Western Beef (Ridgewood, Queens, New York) 001

Metropolitan Avenue is a major east-west street in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

and northern

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Its western end is at the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. As of the 2020 United ...

, and the eastern end at

Jamaica Avenue Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springf ...

. The avenue was constructed in 1816 as the Williamsburgh and Jamaica Turnpike, though previously it served as an Indian trail. There are also streets named Metropolitan Avenue in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

and

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

History

In 1814, the Williamsburgh Turnpike Company was chartered to upgrade an old Indian trail from Jamaica to the East River into a road, and their work was carried out in 1816. Locally known as the Williamsburgh and Jamaica Turnpike, what became Metropolitan Avenue was a toll road which connected the then villages of Williamsburgh (as it was originally spelled) and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, New York. The road became a farmer's and stage coach route to the Williamsburgh ferries across the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The easternmost segment of the present avenue in Williamsburg initially had several names before it was joined to Metropolitan Avenue circa 1858: Bushwick Street, then Woodhull Street, and, later, North Second Street. The

City of Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...

acquired Metropolitan Avenue from the Williamsburgh Turnpike Road Company in 1872. Several of the neighborhoods through which it passes originated as villages along its length.

Route description

Metropolitan Avenue runs mainly through the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and

East Williamsburg East Williamsburg is a name for the area in the northwestern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. East Williamsburg consists roughly of what was the 3rd District of the Village of Williamsburgh and what is now called the East Williamsburg In-Plac ...

in Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village,

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia *Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre * Glendale, Queensland, ...

, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill and

in Queens. The avenue, which ranges between four and six lanes wide, marks the northern borders of Ridgewood and Glendale and the southern border of Maspeth; it also splits Middle Village and passes through

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Forest ...

. The street is long.

Transportation

Metropolitan Avenue is served by the following subway stations: * Metropolitan Avenue on the

IND Crosstown Line The IND Crosstown Line or Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It provides crosstown service between western Brooklyn and nor ...

( train) * Lorimer Street and Graham Avenue on the

BMT Canarsie Line The BMT Canarsie Line (sometimes referred to as the 14th Street–Eastern Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system, named after its terminus in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is served by the ...

( L train) * Middle Village – Metropolitan Avenue on the

BMT Myrtle Avenue Line The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway as part of the BMT division. The line is the last surviving remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads. The re ...

( train) * Jamaica – Van Wyck on the IND Archer Avenue Line ( train) *The Q54 bus runs along most of the avenue. The avenue crosses the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

's Bushwick Branch at one of the busiest

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

s in New York City. ()

Education

Queens Metropolitan High School, a public high school, opened in 2010 on the avenue in Forest Hills.

Other Metropolitan Avenues

Metropolitan Avenue in

Parkchester Parkchester is a planned community and neighborhood originally developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and located in the central Bronx, New York City. The immediate surrounding area also takes its name from the complex. Its boundari ...

is a

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

approximately long. Aileen B. Ryan Oval, formerly Metropolitan Oval, is halfway along Metropolitan Avenue in the Bronx. Metropolitan Avenue in Silver Lake,

, is a side street approximately long. ParkchesterOval722 08

References

{{Queens Streets Streets in Brooklyn Streets in Queens, New York