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52nd Street
	The theatres of 52nd Street in 2007
Maintained by	New York City Department of Transportation
Length	1.9 mi (3.1 km)
Location	Manhattan, New York
West end	NY 9A West Side Highway
East end	Cul-de-sac east of First Avenue

52nd Street is a 1.9-mile-long (3.1 km) one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Jazz center

Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, 52nd Street replaced 133rd Street as "Swing Street" of the city. The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues became renowned for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life. The street was convenient to musicians playing on Broadway and the 'legitimate' nightclubs and was also the site of a CBS studio. Musicians who played for others in the early evening played for themselves on 52nd Street.

In the period from 1930 through the early 1950s, 52nd Street clubs hosted such jazz musicians as Louis Prima, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Trummy Young, Harry Gibson, Nat Jaffe, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Marian McPartland, and many more. Although musicians from all schools performed there, after Minton's Playhouse in uptown Harlem, 52nd Street was the second most important place for the dissemination of bebop.^[1] In fact, a tune called "52nd Street Theme" by Thelonious Monk became a bebop anthem and jazz standard.

Virtually every great jazz player and singer of the era performed at clubs:

52nd Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues^[2]

Kelly's Stable, 137 W 52
The Hickory House, 144 W 52

52nd Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues

21 Club, 21 W 52 (1929–2020)
Leon & Eddie's, 33 W 52
Famous Door

35 W 52 (Mar 1935–May 1936)

66 W 52 (Dec 1937–Nov 1943)

201 W 52 (Nov 1943–1944)

56 W 52 (1947–1950)

Note: The Cotton Club (unconnected to the defunct club with the same name) opened in 1943 on the site formerly occupied by the Famous Door; the club was initially managed by Russell Carter

Jimmy Ryan's, 53 W 52 (1934–1962)

154 W 54th (1962–1983)

Spotlight Club, 56 W 52
Club Samoa

62 W 52 (1940–1943)

became a strip club in 1943

The Onyx

35 W 52 (1927–1933) (owned by Joe Helbock)

72 W 52 (1933–1937) (owned by Joe Helbock)

62 W 52 (1937–1939) (owned by Joe Helbock, et al.)

57 W 52 (1942–1949) (unrelated to the original Onyx)

became a strip club in 1949

Yacht Club, 66 W 52
Club Downbeat, 66 W 52
Club Carousel, 66 W 52
3 Deuces, 72 W 52

Disc jockey Symphony Sid frequently did live broadcasts from the street which were transmitted across the country.

By the late 1940s, the jazz scene began moving elsewhere around the city and urban renewal began to take hold of the street. By the 1960s, most of the legendary clubs were razed or fell into disrepair. The last jazz club there closed in 1968, though one remains as a restaurant. Today, the street is full of banks, shops, and department stores and shows little trace of its jazz history. The block from 5th to 6th Avenues is formally co-named "Swing Street" and one block west is called "W. C. Handys Place".

The 21 Club was the sole surviving club on 52nd Street that also existed during the 1940s. It closed in 2020. The venue for the original Birdland at 1674 Broadway (between 52nd & 53rd), which came into existence in 1949, is now a strip club. The current Birdland is on 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues.

Notable places on 52nd Street

This is a list of notable places within one block of 52nd Street.

West Side Highway

The route begins at the West Side Highway (New York Route 9A). Opposite the intersection is the New York Passenger Ship Terminal and the Hudson River
Hustler Club on south side
De Witt Clinton Park on north (the whole west side neighborhood of Clinton derives its name from the park
Studios of The Daily Show broadcast (south)

Eleventh Avenue

The section between Eleventh and Tenth Avenues is signed "Joe Hovarth Way" in tribute to Joseph Hovarth (1945–1995) who located the Police Athletic League William J. Duncan Center on the block after moving from its original location.^[3] The Duncan Center is named for a patrolman who was shot while chasing a stolen car in the neighborhood on May 17, 1930.^[4]

Tenth Avenue

Closed Midtown Branch of Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center (formerly St. Clares Hospital) (south)

