14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street rivals the size of some of the well-known avenues of the city and is an important business location.
In the past 14th Street was an upscale location, but it lost some of its glamor and status as the city grew northward. At Broadway, 14th Street forms the southern border of Union Square. It is also considered the northern boundary of Greenwich Village and the East Village, and the southern boundary of Chelsea, Flatiron/Lower Midtown, and Gramercy.
Most importantly, however, 14th Street marks the southern terminus of Manhattan's grid system. North of 14th Street, the streets make up a near-perfect grid that runs in numerical order. South of 14th, in Greenwich Village and other areas in Lower Manhattan, the grid breaks down and becomes scattered, and then nonexistent below Houston Street.
The BMT Canarsie Line runs underneath 14th Street from Eighth Avenue to the East River, stopping at First Avenue, Third Avenue, Sixth Avenue, 14th Street-Union Square, and Eighth Avenue. The line is served at all times by the L.
PATH also makes a stop at 14th Street at its intersection with Sixth Avenue.