Broadway to Church

Back at Chambers Street, on the southeast corner, is the Broadway-Chambers Building, Cass Gilbert's first structure in New York, 1900.

Don't forget to look up It's a designated NYC landmark, although much less famous than his Woolworth Tower a block or two downtown.













The block between Broadway and Church has long been characterized by bargain stores and fast food restaurants catering to the many office workers in the area,
but it is undergoing rapid change and gentrification.





This is not the ony 19th century store-loft building undergoing transformation to residential.









Some of the upper stories are quite elegant.

A little detour

Visitors to New York City can be excused for thinking that either the Municipal Building or the Tweed Courthouse is City Hall. In fact, City Hall is a much older and more modest building. I think it's one of the most most beautiful municipal buildings ever, and I usually laugh at New York City boosterism.

To see City Hall, which is directly to the south of the Tweed Courthouse, turn left at Broadway. You'll be able to peek into the windows of the Tweed Courthouse.














At the moment there are some Alexander Calder sculptures in City Hall Park.

Here's City Hall

The Mayor's actual office is in the building. City Hall was designed by Joseph-Francois Mangin and John McComb Jr., 1802-11. Although it has undergone various alterations over the years, it maintains the character of an eary Federal building. Its deteriorated original skin, Massachusetts marble in front and brownstone in the rear was replaced in the mid-1950s with limestone over a granite base. The building was designated in 1966 and its interior, ten years later. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Before the mayoralty of Rudolph Giuliani, it was much easier to see the interior. After the events of 9/11, security became even tighter, but the interior is still worth making an effort to see, especially the double flying staircase and the ten Corinthian columns that support the dome. There is a significant portrait gallery inside as well.

Chambers Street

One would be forgiven for assuming that the name "Chambers Street" has something to do with the proximity of courthouses. The connection to lawyers' offices is only indirect; the street was named in honor of John Chambers, a pre-Revolutionary War barrister, alderman, corporation counsel, and justice of the colonial supreme court.

All the classically-styled buildings on the block between Centre Street and Broadway are designated New York City landmarks. The interiors of all but the Sun Building, (n. side of the street, at Broadway)are also designated interiors. The easternmost end of Chambers Street is at the heart of New York City's civic center. Years ago, it extended farther east. Now, Chambers Street begins at Centre Street.

McKim, Mead & White's Municipal Building, 1907-1914, has large arches through which traffic used to pass to what was called "New Chambers Street" on old maps before the construction of Police Plaza.

The sculpture, "Five in One," seen through the arch, on the plaza, is by Tony Rosenthal.

Looking up at the Municipal Building, one can see the sculpture, "Civic Fame," by Adolph Weinman. If you took the subway here and exited underneath the southern wing, you must have noticed the Guastavino tiles above. The building is massive, but New York's municipal government long ago outgrew the space.

The offices of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission have been on the ninth floor of this building since 2001. The windows of the hearing room overlook Chambers Street. I was standing at the window, looking down the length of the street, clear to the Hudson River, when I heard an earsplitting roar and, turning my head in the direction of the sound, saw the fireball near the top of the World Trade Center, six blocks away. If I had been looking 10 degrees to my left instead of straight ahead, I would have seen the airplane strike the building.

On Chambers Street proper, the first building on the north side of the street, is the Hall of Records, also Surrogate's Court, and the new home of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. It took a long time to complete. Work began in 1899, the building opened in 1905 and work continued unti 1911. The building was designed by John Thomas, a largely sef-taught architect, who died in 1901 and was succeeded by the politically well-connected firm, Horgan & Slattery, who had been hired by a newly-elected mayor as consultants.
Despite their promises to keep the costs down, by the time the building was completed, cost overerruns exceeded $1-million. The interior of the building is notable for its vast expanse of honey-colored Siena marble and a double staircase that brings to mind the Palais Garnier (the old Paris opera house.)

Even more notorious for grand fiscal excess is the Tweed Courthouse, (New York County Courthouse) on the south side of the block. Tweed Courthouse

It was built over a 20-year period from 1861-1881 primarily to a design by John Kellum, with additional work by Leopold Eidlitz. It is generally thought to be NYC's second permanent government building, the first being City Hall. (We'll take a detour to see that; it's right behind the Tweed Courthouse.)

Tweed was a political "boss," (never a mayor) whose "Tweed Ring" used the construction of the building as a deep pocket to embezzle huge sums of money. Justice eventually prevailed and Tweed was tried in a courtroom in this very building, which has never been able to shake his name.

After a lengthy and expensive restoration by John Waite -- there is no getting away from the fact that this building is a money pit -- the Tweed Courthouse reopened as the new home of the Department of Education and the City Hall Academy, a kind of model school housing short-term programs for teachers and students. There had been talk of its serving as a museum for a combined New-York Historical Society and Museum of the City of New York, or as headquarters for the NYC Landmarks Commission. (There was no way that the NYHS and MCNY would merge. Similar as they may seem, they are very different institutions.

On the north side of the street is the former Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, Raymond R Almirall, 1908-12. It now houses government offices.

At the n.e. corner of Broadway and Chambers is the extension of the former A.T. Stewart store, the earliest section of which is at Reade Street, 1845-46. The original architect was Joseph Trench & Co., whose design was followed for subsequent additions. This was New York City's first department store and it set the tone in style (Italianate) and materials (Tuckahoe marble)for decades after. After 1919, the store having moved uptown, the building became the office of a newspaper, The New York Sun. Most peope refer to the building as the Sun Building.

The offices of the New York City Department of Buildings are located in the building. There was a beautiful restoration by Beyer Blinder Belle a few years ago.

125th Street, 5

St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church, 1860, Henry Engelbert, is probably the oldest church in the area. (n.b. The AIA Guide incorrectly attributes it to Herter Bros, 1889.)

We are now approaching Manhattanville, once a separate village between Harlem and Bloomingdale, centered on what is now 125th Street and Broadway. The section of 125th Street that goes off at an angle was originally known as Manhattan Street. Its direction was determined by topography. The street followed a valley between what is now Morningside Heights and Hamilton Heights. It became 125th Street only in 1920. The original 125th Street was renamed LaSalle Street at the same time. We will continue walking on the current 125th Street.


A large public housing complex fills the south side of the street for several blocks.


On the grounds is a small butterfly garden.


A nice branch of the New York Public Library is convenient, too, as well as a branch of Citarella, one of NYC's best fish stores.

