The M9 is a local bus route that operates along the Avenue C Line (also known as the Houston Street Line), in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The M9 and M21 are operated by

MTA Regional Bus Operations MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the Public transport bus service, bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service (bus rapid transit ...

under the

MaBSTOA MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service ( bus rapid transit) services across the city of ...

division and based out of the Michael J. Quill Depot.

Current route

The route runs mostly along

Essex Street Essex Street is a north–south street on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Houston Street, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, ...

and Avenue C from

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the nor ...

Kips Bay Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a neighborhood on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 23rd Street to the south, and Third Avenue to the west. Kips B ...

. The M9 stays on Houston Street until Avenue C and Peter Cooper Village. Eastbound buses continue to 20th and 23rd Streets and use 1st Avenue to access 25th Street, where they terminate. Westbound buses then use 29th Street, 23rd Street, and Avenue C to access Houston St, where they head back to the West Side.

History

Early history

The Avenue C Railroad (changed to the

Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad The Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad was a street railway company in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It owned and operated a system in Lower Manhattan, and became part of the Metropolitan Street Railway. History The A ...

in the early 1880s) was chartered June 3, 1874, and opened the Avenue C Line on October 18, 1869, connecting the

Pavonia Ferry The Pavonia Ferry was a ferry service on the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, operating between New York City and Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. It was launched in 1854. It was sold to the Pavonia Ferry Company of Jersey City for ...

at the foot of

Chambers Street Chambers Street may refer to: Streets * Chambers Street, Edinburgh, Scotland * Chambers Street (Manhattan), New York City, U.S. * Chamber Street, once known as Chambers Street, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England New York City Subway station ...

with the Green Point Ferry at the foot of East 10th Street. Its route ran along West Street, a

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

of Charlton Street, Prince Street, and

Stanton Street Stanton Street is a west-to-east street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the neighborhood of the Lower East Side. The street begins at the Bowery in the west and runs east to a dead end past Pitt Street, adjacent to Hamilton Fis ...

(eastbound) and

Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson ...

, 1st Avenue, and 3rd Street (westbound), Pitt Street/ Avenue C, and 10th Street. By 1879, the line had been extended north on Avenue C from 10th Street, west on 17th Street (eastbound) and 18th Street (westbound), north over the Central Park, North and East River Railroad (First Avenue and East Belt Line) on Avenue A, 23rd Street, and 1st Avenue, west on 35th Street (westbound) and 36th Street (eastbound), north on

Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street (Manhattan), 131st Street to Gra ...

, and west on 42nd Street to

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...

. The

Third Avenue Railroad The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City Borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also oper ...

also used the trackage on 42nd Street by 1884. On November 29, 1893, the Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad was merged into the

Metropolitan Street Railway The New York Railways Company operated street railways in Manhattan, New York City, between 1911 and 1925. The company went into receivership in 1919 and control was passed to the New York Railways Corporation in 1925 after which all of its rem ...

. The line was cut back to Avenue A at 24th Street by 1907; the trackage on 35th and 36th Streets was removed, while the other trackage became parts of the Lexington Avenue Line and 42nd Street Crosstown Line. Buses were substituted for streetcars in September 1919. Service was suspended, but brought back in March 1929 by the Hamilton Bus Company. The Triangle Bus Corporation took over in 1935, and the New York City Omnibus Corporation acquired the route in 1940. That company changed its name to Fifth Avenue Coach Lines in 1956; the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority took over operations in 1962.

Recent history

Originally a streetcar line, the Avenue C Line is now part of the M9 route, as well as the M21, which operates on the Houston Street Line. Both the Avenue C and Houston Street segments were served by a single route, the M21, until June 2010. In 2010, the M9, which ran to 14th Street-Union Square via Avenue B and north of Houston St, was rerouted to Avenue C up to 23rd Street only due to a budget crisis and was rerouted back to Park Row to replace the M15 to City Hall.2010 budget crisis information
archived February 25, 2011 On January 6, 2013, the M9 was extended north to 29th Street via First Avenue from 23rd Street and south to Battery Park City from City Hall.

References

External links

* {{Manhattan bus routes, state=expanded Streetcar lines in Manhattan M008 Railway lines opened in 1869 1869 establishments in New York (state)

009 009 may refer to: * OO9, gauge model railways * O09, FAA identifier for Round Valley Airport * 0O9, FAA identifier for Ward Field, see List of airports in California * British secret agent 009, see 00 Agent * BA 009, see British Airways Flight ...