Houston Street (Manhattan)
Coordinates: 40°43′29″N 73°59′41″W / 40.7248°N 73.9946°W / 40.7248; -73.9946
| Length | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) |
|---|---|
| Location | New York |
| West end | NY 9A/West Side Highway |
| East end | Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive (FDR Drive) |
Houston Street ( /ˈhaʊstən/ HOW-stən) is a major east-west thoroughfare in downtown Manhattan, running crosstown across the full width of the island of Manhattan, from Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive (FDR Drive) and East River Park on the East River to Pier 40 and West Street on the Hudson River. It generally serves as the boundary between neighborhoods, with Alphabet City, the East Village, NoHo, Greenwich Village and the West Village lying to the north of the street, and the Lower East Side, most of the Bowery, Nolita and SoHo to the south.
The numeric street-naming grid in Manhattan, created as part of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, begins immediately north of Houston Street with 1st Street at Avenue A, although the grid does not fully come into effect until 13th Street.
Despite the spelling, "Houston" is pronounced "HOUSE-ton", and is therefore not pronounced like the city of Houston, Texas. The street's name was named for William Houstoun, whereas the city was named for Sam Houston.
Read more about Houston Street (Manhattan): Description, History, Transportation, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words houston and/or street:
“In Washington, the first thing people tell you is what their job is. In Los Angeles you learn their star sign. In Houston you’re told how rich they are. And in New York they tell you what their rent is.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)
“If the street life, not the Whitechapel street life, but that of the common but so-called respectable part of town is in any city more gloomy, more ugly, more grimy, more cruel than in London, I certainly don’t care to see it. Sometimes it occurs to one that possibly all the failures of this generation, the world over, have been suddenly swept into London, for the streets are a restless, breathing, malodorous pageant of the seedy of all nations.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)