Columbus Avenue & West 81st Street

Columbus Avenue and West 81st Street meet at a four-way crossing in Upper West Side (Central), Manhattan. The corner lies inside the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. Between 2021 and 2025, 19 police-reported crashes were recorded here, against a median of ten crashes for a Manhattan corner. Hotel Colonial stands 110 feet away, and St Matthew St Timothy Church is 1,130 feet away. The nearest subway, 81 St-Museum of Natural History, is about three minutes on foot, for the B and C. Within a five-minute walk are 25 public places and 89 places to eat.

Safety record
8 hurt
19 police-reported crashes, 2021–2025
Nearest subway
81 St-Museum of Natural History
880 feet · 3 min on foot · B, C
Nearest bus stop
70 feet
W 81 St/Columbus Av · M79 SBS, BxM2
Within a walk
25 places
7 schools, 5 religious buildings and 10 more kinds, within five minutes

Map

Layers
Columbus Avenue & West 81st Street Nearby corners, linked

Getting there

How walks are measured

Subway

The nearest subway station is 81 St-Museum of Natural History, 880 feet from this corner, about three minutes on foot.

  • 2 lines at the nearest station
  • 3 lines within a ten-minute walk
  1. 81 St-Museum of Natural History B, C
    880 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. 79 St 1
    0.4 miles
    1
  2. 86 St B, C
    0.4 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 W 81 St/Columbus Av, 70 feet away, for the M79 SBS and BxM2.

  • 9 routes within a ten-minute walk
  1. W 81 St/Columbus Av M79 SBS, BxM2
    70 feet
    M79 SBS BxM2

Next buses at this stop

  1. M79 SBS …
  2. BxM2 …

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 Columbus Avenue.

  • 38 bicycle racks within 820 feet
  • 1 more bike-share station within a five-minute walk

Nearest bike-share station

  1. W 82 St & Central Park W 45 docks in all
    1,140 feet

By car

The nearest highway entrance is the ramp to the Henry Hudson Parkway northbound at Riverside Drive & West 79th Street, 0.5 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
    0.3 miles
  3. 401-471 West 42nd Street Fast charging for electric cars
    2 miles

Safety record

How crashes are counted

Between 2021 and 2025, police reported 19 crashes at this corner, more than the median of ten crashes for a Manhattan corner.

  • 8 people injured
  • 0 people killed
  • 3 of those hurt, on a bike

The most recent crash recorded here was in February 2026.

What the city has done here

  • Turn calming, April 2025

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
86 feet above sea level

The streets

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

Homes

About 4,900 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 118 trees within 330 feet; the most common are the London planetree and the pin oak.

Parking on the streets meeting here

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

The sign wording is DOT's, as recorded between December 2024 and August 2025; the 12 rules shown are the first by street and side, and the sign on the street decides.

East side of Columbus Avenue

  • Metered, commercial vehicles only 5 signs 1 HOUR METERED PARKING COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 7AM-4PM
  • Metered parking 1 sign 3 HOUR METERED PARKING 7PM-10PM EXCEPT SUNDAY
  • Metered parking 5 signs 3 HOUR METERED PARKING MONDAY-FRIDAY 4PM-10PM SATURDAY 7AM-10PM
  • Farmers market 5 signs FARMERS MARKET ONLY SUNDAY 6AM-6PM
  • No parking 2 signs NO PARKING ANYTIME
  • No stopping 8 signs NO STOPPING ANYTIME
  • Taxis and for-hire vehicles 1 sign TAXI/FHV 7:30AM-7PM EXCEPT SUNDAY PICK-UP/DROP-OFF ONLY

West side of Columbus Avenue

  • Metered, commercial vehicles only 2 signs 1 HOUR METERED PARKING COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-4PM
  • Metered parking 2 signs 3 HOUR METERED PARKING MONDAY-FRIDAY 4PM-10PM SATURDAY 8AM-10PM
  • No parking 2 signs NO PARKING 7AM-8AM EXCEPT SUNDAY

North side of West 81st Street

  • Loading only 2 signs LOADING ONLY MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-6PM
  • No parking 13 signs NO PARKING MONDAY THURSDAY 11AM-12:30PM

ParkNYC pay-by-cell zones: 111882 and 114024.

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, 318 buildings are designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, recorded most often as Renaissance Revival, and mostly built between 1885 and 1894.

  1. Hotel Colonial Designated landmark
    110 feet
  2. 20th Precinct Station House Garage Designated landmark
    290 feet
  3. The Orleans Designated landmark
    360 feet

Monuments and public art

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

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

Schools, parks and places within a walk

How places are listed

Within a five-minute walk there are 25 public places.

  • 7 schools
  • 5 religious buildings
  • 3 day care or pre-K sites
  • 2 listed historic places
  • 1 fire station
  • 7 other places

Schools and child care

  1. The Brownstone School and Day Care Center Preschool, ages 2 to 5
    590 feet
  2. M.S. 243 Center School
    850 feet
  3. P.S. 009 Sarah Anderson School
    850 feet
Show all 10
  1. Happy Kids, NY Preschool, ages 2 to 5
    860 feet
  2. All My Children Day Care and Nursery School Preschool, ages 2 to 5 · Pre-K
    1,200 feet
  3. Frank McCourt High School
    1,300 feet
  4. Innovation Diploma Plus School
    1,300 feet
  5. Success Academy Charter School - Upper West School
    1,300 feet
  6. The Global Learning Collaborative School
    1,300 feet
  7. The Urban Assembly School for Green Careers School
    1,300 feet

Parks, playgrounds and gardens

  1. Bethesda Terrace in Central Park Park feature
    940 feet
  2. Central Park Listed historic place
    950 feet
  3. Diana Ross Playground
    1,060 feet

Libraries, museums and history

  1. American Museum of Natural History Museum · landmark · listed historic place
    710 feet
  2. St. Agnes Library
    1,020 feet
  3. Mt. Neboh Synagogue (Demolished) Listed historic place
    1,020 feet
Show all 4
  1. Studio Apartments Listed historic place
    1,310 feet

Houses of worship

  1. St Vladimir Ukranian Orthodox Church House of worship
    860 feet
  2. St Matthew St Timothy Church House of worship
    1,130 feet
  3. Rodeph Sholom Congregation House of worship
    1,150 feet
Show all 4
  1. Holy Trinity RC Church House of worship
    1,310 feet

Community centers and public services

  1. Planetarium Post Office
    770 feet

Fire and police

  1. 20th Precinct Police station · landmark
    450 feet
  2. Engine 74 Fire station
    870 feet

Bank branches

  1. Citibank Bank branch
    80 feet

Supermarkets

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

Pharmacies

  1. Duane Reade Pharmacy
    0.3 miles
  2. CVS Pharmacy
    0.4 miles

Food stores and places to eat

Within a five-minute walk there are 89 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 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 Public Design Commission, NYC Parks, NYC Health, FDIC, NYS Agriculture and Markets and USDA, retrieved September 18 – October 6, 2026.