MOYLAN PLACE, Manhattanville

by Kevin Walsh

A sign on the east side of Broadway, just south of West 125th and in front of the General Grant Houses, advertises the presence of a Moylan Place. However, there’s no Moylan Place — just the sign.

 

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and this 1949 Hagstrom map segment shows that, indeed, there was a Moylan Place between Broadway and West 125th at Morningside Avenue. The NYC Housing Authority website reveals that the Grant Houses were built in 1957, and that’s presumably when Moylan Place was plowed under.

Since 1949, there have been plenty of changes to the Manhattanville map. For one thing, the neighborhood is one of the oldest in the borough and had been thriving since colonial times — and even has its own small street grid that’s independent of the John Randel Jr. 1811 survey that determined the streets surrounding it. One big change has already been made — Manhattan Street has already been changed to West 125th. Later, Lawrence Street would become West 126th. The Grant, Manhattanville and Morningside Houses would eliminate some of the side streets. The Convent of the Sacred Heart would become the South Campus of CCNY.

Moylan Place’s street sign is a puzzlement, since the street was eliminated 55+ years ago. The street does have a connection with the late, great George Carlin, one of the greatest comics and social commentators. In his autobiography Last Words, Carlin writes:

The Moylan [Tavern] was on a street that’s long gone called Moylan Place. Right under the El, off Broadway near 125th Street. They built a project over it.

It was the classic New York saloon. Being on the common border of several neighborhoods, it had great cross-cultural influences. There were blacks and Puerto Ricans of all trades, seminarians from the Jewish Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary, Irish construction workers, cops, firefighters, students and professors from the Juilliard School of Music, columbia and Teachers College, retired pensioners and young Irish bucks trying to earn their wings, every type of New Yorker rubbing up against one another and most of the time in a peaceful manner.

Carlin went on to describe how he introduced his future wife, Brenda, to his crowd in the bar and how one of her falsies came loose as she was playing pool.

Who knows, maybe someone at the Department of Transportation is a Carlin fan and kept the sign up to remember him.

There’s another street sign in Manhattan without a street — Temple Street.

5/25/13

37 comments

RichB May 25, 2013 - 10:47 pm

you may be aware of a site called Historic Aerials (http://www.historicaerials.com/) where you can see satellite photos of Moylan Place and other bygone streets, assuming they were still around circa 1931 and later

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Don Rogerson May 25, 2013 - 11:24 pm

The name Moylan Place was assigned to this short section of W 126th in 1920 in honor of William Moylan, who was killed in World War I. Moylan’s father, also named William, lived on the street. Why the sign has been maintained I’m not sure, unless it is simply to uphold the memorial honor.

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Kevin Walsh May 26, 2013 - 11:01 pm

Great site Don!

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Declan Barron November 15, 2019 - 4:22 am

William Moylan Snr. was born in Ennis, Co. Clare. Ireland in 1866. He married Maria Hayden and William Junior was born circa 1897. William Snr. died 25 March 1944 at 519 West 167th St.

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Edward May 26, 2013 - 7:18 am

Is it possible that some of the buildings in the General Grant projects have Moylan Place addresses even though the street itself is gone? I think that’s been done in other projects.

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Mark Wilner May 30, 2013 - 4:07 pm

I recently retired from NYCHA and am pretty sure that the project does not have a Moylan Place address.

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Tal Barzilai May 26, 2013 - 3:21 pm

I never knew there could be streets signs to show remnants of what streets used to be there rather than an actual street or possible gated alley like some are in the city.

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Hart May 26, 2013 - 10:13 pm

So, if Lawrence became W. 126th, does that mean 126th intersects with 127th and 129th? Would love see to see photos of that confusing situation.

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Ryan May 28, 2013 - 7:49 am

Yeah, actually… This is the Street View on Google.

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JR Fontaine May 31, 2015 - 2:27 am

When I lived nearby, 126th St was on the east side of the El structure on Broadway, but as it went west past there, it changed over to 129th St (which if you follow 126th St west on Google Street View you can see the changeover at Broadway). The original 125th Street is 2 blocks south on Broadway (3 if you include Moylan Pl) and is now called LaSalle St.

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Ryan May 28, 2013 - 7:47 am

On the other hand, the U-turn on Broadway still exists- along the alignment of Moylan Place.

Same thing happened to Florence Place in Lower Manhattan (until the street sign was removed…)

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Joe Brennan June 2, 2013 - 10:49 am

What stole my attention on that Hagstrom map– besides the weird color transformation in the scan– is the bizarre underground ramp from the highway to Riverside Drive just north of Grant’s Tomb. It never existed, of course, and the rock blasting it would require must have knocked it out of consideration the day after it was proposed. Besides it would disturb the grave of the Amiable Child.

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Kevin Walsh June 2, 2013 - 11:07 pm

Where we just were today on the forgottentour

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Jerome July 30, 2013 - 12:24 pm

As a child I watched out of my window on Broadway as constuction/deconstuction crains with large metal balls would swing and take down the old apartments on Moylan Place. My now deceased aunt lived on Moylan Place. I remember that on my way to and from my school, PS125, i would pass by these crains and the large iron balls that rested on the ground. I lived just above The Moylan Tavern, and today the place is a Mexican restaurant. Both my father, brother, and I drank beer at the tavern.

