74th Street is an east–west street carrying pedestrian traffic and eastbound automotive/bicycle traffic in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs through the Upper East Side neighborhood (in ZIP code 10021, where it is known as East 74th Street), and the Upper West Side neighborhood (in ZIP code 10023, where it is known as West 74th Street), on both sides of Central Park.

History

In 1639, Colony's Sawmill stood at the corner of East 74th Street and Second Avenue, in the Dutch village of New Amsterdam, at which enslaved African laborers cut lumber. In 1664, the English took over Manhattan and the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam from the Dutch. English colonial Governor of the Province of New York Richard Nicolls made 74th Street, beginning at the East River, the southern border patent line (which was called the "Harlem Line") of the village of Nieuw Haarlem (later, the village of Harlem); the British also renamed the village "Lancaster". That year Jan van Bonnel built a sawmill on East 74th Street and the East River, where a 13.71 km creek or stream, which began in the north of today's Central Park and became known as Saw Kill or Saw Kill Creek, emptied into the river. George Elphinstone and Abraham Shotwell, later owners of the property, replaced the sawmill with a leather mill in 1677. The Saw Kill Bridge was built and since at least 1806 was known as "The Kissing Bridge" because its surrounding beautiful landscape and seclusion made it a favorite spot to kiss in 18th and 19th century Manhattan. East 74th Street between Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue) and Fifth Avenue was the northern boundary of a 30 acre farm known as the "Lenox Farm" created by pieces of land that Robert Lenox purchased in 1818; the area later became known as Lenox Hill. Frederick Ambrose Clark developed a good portion of West 74th Street in 1902–04. In 1938, an open-air market on East 74th Street, east of Second Avenue, was supplanted by an enclosed market.

Transportation

The closest subway stop for East 74th Street on the Upper East Side is the 72nd Street station on the Second Avenue Subway, at Second Avenue. The next closest station is the 77th Street station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, at Lexington Avenue. The closest subway stops for West 74th Street on the Upper West Side are the 72nd Street station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, at Broadway, and the 72nd Street station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line , at Central Park West.

Notable places

East Side

Central Park

In Central Park near East 74th Street:

West Side

Notable residents

East Side

West Side