The Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue in of Manhattan, one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. It begins at Abingdon Square, West Village neighborhood, where Hudson Street becomes Eighth Avenue. Today its name changes to Central Park West (CPW), north of Columbus Circle, at West 59th Street, and after West 110th Street it is called Frederick Douglass Boulevard, then the avenue merges with Harlem River Drive, north of 155th Street.
The portion of Eighth Avenue, from Abingdon Square to
Columbus Circle, has
carried traffic one-way northbound since 1954. Central Park West forms
the western edge of Central Park and
the eastern boundary of the Upper West Side. This section of Eighth Avenue
received that name about 1889 and is a place with many apartment buildings and
hotels overlooking Central Park.
The plaza at 110th Street and Central Park West was named Frederick Douglass Circle on September 17, 1950, when a new street sigh was unveiled followed by a parade and speaking ceremony. Its present design opened to the public in 2011 and it is considered to be the "Gateway to Harlem”. It was named after Frederick Douglass (1817–1895), an abolitionist leader, writer, newspaper founder, woman’s suffragist, a United States Marshal of the District of Columbia in 1877 and Minister Resident and Consul General of the Republic of Haiti in 1889. In 1960, Frederick Douglass was named for the Hall of Fame at the New York University.
Frederick Douglass Boulevard runs from West 110th Street at Frederick Douglass Circle to where the avenue meets Harlem River Drive, north of West 155th Street. Originally designated as Eighth Avenue, the name was changed to Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 1976 and 1979. The 1976 New York City Bus System Map still used the name Eighth Avenue, and the New York Times began using the new name in 1979.
The Grand Opera House was a theater on the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and 23rd Street, constructed in 1868. The present Madison Square Garden Complex opened on February 11, 1968, between 7th and 8th avenues from 31st to 33rd streets, on the site of the former Pennsylvania Station. It is the fifth venue named "Madison Square Garden". Several Broadway theaters are found today near 8th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
