Metropolitan Avenue


Metropolitan Avenue is a major east-west street in Queens and northern Brooklyn, New York City. Its western end is at the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the eastern end at Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. 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 and the Bronx.

History

Originally an Indian trail, Metropolitan Avenue was constructed in 1816 as the Williamsburgh and Jamaica Turnpike, a toll road which connected the then villages of Williamsburgh and Jamaica, New York. The road became a farmer's and stage coach route to the Williamsburgh ferries across the East River to Manhattan. 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 acquired Metropolitan Avenue from the Williamsburgh and Jamaica 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 in Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill and Jamaica 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. The street is long.

Transportation

Metropolitan Avenue is served by the following subway stations:
The avenue crosses the Long Island Rail Road's Bushwick Branch at one of the busiest level crossings in New York City.

Education

, a public high school, opened in 2010 on the avenue in Glendale.

Other Metropolitan Avenues

Metropolitan Avenue in Parkchester, the Bronx is a boulevard approximately long. Aileen B. Ryan Oval, formerly Metropolitan Oval, is halfway along Metropolitan Avenue in the Bronx.
Metropolitan Avenue in Silver Lake, Staten Island, is a side street approximately long.