Ninth Avenue

The Manhattan School – Public School 35, special ed. (317 West 52nd) (north)
Radio City Station Post Office (zip code 10019) (south)
The Link (south), 43-story, 215–unit, glass tower condominium (height = 471 feet), opened in 2007^[5] on site of the S.I.R. (Studio Instrument Rentals, Inc.) building at 310 W 52nd, known as the Palm Gardens Building.^[6] S.I.R. occupied the building from 1974 until 2004. Cheetah, the well-known club that had once been at 53rd and Broadway, occupied the Palm Gardens building from 1968 to 1974. Cheetah became a popular Latin-American dance club that helped popularize Salsa to mainstream America.^[7]

Eighth Avenue

Neil Simon Theatre (south)
August Wilson Theatre (north)
Gallagher's Steak House (south)
Novotel 26-floor, 272 ft (83 m) hotel opened in 1984^[8] (south)
1675 Broadway - 35-floor, 485 ft (148 m) office building opened in 1990^[9] (north)

The Seagram Building was completed in 1957 and was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with Philip Johnson

Broadway

Sheraton Manhattan Hotel at Times Square, 22-story, 225 ft (69 m) opened in 1962^[10] (south)

Seventh Avenue

Seventh Avenue to Sixth Avenue is signed W.C. Handy's Place
AXA Center, 54-floor, 752 ft (229 m) office tower opened in 1986^[11] (south)
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, 51-story, 501 ft (153 m) opened in 1962^[12] (north)
Flatotel New York City, 46-floor, 475 ft (145 m) Flatotel that opened in 1992 and is the street's(north)^[13]
Credit Lyonnais Building 45-floor, 609 ft (186 m) office building that opened in 1964 (north)
1285 Avenue of the Americas, 42-story, 545 ft (166 m) office building^[14] (south)

Sixth and a Half Avenue

In the middle of block between Sixth and Seventh Avenues is a pedestrian corridor named by the city "Sixth and a Half Avenue", which runs from 51st to 57th Streets.^[15]

Sixth Avenue

Sixth Avenue to Fifth Avenue is signed "Swing Street".
AXA Financial Center 43-story, 571 ft (174 m) completed in 1963.^[16] It has a large Thomas Hart Benton mural in lobby. (south)
CBS Building, headquarters of the network and popularly referred to as "Black Rock" (north)
31 West 52nd Street 30-floor, 411 ft (125 m) completed in 1986 originally for the E.F. Hutton headquarters. Currently the New York office of the international law firm, Clifford Chance (north) and the New York office of investment bank TD Securities, as well as the New York office for the international law firm Holland & Knight LLP.
Paley Center for the Media (north)
75 Rockefeller Center, 33-story, 424 ft (129 m) building completed in 1947 the last of the original Rockefeller Center buildings that was originally used for the headquarters of the Rockefeller Esso Oil Company^[17] (north)
21 Club (north)
666 Fifth Avenue (north)
650 Fifth Avenue (south) 36-story, 492 ft (150 m) office tower completed in 1978^[18]

Fifth Avenue

The Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues is signed "Place de Cartier" because of the Cartier SA store at 653 Fifth Avenue (south).
Olympic Tower (south)
Austrian Cultural Forum Building for Austria^[19]
House of Thurn, haute couture fashion label was located at 15 East 52nd Street, 1913-1934
Hanover Bank Building, 30-story, 389 ft (119 m) completed in 1962
Omni Berkshire Place (north)^[20]
Look Building (south)

Madison Avenue

Park Avenue Plaza Building, 45-story, 574 ft (175 m) building completed in 1981 above the Racquet and Tennis Club (north)^[21]

Park Avenue

Seagram Building, 38-floor, 515 ft (157 m) building completed in 1958, formerly home to the Four Seasons Restaurant (north)^[22]
345 Park Avenue, 44-story, 634 ft (193 m) building completed in 1969 (south)

Lexington Avenue

52nd between Lexington and Third Avenue is signed Israel Bonds Way (the Development Corporation for Israel which issues the bonds is headquartered at the intersection in the Grolier Building).
Grolier Building 33-story, 414 ft (126 m) building completed in 1958^[23]
599 Lexington Avenue, 50-story, 653 ft (199 m) building completed in 1986 (north)^[24]
150 East 52nd Street, 35-story, 390 ft (120 m) building completed in 1983^[25]

Third Avenue

875 3rd Avenue 29-story, 399 ft (122 m) building completed in 1983^[26] (north)
MacMillan Building 31-story, 364 ft (111 m) building completed in 1966^[27]
Hungary Consulate
Zambia Mission to the United Nations
Rockefeller Guest House, 242 East 52nd Street (south)

