Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side (including Carnegie Hill), Spanish Harlem, and Harlem. It is named after and arises from Madison Square, which is itself named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. Since the 1920s, the street's name has been synonymous with the American advertising industry.
Madison Square Garden takes its name from the former location on the north east corner of Madison Square at 26th Street and Madison Avenue. (The New York Life Insurance Building now occupies that entire city block.) It was designed by Stanford White and had a bronze statue of the Roman goddess Diana on the tower of the sports arena. When it moved to a new building at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue in 1925 it kept its old name. (Madison Square Garden is now located at Eighth Avenue between 31st Street and 33rd Street).

Madison Avenue was not part of the original New York City street grid established in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, and was carved between Park Avenue (formerly Fourth) and Fifth Avenue in 1836, due to the effort of lawyer and real estate developer Samuel B. Ruggles, a graduate of Yale University who had previously purchased and developed New York's Gramercy Park in 1831, who was in part responsible for the development of Union Square, and who also named Lexington Avenue.
Madison Avenue carries one-way traffic uptown (northbound) from 23rd Street to 135th Street, with the changeover from two-way traffic taking place on January 14, 1966, at which time Fifth Avenue was changed to one way downtown (southbound).

Advertising industry

The term "Madison Avenue" is often used metonymically for advertising, and Madison Avenue became identified with the advertising industry after the explosive growth in this area in the 1920s.

According to "The Emergence of Advertising in America", an online exhibit at the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History at Duke University, by the year 1861 there were twenty advertising agencies in New York City, and in 1911, the New York City Association of Advertising Agencies was founded, predating the establishment of the American Association of Advertising Agencies by several years.

Among various depictions in popular culture, the portion of the advertising industry which centers on Madison Avenue serves as a backdrop for the AMC television drama Mad Men, which focuses on industry activities during the 1960s.

In recent decades, many agencies have left Madison Avenue, with some moving further downtown and others moving west. Today, only a few agencies are still located in the old business cluster on Madison Avenue, including Young & Rubicam, StrawberryFrog, TBWA Worldwide and Doyle Dane Bernbach. However, the term is still used to describe the agency business as a whole and large, New York-based agencies in particular.

Shopping

Between 57th Street and 85th Street, Madison Avenue is identified as "the fashionable road". In this area is where most of the very well known fashion designers, jewelers and upper class hair salons are located.

• Some of the world's most upscale boutiques are located on Madison Avenue including Gucci, Hermès, Prada, Chanel, Asprey, Cartier SA, Chloé, Tom Ford, Oscar de la Renta, Coach, Christian Louboutin, Yves Saint Laurent, Missoni, Dolce & Gabbana, J. Press, Vera Wang, Loro Piana, Emanuel Ungaro, Carolina Herrera, Jil Sander, Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo, Christian Dior, Bvlgari, Graff, Roger Vivier, Oliver Peoples, Christofle, Baccarat, Bally, Issey Miyake, David Yurman, Roberto Cavalli, J. Mendel, Valentino, Donna Karan, Luca Luca, Lana Marks, Fred Leighton, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Mulberry, Kenzo, Max Mara, Calypso, Etro, Givenchy, Michael Kors, Chopard, Lambertson Truex, Longchamp, Herve Leger, Sonia Rykiel, Breguet, Blancpain, Folli Follie, Juicy Couture, Cole Haan, Celine, Armani Collezioni, Stuart Weitzman, Calvin Klein, Betsey Johnson, Paul Stuart, Ann Taylor and many more.

• Brooks Brothers, the oldest retail clothier in America, is headquarted and has it anchor at Madison and 44th Street.

• Barneys New York also has their flagship store on Madison Avenue at 60th Street.

• Louis Vuitton 2009

• Blue Tree, a store opened by actress Phoebe Cates, is located on Madison Avenue.

• Ambassador Luggage

Transportation

Madison Avenue is served by the M1, M2, M3, and M4 NYCT Buses, and the BxM1, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, and BxM5 express buses.

Bus lane

Pursuant to Section 4-12(m) of the New York City Traffic Rules, driving a vehicle other than a bus in the bus lane on Madison Avenue to turn right during the restricted hours specified by sign between 42nd Street and 59th Street is prohibited, then permitted at 60th Street, but a taxicab carrying a passenger may use the bus lane to turn right at 46th Street.

Overturned Midtown Bike Ban

In July 1987, then New York City Mayor Edward Koch proposed banning bicycling on Fifth, Park and Madison Avenues during weekdays, but many bicyclists protested and had the ban overturned. When the trial was started on Monday, August 24, 1987 for 90 days to ban bicyclists from these three avenues from 31st Street to 59th Street between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays, mopeds would not be banned. On Monday, August 31, 1987, a state appeals court judge halted the ban for at least a week pending a ruling after opponents against the ban brought a lawsuit.