Central Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
boroughNew York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
As its name indicates, CPW forms the western edge of
Central ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. It also forms the eastern boundary of the
Upper West SideThe Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
. It runs 51 blocks from
Columbus CircleColumbus Circle, named for Christopher Columbus, is a major landmark and point of attraction in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South , and Central Park West, at the southwest corner of Central Park. It is the point from...
(at
59th Street59th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan runs east-west, from York Avenue to the West Side Highway, with a discontinuity between Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West for the Time Warner Center. Although it is bi-directional for most of its length, the...
, or
Central Park SouthCentral Park South is the portion of 59th Street that forms the southern border of Central Park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It runs from Columbus Circle at Eighth Avenue on the west to Grand Army Plaza at Fifth Avenue on the east...
) to
Frederick Douglass CircleFrederick Douglass Circle is a traffic circle located at the Northwest corner of Central Park at the foot of Frederick Douglass Boulevard and of Cathedral Parkway in the New York City borough of Manhattan...
(at
110th Street110th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is commonly known as the boundary between Harlem and Central Park, along which it is known as Central Park North. In the west, it is also known as Cathedral Parkway....
, or Cathedral Parkway). The gates into Central Park along its western edge are: Merchants Gate at 59th Street, Women's Gate at 72nd, Naturalists Gate at 77th, Hunters Gate at 81st, Mariners Gate at 85th, Gate of all Saints at 96th, Boys Gate at 100th, and Strangers Gate at 106th. Central Park West's expensive housing rivals that of Fifth Avenue on the
Upper East SideThe Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
.
South of Columbus Circle, in
MidtownMidtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
, CPW becomes
Eighth AvenueEighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
. North of Frederick Douglass Circle, in
HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, it is alternately known as
Eighth AvenueEighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
or Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Unlike many Manhattan avenues, CPW has traffic running in two directions. The
IND Eighth Avenue LineThe Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway...
runs under the avenue, serving local stations.
Central Park West is the address of several famous residences, including
The DakotaThe Dakota, constructed from October 25, 1880 to October 27, 1884, is a co-op apartment building located on the northwest corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City...
(where
John LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
lived with
Yoko Onois a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, who still resides there, and outside of which he was murdered in 1980),
The San RemoThe San Remo is a luxury, 27-floor, co-operative apartment building in New York City located between 74th and 75th streets, about 1/10 of a mile north of the Dakota building The San Remo is described by Glen Justice of the New York Times as "a dazzling two-tower building with captivating views...
(home to
U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's
BonoPaul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
,
Demi MooreDemi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
,
Diane KeatonDiane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
, &
Steve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
),
The El DoradoThe Eldorado at 300 Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of New York City, is the northernmost of four twin-towered luxury housing cooperatives that face the west side of Central Park...
,
The BeresfordThe Beresford, at 211 Central Park West, between 81st and 82nd Streets, is an upscale, 23-floor apartment building in New York City. The architect, Emery Roth, was famous for building luxury apartments and hotels throughout the city...
(home to
Diana RossDiana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
&
Jerry SeinfeldJerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
),
The LanghamThe Langham is an apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, United States, located along Central Park West. After the site stood idle for more than 15 years, the building was constructed between 1905 and 1907. Built at a cost of US $2 million, the structure included modern amenities, such as...
,
The CenturyThe Century is a 1931 Art Deco apartment building located along Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City. It was constructed at a cost of $6.5 million and designed by the firm of Irwin S. Chanin....
,
15 Central Park West15 Central Park West, located at the corner of West 61st Street and Central Park West, is an apartment building built in 2006-8 and designed by the architect Robert A.M. Stern....
(home to Sting),
41 Central Park WestHarperly Hall, 41 Central Park West, is an apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building is located along prestigious Central Park West and was built in 1910, it opened in 1911. Cast in the Arts and Crafts style, a rarity for New York City, Harperly Hall was designed...
(home to
MadonnaMadonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
), 455 Central Park West, The St. Urban, and The Majestic (which was home to some of the former heads of the
Genovese crime familyThe Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
, including
Meyer LanskyMeyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
,
Lucky LucianoCharlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
and
Frank CostelloFrank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
. In 1957,
Vincent "The Chin" GiganteVincent Gigante was a short lived professional light heavyweight boxer who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 25 matches and lost four, boxing 121 rounds. On February 19, 1945, he fought Pete Petrello in Madison Square Garden and won by a knock out in the second round. During his successful...
shot Frank Costello in the lobby of The Majestic in a failed assassination attempt).
According to New York Times architecture critic
Paul GoldbergerPaul Goldberger is the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the magazine's celebrated "Sky Line" column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City...
, the street's buildings, both the new ones like
15 Central Park West15 Central Park West, located at the corner of West 61st Street and Central Park West, is an apartment building built in 2006-8 and designed by the architect Robert A.M. Stern....
and the old ones such as
The CenturyThe Century is a 1931 Art Deco apartment building located along Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City. It was constructed at a cost of $6.5 million and designed by the firm of Irwin S. Chanin....
, "fit together the same way the ones in that hypothetical Main Street do, and for the same reason. For more than a hundred years, their architects honor the unspoken agreement to work together, to line their buildings up with each other and to work in a consistent scale with materials that are compatible."
Most of these
housing cooperativeA housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
s were built around 1930, replacing late 19th century hotels with the same names. Some, including The Century, The San Remo, and The Majestic, are twin towers. Other landmarks and institutions along its length include the
New-York Historical SocietyThe New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library located in New York City at the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan. Founded in 1804 as New York's first museum, the New-York Historical Society presents exhibitions, public programs and research that...
and the
American Museum of Natural HistoryThe American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
. The area from 61st to 97th Streets is included in the
Central Park West Historic DistrictThe Central Park West Historic District is located in Manhattan, New York City, United States along historic Central Park West, between 61st and 97th Streets. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1982...
.
The building located at
55 Central Park WestThe building at 55 Central Park West, also known as the Ghostbusters Building, is a 19-floor housing cooperative located in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.A. The building was built in 1929 and designed by the firm Schwartz and Gross. Both the interior and the exterior possess unique architectural...
is the infamous "Spook Central" from the movie
GhostbustersGhostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
. The famed New York City restaurant
Tavern on the GreenTavern on the Green was a privately owned American cuisine restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. It remained in operation from 1934 to 2009 under various owners...
is located off of Central Park West, at
66th Street66th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan with portions on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side connected across Central Park via the 65th Street Transverse...
, within the grounds of Central Park.
In 1899, while exiting a streetcar,
Henry BlissHenry Hale Bliss was the first person killed by a motor vehicle accident in the United States, and the first known in the Americas. On September 13, 1899 he was disembarking from a streetcar at West 74th Street and Central Park West in New York City, when an electric-powered taxicab struck him...
was run over by a taxi at CPW and 74th Street, becoming the first person to be run down and killed by a motor car in the Americas.