Metropolitan Avenue

Metropolitan Avenue is a major east-west street in Queens and northern Brooklyn, New York City. Its western end is at the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the eastern end at Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The avenue was constructed in 1816 as the Williamsburgh and Jamaica Turnpike, though previously it served as an Indian trail.

Forest Hills
Eastern end, Jamaica Avenue
Ridgewood, Queens

There are also streets named Metropolitan Avenue in Staten Island and the Bronx.

History

In 1814, the Williamsburgh Turnpike Company was chartered to upgrade an old Indian trail from Jamaica to the East River into a road, and their work was carried out in 1816. Locally known as the Williamsburgh and Jamaica Turnpike,[1] what became Metropolitan Avenue was a toll road which connected the then villages of Williamsburgh (as it was originally spelled) and Jamaica, New York. The road became a farmer's and stage coach route to the Williamsburgh ferries across the East River to Manhattan.[2] The easternmost segment of the present avenue in Williamsburg initially had several names before it was joined to Metropolitan Avenue circa 1858:[3] Bushwick Street, then Woodhull Street, and, later, North Second Street. The City of Brooklyn acquired Metropolitan Avenue from the Williamsburgh Turnpike Road Company in 1872.[4] Several of the neighborhoods through which it passes originated as villages along its length.

Route description

Metropolitan Avenue runs mainly through the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and East Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill and Jamaica in Queens. The avenue, which ranges between four and six lanes wide, marks the northern borders of Ridgewood and Glendale and the southern border of Maspeth; it also splits Middle Village and passes through Forest Park. The street is 7.9 miles (12.7 km) long.

Transportation
The Metropolitan Avenue Bridge over Newtown Creek with its bascule spans opened

Metropolitan Avenue is served by the following subway stations:

The avenue crosses the Long Island Rail Road's Bushwick Branch at one of the busiest level crossings in New York City. (40°42′49.4″N 73°55′10″W)

Education

Queens Metropolitan High School, a public high school, opened in 2010 on the avenue in Glendale.[5][6]

Other Metropolitan Avenues

Metropolitan Avenue in Parkchester, the Bronx is a boulevard approximately 0.8 miles (1.3 km) long. Aileen B. Ryan Oval, formerly Metropolitan Oval,[7] is halfway along Metropolitan Avenue in the Bronx.

Metropolitan Avenue in Silver Lake, Staten Island, is a side street approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long.

Metropolitan Oval, along Metropolitan Avenue in the Bronx.

References
  1. Jackson, K.T. (ed.) (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven, CT: Yale
  2. "A Picture History of Kew Gardens, NY - Metropolitan Avenue". Kewgardenshistory.com. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  3. "Brooklyn Revealed". Brooklyn Revealed. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  4. Archived November 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "$158M Metropolitan Avenue Campus in Forest Hills gets two new schools and principals". NY Daily News. 2009-12-23. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  6. Gustafson, Anna (2009-12-09). "Dept. of Ed eyeing new Queens schools | New York Post". Nypost.com. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  7. Lent, Elizabeth (July 2006). "A Successful Experiment in Living: The Evolution of Parkchester". The Cooperator. Retrieved 25 September 2013.

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