On Old Broadway, which crosses 125th here, is another reminder that this area once had a large Jewish population. The congregation is older than its building, which dates from 1923, by Meisner & Uffner.

Old Broadway was originally known as Bloomingdale Road.

There are two steel viaducts spanning the valley, one for the IRT subway,
which was extended to northern Manhattan in 1904 and

one for Riverside Drive.
The building in the background was a Studebaker service center. The former car manufacturer's graphic motifs are still visible on the tower. The building was constructed in 1923, designed by an engineering firm from Cincinnati, W.S. Ferguson and incorporating the ioneering reinforced concrete construciton techniques developed by automotive architect Albert Kahn. Broadway, in Manhattanville, was a important auto row prior to WWII. The building is owned by Columbia University as is


the former Sheffield Dairy Building, now Prentis Hall. Columbia owns many buildings in this area and is in the process of acquiring more for its proposed expansion northward of its main campus at 116th Street and Broadway. The university has said that it is committed to relocating people who will be losing their homes, but many small businesses will no doubt disappear altogether.
Paste the following link into your browser http://neighbors.columbia.edu/pages/manplanning/index.html
to see the University's rationale and details of the plan. The 18 acres that Columbia plans to take over are not heavily populated by New York standards, nor is there much obvious charm. Nevertheless, there are understandable objections on the part of the community to the loss of its neighborhood and of historic fabric. Columbia is planning to maintain the old street pattern.

In addition to automobile-related businesses, the area was a meat-packing center. Not much remains

In the meantime, there's Dinosaur Barbeque

The Fairway store is several blocks north of here. Don't be fooled by the sign for it


or by a nightclub that calls itself The Cotton Club.

It has the same name, but is not related to the original club, which was at 142nd and Lenox Avenue.

125th Street offers the walker only a tiny taste of Harlem, one of the richest neighborhoods in New York in culture, history and architecture.

Sources for 125th Street

To check dates and names of architects, these sources were helpful

White and Wilensky, AIA Guide to New York City
Historic Preservation Program of Columbia University, 1996-7
Preservation Plan for Hamilton Heights/ Manhattanville,
David Dunlap, Glory in Gotham: Manhattan’s Houses of Worship,
Michael Henry Adams, Harlem, Lost and Found
http://www.metrohistory.com
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/home/home.shtml

As always, any opinions are my own.

125th Street, 4

The Blumstein's sign remains, but the store is long gone. The building was constructed in 1923, designed by Robert D. Kohn and Charles Butler, incorporating both Art Nouveau and Art Deco elements.
Here is a close-up of some of its copper colonettes.

This is a significant cultural, as well as architectural site. Despite the fact that most of the store's customers were the African-Americans who had recently moved into Harlem, the store refused to hire blacks for anything but menial positions. In the 1930s, a successful boycott supported by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., resulted in a change in that policy.

On the north side of the street is a closed 5-plex movie theater that was previously the Loew's Victoria, and originally a vaudeville house, designed by noted theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb in 1916.

A few doors to the west is possibly the most famous site on 125th Street, the recently restored and renovated Apollo Theater. The theater was built in 1913, as the Hurtig & Seamon's New Burlesque Theater, designed by George Keister. Black performers began to perform here in the 1930s and the list of stars who have appeared on its stage is very long and impressive. Some of those, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and James Brown, first came to the attention of the public at the theater's popular amateur shows. I saw James Brown here in the mid 1960s. The restoration of the building was conducted by Beyer Blinder Belle.

On Frederick Douglas Blvd, just to the south, is the Magic Johnson Theater
in a glassy, multi-use Skidmore, Owings & Merrill building constructed in 1999. Perhaps more than any other single enterprise, this building and its tenants symbolized what some have called the second Harlem renaissance. The building is a designated interior and exterior landmark.

At Mornngside Avenue is a little restaurant that was closed for the month of July. Its intriguing sign, "Old Fashion' but Good!" are an inducement for me to revisit, some day when I'm not dieting.

125th Street, 3

The block between Fifth Avenue and Lenox (6th Avenue) is very lively and busy with shoppers and strollers. On one corner is a Body Shop, commonplace in most shopping districts and malls, but evidence here of economic revival.

This is central Harlem. Many of the stores reflect the heritage of the current population of the neighborhood. On another corner is a boutique selling African wedding clothes.


The late 19th-century red brick building named "Bertha"

houses a shop for African goods.

Contrasts abound. A lovely new store at 24-26 West 125th, "Carol's Daughter," that sells its own fragrant soaps and cosmetics

shares the ground floor with a not-so-lovely pawnshop.


On the street itself there are vendors galore, many of them selling the same items. Tubs of shea butter are very popular.

There is still plenty of opportunity for development.

The Abyssinian Development Corporation, an organization dedicated to the social, economic and physical improvement of Central Harlem, is located on this block.

The next block (between Lenox and Adam Clayton Powell (7th) has even more mall-type stores, including Cohen's Fashion Optical in a red brick building with some rather elaborate ornament.


This lavish building (132-140 W. 125th) was Harlem's main department store (Koch & Company) for 30 years after it moved here from lower Sixth Avenue in 1893. William H.Hume & Son designed the original building, since altered.

The Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, (Ifill Johnson Hanchard, 1973) housing Bill Clinton's office, is here

complete with a striding Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. on its plaza. The bronze sculpture was created by Branly Cadet and cast in Brooklyn. (2005)

Powell was a charismatic and controversial politician who represented Harlem in Congress.

At the edge of the plaza is a mural featuring Harlem themes.


On the other side of the street is The Studio Museum in Harlem (major alteration by Rogers Marvel,2005)
The museum exhibits work by artists of African descent.

And on the southwest corner of Adam Clayton Powell is the former Hotel Theresa, (George and Edward Blum, 1912-13. Fidel Castro stayed here in 1960. It is a designated NYC landmark.

The monogram "HT" is still prominent on the 3rd story window surrounds.

125th Street, 2

Just west of Park Avenue are the some visible signs of gentrification, like the scaffolding on "The New Corn Exchange Building" indicating that an extensive renovation is in progress that will incorporate the historic facade.

and a sign across the street announcing a new Marriott Hotel.
On the day the photo was taken (June 10, 2006) however, there were only puddles behind the construction fence and an impromptu sidewalk flea market in front of it.

On the corner of Madison Avenue is A Taste of Seafood, a takeout restaurant that must be good, if the length of the line at 4:30 in the afternoon is any indication.

