Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. The section of Fifth Avenue between 34th Street and 59th Street is one of the premier shopping streets in the world. Fifth Avenue serves as a symbol of wealthy New York and is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive streets in the world. The “most expensive street in the world” moniker changes depending on currency fluctuations and local economic conditions from year to year. For several years starting in the mid-1990s, the shopping district between 49th and 57th Streets was ranked as having the world’s most expensive retail spaces on a cost per square foot basis.[1] In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Fifth Avenue as being the most expensive street in the world.
Fifth Avenue originates at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village and runs northwards through the heart of Midtown, along the eastern side of Central Park, where it forms the boundary of the Upper East Side and through Harlem, where it terminates at the Harlem River at 142nd Street. Traffic crosses the river on the Madison Avenue Bridge. Fifth Avenue serves as the dividing line for house numbering in Manhattan. It separates, for example, East Fifty-ninth Street from West Fifty-ninth Street. From this zero point for street addresses, numbers increase in both directions as one moves away from Fifth Avenue, with 1 West Fifty-ninth Street on the corner at Fifth Avenue, and 300 West Fifty-ninth Street located three blocks to the west of it.
Many landmarks and famous buildings are situated along Fifth Avenue in Midtown and the Upper East Side. In Midtown are the Empire State Building,[3] the New York Public Library, Rockefeller Center, Saint Thomas Church, and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The stretch of Fifth Avenue from the 80s through the 90s (i.e., from 82nd Street to 105th Street) has so many museums that it has acquired the nickname Museum Mile and includes such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. That area was known in the early twentieth century as Millionaire’s Row after the many mansions built there, as the richest New Yorkers moved their residences north to face Central Park. Earlier, several opulent Vanderbilt houses and other mansions were built in the 50s and in even earlier times farther south. The New York Academy of Medicine is located at 103rd Street, and Mount Sinai Hospital is located at 98th Street.
Between 34th Street and 60th Street, Fifth Avenue is lined with luxury retail stores (especially flagship stores), which include Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Tiffany & Co., Cartier SA, Ermenegildo Zegna, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Armani, BVLGARI, Bottega Veneta, Emilio Pucci, Sergio Rossi, Escada, Fendi, Versace, H. Stern, Takashimaya, Harry Winston, Henri Bendel, Van Cleef & Arpels, De Beers, Peter Fox, Piaget, Hickey Freeman, St. John, Just Cavali, Cole Haan, Coach Inc., Juicy Couture, Lacoste, Armani Exchange, Sephora, Orvis, and Kenneth Cole.
Famous former Fifth Avenue retailers were B. Altman and Company, Mexx, Best & Co., Bond Clothing Stores, Bonwit Teller, De Pinna, Peck & Peck, and Brooks Brothers (moved out January 31, 2009).[4] Among the future locations will be the Abercrombie Kids flagship store that will open in 2010 at 666 (where Brooks Brothers vacated).[4][5]
In the 1940s Brentano’s was located at 586 Fifth Avenue.
Located in 720 Fifth Avenue is the four-floor Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store. Out of all the retail locations on Fifth Avenue, Abercrombie & Fitch and the Apple Store are estimated to be the most successful with sales between $6,000 and $10,000 a square foot ($800 is considered successful at the most).[4] At 424-434 Fifth Avenue is the ten-floor Lord & Taylor flagship store. The same building houses non-revenue offices for the multinational retail brand. Between East 58th and East 59th Street are FAO Schwarz and Apple’s 32-foot (9.8 m) glass cube, which serves as an entrance for its completely-underground flagship retail store. This is the other of the two most successful stores on Fifth Avenue.[4]
