Broadway
additional 29 km through the municipalities of Yonkers, Hasting-
On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington and Tarrytown and
terminating north of Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County. It is
the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in New York City,
dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name
Broadway is the English literal translation of the Dutch name,
Breede weg. Broadway is known widely as the heart of the
American theatre industry.
Broadway was originally the Wickquasgeck Trail, carved into
the brush of Manhattan by its Native American inhabitants. This
trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length
of Manhattan Island.
In the 18th century, Broadway ended at the town commons
north of Wall Street, where traffic
continued up the East Side of the
island via Eastern Post Road and the
West Side via Bloomingdale Road. The
western Bloomingdale Road would be
widened and paved during the 19th
century, and called "Western