New York Songlines: 1st Avenue

with Allen Street and Pike Street

FDR Drive | E 126th | E 125th | E 124th | E 120th | E 119th | E 118th | E 117th | E 116th | E 115th | E 114th | E 112nd | E 111st | E 110th | E 109th | E 108th | E 106th | E 105th | E 104th | E 103rd | E 102nd | E 101st | E 100th | E 99th | E 97th | E 96th | E 95th | E 94th | E 53rd | E 92nd | E 91st | E 90th | E 89th | E 88th | E 87th | E 86th | E 85th | E 84th | E 83rd | E 82nd | E 81st | E 80th | E 79th | E 78th | E 77th | E 76th | E 75th | E 74th | E 73rd | E 72nd | E 71st | E 70th | E 69th | E 68th | E 67th | E 66th | E 65th | E 64th | E 63rd | E 62nd | E 61st | E 60th | E 59th | E 58th | E 57th | E 56th | E 55th | E 54th | E 53rd | E 52nd | E 51st | E 50th | E 49th | E 48th (U.N. Headquarters) | E 47th | E 46th | E 45th | E 44th | E 42nd (Tudor City) | E 41st | E 40th | E 39th | E 38th | E 37th | E 36th | E 35th | E 34th (Kips Bay) | E 33th | E 30th | E 29th | E 28th (Bellevue Hospital) | E 27th | E 26th | E 25th | E 24th | E 23th | E 22nd | E 21st | E 20th (Stuyvesant Town) | E 19th | E 18th | E 17th | E 16th | E 15th | E 14th (East Village) | E 13th | E 12nd | E 11st | E 10th | E 9th | E 8th | E 7th | E 6th | E 5th | E 4th | E 3th | E 2nd | E 1st | E Houston (Lower East Side) | Stanton | Rivington | Delancey | Broome | Grand | Hester | Canal | Division | East Broadway | Henry | Madison St | Cherry | South


Allen Street, 1st Avenue below Houston, is named for Captain William Henry Allen, a naval hero of the War of 1812. Commanding the brig Argus, he captured 20 British ships before being killed by cannonfire.

Pike Street, the continuation of Allen below Division, is named for Zebulon Pike, the namesake of Pike's Peak. He was also a War of 1812 hero—killed by an ammunition explosion while attacking Toronto in 1813.



Harlem River

Harlem River site visit Not actually a river, but a tidal strait connecting the Hudson River and the East River (neither of which are actually rivers either). (photo: Chris Hamby)
























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Willis Avenue Bridge

BxMh_Bridges_02

A truss bridge connecting Manhattan to the Bronx was built in 1901, and strengthened to carry a trolley line in 1916. It was converted to one-way northbound traffic in 1941, as the Third Avenue Bridge was switched to southbound only. (photo: Timothy Vogel)

HistoricBridges.org called it "perhaps one of the most beautiful examples of functional architecture ever seen." Unfortunately, in 2010, it was replaced with a much less interesting design. (photo: Peter Roan)

The bridge can pivot to allow large ships to pass, something that happens approximately 14 times a year.

The New York City Marathon route passes over this bridge at the 20-mile mark; once they cross, runners have made it to all five boroughs.


W<===     FDR DRIVE     ===> E

West:

126th Street Bus Depot

Block (301 E 126th): This block now occupied by the 126th Street Bus Depot was once the site of the Harlem African Burial Ground, located near the corner of First and 126th, a graveyard for the free and enslaved Black residents of the Dutch colony of Harlem. Established in the 1660s, it was associated with the Low Dutch Reformed Church of Harlem, whose first building was also on this site. Sulzer's Harlem River Park & Casino

Circa 1885, Sulzer's Harlem River Park and Casino, one of the city's most popular beer gardens, was built on this block, covering the site of the long-disused graveyard. The building from 1917-18 served as barracks of the 15th New York National Guard Infantry Regiment, later the 369th Regiment, an all-Black infantry unit known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

William Randolph Hearst bought the building in 1918 and turned it into a studio for his motion picture company Cosmopolitan Productions (named for the Hearst magazine). More than 40 feature films were shot here, many starring Hearst's mistress Marion Davies.

