Columbus Avenue & West 78th Street

Columbus Avenue and West 78th Street meet at a three-way junction in Upper West Side (Central), Manhattan. The corner lies inside the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. Between 2021 and 2025, nine police-reported crashes were recorded here, fewer than the median of ten crashes for a Manhattan corner. The American Museum of Natural History stands 140 feet away, and the Anderson School is 750 feet away. The nearest subway, 81 St-Museum of Natural History, is about six minutes on foot, for the B and C. Within a five-minute walk are 21 public places and 53 places to eat.

Safety record
3 hurt
9 police-reported crashes, 2021–2025
Nearest subway
81 St-Museum of Natural History
0.3 miles · 6 min on foot · B, C
Nearest bus stop
160 feet
Columbus Av/W 78 St · M7, M11
Within a walk
21 places
5 schools, 3 listed historic places and 10 more kinds, within five minutes

Map

Layers
Columbus Avenue & West 78th Street Nearby corners, linked

Getting there

How walks are measured

Subway

The nearest subway station is 81 St-Museum of Natural History, 0.3 miles from this corner, about six minutes on foot.

  • 2 lines at the nearest station
  • 5 lines within a ten-minute walk
  1. 81 St-Museum of Natural History B, C
    0.3 miles
    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. 79 St 1
    0.3 miles
    1
  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 Columbus Av/W 78 St, 160 feet away, for the M7 and M11.

  • 9 routes within a ten-minute walk
  1. Columbus Av/W 78 St M7, M11 · Shelter
    160 feet
    M7 M11
    Shelter

Next buses at this stop

  1. M7 …
  2. M11 …

Live arrivals

Cycling

A bike lane separated from traffic runs on Columbus Avenue and West 78th Street.

  • 29 bicycle racks within 820 feet, 2 of them on-street corrals
  • 2 more bike-share stations within a five-minute walk

Nearest bike-share station

  1. W 76 St & Columbus Ave 51 docks in all
    660 feet

By car

The nearest highway entrance is the ramp to the Henry Hudson Parkway northbound at Riverside Drive & West 79th Street, 0.6 miles by car along the streets.

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

Safety record

How crashes are counted

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

  • 3 people injured
  • 0 people killed
  • 2 of those hurt, on foot
  • 1 of those hurt, on a bike

The most recent crash recorded here was in May 2026.

What the city has done here

  • Leading pedestrian interval, March 2019

About this corner

Where facts come from
ZIP code
10024
Community board
Manhattan Community Board 7
City Council district
6
Police precinct
20
Neighborhood (City Planning area)
Upper West Side (Central)
Elevation
85 feet above sea level

The streets

  • Up to three travel lanes
  • A designated truck route
  • Two of the streets are one-way

Homes

About 4,000 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 1891 and 1926.

Trees

NYC Parks records 108 trees within 330 feet; the most common is the London planetree.

Parking on the streets meeting here

How signs are read
  • 38 signs on these blocks
  • 10 different rules
  • 3 active meters
  • 2 pay-by-cell zones

The sign wording is DOT's, as recorded between June 2020 and July 2025, and the sign on the street decides.

Meters are posted as 1 hour commercial vehicles Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm, 3 hour passenger vehicles Monday to Friday 4pm to 10pm, Saturday 7am to 10pm on Columbus Avenue (east side).

West side of Columbus Avenue

  • Metered, commercial vehicles only 4 signs 1 HOUR METERED PARKING COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-4PM
  • Metered parking 4 signs 3 HOUR METERED PARKING MONDAY-FRIDAY 4PM-10PM SATURDAY 8AM-10PM
  • Farmers market 3 signs FARMERS MARKET ONLY SUNDAY 6AM-6PM
  • No parking 4 signs NO PARKING 7AM-8AM EXCEPT SUNDAY
  • No standing 1 sign NO STANDING ANYTIME

North side of West 78th Street

  • Loading only 1 sign LOADING ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-6PM
  • No parking 9 signs NO PARKING MONDAY THURSDAY 11AM-12:30PM
  • No standing 2 signs NO STANDING SCHOOL DAYS 7AM-4PM

South side of West 78th Street

  • No parking 7 signs NO PARKING TUESDAY FRIDAY 11AM-12:30PM
  • No standing 3 signs NO STANDING SCHOOL DAYS 7AM-4PM

ParkNYC pay-by-cell zones: 110139 and 110707.

Landmarks, monuments and public art

How landmarks are placed

Landmarks and historic districts

The corner stands in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District.

Within 820 feet, 290 buildings are designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, recorded most often as Renaissance Revival, and mostly built between 1889 and 1894.

  1. The American Museum of Natural History Designated landmark
    140 feet
  2. Hotel Park Plaza Designated landmark
    390 feet
  3. The Orleans Designated landmark
    490 feet

Monuments and public art

The City's public art inventory lists two works near this corner, the nearest in Theodore Roosevelt Park.

  1. The New York Times Capsule Sculpture by Santiago Calatrava, 2000
    340 feet
  2. Nobel Monument Stele by Sivert Lindblom and A. Lindberg, 2003
    490 feet

Schools, parks and places within a walk

How places are listed

Within a five-minute walk there are 21 public places.

  • 5 schools
  • 3 listed historic places
  • 3 religious buildings
  • 2 museums
  • 1 day care or pre-K site
  • 7 other places

Schools and child care

  1. P.S. 087 William Sherman School
    670 feet
  2. M.S. M245 the Computer School
    750 feet
  3. M.S. M247 Dual Language Middle School
    750 feet
Show all 6
  1. The Anderson School
    750 feet
  2. Gan Aliya School
    880 feet
  3. The Brownstone School and Day Care Center Preschool, ages 2 to 5
    900 feet

Parks, playgrounds and gardens

  1. Tecumseh Playground
    850 feet
  2. Bethesda Terrace in Central Park Park feature
    1,190 feet
  3. Central Park Listed historic place
    1,200 feet

Plazas and public spaces

  1. Public space at Gloucester Public space
    1,070 feet

Libraries, museums and history

  1. Studio Apartments Listed historic place
    490 feet
  2. Mt. Neboh Synagogue (Demolished) Listed historic place
    570 feet
  3. American Museum of Natural History Museum · listed historic place
    680 feet
Show all 5
  1. West 76th Street Historic District Listed historic place
    930 feet
  2. New-York Historical Society Museum · landmark
    1,170 feet

Houses of worship

  1. West Side Institutional Synagogue Landmark
    690 feet

Community centers and public services

  1. Older adult center at 120 West 76th Street Older adult center
    880 feet

Fire and police

  1. 20th Precinct Police station
    1,270 feet
  2. Division 3/Ladder 25 Fire station
    1,280 feet

Bank branches

  1. Citibank Bank branch
    900 feet

Supermarkets

  1. Pioneer Supermarkets Supermarket
    1,170 feet
  2. Gristedes Supermarket
    0.3 miles
  3. Zabar's Supermarket
    0.4 miles

Pharmacies

  1. Duane Reade Pharmacy
    1,050 feet
  2. CVS Pharmacy
    0.3 miles

Food stores and places to eat

Within a five-minute walk there are 53 places to eat and nine food stores.

Nearby corners

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

See every intersection along Columbus Avenue or West 78th 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 Public Design Commission, NYC Parks, NYC Health, FDIC, NYS Agriculture and Markets and USDA, retrieved September 18 – October 6, 2026.