On the northwest corner of Madison Avenue is the Promise Academy, a charter school operated by Harlem Children's Zone, housed in a new building. The school opened in 2004, with the goal of providing a full range of preventive, educational and recreational services to Harlem children and families.

Just to the south on Madison, are a West Indian Restaurant and a church (not to be confused with a synagogue, despite the name) housed in an old Pythian Hall, a reminder that this area was once the second-largest Jewish neighborhood in New York, the largest at the time being the Lower East Side.

An interesting building now housing a church was originally a medical office, as evidenced by the iconography.

There are nice rows of houses south of 125th. (North, too, but that's a different area.) We are very close to the edge of the Mount Morris Park Historic District, one of the very earliest districts to be designated by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and one that needs to be expanded. The LPC in the early days, was very cautious about the boundaries of historic districts because the consequences of designation were still unknown. Preservationists were glad to see that a study by NYC's Independent Budget Office shows that designation is good for property values of the buildings as they exist, assuming that zoning in the area does not allow for a taller building than is already on the site. In that instance, all too common in New York, since the zoning laws pre-dated the landmark laws by many years and do not always reflect what has already been built, a rapacious developer can attempt to do a great deal of damage, unless the LPC succeeds in reining him in, or, wins in court.

125th Street

125th Street is a major popular shopping and entertainment street in Harlem. It has witnessed some tough times and is now beginning to enjoy a revival. At its eastern end, it is just to the north of East Harlem, an ethnically mixed neighborhood that was once largely Italian. The blocks at the far western end are in Manhattanville, a different neighborhood altogether and one that will soon undergo some very drastic changes in style, use and character that I'll talk about when we get there.

At the eastern end of the street are entrances to the FDR (East River) Drive and the Triborough Bridge.


This rather distinguished-looking building was constructed in 1896. It's now classified for manufacturing, but was that it's originally use?


On the downtown side of the street is a salvage store, Demolition Depot, in a nice old loft building. (It's in two buildings, actually.)


Ghost signs on side of Demolition Depot's building

The same people also seem to own this jocularly-named antique/junque shop across the street.


I'll spare all of us a photo of the newish Pathmark that takes up an entire block at Third Avenue. It's great for the neighborhood, though, as is the boring new building across the street populated by chain stores that I'm sure are also very welcome in a neighborhood that has been underserved for decades.

The wares of the first of many street sellers of perfume oils


On the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street a Roman brick and brownstone building, almost Romanesque Revival, has some plaques with the dates 1886 and 1894. The buildings department has two new building permits for the building, one dated 1884, the other 1899. It may be safe to say that this is a late 19th century building.


Apple Bank used to be the Harlem Savings Banks, but changed its name when it wanted to branch out. This classical building is not far from where the bank started, when Haarlem, as it was spelled then, was still in rural village, in 1863.


Napoleon Le Brun was architect for the NYC Fire Department for 15 years or so, beginning about 1880. This is one of his. (So is that little chateau in Chinatown.)


At Park Avenue, the Metro North trains run above the street. These are not subways; they are regular commuter trains to NYC suburbs.


To get to the tracks, you have the aid of a beautiful railing.

Vernon Boulevard, 5

We're now at the Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge, (1901-1908, Gustav Lindenthal, engineer, and Palmer & Hornbostel, architects) made famous by Paul Simon. The NYC Landmarks Commission designated it in 1974. A trolley used to cross the bridge and one could get to Roosevelt Island (then Welfare Island) by descending from it by elevator. The trolley station on the Manhattan side was preserved, more precisely, not destroyed and was moved to Roosevelt Island, where it will undergo restoration and serve as a visitor's center, or so rumor has it.

A dodgy-looking motel near the bridge is undergoing enlargement, and possibly, transformation. I will keep my eye on this and report back if anything interesting develops. The motel is directly opposite the promised Silvercup Studio site; is there a connection? A nice motel/hotel right here might be an affordable alternative to much more expensive lodgings across the river.

To the north of the bridge is Queensbridge Houses, a New York City public housing project that was once the country's largest such development. Across the street is a lovely amenity, Queensbridge Park. If the weather is warm, you can almost be guaranteed an enticing smell of grilled meats.

The next stretch of Vernon Boulevard is not as interesting as Hunter's Point, unless you have a taste for power of a certain kind. This is Ravenswood, home to a sprawling generating plant, including "Big Allis" on the west side of the boulevard

and one-story industrial building of various kinds on the eastern side.

The gray building may have started out as a stable.

At 36th Avenue, in the midst of the industrial landscape, is the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

It is long overdue for a painting, but it was a riot of of reds, blues and purples at one time. The center span of the bridge is an elevator that rises to allow tall ships to pass underneath, not used very often nowadays. Here is Big Allis, (Allis-Chalmers) with the 59th Street Bridge in the background, seen from the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

Opposite the Roosevelt Island Bridge is a tenement similar to many in the East Village. but, most of the housing along this section are more like this although there are signs of change just a bit farther north.

A neon sign fabricator has been here for ages. Years ago, I thought about having a sign made for my kitchen that advertised, "Mom's Eats."

Rainey Park has a view of the Octagon on Roosevelt Island. This is a recently restored designated landmark (called Octagon Tower) that is the only remaining part of the New York Lunatic Asylum, A.J. Davis, 1835-39. It now houses a fitness center for one of the newer residential buildings on the island. The complex recalls the original configuration of the A.J. Davis structure, two wings extending from the octagon, at right angles to each other.

The Noguchi Museum houses the work of the prominent sculptor in a building designed by Shogi Sazao in 1985 and recently renovated.

Those more interested in commerce than in art can visit Costco instead.

Socrates Sculpture Park was founded by Mark Di Suvero, with sweat equity from local artists. It is now a city park. At the time of my walk, preparations were being made for a new installation
and many of the familiar pieces I had expected to see were tucked away

Looking over the park is the former Sohmer Piano Company factory. (Steinway Pianos are still made not far from here.)
The building was constructed in 1886, designed by Berger & Baylies, but the clock tower and mansard roof were added in 1910.

Don't mistake this painted metal fence for graffiti.
It's a palette knife!

Many of the clients of metal fabricators here are artists.
And some fabricators think they are artistic, too.

And what's this? The Jersey shore?

Well, no. There's the Manhttan skyline from Hallett's Point, at the northern end of Vernon Boulevard.

Vernon Boulevard, 4

Long Island City is still more industrial than any other part of the New York City, and that shows on the next stretch of Vernon Boulevard.

This big green building is the home of Paragon Paints. It used to be salmon pink and blue.