In the 1940s, the studio was torn down and replaced with a trolley barn for the Third Avenue Railway Company. In 1962, it was bought by what is now the New York City Transit Authority, which used it as a bus depot until 2015. There are currently plans to turn the site of the burial ground into a memorial, with the remainder of the block used for mixed-use development.


W <===         E 126TH ST

Purple Jalopy

2451 (corner): Marmin Auto Body—since 1958.









Triborough Bridge Offramp

Triborough Bridge offramp

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Willis Avenue Bridge Abutment
















































































The street actually splits here—with one branch dead-ending at the FDR and the other going over the bridge.


W<===     EAST 125TH STREET/TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE     ===> E

West:

Corner: This corner, now occupied by the Triborough Bridge onramp, was the second location of the Low Dutch Reformed Church of Harlem, relocated here in 1686. At the corner and extending into what is now the intersection was God's Acre, a churchyard reserved for people of European descent. When this burial ground was built over, relatives were given a chance to relocate their loved ones—unlike with the Harlem African Burial Ground.

Corner: Othmar Ammann Playground Othmar Ammann Playground

Ammann (1879-1965) was the Swiss-born engineer who designed the Triborough Bridge, as well as several other NYC bridges, including the George Washington and the Verrazzano.


W <===         E 124 ST

Robert Wagner Houses

2405 First Avenue An NYCHA complex of 22 buildings (also known as Triborough Houses) that opened in 1958, housing more than 5,000 people. It's named for Sen. Robert Wagner, a New Deal Democrat who sponsored the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Housing Act of 1937 (the last of these probably explaining why he has a housing project named for him). His son, Robert Wagner Jr., was mayor of NYC from 1954-65.

2369: More than $100,000 in cash and jewelry was stolen from an apartment in this building during a 2015 armed home invasion. John S. Roberts Junior High School

Corner: River East Elementary and John S. Roberts Junior High School. Roberts was an associate superintendent of schools who led the development of New York's middle school system.

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Triborough Underpass I'm curious what that tent-like building its—probably something utilitarian. Its address is 2590 First Avenue, according to Google Maps.










PALADINO AVE         ===> E

Robert Wagner Houses

Robert Wagner Houses



































Corner: Metropolitan Family Care Center


W<===     EAST 120TH STREET     ===> E

West:




2337: Santiago's Beer Garden, Dominican eatery

2333: Crown Fried Chicken, halal chain

2331: Xiang Dragon

2327: Taqueria El Barrio Rx Rx Rx

2325 (corner): Rx Center

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2336 First Avenue

2336 (corner): David's Deli & Grill is in handsome five-story brick building from c. 1900. CakeBurgers, '50s-style burger joint that makes a cake shaped like a burger, is in the same building.




2330: Fine Fare Supermarkets

2326 (corner): Uptown Service Station, BP outlet. You can have your choice of gas stations on upper First Avenue, which is very unusual in Manhattan.


W<===     EAST 119TH STREET     ===> E

West:




2321: Lady's Seafood & Soul Food

2317: Evelyn's Kitchen, bakery cafe




2301: La Costenita Deli, Mexican




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2310: Pizza Born in Harlem

2308: Wing Wah, Chinese takeout










W<===     EAST 118TH STREET     ===> E

West:




Patsy's

2287: Patsy's Pizzeria was one of the US's first pizzerias, opened in 1933; Pasquale "Patsy" Lanceri learned the pizza-making craft at Lombardi's on Spring Street, along with John Sasso of John's of Bleecker Street and Totonno Pero of Coney Island's Totonno's. Patsy's is said to have originated the idea of selling pizza by the slice.





Guayillo Restaurant & Bar

2277 (corner): Guajillo, Mexican. A guajillo is a kind of chili pepper.

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2294 First Avenue


2290: Fraternite Notre Dame's House Mary of Nazareth, a soup kitchen run by a dissident traditionalist Catholic order that believes that the last several popes are illegitimate heretics.






















2276 (corner): Shell station


W<===     EAST 117TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Public School 85

Corner (346 E 117th): Built in 1906 as PS 85, designed by CBJ Snyder. Rep. Socialist US Rep. Vito Marcantonio went to school here, where he was friends with future mob boss Thomas Luchese. After long vacancy, converted to condos in 2019.


