53rd Street (Manhattan)

West 53rd Street crosses 9th Avenue

St Thomas Church of Fifth Avenue

53rd Street is a midtown cross street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, that contains buildings such as the Citicorp Building. It is 1.83 miles (2.94 km) long. The street runs westbound from Sutton Place across most of the island's width, ending at DeWitt Clinton Park at Eleventh Avenue. The Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street IND and 51st Street IRT station, one of the busiest in the New York City Subway system, is accessible from this street, and is served by 4 6 <6> E M trains. The Seventh Avenue IND station (B D E trains) is a similarly busy transfer station.

Notable locations

• The 53rd Street Tunnel carries the IND Queens Boulevard Line (E M trains) of the New York City Subway under the East River between Manhattan and Queens.
• The Lipstick Building stands at Third Avenue
• The Seagram Building is a 38-story skyscraper located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd Street, designed by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with the American Philip Johnson and completed in 1958.
• Lever House is a 21-story skyscraper located at 390 Park Avenue, between 54th Street and 53rd Street, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and completed in 1952.
• The Stork Club was one of the famous nightclubs in New York City during the 1930s–1950s. It was located at 3 East 53rd Street, just off Fifth Avenue.
• Paley Park, on the former site of the Stork Club, is a 4,200-square-foot (390 m²) pocket park that has been recognized as one of the finest urban spaces in the United States.
• Saint Thomas Church is located at Fifth Avenue.
• The block between Fifth and Sixth Avenues also contains the Donnell Library Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the American Folk Art Museum, and the "Black Rock" and "Brown Rock" buildings of CBS and (formerly) ABC, respectively. A skyscraper has been proposed at 53 West 53rd Street
• The block between 6th and 7th Avenues has the Calyon Building and the hotels Hilton New York and Sheraton New York, separated by a subway powerhouse.
• A section of 53rd at Eighth Avenue was named Jerry Orbach Way in 2007 in honor of the actor, who had lived there for 25 years.
• The Ed Sullivan Theater is at Broadway, across the street from the back door of the Roseland Ballroom and next to another subway powerhouse.
• The Wendy Williams Show is made at 433 West 53d.
• A building at 811 10th Avenue, between 53rd & 54th Sts, houses the largest New York exchange of AT&T Long Lines. It extends about halfway to 11th ave and has NO windows; only two small rectangular openings located just above the two flagpoles on either side of the front door, giving access to the flags.
• The street ends at DeWitt Clinton Park on 11th Avenue.

External links

• 53rd Street: A New York Songline — virtual walking tour
• 53 Skiddoo — by Forgotten-NY