Broadway

Understand

Broadway is a road with a history reaching back to pre-Columbian times. The Wickquasgeck trail, used by the Native American people by the same name (who lived in the region), followed more or less the same routing as present-day Broadway. The Dutch, who were the first Europeans in the region called it Heeren Wegh (Gentlemen's Way) or Heeren Straat (Gentlemen's Street), and as it became British, they called it Broadway due to it being unusually wide. Broadway has throughout the city's history been a lively street and major thoroughfare. For instance, already in 1832, British writer Fanny Trollope was impressed with its size, shops, awnings, sidewalks and pedestrians. And Broadway and the attractions lining it have kept impressing visitors from around the world to this day. The street name has been synonymous with the many theaters and shows that are played there, including many of the world's most famous musicals (their names are recognized even by people who aren't into musicals). Broadway's industrial, commercial, artistic and residential history is preserved in the many landmark buildings that line it on both sides. There is a lot of romance about Broadway and many songs have been written about it. On Manhattan, most streets are laid out in a grid, but Broadway is different, "disrupting the pattern" by making curves and cutting diagonally through the otherwise rectangular blocks, and so you can instantly spot it on a map. Moving north from Manhattan, the famous icons of the Big Apple are left behind and you will travel through suburbs with parks and occasional views to the Hudson River. This is not to say you wouldn't find some sights here too, including manors, churches and the Croton Aqueduct and other green areas. For visitors from abroad visiting New York, this is also an opportunity to see a more "everyday" side of the U.S.

Prepare

Our New York City article has plenty of useful information for this trip; from what kind of weather you could expect at different times of the year, to how to use public transit and safety advice. This is an urban itinerary, and for the most part of the trip you won't be far from places to buy snacks, eat, sleep or where you can start or end your trip (e.g. bus stops or subway stations).

Get in and around

By car This can be a bit challenging if you literally want to travel along the Broadway from end to end. Manhattan is not ideal to get around by car, but this will change the further north you go; the sections in the Bronx and Westchester County can be driven quite reasonably. That said, if you do want to drive on Broadway in Manhattan, be aware that the street is two-way starting at Columbus Circle (59th St.). To the south of that, Broadway goes 1-way downtown only, and there are stretches in Midtown, such as around Times Square, that have been pedestrianized and can no longer be driven. On the public transit side, buses ply much of Broadway, though you'll have to changes buses multiple times.

By bus Surveying available bus routes from south to north: You can take the M55 downtown via Broadway between 8th St. and the Battery, which is at the southern tip of Manhattan (it cannot go uptown on Broadway, which is one-way downtown for that stretch). There are no buses that go down Broadway between 59th St./Columbus Circle and 8th St., so if you want to bridge that gap by bus, you will have to take the M5 downtown to 31st St. and 5th Ave. and change for the M55 there. The M104 goes up and down Broadway between Columbus Circle and 125th St. and gives you a good view when it's not too crowded and you can get a seat. The M4 travels on Broadway between 110th St. and 165th St. The M5 is on Broadway between Columbus Circle and 72nd Street and then after going via Riverside Drive till 135th St., remains on Broadway till its terminus at the George Washington Bus Terminal at 179th St. The M100 is on Broadway from 168th St. to Dyckman St. The Bx7 is on Broadway from 165th St in Manhattan to 231st St in Bronx. The Bx9 continues along Broadway from 225th St, through the Bronx, to the border with Westchester County at 262nd St, NW of the expansive Van Cortland Park. In Westchester County, you can take Bee Line buses. Westchester County Bus 2 travels on Broadway (called South Broadway during the portion of its route in Yonkers) from 242nd St. in the Bronx to Washington Park/City Hall in Yonkers, where it veers off onto Palisade Ave. Then if you're going north, you can pick u

Go

Many of New York's most famous attractions are on Broadway, and a few others are just a couple of blocks away - these are marked by reddish brown markers. Listings are given from south to north.

Downtown/Lower Manhattan The southernmost tip of Manhattan is not on Broadway but only a couple of blocks away, and given that the itinerary follows the whole length of the island, starting your journey here is certainly also an option. From the 1 southern end of Battery Park there are good views to the Statue of Liberty.

Financial District

1 International Mercantile Marine Company Building, 1 Broadway. This pretty 12-story building at the very beginning of Broadway in the Battery was a skyscraper when it was built in 1882. (updated Nov 2020) 2 National Museum of the American Indian, One Bowling Green (adjacent to the northeast corner of Battery Park; Subway: 4 5 to Bowling Green), ☏ +1-212-514-3700. F-W 10AM–5PM, Th 10AM-8PM. Housed in the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House, this Smithsonian museum is the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian (the other branches are in Washington, D.C. and Maryland). Free. 3 Bowling Green (at Broadway and Morris; Subway: 4 5 to Bowling Green). A small park at the foot of Broadway which is the oldest public park in the city and is the site of the Charging Bull sculpture created after the 1987 stock market crash. Bowling Green is also the origin point for the Broadway ticker-tape parades; if you walk up Broadway, you can view plaques in the sidewalk honoring the people or events celebrated in these parades. 4 26 Broadway (across the street from Bowling Green). This striking landmark multi-level building was constructed for Standard Oil in 1884-85 and enlarged in stages through 1928. You will recognize it by its curved lower reaches topped by a tower that's tapered on top, ending in a cauldron that was used until 1956 to light the building with kerosene, the fuel that made Standard Oil one of the wealthiest companies in the world during the late 19th-century Robber Baron age. (updated Nov 2020) 2 Wall Street, another famous New York street comes next. The New York Stock Exchange often referred to by t

Go next

If you've reached the end of the itinerary in Sleepy Hollow and have a car, you could continue straight north along U.S. Route 9 across northeastern New York state all the way to the Canadian border. By public bus you can explore nearby towns around Westchester County. There are local streets named "Broadway" in the towns north of Sleepy Hollow which are not connected to nor a continuation of this segment of Broadway (between Sleepy Hollow and Manhattan) but may be accessible from US Hwy 9 further north. Some of them are residential side streets. On the other hand, if you are standing at Battery Place at the southern end of Broadway, you can explore southern Manhattan on foot, take a ferry to Liberty Island (where the Statue of Liberty is), Ellis Island, Governors Island, Staten Island or Brooklyn. Brooklyn is also accessible by subway or by taking the Battery Tunnel if you are driving. You can also cross the iconic Brooklyn Bridge from its entrance across City Hall Park from Broadway, keeping in mind that that's over a half mile north of the Battery.