2265: Peacock Gourmet




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2270: Cassava House, sandwich shop with fantastic murals.

2266: Family Deli & Grill

2262: Sapoara, Latin American bar & grill.

2260: Teng Dragon, Chinese takeout








W<===     EAST 116TH STREET     ===> E

West:

2257 (corner): Boca Prime, steakhouse





2247: La Avenida NYC, Mexican

2245: Makana, Japanese






2241: Barcha, Latin/Mediterranean comfort food




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2254 First Avenue

2254 (corner): Attractive building with curved corner, built c. 1900.

2250: Raices Dominicana Cigar, tobacco shop

2248: Taqueria Santa Fe, Mexican

2246: Fierce Spa

2244: New Level Juice

2242: Manhattan Funeral Service

2240 (corner): Monuments by Effie. "Work done in all cemeteries."


W<===     EAST 115TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Jefferson Houses

Thomas Jefferson Houses

Block (300 E 115th): NYCHA project with 18 buildings, completed in 1959. It seems to have more than its share of maintenance issues, with stories online about mold, lack of heat, water gushing up from sinks, basements flooded with sewage.

I suspect that today one would not name a Harlem housing project after a president who was an infamous slaveowner. It seems to be named after the park across the street, rather than the other way around.






























W <===         E 112TH ST

2165 (corner): Gotham 1st Ave Gourmet Deli

2163: Stonersklub University


2157: The Beauty Cave


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2236: Ms. Bubble! Laundromat

2234: Eastside Deli; Great Wall Chinese food

2232: Oliver's Dog & Cat Clinic


2226A: Betty's Tattoo Shop Casa de la Providencia II

2222 (corner): Casa de la Providencia. Don't know what this place did or whether they're still doing it.


E 114TH ST         ===> E

Thomas Jefferson Park

Thomas Jefferson Soccer Field Opened in 1902 as an improvement for what was then Italian Harlem. Its playground had what was said to be the first running track set aside for girls. In 1911, a "farm garden" was added to teach neighborhood kids about agriculture; a grove of trees was planted in 1923 to honor World War I dead. Thomas Jefferson Play Center

The recreation center was added in 1936, a WPA project instigated by Robert Moses as part of his plan to add public swimming pools to New York City. Neo-classical elements were added to the building's design as an allusion to the park's namesake.

Moses apparently intended this as pool for whites, supposedly hiring white lifeguards and setting the temperature cooler than at other pools to discourage Black visitors—though violence by white patrons was probably more effective in maintaining segregation. Today it serves the neighborhood's largely Latin population.

The building was landmarked in 1990.


W<===     EAST 111ST STREET     ===> E

West:

2141 (block): A Con Ed facility of some sort; it's said to be a "service center," whatever that means.














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Manhattan Mini Storage

2140 (block): The building housing a Manhattan Ministorage outlet is said to date to 1913, though it looks more modern than that.






W<===     EAST 110TH STREET     ===> E

West:

2135 (corner): Blue Sky Deli

2131: La Tropezienne Bakery




2121 (corner): Wagner Food Mart


W <===         E 109TH ST







W <===         E 108TH ST

Franklin Plaza Apartments

Franklin Plaza Apartments




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1199 Plaza

1099 Plaza "One of the city's most impressive and most livable works of multifamily housing"—AIA Guide

Named for District 1199, the healthcare union, which sponsored the 1973 project.






















Anna M. Short School

2060 (corner): PS 146: Anna M. Short


W<===     EAST 106TH STREET     ===> E

West:
















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Wilson Houses

Wilson Houses

Named for notorious racist Woodrow Wilson.









W<===     EAST 105TH STREET     ===> E

West:

2033 First Avenue

2033 (corner): Built c. 1910.





W <===         E 104TH ST





White Castle

Corner (351 E 103rd): This White Castle outlet is something you very rarely see in Manhattan: a business in a free-standing building with a parking lot in front.


W <===         103 ST

Block (333 E 102nd): Hampton Court, luxury complex from 2004.




