Crowded Midtown Manhattan Gets a New Avenue: 6 and 1/2 Ave (in Pictures)

When does a street that's not a street become official? Well, first it needs a name. Then it needs a street sign.  (Photo by Kate Hinds)

Addresses on the avenues of midtown Manhattan bestow a certain prestige for the law firms, TV networks, ad agencies and luxury hotels that populate the glass and steel canyons north of Times Square. So it's a bold move to wedge a new "avenue" in between 6th and 7th Avenues from 51st to 57th street. Or at least the naming is bold. The trail of pedestrian walkways between and under the skyscrapers has long existed as a public secret for midtown office workers looking to save a few minutes on the walk to grab lunch.

But, in giving this stretch of walkways a name, the New York City Department of Transportation is encouraging more walking. Even more than the cute name, they do so by painting crosswalks and stopping traffic mid-block where people already jaywalked with more than the usual amount of New York pavement entitlement (if that's possible).

And if DOT signage isn't official enough, Google Maps already recognizes the avenue. So, as Gawker points out, you can now legitimately tell someone to meet you at 55th Street and 6 1/2.

TN's Kate Hinds took a walk down New York's newest avenue. Here's what it looks like.

Even the "Ave" is shorted to "Av" because it's a little street. (Photo by Kate Hinds)

Restaurants within the walkways now have a swanky new second address to use if they like. No word if the Post Office will honor mail sent that way. (Photo by Kate Hinds)

New painted crosswalks also guide pedestrians to the next leg of 6 1/2 Avenue (Photo by Kate Hinds)

Passage north of 54th Street (Photo by Kate Hinds)

57th Street -- the northern end of the avenue (Photo by Kate Hinds)