Broadway

Broadway is one of the most famous streets in New York City if not the world. Most people think of it as a street in Manhattan past skyscrapers, the theater and Times Square, but there's more to it; Broadway continues into the Bronx and Westchester County all the way to Sleepy Hollow and has a length of about 33 miles or 53 km.

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).

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 up Bus 6, which takes you up North Broadway and Broadway through the rest of Yonkers and Hastings-on-Hudson to Dobbs Ferry, where you should get off on North Broadway or Main St. to pick up the 1T. The 1T takes you through Irvington to Tarrytown. At the northern end of that route, you can take the 13, which takes you through Sleepy Hollow and further north to downtown Ossining. All these routes, starting with the M104, can also be done from north to south.

If you'd like to do a lot of this itinerary by bus, check Manhattan, Bronx (operated by NY MTA), and Bee Line bus schedules, and also keep in mind that buses in New York City don't keep closely to schedule, due to traffic conditions and occasional breakdowns, and that some Bee Line bus routes run infrequently, especially outside of rush hours, some don't run at all on Sundays, and if you are waiting for a scheduled bus and it doesn't come or comes early and you miss it, you might be waiting an hour for the next one.

By subway
The subway is a quick way for getting around New York City, and it will take you as far north as 242nd Street in the Bronx, but much of your travel will be underground. The following are trains that travel entirely along (under) Broadway in Bronx and Manhattan: Run entirely under Broadway from Whitehall St/South Ferry Station (ferry from Staten Island) to Times Square on 42nd St. Same route as &  (see above) between Canal St and Times Square on 42nd St. Continues north under or above Broadway from Times Square on 42nd St to 242nd St in Bronx at Van Cortland Park (elevated stops are at 125th St. and then at Dyckman St. and throughout the Bronx) Parallel with (see above) under Broadway between 42nd St & 96th St before going eastward under Central Park. See the MTA website for specific schedules and route maps for the subway and buses.

By train

 * Metro-North Railroad (Metro-North)-Hudson Line operates between and Poughkeepsie along the east banks of the Hudson River, parallel along Broadway/US Hwy 9 through Westchester County. Trains stop at the Harlem station on 125th Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan and in Morris Heights, University Heights, Marble Hill and Spuyten Duyvil in Bronx. In Westchester County the trains stop in Yonkers, Hastings on Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley on Hudson, Irvington, Tarrytown and Philipse Manor (Sleepy Hollow). From any of the train stations in Westchester County, you can reach Broadway within a few blocks' walk (no more than 1/2 mile to the east) or use a ridehailing service, taxi or a Bee Line Bus.


 * Amtrak trains operate along the same route as the Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line between New York and Poughkeepsie except they only stop in Yonkers and Croton-Harmon (Croton-on-Hudson). The Amtrak trains passing through are the Empire Service (trains between NYC and upstate New York) as well as the Adirondack (to Montreal); Ethan Allen Express (to Rutland NY); Lake Shore Limited (to Chicago) and Maple Leaf (to Toronto through upstate New York including Buffalo, Niagara Falls)

On foot
Walking is a great option for parts of the street/road that are best experienced at a slower pace; particularly avid walkers with several days to spare could probably pull off the whole route.

Many visitors to New York walk on Broadway in Midtown, Downtown Manhattan (south of 14th St.) and the Upper West Side, but it's also interesting to walk on Broadway in West Harlem (starting around 132nd St., where the #1 subway is no longer elevated) and Washington Heights, lively Dominican neighborhoods where Broadway is the main thoroughfare.

By bicycle
Many people bike on Broadway in Manhattan, but be careful about the hazards of sharing the road with cars, buses, pedestrians, and sometimes food carts, horse carriages, etc.

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 there are good views to the Statue of Liberty.

Financial District

 * , another famous New York street comes next. The New York Stock Exchange often referred to by the street's name is two blocks down the street.
 * , another famous New York street comes next. The New York Stock Exchange often referred to by the street's name is two blocks down the street.
 * , another famous New York street comes next. The New York Stock Exchange often referred to by the street's name is two blocks down the street.
 * , another famous New York street comes next. The New York Stock Exchange often referred to by the street's name is two blocks down the street.
 * , another famous New York street comes next. The New York Stock Exchange often referred to by the street's name is two blocks down the street.

Chinatown and TriBeCa
In this travel guide, Broadway forms the border between TriBeCa and Chinatown; the former is west of Broadway and the latter east of it.





East Village and Greenwich Village
Broadway forms the border between NoHo, which we cover as part of the East Village, and Greenwich Village. The Village, as New Yorkers call it, is west of Broadway, and the East Village is east of it.

Midtown East
Midtown East, as defined by Wikivoyage, is northeast of Broadway, and Broadway just touches it. Where it does, you can find Manhattan's Koreatown, which centers around 32nd St. between 5th Ave. and Broadway on the West Side but does extend to Madison Ave. on the East Side. One block away along 33rd or 34th St is another one of New York's most famous landmarks: the.

Theater District
When going one block east along 33rd St. will take you to the Empire State Building, rail and sports fans may be interested in going one block west along this street as well. This will take you to, the busiest intercity railroad station in the Western Hemisphere. Right behind it you can find a world-famous indoor sports venue –.

Where Broadway passes through the Theatre District, you will find all the famous Broadway theatres, right? Well, almost. A few of them are literally on Broadway, but most are on side streets that Broadway crosses, mostly west of Broadway (some of them to the east), roughly between 42nd and 54th St.




 * A library featured in quite a few works of fiction, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building better known as the is a block and a half east along the 40th, 41st or 42nd Street. In the front of it there's Bryant Park with cafés, statues and memorials.



Central Park
Central Park is northeast of Broadway at 59th St. It can be entered from Columbus Circle, which is where Broadway crosses 8th Ave. (called Central Park West between 59th St. and 110th St.).

Riverside Park
If you go west instead, you'll eventually arrive at Riverside Park, a long narrow park that extends along the bank of Hudson River from 59th-158th St. From here on, a series of green areas will follow the river for the length of Manhattan.

Upper West Side

 * Interested in nature and its history? Two blocks east along 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th or 81st Street is the with an impressive collection of exhibits.
 * Interested in nature and its history? Two blocks east along 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th or 81st Street is the with an impressive collection of exhibits.
 * Interested in nature and its history? Two blocks east along 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th or 81st Street is the with an impressive collection of exhibits.
 * Interested in nature and its history? Two blocks east along 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th or 81st Street is the with an impressive collection of exhibits.
 * Interested in nature and its history? Two blocks east along 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th or 81st Street is the with an impressive collection of exhibits.



The Bronx
In the Bronx, the street goes through the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge and Fieldston.



Dobbs Ferry
The village offers gorgeous views of the Hudson River from various viewpoints downtown and up in the hills, including the edge of the New Jersey Palisades. The waterfront is a wide expanse of grass, barbecue pits and a playground for relaxing and enjoying the sun. You can see the tall skyscrapers of Manhattan from the water's edge. There are lots of cute shops downtown for window shopping or actual purchasing. Walk the Croton Aqueduct trail to view gorgeous homes and estates of all periods of the town's existence in many styles of architecture.

Tarrytown




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.