23rd Street, one of the wide crosstown streets of the 1811 grid plan.
The Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which set out Manhattan's street grid, made 23rd Street one of 15 east–west streets 100 feet wide, against 60 feet for minor side streets. At Eighth Avenue it runs through Chelsea. From the late 19th century theatres were built along West 23rd Street, and it remained New York's main theatre strip until the Empire Theatre opened further uptown on Broadway.