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It is considered to be the beginning of [[Alphabet City, Manhattan|Alphabet City]] in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]]. It is also the western border of [[Tompkins Square Park]].
It is considered to be the beginning of [[Alphabet City, Manhattan|Alphabet City]] in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]]. It is also the western border of [[Tompkins Square Park]].

==History==
Under the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]] that established the Manhattan street grid, the avenues would begin with [[First Avenue (Manhattan)|First Avenue]] on the east side and run through [[Twelfth Avenue (Manhattan)|Twelfth Avenue]] in the west.To the east of First Avenue there would be four additional lettered avenues running from Avenue A eastward to [[Avenue D (Manhattan)|Avenue D]].<ref>[http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/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], accessed [[May 2]], [[2007]]. "The avenues to the eastward of number one are marked A, B, C, and D."</ref>

==Former sections of Avenue A==
While First Avenue was the easternmost avenue in most of Manhattan, there were several discontinuous sections that had been known as ''Avenue A'' north of present-day Alphabet City. [[Sutton Place, Manhattan|Sutton Place]] was one of these stretches. Effingham B. Sutton constructed a group of brownstones in 1875 between 57th and 58th Streets, and is said to have lent the street his name, though the earliest source found by ''[[The New York Times]]'' dates back to 1883. The New York City Board of Aldermen approved a petition to change the name from "Avenue A" to "Sutton Place", covering the blocks between 57th and 60th Streets.<ref>Senft, Bret. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E6D9123AF931A25755C0A962958260 "If You're Thinking of Living In/Sutton Place; A Riverside Enclave for the Well-to-Do"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[June 12]], [[1994]]. Accessed [[December 27]], [[2007]].</ref><ref>Gray, Christopher. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06E1DA123AF932A1575AC0A9659C8B63 " Streetscapes/Sutton Place, Sutton Place South and One Sutton Place North; A Prestigious Enclave With a Name in Question"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[September 21]], [[2003]]. Accessed [[December 27]], [[2007]].</ref>

In 1928, a one-block section of [[Sutton Place, Manhattan|Sutton Place]] north of 59th Street, and all of Avenue A north of that point, was renamed York Avenue in honor of World War One US Army Sergeant [[Alvin York]], who won the [[Medal of Honor]] for an attack in the [[Meuse-Argonne Offensive]] on [[October 8]], [[1918]].<ref>Gray, Christopher. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06E1DA123AF932A1575AC0A9659C8B63 " Streetscapes/Sutton Place, Sutton Place South and One Sutton Place North; A Prestigious Enclave With a Name in Question"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[September 21]], [[2003]]. Accessed [[December 27]], [[2007]].</ref><ref>Pollak, Michael. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/nyregion/thecity/07fyi.html "F. Y. I."], ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[August 7]], [[2005]]. Accessed [[October 16]], [[2007]]. "In 1928, Sutton Place from 59th to 60th Street, and Avenue A north of 60th, were renamed York Avenue in honor of Sgt. Alvin C. York (1887-1964), a World War I hero from Tennessee and a recipient of the Medal of Honor."</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}


{{Avenues of Manhattan |
{{Avenues of Manhattan |

Revision as of 04:19, 31 December 2007

For the company called "Avenue A / Razorfish", please see Avenue A/Razorfish.
Avenue A and East 7th Street, midnight
File:Avenue A.jpg
Avenue A from East 5th Street, noon

Avenue A runs from north to south and is the beginning of the avenues to be defined by letters instead of using the numbering system in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Avenue A runs from Houston Street to 14th Street, where it continues into a loop road in Stuyvesant Town, connecting to Avenue B. Below Houston Street, Avenue A continues as Essex Street.

It is considered to be the beginning of Alphabet City in the East Village. It is also the western border of Tompkins Square Park.

History

Under the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that established the Manhattan street grid, the avenues would begin with First Avenue on the east side and run through Twelfth Avenue in the west.To the east of First Avenue there would be four additional lettered avenues running from Avenue A eastward to Avenue D.[1]

Former sections of Avenue A

While First Avenue was the easternmost avenue in most of Manhattan, there were several discontinuous sections that had been known as Avenue A north of present-day Alphabet City. Sutton Place was one of these stretches. Effingham B. Sutton constructed a group of brownstones in 1875 between 57th and 58th Streets, and is said to have lent the street his name, though the earliest source found by The New York Times dates back to 1883. The New York City Board of Aldermen approved a petition to change the name from "Avenue A" to "Sutton Place", covering the blocks between 57th and 60th Streets.[2][3]

In 1928, a one-block section of Sutton Place north of 59th Street, and all of Avenue A north of that point, was renamed York Avenue in honor of World War One US Army Sergeant Alvin York, who won the Medal of Honor for an attack in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on October 8, 1918.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ REMARKS OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR LAYING OUT STREETS AND ROADS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, UNDER THE ACT OF APRIL 3, 1807, accessed May 2, 2007. "The avenues to the eastward of number one are marked A, B, C, and D."
  2. ^ Senft, Bret. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Sutton Place; A Riverside Enclave for the Well-to-Do", The New York Times, June 12, 1994. Accessed December 27, 2007.
  3. ^ Gray, Christopher. " Streetscapes/Sutton Place, Sutton Place South and One Sutton Place North; A Prestigious Enclave With a Name in Question", The New York Times, September 21, 2003. Accessed December 27, 2007.
  4. ^ Gray, Christopher. " Streetscapes/Sutton Place, Sutton Place South and One Sutton Place North; A Prestigious Enclave With a Name in Question", The New York Times, September 21, 2003. Accessed December 27, 2007.
  5. ^ Pollak, Michael. "F. Y. I.", The New York Times, August 7, 2005. Accessed October 16, 2007. "In 1928, Sutton Place from 59th to 60th Street, and Avenue A north of 60th, were renamed York Avenue in honor of Sgt. Alvin C. York (1887-1964), a World War I hero from Tennessee and a recipient of the Medal of Honor."