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East River Houses

East River Houses

Housing project built in 1940-41 with 10 buildings ranging from six to 11 stories.









































W<===     EAST 102ND STREET     ===> E

West:

Welcome to Metro North Plaza Houses

Block (345 E 101st): Metro North Houses, NYCHA





E <===         E 101ST ST

1955 (block): The Aspen is a mixed-income development designed in 2004 by Costas Kondylis.

In 1982, the New York Times described 100th Street between First and Second avenues as the "worst block" in New York City.




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The Crossing

1940-1960 (corner): This 1973 building, part of a complex known as The Crossing, is on the site of 409 East 100th, where in 1928 cannibal serial killer Albert Fish ate one of his victims, 10-year-old Grace Budd.


W<===     EAST 100TH STREET     ===> E

West:

342 East 100th Street

Corner (342 E 100th): Built 1925.









Corner: Sanitation Department parking Sanitation Trucks




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Up the Down Staircase

Block: Educational complex includes M.S. 224 Manhattan East School for Arts & Academics, Innovation Charter High School and a branch of Success Academy.

The 1967 film Up the Down Staircase was shot here.












W<===     EAST 99TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Metropolitan Hospital

Metropolitan Hospital Center

1901 (block): Founded in 1875 as the Homeopathic Hospital on Ward's Island, it moved in 1894 into the former New York Asylum for the Insane on Blackwell's (now Roosevelt) Island and was renamed Metropolitan Hospital. It moved here to East Harlem in 1955. Metropolitan Hospital Emergency

The hospital has always had an affiliation with the New York Medical College (formerly the New York Homeopathic Medical College), founded in 1860 by a group led by New York Evening Post editor William Cullen Bryant.

The Emmy-winning documentary Hospital was shot here in 1969.

Photo: Ajay Suresh.

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Draper Hall II

1918 (corner): Draper Hall Nurses' Residence, associated with Metropolitan Hospital Center. Built 1962.























W<===     EAST 97TH STREET     ===> E

West:

1941, 96th St

Block (321 E 96th): School of Cooperative Technical Education










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Block: Handball and basketball courts.















W<===     EAST 96TH STREET     ===> E
The boundary between East Harlem and Yorkville.

West:

Corner: Shell station





W <===         E 95TH ST






Corner (345 E 94th): The Chesapeake, 30-story apartment building from 1999.


W <===         E 94TH ST



1809: Sheridan Fencing Academy

1797: Healthy Organic Deli


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Corner: Stanley Isaacs Playground. Isaacs was a Republican politician, Manhattan bureau president from 1938-1942; he's remembered for his support of housing and Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The playground is home to the Manhattan Roller Hockey League.

Isaacs House

Isaacs Houses

Also named for Stanley Isaacs. The boxy structure in the middle of the complex contains an electrical generator, raised above the floodline in preparation for the next hurricane.









MEP Annex










W<===     EAST 93RD STREET     ===> E

West:
















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Holmes Towers

1790 (block): John Haynes Holmes Towers. Holmes was a minister who helped found the NAACP and the ACLU.










W<===     EAST 92ND STREET     ===> E

West:

1779 First Avenue

1779 (corner): East River Cleaners is in a charming 1910 building.

1777: Fresh Wok
















Corner (333 E 91st): Azure, a nice-looking 34-story blue-glass apartment building, built by the Educational Construction Fund to fund the construction of the East Side Middle School next door on 91st Street.

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River East Apartments

Corner (408 E 92nd): River East Apartments, 15 stories built in 2005. Prime Gourmet Market on the ground floor.

1764: Yeti Spice Grill, halal; Krua Thai

1762: Au Jus Slow-Roasted Meats; International Wings Factory

1760: Pizza City

1758: Yummy Sushi


1756 First Avenue




1756 (corner): First on First Deli & Grill


W<===     EAST 91ST STREET     ===> E

West:

Corner (354 E 91st): The Cole, a 22-floor "bland box" built in 2003 as The Electra.

1745: Avenue Church NYC began in 1877 on East 74th Street as the First Evangelical Bohemian Presbyterian Church, serving Czech immigrants. Later known as the Jan Hus Church, it was noted for its willingness to marry members of different ethnic groups. Later it became one of the first congregations to welcome gay and lesbian worshippers.