From 45th Avenue there is a good view of Citicorp Tower, to the west, in Manhattan, designed by Hugh Stebbins & Assocs, 1978



and, to the east, the tallest building in New York City outside of Manhattan, the Citicorp back offices, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1989

An unusally attractive traffic island is named Gordon Triangle, for a local boy who was a World War I casualty.

The red brick building beyond is in the process of being re-developed for residential use, according to Department of Buildings permits in a lower window. That is not to say that people haven't been living there for some time. It's the zoning that is being changed. Artists have long been permitted to live in loft buildings zoned for manufacturing in certain areas. Residential zoning will allow a wider range of tenants, cooperators or owners. There are some ghost signs remaining on the building from its earlier uses. The earliest alteration noted by the buildings department dates from 1900; it was registered as an interim dwelling (loft) in 1995.

Not quite on Vernon Boulevard, but hard to miss is Manhattan Cabinetry, manufacturers of many a paneled Park Avenue library.

Back on Vernon Boulevard is a large building with an art moderne feeling, dating from 1935-38. It’s a storage facility for the City of New York
.

If you look down, you'll see that the Cambridge Paving Stones company has set samples in the sidewalk.

Across the river, there's a view of the Manhattan skyline with both the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in one frame.

The Con Ed Learning Center is a campus, of sorts, on the west side of Vernon.

On the east side is an ivy-covered building, dating from the mid-19th century, with the old street names incised in stone. It is enjoying an adaptive re-use with food-related business on the Vernon Boulevard side.


A ghost sign, mostly covered by ivy this time of year, shows that Mayflower ice cream (available on subway platforms) used to be manufactured here. Tom Cat Bakery was located in this building for a number of years.

In the back is an event space with a name that recalls the building's original function.

The Taxi Depot
rents out taxis for film production.

There are a number of studios nearby, including Silvercup, (named after the bread that used to be baked in its quarters.) Silvercup will be expanding into space just south of the 59th Street Bridge. The neo-Tudor headquarters of the New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company, a designated NYC landmark, occupies part of the site.
The building was designed by Francis Kimball, 1892, to serve as a three-dimensional advertisement for the company's wares. Some of the ornament was removed and put into storage; some was covered up. Silvercup plans to restore the building as part of its expansion. Since the head of Silvercup is married to a member of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, I am actually hopeful that it will happen. Take a look at the chimney pots.

Vernon Boulevard, 3

Restaurant row continues a couple of blocks north of 48th Avenue, with excellent pizza at Bella Via,

Masso, whose pedestrian Italian-American food doesn't live up to the restoration of the building, although the bar seems to have some appeal,

and Lounge 47, which offers a far more interesting menu of imaginative, well-prepared sandwiches and salads, as well as some American bistro specialities that can be enjoyed in its pleasant garden. I learned here that cider served the Irish way, over ice, is a good accompaniment to a grilled lamb sandwich on Tom Cat bread.

Communitea, an even more casual place, offers a wide selection of teas and coffees to youngish people who look like relative newcomers to the neighborhood. It's a Wi-Fi zone and many patrons bring their laptops and sit for a long time. A notice on the window tells a lot about the attitude of the owners, explaining how they turned some unexpungeable graffitti on the window into permanent artwork. The NYC buildings department records show that new building permits were issued in 1924 and in 1926, but also that an alteration permit was issued in 1907. There is no demolition permit in the record. The building looks older than 1924-26 to me. Perusal of maps and deeds might better pinpoint the date of construction.

The northernmost outpost of the Hunter's Point restaurant row is L.I.C.Bar. sometimes known as "Draughts and Cordials" to those who read the signs on the windows. (Ok, it took me a while to figure out what the bar's real name was.)

Some of the old places remain.

It's not only bars and restaurants. An upscale florist has opened.
Because of the reflections, it's hard to see the orchid plants, but, believe me, they are there.

Even the exterminator has made an effort to be appealing.
Those are wire sculptures of insects in the window.

Across the street from Communitea, a sign in the window announces that Hunter's Point Wines and Spirits will be opening on the ground floor of a recently renovated four-story building, originally, a one-story woodshop, built in 1923.

From 47th Avenue, there is a good view of the Chrysler Building.

Many artists live in this part of Queens, and the Art-O-Mat offers them an exhibition space, as well as a venue for lectures, poetry readings and workshops.

It's well worth dropping in.

There is more art at the northern end of Vernon Boulevard, but before we get to it, we'll see a lot more industry.

Vernon Boulevard, 2

A parks department sign shows that the traffic island is named Vernon Mall, after Admiral Edward Vernon, for whom Mt. Vernon was also named. (George Washington's half-brother served under him.) Vernon was admired for capturing the Panamanian town of Portobello. His nickname, "Old Grog," for his grogram raincoat became associated with the traditional rum-and-water ration of the British navy. Now that this end of Vernon Boulevard has become a restaurant row, the street is finally living up to its namesake.

Vernon Wine & Liquor is better than you'd think.

A little detour to 50th Avenue and you can admire the green lanterns marking the 108th Precinct, 1903, R. Thomas Short (the Short in the partnership, Harde & Short.)

The building has a Queensmark plaque, given by the Queens Historical Society, in recognition of a building's architectural significance, even though the building has not necessarily been designated as a landmark by the NYC Landmarks Commission.

Nearby, on 47th Avenue, a block west of Vernon, is another exuberant municipal building, dating from the same year, the red-and white Dutch revival firehouse by Bradford L. Gilford.


The spire of St. Mary's Church (Patrick Charles Keely, 1887)
still dominates these few blocks, although not for long.




Development is proceeding apace on the streets just off the Boulevard. In a few short years, I predict that this stretch Vernon Boulevard will be unrecognizable. In the meantime, change is taking place on a smaller scale, as upscale stores, restaurants and businesses move into and transform the existing buildings and storefronts.

One example is Cafe Henri, in the red warehouse on the west side of Vernon Mall.


And that's not all that is going on in the same building, as these bas-reliefs on a black door signify, although exactly what they signify, I cannot tell.



Other new or new-ish business on the next few blocks that hint of changing times:
E & V Deli and Grocery, French butter and organic eggs as well as the usual staples.

Tuk-Tuk, a good Thai restaurant, opened its second location here, the first being on Smith Street, in Brooklyn. This was a store, probably a hardware store of some kind, to judge from the stained-glass transoms that the owners saved and incorporated into the new design. Opposite "Engineers," there's one that says "Paints."
This building and others like it date from the first wave of urban development of Hunter's Point, in the middle of the 19th century, after a ferry crossing was established linking to 34th Street in Manhattan.

