |title=Ramp for Hospital in U.N. Plan Likely |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/23/archives/ramp-for-hospital-in-un-plan-likely.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409124156/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/23/archives/ramp-for-hospital-in-un-plan-likely.html |url-status=live }}</ref> city officials said the street widening was necessary because 42nd Street already carried high amounts of vehicular traffic to and from the nearby [[FDR Drive]].<ref name="nyt-1949-12-22"/> The [[New York City Planning Commission]] approved the plans in September 1948,<ref name="nyt-1948-09-17">{{Cite news |date=September 17, 1948 |title=Approach to U.N. Mapped; City Planning Proposal Would Widen 42d Street to 100 Feet |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/17/archives/approach-to-un-mapped-city-planning-proposal-would-widen-42d-street.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406190517/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/17/archives/approach-to-un-mapped-city-planning-proposal-would-widen-42d-street.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="p1326785598">{{cite news |date=September 17, 1948 |title=Street Widening for U. N. Approved by City Board |page=8 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326785598}}}}</ref> and the Board of Estimate approved $1.848 million for the project that December.<ref name="p1336513318" /><ref name="nyt-1948-12-17">{{Cite news |date=December 17, 1948 |title=City to Add Land for U.N. Approach; Board Votes to Take Over Strip for Widening of Street to Speed Development |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/12/17/archives/city-to-add-land-for-un-approach-board-votes-to-take-over-strip-for.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406190517/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/12/17/archives/city-to-add-land-for-un-approach-board-votes-to-take-over-strip-for.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The board provisionally authorized the street widening in June 1949, and Manhattan's borough president announced in December 1949 that work would commence shortly.<ref name="p13268250092">{{cite news |date=December 22, 1949 |title=Plan for Remodeling 42d St. As an Approach to U. N. Site |page=11 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326825009}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1949-12-22"/> The neighboring stretch of 42nd Street was temporarily closed from February 1951 to October 1952 while the widening was underway.<ref name="nyt-1952-10-022">{{Cite news |date=October 2, 1952 |title=East 42d St. Block Reopens to Traffic |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/02/archives/east-42d-st-block-reopens-to-traffic.html |access-date=April 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409124158/https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/02/archives/east-42d-st-block-reopens-to-traffic.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Theatrical decline ===
West 42nd Street, meanwhile, prospered as a theater and entertainment district until [[World War II]]. According to historian [[Robert A. M. Stern]], West 42nd Street's decline started in 1946, when the streetcars on 42nd Street were replaced by less efficient buses.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 452"/>

[[Lloyd Bacon]] and [[Busby Berkeley]]'s 1933 film musical ''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]'', starring 30s heartthrobs [[Dick Powell]] and [[Ruby Keeler]], displays the bawdy and colorful mixture of [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] denizens and lowlifes in Manhattan during the [[Great Depression|Depression]]. In 1980, it was turned into a successful [[42nd Street (musical)|Broadway musical]] which ran until 1989, and which was revived for a four-year run in 2001.<ref>[http://ibdb.com/show.php?id=1027 "42nd Street"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708233645/http://ibdb.com/show.php?id=1027 |date=July 8, 2015 }} on the [[Internet Broadway Database]]</ref> In the words of the [[Al Dubin]] and [[Harry Warren]] [[42nd Street (song)|title song]], on 42nd Street one could find:

<blockquote>Little {{not a typo|nifties}} from the Fifties, innocent and sweet,

Sexy ladies from the Eighties who are indiscreet,

They're side by side, they're glorified,

Where the underworld can meet the elite

Naughty, gawdy, bawdy, sporty, Forty-second Street!</blockquote>

From the late 1950s until the late 1980s, 42nd Street, nicknamed the "Deuce",{{fact|date=July 2024}} was the cultural center of American [[Grindhouse|grindhouse theaters]], which spawned an entire subculture. The book ''Sleazoid Express'', a travelogue of the 42nd Street grindhouses and the films they showed, describes the unique blend of people who made up the theater-goers:

<blockquote>depressives hiding from jobs, sexual obsessives, inner-city people seeking cheap diversions, teenagers skipping school, adventurous couples on dates, couples-chasers peeking on them, people getting high, homeless people sleeping, pickpockets...<ref name=sleazoid>Landis, Bill and Clifford, Michelle. ''Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour Through the Grindhouse Cinema of Times Square'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002. {{ISBN|9780743215831}}. pp. 2–7</ref></blockquote>

While the street outside the theaters was populated with:

<blockquote>phony drug salesman ... low-level drug dealers, chain snatchers ... [j]unkies alone in their heroin/cocaine dreamworld ... predatory chickenhawks spying on underage trade looking for pickups ... male prostitutes of all ages ... [t]ranssexuals, hustlers, and closety gays with a fetishistic homo- or heterosexual itch to scratch ... It was common to see porn stars whose films were playing at the adult houses promenade down the block. ... Were you a freak? Not when you stepped onto the Deuce. Being a freak there would get you money, attention, entertainment, a starring part in a movie. Or maybe a robbery and a beating.<ref name=sleazoid />
</blockquote>

For much of the mid and late 20th century, the area of 42nd Street near Times Square was home to activities often considered unsavory,<ref>Blumenthal, Ralph, [https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/27/magazine/a-times-square-revival.html "A Times Square Revival?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016223756/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/27/magazine/a-times-square-revival.html |date=October 16, 2021 }} ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' (December 27, 1981). Accessed September 6, 2010</ref> including [[peep show]]s.