1743: Eastside Cellars, wine

1741 (corner): First Ave Gourmet Deli

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1746: Pio Pio 3, Peruvian

1744: Noodle Fun, Chinese takeout; Sabor a Mexico, one of three in a mini-chain— I can vouch for the one in the East Village.

Corner (401 E 90th): Michaeli Bakery, Israeli-style pastry


W<===     EAST 90TH STREET     ===> E

West:

1733 (corner): Park East Kosher Butchers and Fine Foods, opened 1962.

Mellow Yellow

1729: Mellow Yellow Coffee & Vibes, coffee house/restaurant. The name evokes the '60s-era rumor that you could get high from smoking banana peels, as well as the song by Donovan, which turns out to be about a vibrator.





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Century Tower

Corner (400 E 90th): Century Tower, a 23-story apartment building from 2000.














1726 (corner): Eastside Grocery, since 1992.


W<===     EAST 89TH STREET     ===> E

West:














1705: Stella & Fly, wine bar/cafe

1701 (corner): Roma Pizza

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1716: Pho Shop, Vietnamese

1712: Basilic Restaurant








W<===     EAST 88TH STREET     ===> E

West:

360 East 88th Street

Corner (360 E 88th): Leighton House. The AIA Guide likes the base.











Welcome to Bareburger

1685: Conmigo, Mexican; New East Garden Restaurant, Chinese

1683: Was Aces & Eights, bar




1681 (corner): Bareburger, local chain

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1662-1682 First Avenue

1682 (corner): Phil Hughes Bar has been here since 1957—though the five flat-screen TVs have not.

1680: New Sunny East 88, Chinese

1678: Avoca, bar

1676: Animal Health Center

1672: Spellman Gallery













W<===     EAST 87TH STREET     ===> E

West:



1665: Punjabi Junction, Indian

1663: Lashevet, Mideastern; Padoca Bakery, Brazilian

1659: Peng's Noodle Folk, ramen

1657: Le Grand Triage: Wine & Whiskey. "Triage" means "sorting" in French, reflecting this liquor store's highly curated selections.

Corner (361 E 86th): New Hybrid Florist

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W<===     EAST 86TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Gracie's Corner

1651 (corner): Was Gracie's Corner, longrunning diner that moved to Second Avenue in 2014, leaving its cool neon behind.

1647: Was Pickles & Olives, a store that specialized in pickles and olives.

1643: Was Danny's & Eddie's, bar. I think this whole block may be scheduled for demolition.

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1646 (block): This unassuming 17-story, built in 1968, is called Tri-Faith House; I'm guessing the name reflects hopes for peace following the 1967 War in the Mideast. Yorkshire Wines & Spirits on ground floor.















W<===     EAST 85TH STREET     ===> E

West:



1629: From 1970 to 2012, was United Artists East 85th. Now Fastbreak Sports.





















Block (351 East 84th): Adam's Tower is a 32-story apartment building from 1970; the cinema was on its ground floor.

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400 East 85th Street

Corner (400 E 85th): 1959 apartment building with 21 floors. Interesting roofline. Champions Martial Arts on ground level.









401 East 84th Street

Corner (401 E 84th): Dunhill; the AIA Guide says its low-hanging balconies gives it "a friendlier relationship with the streetscape."


W<===     EAST 84TH STREET     ===> E

West:

1615 First Avenue

1615 (corner): Cute four-story building.













Corner (353 E 83rd): The Continental, 22 stories from 1967.

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The Strathmore

Corner (400 E 84th): Strathmore Apartments, 43 stories built in 1994.

1606: Botte UES, Rome-style Italian















W<===     83RD STREET     ===> E

West:

Felice

1593 (corner): Felice 83

1589: Horn's Hook Tavern

1585: Wine Story

1583: Little Wolf Cabinet Shop














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1590: AOC East, French wine bar/bistro

1584: Zabb PuTawn, Thai

1582: Les Gateaux de Marie (Marie's Cakes), French bakery

1580: La Mia Pizza Quatorze

1578 (corner): Quatorze originally opened on 14th Street (hence the name), then opened a second spot on 79th where Michael Bloomberg was a regular. Moved here in 2019 when that spot faced demolition.


W<===     82ND STREET     ===> E

West:

Corner (350 E 82nd): Wellington Tower, 19 stories built in 1999 with Art Deco flourishes.














