The street was designated by the
Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that established the Manhattan
street grid as one of 15 east–west streets that would be 100 feet (30 m) in width (while other streets were designated as 60 feet (18 m) in width).[1]
West of Convent Avenue, 125th Street was rerouted onto what was, prior to 1920, called Manhattan Street. What remains of the original alignment of 125th Street was renamed La Salle Street at that time. The remaining blocks run between
Amsterdam Avenue and
Claremont Avenue. The New York Times lamented the name changes, noting that the new names had "somewhat doubtful nomenclature", and that the City's "Aldermen like French names" but gave no rationale for the moves otherwise.[2] A block of the original 125th Street in this area was de-mapped to make the super-blocks where the
Grant Houses projects now exist.
A proposal to convert the street into a Trans-Harlem Expressway died when funds were diverted from the proposed
125th Street Hudson River bridge at the street's western end.
Beginning in the late 1990s, many sections of 125th Street have been
gentrified and developed with such stores as
MAC Cosmetics,
Old Navy,
H&M,
CVS/pharmacy, and
Magic Johnson Theaters. In collaboration with the community, the city has developed a plan for the 125th Street corridor focusing on reinforcing and building upon its strengths as an arts and cultural corridor.[3]
A
rift in the
crust runs along underneath this street from the
East River to
New Jersey and is known as the 125th Street Fault or the Manhattanville Fault.[4][5][6] It is suspected to have caused a magnitude-5.2
earthquake in 1737, two smaller ones in 1981,[7] and a 2.4 magnitude quake in 2001.[6] The
fault line skims across the top of
Central Park and runs to
Roosevelt Island to the southeast. It creates a fault valley deep enough to require the
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (1 train) to use a
trestle between 122nd and 135th Streets, even though the line goes underground at either end and remains at the same elevation above sea level throughout.[8]Riverside Drive also crosses over the fault valley on a high viaduct.
The planned second phase of the
Second Avenue Subway, continuing north from the
116th Street station, will turn westward onto 125th Street, terminating at a station at Lexington Avenue. The new station would connect to the Metro-North and preexisting Lexington Avenue subway stations there.[12]
^Guide to Civil Engineering Projects In and Around New York City (2nd ed.). Metropolitan Section, American Society of Civil Engineers. 2009. pp. 90–91.
^Leonard, Tom (March 16, 2008).
"Harlem's identity under threat from developers". The Telegraph. Retrieved April 8, 2008. Harlem has seen rapid gentrification since the late 1990s and 125th Street - included last year in a list of America's 10 greatest streets - is now home to Bill Clinton's office.
^The Velvet Underground, "I'm Waiting for the Man", The Velvet Underground & Nico, Verve, 1967.