Why go
Madison Avenue links the compact public space of Madison Square with Carnegie Hill and Harlem, while its name retains a durable association with American advertising. Its southern origin also sits near Broadway and Fifth Avenue, making the Flatiron area a useful place to compare major avenues.
The full story
Madison Avenue begins at Madison Square and runs north through Midtown, the Upper East Side, Carnegie Hill, East Harlem and Harlem. It was added in 1836 between Park and Fifth avenues, outside the original 1811 street grid. Since the 1920s, “Madison Avenue” has also served as shorthand for the American advertising industry, reflecting the concentration of agencies once based there. For a visitor, the avenue is most legible in parts: Madison Square and nearby Flatiron at its southern end, then the Upper East Side's long northbound corridor rather than an attempt to walk the entire distance. Its southern origin is particularly useful because Broadway and Fifth Avenue meet close by, making a compact comparison of Manhattan's major avenues possible on foot.
Useful to know
- Use Madison Square as the natural starting point for a Flatiron-area walk with Broadway and Fifth Avenue.
- Northbound traffic and the avenue's long distance make it better for selected neighborhood segments than a full-length walk.