Minerva Bernardino Greenstreet

Amsterdam Ave Bet. W. 109 St & Cathedral Pkwy

Manhattan

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

What was here before?
Tenth Avenue above West 59th Street was renamed Amsterdam Avenue in 1890, in an effort by local businesses seeking to boost property values. The new name distanced them from the street’s “Death Avenue” moniker in lower Manhattan due to the number of dangerous street-level train crossings. The avenue transitioned to only north-bound traffic up to West 110th Street by 1951.

How did this site become a greenstreet?
In 2006, this greenspace was built as a traffic calming measure. Extended into Amsterdam Avenue, it was intended to indicate that southbound traffic above West 110th Street could not continue, as the avenue transitioned to a one-way street. A low iron fence surrounds the triangle’s center planting bed and trees. The same year, NYC Parks named this site after Minerva Bernardino, the former United Nations Ambassador representing the Dominican Republic.

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