Bicycle shop

Dog grooming

A bar with a fancy sign and live music some nights

An independently-owned (non-Starbucks!) coffeehouse, with Brazilian (and American) pastries.

What is driving this change is the QueensWest development. A detour toward the river at 48th Avenue gives some idea of the larger changes in store. The first buildings to have been completed (1997) was Citylights, the tall building that appears at night to have a comet on its roof.

There is a Greenmarket on 48th Avenue, Saturdays, from May through November.

This narrow recreational park was built shortly after Citylights.

Near the river, you are behind the Pepsi sign, which has been there since 1936.

Nearby, at the river, is Gantry State Park, a great place to see the July 4th fireworks if you can tolerate the crowds.

What's a gantry? A type of crane that unloads boxcars from barges.

Many other building sites in the immediate vicinity. The general idea is to develop a Battery Park City in Hunter's Point.

At the foot of Vernon Boulevard

You can get to the foot of Vernon Boulevard a number of ways, including by train from Long Island. This is part of the Long Island Railroad, but it doesn't go to Penn Station


water taxi


or subway


Yes, the foot of Vernon Boulevard is one stop out of Manhattan.

Vernon Boulevard runs more or less parallel to the east bank of the East River, along the edge of Long Island City. From 1870 until 1898, Long Island City was an incorporated municipality, encompassing smaller entities like Hunter's Point, Ravenswood, Astoria, Steinway and Sunnyside. The street we'll be walking on starts at Hunter's Point, passes through Ravenswood and ends in Astoria. Roughly, Hunter's Point extends from Newtown Creek to the Queensboro Bridge; Ravenswood, from that bridge to just past the Roosevelt Island bridge and Astoria to the north and east. Vernon Boulevard itself starts at the railroad tracks, at a right angle to Borden Avenue and ends at Main Avenue, Astoria.

We are starting in Hunter's Point, an area that is undergoing rapid change, with high-rise residential development standing in contrast to the existing warehouses, light manufacturing facilities and modest single-family houses that have characterized the area for decades. The effect of change on Vernon Boulevard has been the sudden appearance of restaurants that offer more than breakfast specials, and shops offering more than the basics.

Long Island City has a high number of artists, galleries and art institutions and we will see some of them right on Vernon Boulevard. Well, maybe not the artists themselves, but their handiwork.

Remnants of an art installation in an otherwise empty storefront? in this building No, it used to be a shoe manufacturer.


A few steps away is Tournesol, a French bistro (the first in the neighborhood) that is packed every night. It's very good, especially considering the reasonable prices for both food and wine.
The building dates from 1921.

If you walk into the adjacent parking lot, you can see the back house (a structure on the rear of a building lot) behind the restaurant.



Looking north toward the west side of the street, we see the spire of St. Mary's Church, Vernon Mall (the traffic island) and a red building that we'll take a closer look at.

Sources consulted

For dates and names of architects, the following books were helpful.

AIA Guide to New York City, White & Willensky

Guide to New York City Landmarks, 3rd edition, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Encyclopedia of New York, ed., Kenneth Jackson

As always, any opinions expressed are my own.

Next walks

I've completed the photography for the next walk, which will take us out of Manhattan, to the borough of Queens, specifically, Long Island City and Ravenswood, along the length of Vernon Boulevard. Long Island City is one of those NYC neighborhoods that have been the next hot place for (in this case) about 30 years. It finally seems to be happening, although much of the traditional character remains. If New York had succeeded in its recent bid to host the Olympics, this neighborhood would have been the site of the Olympic Village. We'll be staying on the main drag, Vernon Boulevard, with just one or two detours, and, of course, the tantalizing views of the Manhattan skyline in the background.

After Vernon Boulevard, back to Manhattan, to fabled 125th Street, where there have also been big changes in the past few years.

I'm trying to decide what my next walk should be. I'm thinking about 125th Street, Museum Mile, or, more ambitiously, the periphery of Central Park. I'd be happy to consider any suggestions.

9th Avenue to the River

At Ninth Avenue, we enter the precincts of the Gansevoort Market historic district. The designation report is available on-line on the LPC website. For substantive detail, paste this address into your browser: http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/forms/reports_man.shtml. In the blog, I just comment on what I see and what I think about it. If I can very quickly look up a date or a name, I include that, too, but not more than that. It's a walk...

This area was originally developed for mixed uses in the mid-19th century. Before the current wave of gentrification it was largely a wholesale meatpacking district. There were four waves of development over the course of about a century. Tremendous change has occurred over the past few years. Landmark designation, one hopes, will preserve a bit of the gritty traditional character while permitting appropriate development. The area was in danger of becoming a high-rise residential neighborhood.

At the confluence of Ninth Avenue, Hudson Street 14th Street is a triangular building, sometimes called the "Little Flatiron," that was built in 1849 for the Herring Safe & Lock Company. It is the oldest purpose-built industrial structure in the area, dating from the time of the earliest development of the district. There are a couple of restaurants in the building as well as some other businesses on the upper floors, all rather tame compared to the notorious clubs, gay and straight that used to be located here.
The cornice is being restored.

Currently the area is fashionable, even chic, with restaurants and shops catering to all segments of the hip, would-be hip and used-to-be hip communities.

The Old Homestead Resaurant, sharing the ground floor with a diner, has been serving steaks in this building since 1868.


Much newer is Markt, for moules frites and Belgian beer. The building itself dates from the 1920s.

Western Beef is a supermarket in an old meat-packing plant. Marquees like this one

and this one are an important physical feature of this district and the LPC encourages references to them in new design.


Well, I guess it's a marquee.


Here and there are buildings that have not yet been restored or renovated and convey the character of the old market.



But, change is inevitable. Here's the Little Pie Company

To say nothing of chic stores like

Alexander McQueen


and Jeffrey.

There are many other equally fashionable shops on the block, includng La Perla and Stella McCartney. A flagship store for Diane von Furstenburg looks as if it will open soon.


Another remnant of the industrial past is the above-the-street High Line railroad that used to run --sometimes through buildings --from 35th Street to near the Holland Tunnel. It remained in use until the 1960s, when part of it was torn down. The remainder stayed up, and became a beloved ruin and attractive nuisance. It is soon to be turned into an aboveground park, similar to one in Paris created from a similar rail line. I can't wait.


Outisde the western boundary of the history district is a playground and sitting area. In the background is a new high rise building that shows what might have happened if the Gansevoort Market historic district had not been established.


