Jones and Jones

[Laurence Horn]

At 5:34 AM -0400 8/17/02, Frank Abate wrote:
>
>   A few of the
>"central" avenues have names (Park, Madison, Lexington) , but the numbers
>are used on the "outer" ones (3rd to 1st to the east, 6th to 11th to the
>west).

And Fifth Avenue is still Fifth Avenue--it's about as central as
there is.  Actually, Park, which "replaces" Fourth, does become
Fourth for a little while if you follow it down below where it turns
into South Park (no relation to the cartoon).  And the numbered
avenues acquire names if you follow them far enough north.   Notice
that Madison and Lexington are not exceptions; they are technically
"half-avenues", intercalated between Fifth and Park/Fourth and
between Park/Fourth and Third respectively at half the distance of
true (numbered) avenues.  This is revealed by the street numbers:
The 1-100 block east of Fifth ends at Park (not Madison), the 101-200
block at Third, the 201-300 block at Second, and so on.  Mad and Lex
are ignored for this purpose.  (IIRC, but even if I'm wrong about the
numbering, I'm sure I'm right about the distance.)  Of course, their
renegade status commemorates the significant role of mad lex in the
world.

>And "Avenue of the Americas" for 6th was an attempt by the city to
>do something multicultural or whatever, in the 60s or 70s.

Definitely pre-70's.

>   I think one sees
>it only in writing, on corporate addresses and such.  To my limited, non-New
>Yorker knowledge, most NYers say "6th Avenue".

Yup, still do.  "Avenue of the Americas" is too clumsy to ever
"succeed" in spoken language the way "Park Avenue" did.

Larry