Second Avenue

Thailand Consulate and Mission to the United Nations

First Avenue

The block between First Avenue and FDR has been subject of an attempt to designate it as its own neighborhood.^[28]

52nd Street is two-way traffic east of First Avenue since it dead ends on a bluff above the FDR Drive.
Southgate Apartment
Rivergate Apartment
Sutton House
450 East 52nd - "The Campanile" is a 14-story brick cooperative apartment building overlooking the East River. It was home to celebrities such as Greta Garbo and John Lennon.
River House

In literature and popular culture

In W. H. Auden's poem "September 1, 1939", about the Second World War, Auden narrates himself as being on 52nd Street.

A 1948 amateur recording of Charlie Parker at the Onyx Club, Bird on 52nd St., was released by Jazz Workshop in 1957.^[29]^[30]

Billy Joel has a studio album titled 52nd Street. The songs, including the hit single "Honesty", have a jazz flavoring not found on his other albums.^[31]

Toshiki Kadomatsu wrote a song titled "52nd Street 'Akiko'", which is on his album Sea Is a Lady.^[32]

The Twilight Zone, episode 32, "A Passage for Trumpet", refers to the jazz clubs of 52nd Street.

Van Morrison's 1972 song "Saint Dominic's Preview" includes the lyrics "And meanwhile we're over on a 52nd Street apartment/Socializing with the wino few".

Daniel Okrent invented Rotisserie League Baseball, a form of fantasy baseball, in 1979. The name comes from the name of the restaurant, La Rôtisserie Française restaurant on New York City's East 52nd Street, where he first suggested the idea to his friends.

References

Notes

^ Miles Davis (1989). Autobiography.
^ Ken Vail, Jazz milestones: a pictorial chronicle of jazz 1900-1990, Volume, Part 2, Castle Communications (1993) OCLC 30781182, 34905815, 680173922 ISBN 095222870X ISBN 9780952228707 ISBN 1860740502 ISBN 9781860740503
^ "Mayor Giuliani Considers Legislation To Create "Joe Horvath Street" In Manhattan" (Press release). Mayor's Press Office. 1997-05-30. Archived from the original on 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
^ "P.A.L. DEDICATES ITS DREAM HOUSE; New Center on West Side Created From Building Abandoned by Y.W.C.A." The New York Times. Jan 22, 1956. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
^ "The Link, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-04-29. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ Christopher Walsh, S.I.R. on the Move, Billboard Magazine, July 10, 2004, pg. 56
^ Rohter, Larry (Aug 19, 2011). "It Happened One Night at the Cheetah". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
^ "Accor Novotel, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-20. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "1675 Broadway, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Sheraton New York hotel & Towers Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
^ "AXA Center, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2008-03-17. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Sheraton City Squire Hotel, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Flatotel New York City, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ Grynbaum, Michael M.; Flegenheimer, Matt (July 13, 2012). "Officially Marking a New Manhattan Avenue". NYTimes - City Room. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
^ "1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-21. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Time-Warner Building, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "650 Fifth Avenue, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Austrian Cultural Institute Building, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-04-29. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Omni Berkshire Place Hotel, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Park Avenue Plaza Building, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-25. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Seagram Building, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "Grolier Building, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "599 Lexington Avenue, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2008-03-17. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "150 East 52nd Street, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "875 3rd Avenue, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ "MacMillan Building, New York City / Emporis.com". Archived from the original on 2007-02-11. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ Harris, Elizabeth (16 January 2012). "On 52nd Street, a Co-op's Members Think Numerals Are Holding Them Back". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Dec 23, 1957. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021 – via Google Books.
^ "Charlie Parker Catalog". JAZZDISCO.org. Jazz Discography Project. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
^
RIAA lists October 11 as the release date. Billy Joel tweeted that it was October 12.
- "Billy Joel – 52nd Street". Gold and Platinum Certification. RIAA. 2020. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- @billyjoel (October 12, 2019). "52nd St Release Date" (Tweet). Retrieved October 12, 2019 – via Twitter.
^ "Toshiki Kadomatsu = 角松敏生*- Sea Is A Lady". Discogs. 1987. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-22.