The Hudson River Park's walking and bicyle paths are here


adjacent to what remains of a pier in the Hudson River.

From Eighth Avenue to Ninth Avenue

Two classical revival former bank buildings, both landmarks, flank 14th Street at Eighth Avenue. On the n.w. corner is the former New York Savings Bank, designed by R.H. Robertson, 1896-7, a designated interior as well as exterior NYC landmark. It underwent a major renovation in 1994, prior to housing Central Carpets, with a touch-up last year before it became, more or less, Balducci's. Balducci's was a highly-regarded food emporium in Greenwich Village whose illustrious name was bought by a much larger corporation. They are trying to live up to the new name. The interior of this building is spectacular, with columns, stained glass windows and a coffered ceiling under the dome.




The symbol of the bank, not of Balducci's, although not inappropriate, was a beehive.


On the south side of 14th Street is the former New York County National Bank, by DeLemos & Cordes, 1906-7. A very visible addition, containing a theater and apartments was designed by Hudson River Studios and John Reimnitz in 1999.
I did not hear the discussion at the LPC when this project was reviewed, but I find it difficult to reconcile what I see with the typical LPC demand that a rooftop addition be "minimally visible." Most of the the addition is to the south of the main part of the building and is therefore, possibly, not strictly a rooftop addition, although it appears to be. That being said, the glass and metal are not incompatible. I am reminded of I.M. Pei's glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre.

Here's where Our Lady of Guadelupe moved. This brownstone Gothic Revival church was built in 1875 for The Church of St. Bernard, designed by Patrick Charles Keely.

Most of the buildings on the block are four and five-story walk-ups, similar to those on the block between Seventh and Eighth avenues, but these two, 315 W. 14th, with some art deco details


and 317 West 14th, seem to be trying harder. Someone should tell the owner of 317 that shutters, even if they are purely decorative, should look as if they would, in fact, cover the entire window as if they were functional.

From 6th Avenue to 8th Avenue

The next block is mostly a continuation of typical low-end shopping, but with local stores rather than chain stores. It's possible to make a detour here to Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark, N.J. by taking the PATH train, reachable through the subway station at 14th and 6th. Round-trip fare: $3.00

From 6th to 7th Avenue it's mostly low-priced shopping, local stores rather than chains. But there are a couple of interesting buildings. The Salvation Army has a sizable complex on the south side of the block. Here's the entrance to the Centennial Memorial Temple at 120 West 14th. The whole Art Deco shebang was designed by Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker in 1929.

At 144 West 14th, Brooklyn-based Pratt Institute has its Manhattan outpost in an impressive Roman Revival building dating from 1899.

You can't miss the terra cotta frosting on the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue. The building dates from 1913, designed by Herman Lee Meader. It uses both Art Nouveau and Art Deco vocabulary.

Across the street is an old row, altered often and badly. How much longer will this last?

At the s.e. corner of Seventh Avenue is a Papaya King. I can attest to the fact that the ambiance and quality of the food are identical to the original location at 86th street.

While crossing Seventh Avenue to get to Papaya King, if you look downtown you'll see the former building of the National Maritime Union, now a part of St. Vincent's Medical Center. It's idiosyncratic design, undeniably nautical, although as appropriate for the nursery as it was for a rather radical union, was designed in 1964 by Ledner & Associates. It shouts "1960s."

At the uptown corner, 201 and 203 West 14th, 6-story buildings with mansard roofs that were probably added at the time they became smart. One of them retains its cresting, the lacy ironwork that is supposed to be the crowning glory of the mansard roof, but which has not usually survived.

The building at 203 still sports a stained glass window (in very bad condition, to be sure.)

There is an alterations permit from the buildings department on the doorway, so it may not be here for long.

Across the street, at 200 W. 14th, is a red brick tenement with an odd classical statue on the facade.

On the north side of the block is a residential row from the mid-19th century, with much altered ground floors.

The building at 229 West 14th was Our Lady of Guadelupe, a Spanish-speaking Roman Catholic congregation. The Spanish-looking facade seems to have been applied to the brownstone-front house some time in the past, but what is that dollar sign under the topmost arch? Was this a bank before it became a church? Some research is necessary.

A few doors away is the headquarters of the Spanish Benevolent Society. Clearly this was and still is, a largely Hispanic neighborhood.

At 241 West 14th, between two similar, but not quite as nice buildings is a true historic structure, the Andrew Norwood House. For $10.9 million, you can own the 21-room Greek Revival row house with 13 fireplaces that banker and developer Norwood built in 1845. The house was restored 30 thirty years ago, and it is a designated individual NYC landmark that is also listed on the State and National registers of historic places. This house and the two adjacent ones were the first masonry houses on the block. Regretably, the contents of the house, including neo-classical and Regency furniture fro 1770-1856 were auctioned in June, 2005.

There's another grand house across the street, this one Italianate, attesting that this block was fashionable at one time.

At 249 there's an interesting cornice.

Such is the luster of the "Village" that the owner of this deli has made up his own neighborhood, that exists only in the mind of the owner.

Union Square to Sixth Avenue

Walking westward, we are now at the northern edge of Greenwich Village. Just to the north is an edge of the Ladies Mile Historic District. Farther west we will be on the southern boundary of Chelsea. (The neighborhoods extend beyond the technical boundaries of the designated historic districts.) West of Ninth Avenue, 14th Street goes through the Gansevoort Historic District.

14th Street, at Union Square and for the next block or two, has long been a destination discount shopping area. Only the names change. Old-tmers will remember S. Klein's On the Square (where Zeckendorf Tower is now), Ohrbach's and May's. Today they have been supplanted by newer stores Filene's Basement and others.

On the northwest corner of Union Square West stands the Lincoln Building, constructed in 1890, designed by H. R. Robertson.

This part of 14th Street was home to a number of retail dry-good stores toward the end of the 19th century, in the wake of the construction of the 6th Avenue El.

Across the street is an impressive cast-iron building designed by D. and J. Jardine in 1880 for the Bauman's Carpet store. Think of the impression these windows must have made in 1880.


If Trader Joe's, the Greenmarket or Whole Foods don't have what you want, maybe the Garden of Eden will.

My favorite building on the block is this one: It was built in 1896, designed by William Schickel, for Macy's, which occupied a group of buildings in this neighborhood before moving to 34th Street.

There are a number of union headquarters in the neighborhood. This building this union is in has a unique decorative scheme (The Little Prince,) that regrettably has been overlaid with graffiti.

