
Centre Street is a north–south street in the
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 ...
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
of
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 ...
, running through the
Civic Center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...
,
Chinatown, and
Little Italy neighborhoods of
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...
. It connects
Park Row to the south with Cleveland Place to the north. Centre Street carries northbound traffic north of Reade Street and two-way traffic between Reade Street and the
Brooklyn Bridge.
In the early 19th century there was no Centre Street.
The area was previously occupied by the
Collect Pond, a body of fresh water that was the nascent city's primary supply of drinking water, covering approximately and running as deep as . The pond was located just north of today's
Foley Square and just west of modern Chinatown. It had been drained and the new street grid built over it a decade earlier. However, there was no street built between
Pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...
and Reade Streets. Cross Street (which came over from the nearby area that would several years later be dubbed the "
Five Points") ran all the way through to Reade, and a single block ran from Reade to Chambers, and afterwards turned east and ran into Chatham Street (future
Park Row). In the previous century, this block, then ending at the Collect Pond, was labeled "Potter's Hill". North of Pearl Street, a separate street occupying the alignment was called "Collect Street".
By 1828, it would be renamed Centre Street, but still end at Pearl from the north. As late as 1836, one map would still show this arrangement, but in another the full alignment would be in place.
In colloquial usage, "Centre Street" may refer to the several courts or government offices along the street in the vicinity of Foley Square. 1 Centre Street is the
Manhattan Municipal Building, 40 Centre Street is the
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse (home of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit),
60 and 80 Centre Street are the civil division of the
New York County Supreme Court, and 100 Centre Street is the criminal division of the New York County Supreme Court. That courthouse lent its address to a short-lived TV show
of the same name. The courthouse is also home to the office of the
Manhattan District Attorney, although its entrance is at 1 Hogan Place. 111 Centre Street is the
New York City Civil Court. The
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (also known as NYC Health) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaura ...
is at 125 Worth Street, at the corner of Centre Street. Farther north,
240 Centre Street was the headquarters of the
New York Police Department from 1909 until 1973, although that building is now residential. Additionally, the
Museum of Chinese in America is located at 215 Centre Street, in Chinatown.
Transportation
The uptown
M1 runs on Centre Street between
Grand Street and Cleveland Place. The westbound runs from Reade to Chambers Streets.
The
BMT Nassau Street Line runs under Centre Street south of
Kenmare Street, stopping at
Canal Street and
Chambers Street.
References
External links
A Journey Through Chinatown: Centre Street photographs
a virtual walking tour
{{coord, 40, 43, 02, N, 74, 00, 02, W, region:US-NY, display=title
Streets in Manhattan
Five Points, Manhattan