Tenth Avenue runs through the
Chelsea and
Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods on the west side of the borough, and then as Amsterdam Avenue, through the
Upper West Side,
Morningside Heights,
Harlem, and
Washington Heights. Much of these areas were working-class or poor for much of the 20th century. The street has long been noted for its commercial traffic. The street had
grade-level railroad lines through the early 20th century. The
Hudson River Railroad's
West Side Line ran along Tenth Avenue from its intersection with
West Street to the upper city station at
34th Street, after which it veered to
Eleventh Avenue; the line was completed to
Peekskill, New York in 1849. Over this part of the right-of-way, the rails were laid at grade along the streets, and since by the corporation regulations locomotives were not allowed, the cars were drawn by a
dummy engine, which, according to an 1851 description, consumed its own smoke. While passing through the city the train of cars was preceded by a man on horseback known as a "West Side cowboy" or "Tenth Avenue cowboy" who gave notice of its approach by blowing a horn. and Eleventh Avenues. Public debate about the hazard began during the early 1900s. In 1929, the city, the state, and New York Central agreed on the West Side Improvement Project, conceived by
Robert Moses. The project eliminated 105 street-level railroad crossings and added to
Riverside Park; it also included construction of the
West Side Elevated Highway. It cost more than $150 million (about $2 billion in 2017 dollars). The part of Tenth Avenue north of West 59th Street was renamed "Amsterdam Avenue" in 1890 at the request of local merchants seeking to distance themselves from "Death Avenue" and to increase the value of their properties in an area that had yet to "catch on". The name was intended to recall the Dutch roots of Manhattan's earliest colonization in the 17th century, when the city was known as
New Amsterdam. They hoped that the area would become a "the New City" and a "new, New Amsterdam". The Board of Alderman approved the name change, but only after first considering "Holland Avenue"; the change was made just before the vote on the resolution. In their approval, the Board noted that other name changes in the area, including that of Eleventh Avenue to
West End Avenue, had "a marked and beneficial effect on property" and that they held such name changes "as second in importance only to the advantages of increased rapid transit." The
Fort George Amusement Park, now a seating area in Highbridge Park, was located at the northern end of Amsterdam Avenue from 1895 to 1914. Tenth Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue were converted to carry one-way traffic northbound in two stages. South of its intersection with Broadway, the avenue was converted on November 6, 1948. The remainder, to 110th Street, was converted on December 6, 1951. Amsterdam Avenue continues to carry two-way traffic north of 110th Street. During the real estate boom of the late 20th century, Amsterdam Avenue from roughly
59th Street to
96th Street became one of the city's most expensive residential districts. ==Transportation==