On the s. e. corner of 14th and 6th is a building now housing an Urban Outfitters store on the ground floor that was built in 1904 by Henry Siegel as a low-to mid-price department store. It was designed by Cady, Berg & See. Siegel was a partner in the more upscale Siegel-Cooper department store a few blocks north in the Ladies Mile Historic District.

Across the street, on the s.e. corner is a sign that always brings The Great Gatsby to mind.

From Third Avenue to Union Square

NYU began making over this area with dormitories (at least one built notoriously, in this neighborhood, with non-union labor.) NYC's very first Trader Joe's has opened on the ground floor of one of them, on the south side of the street.

There are times when there is a line not just to pay, but just to get in to shop. The next few blocks are mecca to foodies, with a new (but not well-liked) Whole Foods,

a Garden of Eden store,
and the Union Square Greenmarket,

the flagship of the Council on the Envionment's initiative to support local farmers while supplying high-quality, often organically-produced fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products to New Yorkers. These cheeses are from Cato Corners, my favorite.

The NYU dorms were designed by Davis, Brody, Bond, who were also responsible for the nearby Zeckendorf Towers (1987),
the reddish brick building in the foreground.

The clock tower in the background is an addition to the massive Con Ed building on the north side of the street. It was designed by Warren & Wetmore, better known for Grand Central Terminal, the Heckscher Building, Steinway Hall and many others, but those are buildings I've commented on earlier, on the 57th Street and 42nd Street walks. The earlier part of the building dates from 1915 and was designed by Henry Hardenbergh, best known perhaps for the Dakota apartment house and the Plaza Hotel. (Warren & Wetmore also designed an addition to the Plaza.)

The Con Ed clocktower is built on the site of the Academy of Music, an early and significant cultural institution, later supplanted by the Metropolitan Opera.

Union Square is a park named for the junction of streets that meet and would cross in the area were it not for the decision of the city fathers when they were laying out the grid to leave open space here and name it "Union Square." It has long been a place for political gatherings, protest, and expression.

New Yorkers spontaneously converged on the square to express their shock and mourn collectively immediately after 9/11.

In between political protests, and sometimes during them, the southern end of the square is often used by skateboarders. (note sign)

A subway kiosk is not old, but part of the restoration and renovation of the park in the late 1980s.

Across the street, visible in the background of the subway kiosk photo, is the upper part of a sculpture on the facade of one of the new buildings. I've yet to find anyone who has a good word for it. It seems to me to be an abstract and pretentious version of the fondly remembered Camel billboard in Times Square that puffed out cigarette smoke. Maybe that's not a bad thing, after all. The sculpture dates from 1999, by Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel.


More traditionally, a statue of Gandhi by Gautam Pal, strides into the Square.

Looking north, one can see the finest mansard roof in New York, on what is now the W Hotel. (This is really a variation of a true mansard roof, which more often is associated with the French Second Empire style, popular during the 1860-1880s. A true mansard roof has a double slope on all four sides, the lower sloped being steeper than the upper. This roof seems to have only one slope, but everyone refers to it as a mansard.) It was the Guardian Life building, originally the Germania Life Insurance Company, built in 1910-11, designed by D'Oench & Yost. The name of the company was changed at the time of WWI to something less inflammatory that re-used as many letters as possible. The building is a designated landmark and the landmarks commission insisted that the W sign retain the character of the original.

From First Avenue to Third Avenue

Near First Avenue on the south side of the street is the beautiful Immaculate Conception Church. It is now Roman Catholic, but was originally Episcopal, a Grace Church Chapel and Dispensary. It is a designated NYC landmark, built in 1894-96, designed by Barney & Chapman, in a vaguely Francois I style, not something you would expect to see on East 14th Street.

Town and Village Synagogue is on the next block.
(That's Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. (Peter Cooper Village is a development similar to Stuyvesant Town, a bit more upscale, just to the north, also developed by MetLife, but privately.

Nearer Third Avenue is a building, named "Rose Hill"


with an interesting cornice.


There is a neighborhood actually named Rose Hill, bounded by 23rd and 32nd streets and Madison and Third avenues, but that is almost 10 blocks away. This building was named for its developer, Rosehill Realty, when it was built in 1905.

Sometimes people wonder if cornices serve a purpose, like keeping excess water off the facade of a building. The answer is, probably not, but there is no question about their aesthetic function. Take a look at this denuded row, on the north side of the block of East 14th Street, between Second and Third avenues, on the uptown side of the street.


At 231 E. 14th is a building that used to house the Italian Labor Center. Much of the elaborate carving and other fine stonework one sees in New York was done by Italian immigrant labor, as the ornament on this building suggests.

The Union Square Inn is a small hotel almost at Third Avenue, part of a row that does not have a new building permit listed at the buildings department. Sometimes, lack of a new building permit means that the building was constructed before the establishment of the buildings department, in 1865. Other times, it just means that the document has been lost or misfiled. A look at historic city maps may suggest a construction date. Guests here are staying near the heart of the East Village. 14th Street in many ways is the dividing line between downtown and uptown, the hip and the square.

14th Street, east to west

I can't quite call it river to river, because a big Con Ed plant blocks access to the East River, so we'll say that our walk starts at Avenue C. "Losaida" on the street sign is a phonetic spelling of the Hispanic pronunciation of "Lower East Side." Avenue C and 14th Street is one of the boundaries of the storied location.

On the uptown side of the street, from here to First Avenue, we'll be walking past Stuyvesant Town a massive housing project that replaced a area of gas storage tanks and tenements.

The bulky towers
have played an interesting role in the social and cultural history of New York. They were built as a public-private partnership between the city and MetLife, immediately after World War II (although planning had begun earlier) and at first housed mostly veterans and their families. It goes without saying that Robert Moses had his hand in the effort. Stuyvesant Town was and is reviled and loved in equal measure.

A population of melanistic squirrels inhabits Stuy Town's grounds.

The view opens up at First Avenue.

14th Street sources

As always, any opinions expressed are my own. I consulted the following sources for some details.

New York 1880, Robert A.M. Stern et al
Streetscapes, Christopher Gray
AIA Guide to New York, White & Wilensky
New York Songlines http://www.nysonglines.com/
"The Architecture of the Greenwich Village Waterfront," Regina Kellerman
Halstead Property http://www.halstead.com/detail.aspx?id=1051582
NYC Department of Buildings

Bleecker Street VII

One side of the block between Perry Street and West 11th Street is almost entirely residential.
The other side of the street has shops on the ground floor, including Robert Marc Opticians, Double RL western clothing and Lulu Guiness women's clothing. Most of the houses on this block were built in the 1850s.