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Roy Stout February 19, 2015 - 10:41 pm

Wow Jerome, you might have seen them knock down the apartment were i lived,,thanks for sharing that.

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Janet August 21, 2015 - 5:59 pm

i lived at 32 moylan place till we had to leave broke my heart to leave

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David Colchamiro September 10, 2015 - 4:34 pm

A photo dated 10-30-27 can be found at that shows a view looking south on Amsterdam Avenue at 125th Street. In the right side of the photo (which would be the nw quadrant) is a small street running in front of the Moylan Plumbing Supply Store. There is a street sign but it is too small to be legible. Is that “Moylan Place”?

Trolley tracks can be seen in the foreground of the photo and again further south on Amsterdam Avenue. Does anyone have any information about the trolley service in that area at that time? And, is the small street running in front of the Moylan Plumbing Supply, in fact, Moylan Place?

Thanks.

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Kiwiwriter September 6, 2013 - 2:08 pm

Just rode over the sign on the Transit Museum’s antique train tour up to The Bronx last week.

The sign’s still there.

The train ride was terrific, too.

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casio android September 7, 2013 - 2:32 am

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Roy Stout February 19, 2015 - 10:37 pm

I was born at 36 Moylen place in 1945, In the house. I,m rather happy the old sign is still there. Thanks

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blanche Gelabert July 17, 2021 - 7:53 am

Just saw your comment about being born on moylan pl in 1945. Hope you are well and still have this email I am 85.. I lived at 44 moylan pl for many years and moved in 1954. Have many great memories. Please contact me if you can.

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Louise Jove-Johnson April 23, 2022 - 3:15 pm

Hi,
I was born in 1946 and came from Belleview Hospital where I was born to live at 40 Moylan Place. Loved every minute I spent there.. We were relocated by the city to make way for the housing projects. Monsignor and the Sisters at St Joseph of the Holy Family helped my mother and grandmother find an apartment in a 3 family home across from the church and we were able to move back to the neighborhood. The Sisters took care of me after school while my mother and grandmother worked.

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Jack March 4, 2015 - 9:44 pm

Moylan Place is named after William Moylan who was killed in WW1 . He is my Great Uncle and even though I never met him I am incredibly proud of him.

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Anonymous February 25, 2018 - 7:00 pm

Hi I️ would like very much to find information about James Albert O’Toole
Can you help?

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John sullivan December 2, 2021 - 9:25 pm

The sign is there to tell us “Let it not be forgot that there was once a place that was known as Moylan”. All the souls ,alive and dead with an indelible link to this place now wander the vast universe. RIP. Jack, formerly of 16-18 Moylan Place

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Ken July 23, 2017 - 5:05 pm Reply
susan bruen November 28, 2017 - 9:04 pm

I lived on Moylan place till they put us out to build projects, we lost a neghborhood

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blanche Gelabert July 17, 2021 - 7:57 am

Susan, I think we may have been neighbors at 44 moylan pl. There was a Bruen family in our building. I am 85 now and would love to chat with you.

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Trish Moylan January 31, 2018 - 5:10 pm

Evidently someone named Moylan owned this bar…I heard rumors it may have been one of my relatives as the family talked about a relation that owned a bar in Manhattan called Moylan’s

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Trish Moylan January 31, 2018 - 5:12 pm

I think the bar belonged to one of my relatives…

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Trish Moylan January 31, 2018 - 5:13 pm

Belonged to my relative,Moylan’s bar

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A Deckoff April 9, 2018 - 1:02 pm

I found myself on this page because I just noticed that the Citi Bike station now at that location is identified on their map as “Broadway & Moylan Place.” My reaction: “Say what???” I do love this site. Did not know about the Lawrence Street name or the abandoned plan to connect the parkway to Riverside Drive there either. Probably explains the long weird ramp from the parkway to 125th Street.

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Eugene Sullivan June 24, 2018 - 7:32 am

I was born in 16-18 Moylan place. 1944
We moved to 123 St when they started to wreck the buildings
The boys would go back and throw rocks through the windows and doors. We were helping with the destruction and having fun. It was a great neighborhood to grow up in. I still go back and walk around . Strange not seeing kids in the street playing stickball, riding milk box scooters we built and decorated with car auto parts. They were great memories. George Carlin lives on with his Carlin Way sign on 121st & Amsterdam.

.

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roy Stout July 28, 2019 - 6:53 pm

Eugene, we have great memories that sometimes only come once in a lifetime,, i remember all the things you talked about.
.

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blanche Gelabert July 17, 2021 - 8:00 am

saw you comments about moylan pl. I am 85 and lived at 44 moylan pl for many years and have fond memories .

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blanche Gelabert July 17, 2021 - 8:15 am

Wow, thinking of the years I lived on Moyan Pl are coming back as I read the comments of those that were my neighbors. I moved 50 years ago, but remember our unique street very well. Nearby Grants Tomb area was our playground and we used to sneak into the International House . These were typical neighborhoods in the 1940’s and 50’s and are gone forever. Thanks for the memories!

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Roy Stout January 20, 2022 - 6:22 pm

Blanche, wow just saw your post, yes we moved to New Jersey 6 mo after i was born, so glad there is still memories from people who lived there, you are my sisters age.

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