East 42nd Street was, for some time, spared from similar decline, especially east of Third Avenue, where the development of the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations]] supported a thriving business district and prompted the widening of that section of 42nd Street.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 452"/><ref>{{Cite news|date=December 22, 1949|title=U. N. Approach to Be Beautified By Redevelopment of 42d Street|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html|access-date=December 14, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172403/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/12/22/archives/u-n-approach-to-be-beautified-by-redevelopment-of-42d-street-plans.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The demolition of the Second and Third Avenue elevated lines by the 1950s led to increased development on East 42nd Street, such as annexes to the Chrysler and Daily News Buildings, as well as the construction of the [[Socony–Mobil Building|Socony–Mobil]] and [[Ford Foundation Building]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|pp=456–457}}</ref> By the 1960s, East 42nd Street between Park and Second Avenues contained more headquarters of industries than any other place in the United States except Chicago or Pittsburgh.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 457">{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=457}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Dalton|first=Dudley|date=January 24, 1965|title=East 42d Street Home to Industry: Corporate Headquarters Are on Three-block Stretch|page=R1|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/116682516|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 14, 2020|issn=0362-4331|id={{ProQuest|116682516}}|via=ProQuest}}</ref> During this time, there was much development outside the rundown entertainment district of Times Square, somewhat offsetting the perception of that part of 42nd Street.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gilbert|first1=Felix|last2=Rosen|first2=Lew|date=November 17, 1963|title=Activity Is Brisk Near the River; New Office Buildings and Motels Brighten 42d Street's Tarnished Image|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/17/archives/activity-is-brisk-near-the-river-new-office-buildings-and-motels.html|access-date=December 14, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172351/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/17/archives/activity-is-brisk-near-the-river-new-office-buildings-and-motels.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Revitalization ===

[[File:Manhattanhenge 2016-07-12-FRD.png|thumb|upright=0.8|Tourists observing [[Manhattanhenge]], blocking the entire intersection of 42nd Street and the [[Avenue of the Americas]], looking westward at the [[sunset]] on July 12, 2016]]
In the early 1990s, the city government encouraged a cleanup of the Times Square area. In 1990, the city government took over six of the historic theaters on the block of 42nd Street between [[Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)|Seventh]] and [[Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)|Eighth Avenues]], and [[New 42nd Street]], a [[not-for-profit]] organization, was formed to oversee their renovation and reuse, as well as to construct new theaters and a rehearsal space. In 1993, [[Disney Theatrical Productions]] bought the [[New Amsterdam Theatre]], which it renovated a few years later. Since the mid-1990s, the block has again become home to [[Broadway theatre|mainstream theaters]] and several multi-screen mainstream movie theaters, along with shops, restaurants, hotels, and attractions such as [[Madame Tussauds]] wax museum and [[Ripley's Believe It or Not]] that draw millions to the city every year. This area is now co-signed as "New 42nd Street" to signify this change.

In the 1990s, the renovation of [[Bryant Park]] between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, as well as the renovations of Times Square and Grand Central Terminal, led to increases in office occupancy along both sections of 42nd Street.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Deutsch|first=Claudia H.|date=June 2, 1996|title=Commercial Property/East 42d Street;Rebirth of West 42d Street Is Spreading Eastward|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/02/realestate/commercial-property-east-42d-street-rebirth-west-42d-street-spreading-eastward.html|access-date=December 14, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827172401/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/02/realestate/commercial-property-east-42d-street-rebirth-west-42d-street-spreading-eastward.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2025, the [[New York City Department of Transportation]] announced that the block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues would be upgraded to protect it from terrorist attacks. The project, budgeted at $57 million, would include adding steel bollards, installing sewage pipes, and widening the sidewalks and bus lanes.<ref>{{cite web | last=Durso | first=Isabelle | title=NYC to Spend $57M on 42nd Street Pedestrian Safety Improvements | website=Commercial Observer | date=February 10, 2025 | url=https://commercialobserver.com/2025/02/new-york-city-42nd-street-pedestrian-safety-improvements/ | access-date=February 11, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Spivack | first=Caroline | title=42nd Street to get $57M makeover to prevent terror attacks | website=Crain's New York Business | date=February 10, 2025 | url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/transportation/42nd-street-get-57m-makeover-prevent-terror-attacks | access-date=February 11, 2025}}</ref>