116th Street (Manhattan)

West-east street in Manhattan, New York 116th Street (disambiguation)116th Street May 2025 April 2025 116th Street 116BtwBdwyRSD.jpg West 116th Street at Broadway looking toward The Paterno apartment building on Riverside Drive 13 40.8014 -73.9481 type:landmark_region:US-NY_dim:2000 it 1.73 West Riverside Drive Broadway at Columbia University East FDR Drive Manhattan 116th Street runs from Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River, to the East River, through the New York City borough of Manhattan. It traverses the neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Spanish Harlem; the street is interrupted between Morningside Heights and Harlem by Morningside Park. History The street was designated by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that established the Manhattan street grid as one of 15 east-west streets that would be 100 ft in width (while other streets were designated as 60 ft in width).Morris, Gouverneur, De Witt, Simeon, and Rutherford, John (March 1811) "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 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." Description West Side The western entrance to 116th Street at Riverside Drive is flanked by a pair of white apartment buildings with curved facades, The Colosseum and The Paterno. The New York Times has said that the "opposing curves, (form) a gateway as impressive as any publicly built arch or plaza in New York. The unusual curves of the buildings are the result of an 1897 street plan to make the land between Claremont Avenue and Riverside Drive an extension of the adjacent Riverside Park. Parades coming up Riverside Drive would be able to curve gracefully onto Claremont Avenue on the way to Grant's Tomb. The city chose not to buy the land, and it was sold for development. The street plan curves at 116th Street, however, remained.Gray Christopher https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E2D61E30F936A2575BC0A96F958260 Streetscapes/The Colosseum and the Paterno, 116th Street and Riverside Drive; At Curves in the Road, 2 Unusually Shaped Buildings The New York Times August 15, 1999 The top of The Paterno is capped with an architectural fancy masking a water tower in a shape that conjures up a section of Mansard roof, complete with dormer window. It is visible from the gates of Columbia University at Broadway and 116th Street. thumb|right|College Walk, formerly part of 116th Street The intersection of 116th Street and Broadway is the location of the main entrance of Columbia University, the city's Ivy League college. Until the 1950s, the street ran uninterrupted through Morningside Heights from Riverside Drive to Morningside Park. In 1953, during Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency at Columbia, however, the block between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue was permanently closed to vehicular traffic and was turned into a pedestrian way called "College Walk." The street had been ceded to Columbia in exchange for a payment of $1,000.https://www.nytimes.com/1953/11/17/archives/columbia-putting-new-walk-in-shape-transformation-of-116th-street.html COLUMBIA PUTTING NEW WALK IN SHAPE; Transformation of 116th Street Block Into a Campus Artery Moving Toward Completion The New York Times November 17, 1953 August 21, 2008 The pedestrian walkway was open to the public until October 2023, when the University closed both entrances in anticipation of demonstrations over the war in Gaza.Ramirez Isabella Hundreds of protesters pack campus following escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2023/10/12/hundreds-of-protesters-pack-campus-following-escalation-of-violence-in-israel-and-gaza/ Columbia Spectator 2023-10-12 2026-09-11 Kodé Anna Columbia University Locked Its Campus and Unleashed a Contentious Debate https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/realestate/columbia-university-public-access-lawsuit-protests.html The New York Times 2025-03-27 2026-09-11 In 2026, the City of New York joined the local Morningside Heights community requesting the historically public walk be reopened to allow access to neighborhood destinations on either side of the large campus. NYC Calls For Harlem’s Columbia University To Reopen To The Public https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/new-york-city-reverses-position-calls-for-harlems-columbia-university-to-reopen-college-walk-to-the-public/ Harlem World 2026-09-04 2026-09-11 Fahy Claire New York City Supports Push to Reopen Columbia Pathway to the Public https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/nyregion/columbia-university-college-walk.html The New York Times 2026-09-05 2026-09-11 Robertson Charlotte Morningside Heights Community Members Protest the Ongoing Closure of Columbia University’s Gates