[2] In October 2019, a busway restriction was put in place between Third and Ninth Avenues, prohibiting most types of vehicles during the daytime.

[4] During the mid-19th century, residential and commercial development in Manhattan began to migrate uptown along Broadway, reaching 14th Street by the 1850s.

In conjunction with this, several hotels, theaters, and stores were built along the central portion of 14th Street, including Steinway Hall and the Academy of Music.

[7] In the early 20th century, Tammany Hall, the Academy of Music, and numerous vaudeville theaters were clustered around New York City.

[8] One source referred to the center portion of 14th Street as "the Mecca of New York shoppers, and Sixth Avenue was the liveliest part of it".

There were only a few traces of 14th Street's heyday as a commercial center, including Lüchow's restaurant and Union Square Park.

[7] The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) began to reconstruct the entirety of 14th Street in 1990, replacing the roadway, sidewalks, and water and sewer pipes.

The western end of the street, near the Meatpacking District, contained numerous nightclubs, restaurants, and art galleries.

East of Fourth Avenue, 14th Street forms the southern end of Irving Place, a north–south road that terminates at Gramercy Park.

14th Street then intersects with Third Avenue, which forms the border between the neighborhoods of the East Village to the south and Gramercy to the north.

[15]: 63–64  Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer who lives on nearby 12th Street, blocked the plan[25][23] by filing several injunctions to halt its implementation.