New Arbat Avenue (Russian: Новый Арбат) is a major street in Moscow running west from Arbatskaya Square on the Boulevard Ring to Novoarbatsky Bridge on the opposite bank of the Moskva (river).
The modern eight-lane avenue (originally named Kalinin Prospekt in 1968–1994), along with two rows of high-rise buildings, was constructed between 1962 and 1968, and was literally cut through the old, narrow streets of the Arbat District.
A modern avenue running parallel to the picturesque Arbat Street was first envisioned in Joseph Stalin's 1935 Master Plan, however the project was delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War, and work did not begin until the late 1950s.
Between 1957 and 1963, the city redeveloped land on the opposite (western) bank of the Moskva, creating the beginning of Kutuzovsky Prospekt, and completing the main part of New Arbat by 1968.
On July 4, 2009, a new government ban restricted gambling to four permitted zones, effectively putting an end to the industry in Moscow; the Novy Arbat casinos have subsequently either closed or morphed into entertainment centers and restaurants.