By Pam Tice
Tucked in between West 91st and 92nd streets just east of Riverside Drive, protected from public access by an iron fence, is a short, seemingly unremarkable pathway – all that remains of a city roadway with a 250-year history.
The roadway began life as Apthorp Lane in 1765, when Charles Ward Apthorp, a wealthy merchant who prospered in New York but remained loyal to Britain, purchased 268 acres of what’s now our Upper West Side neighborhood. Apthorp built his grand mansion, Elm Park, on the hill at about what is now Columbus Avenue, between West 91st and 93rd streets.
The western portion of Apthorp Lane ran down to the Hudson River. The eastern part ran slightly to the north and then across land that became Central Park, joining up with the Eastern Post Road at about Fifth Avenue and East 96th Street.
After Apthorp died in 1797, leaving his estate to various heirs, William Jauncey, a wealthy Englishman, bought the home and the remaining land. Apthorp Lane became Jauncey Lane. Elm Park lived on, first as a private home and later as a hotel with the surrounding land called Elm Park. There’s more about that history here.
According to Suzanne Wray and Jim Mackin, who researched the lane’s history for the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group, in the early 19th century, the city began to lay out its grid street plan, which ultimately spelled the end of Jauncey Lane. The lane’s route ran in between two streets created by the new city map, and in the 1890s, the city closed the lane.
But the land bordering parts of the lane had increased in value as city development moved northward. Jauncey Lane, often referred to as Apthorp Lane in news reports, became the bete noire of real estate men on the west side because of a legal dispute between the Apthorp heirs and the Astor family over ownership. Development of the land required resolving the ownership issue, and in a 1903 decision, Judge O’Gorman of the Supreme Court ruled that the roadway belonged to those who owned property on either side of the lane.
That still didn’t resolve things, though. Soon, the Jauncey Lane issue was in the courts again, with plaintiffs charging that the Apthorp heirs had not properly filed ownership transfers – and that the city’s closure of the lane was not legally sound. That case was finally closed in 1913, with the remaining Apthorp heirs receiving $150,000 from those who, at that time, held the property on either side of the lane.
There’s no marker today for the little that remains of Jauncey Lane. But if you’d like to see that short pathway, go to the block on Riverside Drive between West 91st and 92nd streets and look for “the crack,” all that’s left of the 250-year-old roadway.
Pam Tice is a member of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group www.upperwestsidehistory.org.
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Nice. This lane should be open to the public.
So, to clarify — is the strip of land behind the fence technically not owned by either of the buildings?
“That case was finally closed in 1913, with the remaining Apthorp heirs receiving $150,000 from those who, at that time, held the property on either side of the lane.”
Thanks for this! I’ve often wondered about this while walking by (and the little channel cut through the middle).
The lane has become what is known as a “cooling corridor.” It allows breezes from the Hudson to travel into the courtyards of buildings along it. Most welcome in the summer.
You mentioned something which I frequently thought but rarely said out loud. Walking in the upper west side in the worst of Summer occasionally I hit a spot where there is like an air corridor. It is significantly cooler and I always think, this island of Manhattan would have all these island breezes if it wasn’t for all this cement. There are natural breezes that are blocked. Course you know that…
The quest for beauty unfortunately falls behind the quest for big bucks to the real estate developers. Really sad because there was clearly such thought that went into these old nooks and crannies and beautiful Lanes. I think it was well thought-out that there was a cooling factor in the allowance of breeze from the river. Developers make me sad!!!!!
The remnants of the lane actually run from RSD all the way up to the back of the buildings on Broadway. Not only did it lie between 91st and 92nd St., but it was on a slight bias to the grid. You can see that from the walls of 640 and 645 West End which are not exactly at right angles to the street. This is probably because they were built before the ownership was settled in 1913, me guesses..
Cool thanks
The scaffolding is a nice added 20th/21st century touch.
Not at all surprised that the scaffolding has been there since the 18th century.
You can see it on the map! https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7927521,-73.9761568,19z
(It’s going left-to-right, in the middle of the 91st/92nd block.)
Always enjoy these kinds of stories!
“Weekend History: 18th Century Bloomingdale Residents Before the American Revolution” (https://www.westsiderag.com/2021/05/01/blon)
Dear Pam Tice:
What prompted you to change your mind about the location of Jauncey’s Lane from the location you give above to what you write in your March 4, 2025, WSR story? Looking at various old maps, it seems to me that you had it right four years ago — Jauncey’s ran between 93rd & 94th Streets, Livingston’s Lane between 91st & 92nd.
Respectfully yours,
ecm
When I wrote that four years ago, I did not use the map my colleagues used for this year’s research —- and the original Apthorp Lane that went to the east across the (now) Park went a bit north to do that.
Thanks for your reply, and count me fascinated! Is your colleagues’ new research into this, and/or the map they used, available on-line somewhere? I’d love to take a look. Two map images I’ve been consulting are https://iiif-prod.nypl.org/index.php?id=1520736&t=v (91st–92nd) and https://iiif-prod.nypl.org/index.php?id=1520738&t=v (93rd–94th), both from 1867, so you see the basis for my puzzlement regarding Jauncey’s Lane’s western end.
Yrs,
ecm
Thanks for your reply, and count me fascinated! Is your colleagues’ new research into this, and/or the map they used, available on-line somewhere? I’d love to take a look. Two map images I’ve been consulting are https://iiif-prod.nypl.org/index.php?id=1520736&t=v (91st–92nd) and https://iiif-prod.nypl.org/index.php?id=1520738&t=v (93rd–94th), both from 1867, so you see the basis for my puzzlement regarding Jauncey’s Lane’s western end.
I enjoyed reading the article very much I’m originally from Manhattan as was my grandfather he owned property from on the west side of 74th Street and 10th avenue for over 60 years not too far away from the property you mentioned his name was Dominick polimeni he’s dead now but he was very proud of his ownership in fact his building is part of the historical site you know the grocery store and apartments on 74th Street 10th avenue thank you for bringing such beautiful properties to light I am Anthony polimini.
Love the history of the upper westside.