https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/nyregion/columbia-university-college-walk.html West Side Rag 2026-09-10 2026-09-11 116th Street continues from Columbia University for one block before ending at Morningside Drive and the Carl Schurz Monument, overlooking Morningside Park.https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/morningside-park/monuments/1408 Morningside Park Monuments – Carl Schurz Memorial New York City Department of Parks and Recreation July 31, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190731145318/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/morningside-park/monuments/1408 July 31, 2019 live The 116th Street entrance to the park opens to stairs that descend a steep incline into the wooded area that includes walking paths, playgrounds and ball fields. A security booth was installed at the entrance in 2006. East Side thumb|right|116th Street in East Harlem, 2007 The main, east-west thoroughfare portion of 116th Street begins at the eastern edge of Morningside Park and runs east through central Harlem. A large West African immigrant community has developed in central Harlem with stores, bakeries and cafés along 116th Street west of St. Nicholas Avenue. This community has been called Little Senegal or Le Petit Senegal.Attah Ayesha http://www.africanmag.com/ARTICLE-504-design001 Mourides Celebrate 19 Years in North America The AfRican October 23, 2007 116th Street in Harlem, New York is aptly named Le Petit Senegal. It abounds in aromas of stewing mafe and yassa wafting out of restaurants, sidewalks turned into mosques and businesses stocked with merchandise right out of Dakar dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090322040130/http://www.africanmag.com/ARTICLE-504-design001 March 22, 2009 At Lenox Ave., the street runs past the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque, formerly the Mosque No. 7. The building was erected as the Lenox Casino.494 East of Fifth Avenue, 116th Street has historically been the primary business hub of Spanish Harlem. From Lexington Avenue to First Avenue, the street is lined with businesses selling food, clothing, and other specialty and ethnically specific goods to a Spanish-speaking clientele. East 116th Street terminates at FDR Drive, the site of the East River Plaza, a retail mall complex with large commercial tenants Costco, Aldi and Target.http://www.plannyc.org/taxonomy/term/722 East River Plaza PlanNYC August 25, 2009 live https://web.archive.org/web/20090625110207/http://www.plannyc.org/taxonomy/term/722 June 25, 2009https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/realestate/commercial/11shop.html Squeezing Big-Box Retailing Into Small City Spaces The New York Times June 11, 2008 Pristin Terry August 25, 2009 Transportation Subway stations on 116th Street are, from west to east: 116th Street–Columbia University serving the Broadway-Seventh north local at Broadway 116th Street serving the Eighth center local day at Frederick Douglass Boulevard 116th Street serving the Lenox at Lenox Avenue 116th Street serving the Lexington local day at Lexington Avenue The future 116th Street will serve the Second future at Second Avenue when constructed. There is no bus service west of Manhattan Avenue. The M116 New York City Bus route is the primary server, running to First Avenue (eastbound) or from Pleasant Avenue (westbound). From Lenox Avenue, the M7 heads west to Manhattan Avenue and the M102 east to Lexington Avenue (eastbound) or from Third Avenue (westbound). In 2026, work began on a bus lane corridor along 116th Street.Ginsburg Aaron 116th Street overhaul will add new bus lanes, protected bike lanes, and pedestrian space 6sqft September 1, 2026 https://www.6sqft.com/116th-street-overhaul-will-add-new-bus-lanes-protected-bike-lanes-and-pedestrian-space/ September 6, 2026Stark-Miller Ethan NYC begins construction on Manhattan's 116th Street bus lanes aiming to speed up commutes for 65,000 daily riders amNewYork August 31, 2026 https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/construction-manhattan-116th-street-bus-lanes/ September 6, 2026 In popular culture 116th Street in Harlem is the background for the book The Street (1946) by Ann Petry. The story is about Lutie Johnson, a single young black mother, who moves to 116th Street to give her son better opportunities. 116th Street and Broadway is the opening scene of The Caine Mutiny (1951) by Herman Wouk as Willie Keith is being dropped off by his mother to join the Navy in World War II. Gallery See also 116th Street Crew, a Mafia crew with the Genovese crime family Ciro Terranova, the "Artichoke King" moved to 138 East 116th Street after declaring bankruptcy and foreclosing on his home Morello crime family, the Morellos owned the building at 338 East 116th Street, the headquarters of the Aignatz Aflorio Co-operative association References Category:Harlem 116