One of the most unusual shops features home furnishings --
but not for the average home.

















In the early part of the 20th century, Greenwich Village became popular with artists, who sometimes added studio windows, like these, to the top floors of buildings where they lived and worked.













One of the few remaining independent bookstores left is the Biography Bookshop.













Not to be missed is Magnolia Bakery.

You can buy one of the bakery's famous cupcakes











and take it across the street to a little park/sitting area/playground, where there is a 1979 bronze sculpture by Chaim Gross. It was a gift from the artist to the city in honor of Mayor Koch.









This horizontally striped building, the westernmost on Bleecker Street, marks the end of the walk.

Bleecker Street VI

On the corner of Charles Street is a red brick building with a slate mansard roof and multi-paned windows. It is unlikely that this building would have received such a careful restoration if the building had not been in an historic district. The building was constructed in 1868, designed by Henry Englebert. The pipe railing at the top of the mansard is scheduled to be replaced by a decorative railing set back a bit that will suggest the metal cresting that was normally the icing on the cake, so to speak, of a typical Second Empire roof of this type.



Les Pierre Antiques occupies the ground floor of the building.














The adjacent building (constructed at the same time as the one at the corner has great dormers and what looks like some original cresting left.















Other stores on this block include two Ralph Lauren boutiques, one for men and, across the street, one for women

A hairdresser on the block displays some beautiful branches.













Across the street in a four-story row, is Cynthia Rowley







White brick seems to have turned up a lot a few decades earlier than the mid-1950s. Here's one (whitish, anyway) on the corner of Perry Street, proudly dated 1914.

Be sure to look up. There are some interesting roofscapes and cornices on the adjacent blocks.

Bleecker Street V

After crossing Seventh Avenue South, we enter the Greenwich Village Historic District, the second historic district so designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the first in Manhattan. (Brooklyn Heights was the first.) It's fascinating cultural and social history has been documented in many articles, books and films. For every cliche and stereotype, there is another in contradiction. It has been home to the highest and lowest members of society, the most conservative and the most radical. It continues to defy easy categorization, but its low-rise, informal atmosphere is perhaps more conducive to casual strolling than any other neighborhood in New York. This Greek Revival row predates the buildings department, which began keeping records in 1866. These buildings were probably constructed between 1830-1850. The ground floors are much altered.



A look down Grove Street shows a typical Greenwich Village block.













Across the street is a much more recent yellow brick tenement with some nice terra cotta ornament.







The commercial streets in the Village are still lined with charming stores, like this one, Davis & Gardner, that offers a selection of antique globes.



An Aromatherapy Bar is at 321 Bleecker.


Across the street, Blue Nile has hookahs and other smoking paraphernalia in the window.














In older neighborhoods, you can find the street names directly on the buildings.
Looking up Christopher Street, one can see a row of four buildings in various states of preservation and restoration.



This was the Gessner block, constructed in 1872, it says proudly under the cornice.




Between Christoper and West 10th Street, one side of the street is not in the historic district.

But the other side is.

The nondescript building houses Satya, a store that sells "yoga-inspired" jewelry











as well as Marc and Max, a lingerie and accessories shop.













There is a beautiful flower shop on the block.

But this is the store everyone remembers.

Bleecker Street IV

Our Lady of Pompeii, on the corner of Carmine and Bleecker, was built in 1926, designed by Matthew W. Del Gaudio in the Italianate style, appropriately enough, to serve the Italian community in Greenwich Village.



The block from Leroy to Morton has become a food-lover's row. The current line-up is Amy's Bread, Lobster Place Fish, Murray's Cheese and Faicco's Pork Store.













Three Federal houses remain on this side of the street, too, one of which houses Aphrodisia, a store selling oils and herbs. Look for Risotteria, a restaurant on the corner of Morton Street that specializes in risotto. It's good in its limited way, but for carb-eaters only.










On the other side of the street, there is no shortage of Italian pastry and coffee shops.
















Signs like this one, so common a generation ago, have practically disappeared.













This famous guitar store has been selling new, used, acoustic and electric instruments since 1965.













The original John's pizzeria is on this block of Bleecker, between Morton St. and Seventh Avenue South.


After your pizza, you can get dessert at Cones, whose gelato is second only to that at Otto, a few blocks away, on Fifth Avenue, at 8th Street.

Ottomanelli's has been cutting up meat since 1935.

Bleecker Street III

Crossing Broadway takes us into NYU (New York University) territory. A entire square block is taken up by by Washington Square Village, one of its many residence halls, this one for graduate students. It is difficult to get a definitive answer to the question of who owns the most real estate in the city, but general agreement seems to be that the contenders are the City itself, NYU, Columbia University, and the Roman Catholic Church.


In a very real sense, Greenwich Village is the NYU campus. Residents of Greenwich Village not connected with the university (and even some who are) often vociferously protest what they perceive as further land grabs.

The next few blocks are in Greenwich Village and are filled with small stores, restaurants and clubs that cater largely to students.Pictured here is part of the block between LaGuardia Place and Thompson St. with the Peculier Pub (spelling intentional) and The Bitter End.
















At 159 Bleecker, between Thompson and Sullivan is an odd building that was built in 1917 as a movie theater. It was originally only two stories high and only later were the additional floors added to turn it into a multiple dwelling.













Across the street is a deli beer bottle display that verges on found art.











Looking downtown at the middle of the west side of Sullivan Street











and the east side of MacDougal Street, (the next block) you are seeing the edges of the tiny MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District. The 22 Greek Revival buildings were constructed between 1844 and 1850. In the 1920s, they were altered to the appearance they have today, with the stoops removed, the ornament changed and the backyards merged to form a community garden.




I loved this door, which looks as if it may have been there since the building was constructed in 1901. It's at 192 Bleecker. The building also has some nice terra cotta ornament.

















This part of Greenwich Village once held a large Italian population. Here and there are remminders of that community, like the Perazzo Funeral Home at 199.













There was plenty of good coffee to be found in the Village, long before anyone connected with Starbucks was born.













At 6th Avenue are the Little Red Schoolhouse and Elisabeth Irwin High School, progressive private schools since 1921.













At the complex intersection of Bleecker and Sixth Avenue, pre-dating the grid,Bleecker veers to the right.

The Minetta Brook still runs underground here.