Broad Street (Manhattan)

History

Broad Street was named for the Broad Canal, which it replaced. Originally an inlet from the East River, the canal was flanked by two solid ranks of three-story houses, the paths in front of which were paved in 1676. The canal was filled in 1676 because fruit and vegetable vendors, including Native Americans who came by canoe from Long Island, left the area littered, and fewer and fewer water craft were small enough to use the canal.

The Broad Canal was the original Manhattan landing of the first ferry between Manhattan and Brooklyn, later the Fulton Ferry.

The street saw a lot of change as the centuries progressed from Dutch to British rule and finally independent America. Among the tenants of Broad Street in the 18th century was bookseller Garrat Noel. The 1835 Great Fire of New York destroyed whatever historical buildings were left from the early times of New Amsterdam/New York. As the area became the center of financial activity, all smaller buildings in turn were replaced with grand banks. Most of the structures that stand today date from the turn of the 20th century, along with more modern buildings constructed after the 1950s.

Description

At the corner of Broad and Wall, there is the Broad Street station (J Z trains) on the BMT Nassau Street Line of the New York City Subway. North of Wall Street, Broad Street is continued by Nassau Street.

The famous neo-Roman facade of the New York Stock Exchange and its main entrance is located on 18 Broad Street. Opposite it is the former J.P. Morgan headquarters 23 Wall Street and 15 Broad Street, which has been converted into a luxury condominium. Other buildings of note are the Broad Exchange Building at number 25, the Continental Bank Building at number 30 and the American Bank Note Company Building at number 70.

The two southernmost skyscrapers in Manhattan are 1 New York Plaza on the west side of Broad Street, and 125 Broad Street on the east.