56th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from the West Side Highway on the West Side to Sutton Place on the East Side.
As with numbered streets in Manhattan, Fifth Avenue separates 56th Street into "east" and "west" sections. 56th Street is one-way, one-lane eastbound for its entirety.
A section of West 56th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues is named as Wynn Handman Way in September 2022 to celebrate his recognition.
Several buildings in Billionaires' Row touch 56th Street.
56th Street was created under the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 as one of the minor east-west streets across Manhattan.
The block of 56th Street from Fifth to Sixth avenues contained rowhouses by 1871, many of which were recessed from the lot line and had entrance stoops. By the end of the 19th century, the area had many wealthy residents, and the houses in the area were either modified or rebuilt altogether. That block of West 56th Street developed into a "bankers' row" with the residences of Frederick C. and Birdsall Otis Edey at number 10, Henry Seligman at number 30, Edward Wasserman at number 33, and Arthur Lehman at number 31. Many of these houses persisted through the mid-20th century as part of a restaurant and retail strip.
No city buses run through 56th Street. However, there are entrances to the New York City Subway's 57th Street station at Sixth Avenue.
From west to east: