Central Park West & 79th Street Transverse

Central Park West and 79th Street Transverse meet at a five-way junction in Upper West Side (Central), Manhattan. The corner lies on the edge of the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. Between 2021 and 2025, 52 police-reported crashes were recorded here, against a median of ten crashes for a Manhattan corner. Bethesda Terrace in Central Park is 40 feet away. The nearest subway, 81 St-Museum of Natural History, is about a minute on foot, for the B and C. Within a five-minute walk are 12 public places and 11 places to eat.

Safety record
22 hurt
52 police-reported crashes, 2021–2025
Nearest subway
81 St-Museum of Natural History
90 feet · 1 min on foot · B, C
Nearest bus stop
50 feet
Central Park West/W 81 St · M10
Within a walk
12 places
4 park features, 2 playgrounds and 5 more kinds, within five minutes

Map

Layers
Central Park West & 79th Street Transverse Nearby corners, linked

Getting there

How walks are measured

Subway

The nearest subway station is 81 St-Museum of Natural History, 90 feet from this corner, about a minute on foot.

  • 2 lines at the nearest station
  1. 81 St-Museum of Natural History B, C
    90 feet
    B C

Next trains at this station

Uptown
2 lines
  1. B …
  2. C …
Downtown
2 lines
  1. B …
  2. C …

Also within a walk

  1. 86 St B, C
    0.3 miles
    B C
  2. 72 St B, C
    0.5 miles
    B C

The MTA's permanent art catalog lists “For Want of a Nail” (2000) by MTA Arts & Design Collaborative at the 81 St-Museum of Natural History station.

Bus

The nearest bus stop is Central Park West/W 81 St, 50 feet away, for the M10.

  • 8 routes within a ten-minute walk
  1. Central Park West/W 81 St M10
    50 feet
    M10

Next buses at this stop

  1. M10 …

Live arrivals

West 81st Street carries a lane DOT records as a shared lane, not a bus-only lane, 7am to 7pm on weekdays.

Cycling

A bike lane separated from traffic runs on Central Park West.

  • 3 bicycle racks within 820 feet
  • 2 more bike-share stations within a five-minute walk

Nearest bike-share station

  1. W 82 St & Central Park W 45 docks in all
    320 feet

By car

The nearest highway entrance is the ramp to the Henry Hudson Parkway northbound at Riverside Drive & West 79th Street, 0.7 miles by car along the streets.

  1. 303 West 96th Street Gas station
    1.3 miles
  2. 200 Central Park West Charging for electric cars, eight Level 2 chargers
    870 feet
  3. 401-471 West 42nd Street Fast charging for electric cars
    2.2 miles

Safety record

How crashes are counted

Between 2021 and 2025, police reported 52 crashes at this corner, more than the median of ten crashes for a Manhattan corner.

  • 22 people injured
  • 0 people killed
  • 6 of those hurt, on foot
  • 6 of those hurt, on a bike

The most recent crash recorded here was in June 2026.

What the city has done here

  • Leading pedestrian interval, December 2010

About this corner

Where facts come from
ZIP code
10024
Community board
Manhattan Community Board 7
City Council district
6
Police precinct
20 and 22 (the boundary runs through this corner)
Neighborhood (City Planning area)
Upper West Side (Central)
Elevation
93 feet above sea level

The streets

  • Up to four travel lanes
  • A designated truck route

Homes

About 2,100 homes stand within 820 feet of this corner, most of them in buildings of ten homes or more. The buildings holding them mostly went up between 1900 and 1926.

Trees

NYC Parks records 67 trees within 330 feet; the most common is the London planetree.

Parking on the streets meeting here

How signs are read
  • 43 signs on these blocks
  • 13 different rules

The sign wording is DOT's, as recorded between June 2021 and August 2026; the 12 rules shown are the first by street and side, and the sign on the street decides.

East side of Central Park West

  • No parking 3 signs NO PARKING TUESDAY FRIDAY 11AM-12:30PM
  • No stopping 9 signs NO STOPPING ANYTIME
  • Bus layover only 5 signs NON-MTA BUS LAYOVER ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 9AM -2PM NO ENGINE IDLING MAX FINE $2000

West side of Central Park West

  • Loading only 1 sign LOADING ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-6PM
  • No parking 4 signs NO PARKING MONDAY THURSDAY 11AM-12:30PM
  • No standing 1 sign NO STANDING ANYTIME
  • No standing 2 signs NO STANDING MONDAY-FRIDAY 9AM-6PM
  • Taxi stand 2 signs TAXI STAND

North side of West 81st Street

  • Loading only 2 signs LOADING ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-6PM
  • No parking 6 signs NO PARKING MONDAY THURSDAY 11AM-12:30PM
  • No parking 1 sign NO PARKING MONDAY-FRIDAY 10AM-4PM

South side of West 81st Street

  • No standing 2 signs NO STANDING ANYTIME

Landmarks and historic districts

The corner stands at the edge of the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District.

Within 820 feet, 96 buildings are designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, recorded most often as Renaissance Revival, and mostly built between 1885 and 1910.

  1. Hotel Colonial Designated landmark
    820 feet

Schools, parks and places within a walk

How places are listed

Twelve public places are within a five-minute walk.

  • 4 park features
  • 2 playgrounds
  • 2 religious buildings
  • 1 day care or pre-K site
  • 1 museum
  • 2 other places

Schools and child care

  1. Congregation Rodeph Sholom K.J. Preschool, ages 2 to 5 · landmark
    1,000 feet
  2. Rodeph Sholom School Landmark
    1,130 feet

Parks, playgrounds and gardens

  1. Bethesda Terrace in Central Park Park feature
    40 feet
  2. Central Park Listed historic place
    60 feet
  3. Diana Ross Playground
    160 feet
Show all 7
  1. Summit Rock in Central Park Park feature
    610 feet
  2. Toll Family Playground
    930 feet
  3. Ross Pinetum in Central Park Park feature
    1,110 feet
  4. Shakespeare Gardens in Central Park Park feature
    1,210 feet

Libraries, museums and history

  1. American Museum of Natural History Museum · landmark · listed historic place
    450 feet

Houses of worship

  1. Rodeph Sholom Congregation Landmark
    740 feet
  2. St Matthew St Timothy Church Landmark
    1,010 feet

Bank branches

  1. Citibank Bank branch
    900 feet

Supermarkets

  1. Gristedes Supermarket
    0.3 miles
  2. Zabar's Supermarket
    0.5 miles

Pharmacies

  1. Duane Reade Pharmacy
    0.5 miles

Food stores and places to eat

Within a five-minute walk there are 11 places to eat.

Nearby corners

The eight nearest corners on foot, three of them within a three-minute walk:

See every intersection along 79th Street Transverse, Central Park West or West 81st Street.

Sources: NYC Technology and Innovation, NYPD, NYC DOT, MTA, NYC City Planning, New York City's bike-share system, NYS Environmental Conservation, US Department of Energy, Landmarks Preservation Commission, NYC Parks, NYC Health, FDIC, NYS Agriculture and Markets and USDA, retrieved September 18 – October 6, 2026.