The Columbus Avenue Line is a public transit line in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, running mostly along Columbus Avenue, 116th Street

116th Street (Manhattan)

116th Street runs from Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River, to the East River, through the New York City borough of Manhattan. It traverses the neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Spanish Harlem; the street is interrupted between Morningside Heights and Harlem by Morningside...

, and Lenox Avenue from Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...

 to Harlem. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M7 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority

New York City Transit Authority

The New York City Transit Authority is a public authority in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City...

. The M7 bus now begins at 14th Street

14th Street (Manhattan)

14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street rivals the size of some of the well-known avenues of the city and is an important business location....

, sharing 6th with M5 and 7th Avenues with the M20. It turns west on 59th Street

59th Street (Manhattan)

59th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan runs east-west, from York Avenue to the West Side Highway, with a discontinuity between Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West for the Time Warner Center. Although it is bi-directional for most of its length, the...

 and northwest on Broadway to reach the one-way pair of Amsterdam Avenue (northbound) and Columbus Avenue (southbound). At 106th Street, the M7 turns east, north on Manhattan Avenue, east on 116th Street, and north on Lenox Avenue to a loop at the 145th Street

145th Street (IRT Lenox Avenue Line)

145th Street is a station on the IRT Lenox Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 145th Street and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the 3 train at all times....

 subway station; this is the exact path followed by the former streetcar beyond 109th Street.

History

The Ninth Avenue Railroad's Ninth Avenue Line used the southernmost part of Columbus Avenue, but cut over along Broadway to use Amsterdam Avenue to Harlem. On December 30, 1892, the Columbus and Ninth Avenue Railroad acquired a franchise from the city to build along Columbus Avenue from Broadway to 110th Street

110th Street (Manhattan)

110th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is commonly known as the boundary between Harlem and Central Park, along which it is known as Central Park North. In the west, it is also known as Cathedral Parkway....

, with a branch west on 106th Street to Amsterdam Avenue. It was soon authorized to build in 109th Street and Manhattan Avenue to 116th Street

116th Street (Manhattan)

116th Street runs from Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River, to the East River, through the New York City borough of Manhattan. It traverses the neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Spanish Harlem; the street is interrupted between Morningside Heights and Harlem by Morningside...

. The company was consolidated into the Metropolitan Street Railway on November 7, 1895.

Columbus Avenue cars were operated by the Metropolitan along their Broadway Line

Broadway Line (Lower Manhattan surface)

The Broadway Line is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along Broadway and Seventh Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Central Park. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the southbound direction of the M5 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit...

 from lower Manhattan to Midtown, and then along the 53rd Street Crosstown Line

53rd Street Crosstown Line

The 53rd Street Crosstown Line was a surface transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running along 53rd Street in Midtown, between Sixth Avenue and Ninth Avenue. It served as a connection between north-south lines during the times that they were not affiliated with the 59th Street...

 (later the 59th Street Crosstown Line) west to 9th Avenue/Columbus Avenue. Cable car

Cable car (railway)

A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required...

s were used from the line's opening on December 6, 1894 until May 1901. After the Metropolitan system was split in 1913, and the Third Avenue Railway

Third Avenue Railway

The Third Avenue Railway System was a street railroad system in New York City in the 19th and early 20th century.-History:The principal company was the Third Avenue Railroad Company from 1853 to 1910, when it was succeeded in reorganization by the Third Avenue Railway Company...

 acquired the 59th Street Crosstown, 53rd Street was again used.

Buses were substituted for streetcars by the New York City Omnibus Corporation

New York City Omnibus Corporation

The New York City Omnibus Corporation was formed in 1926. It ran new bus services that replaced the New York Railways Corporation streetcars when they were dismantled in 1935/36. It purchased the Fifth Avenue Coach Company from The Omnibus Corporation in 1954 and renamed itself the 'Fifth Avenue...

 on March 25, 1936. In 1956 it was renamed Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, and the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority

Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority

The Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority is a subsidiary of the New York City Transit Authority that was created in 1962 to take over bus services from the bankrupt Fifth Avenue Coach Company and Surface Transit, Inc...

 replaced it in 1962. When Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues became one-way streets, northbound buses were moved to Amsterdam Avenue.