THE GUIDE

Broadway

The literal meaning of Broadway is broad main street and during the Dutch period the street was the main communication street in New Amsterdam and was much wider. The avenue follows the route of an ancient Native American trail, the Wickquasgeck Trail. Originally the Dutch called it Heere Straat and then Great George Street the British, finally on February 14, 1899 with a law was called Broadway. Today it extends for 21 miles, almost 34 km of which 21 km only in Manhattan.
Its link with the theatre area began in the 18th century with the opening of the first theatres and continued as they moved further north in the area of Times Square at the end of the following century and the beginning of the 20th century.
There are three other Broadways in New York, one in Queens, one in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island.

References

Henry Moscow. The Street Book: An Encyclopedia of Manhattan's Street Names and Their Origins. Fordham University Press, 1990. p. 31
Kenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller, Nancy Flood. The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition. Yale University Press, 2010. p. 159
Broadway (Manhattan) (Wikipedia)