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1576 (corner): Tony Farm's Market, deli











1564: Emack & Bolio's, local ice cream chain



W<===     EAST 81ST STREET     ===> E

West:






Feline Health

1533: Feline Health




Corner (345 E 80th): Eastwinds Apartments, 31 stories from 1973, designed by Philip Birnbaum.

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1550 (corner): Gracie Mews Diner














Corner (401 E 80th): Gracie Mews, 40-story apartment building from 1980.


W<===     EAST 80TH STREET     ===> E

West:














1513 (corner): Agata & Valentina, grocery store

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W<===     EAST 79TH STREET     ===> E

West:

1505 (corner): The Lucerne, a 45-floor building by Costas Kondylis from 1990.














1499: Opened in 1909 as the Yorkville Hippodrome, a nickelodeon. Later it showed German-language films as the Ufa Cosmopolitan Deutsche Sprechfilm Theatre; in 1932, it featured Hungarian films as the Tobis Theatre. It changed to the Europe Theatre in 1938 and the New Europe Theatre in 1947. Since 1953, it's been the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses—East Manhattan Unit.



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Hampton House

Corner (400 E 79th): Hampton House, 31-story slab from 1985.




1506: Eva's Garden Florist

1502: Harvest, Asian; First Avenue Liquors

1498: Sedutto ice cream 1496 First Avenue

1496 (corner): East Side Bagel & Appetizing, since 1976. You ever walk by a movie shoot and wish you could help yourself to the craft table? Well, this is often where those bagels come from.


W<===     EAST 78TH STREET     ===> E

West:










1485: National Dental Upper East Side

1483: Maruzella, Italian


1479: Space Thai

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1494 (corner): Italian Village Pizza

1488: Nada Deli & Shawarma

1484: Was Weill Cornell Internal Medicine Associates/Burden Center for the Aging.













W<===     EAST 77TH STREET     ===> E

West:

1475 (corner): Green Kitchen
















Corner (363 E 76th): Sherman Tower East

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Corner (400 E 77th): Emery Towers, 19 stories of white brick from 1964

1470: Canyon Road, Mexican

1466: Momokawa, Japanese Hex & Co.

1462 (corner): Hex & Co., board game cafe


W<===     EAST 76TH STREET     ===> E

West:
















1445 (corner): The Newport, 19-story, 366-unit apartment building from 1968.

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Corner (400 E 76th): The Impala, 31-floor apartment building from 2000, designed by post-modernist Michael Graves.


The Pony Bar

1446: Buena Onda, Mexican

1444 (corner): Pony Bar, craft beer pub


W<===     EAST 75TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Corner (330 E 76th): The Saratoga, 39-story condo built in 1985. Carter Horsley likes its "quirky charm."

1437: Bilao, Filipino

1435: Good Health Cafe, global health food

1433: The Migrant Kitchen, Latin American

1431: Numero 28, local pizza chain

Bendheim Center

1429 (corner): The Bendheim Center for Integrative Medicine, part of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Building c. 1910, formerly owned by the Bank of Europe Trust, then bought by Manufacturers Hanover.

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2nd Ave Deli

1442 (corner): 2nd Ave Deli, classic Jewish deli so-called because its original location was at Second Avenue and East 10th. Upstairs is 2nd Floor Bar & Essen, a semi-secret bar with great nosh. (Look for the entrance around the corner on 75th Street.)




1410: Accolade Collection, clothing




1388 (corner): Market Deli & Grocery


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West:

In Vino Veritas

1375 (corner): In Vino Veritas, well-stocked wine store in a space that has been a liquor store since Prohibition ended. The gorgeous stained glass dates to the 19th century, adapted to bear the store's current name.

1373: The Sefton, bar named for a British Army horse who survived an IRA bombing. Formerly Banshee, Irish sports bar.

1371: Bark Place, pet groomer

1367: Cafe Evergreen, Chinese

1365: Mexiterranean Grill Finnegan's Wake Pub

1361 (corner): Finnegans Wake, Irish pub since 1972.

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1382 First Avenue

1384 (corner): Flavors NYC, deli

1382: Campagnola, old-school Italian since 1984. Sarah Palin dined here (outdoors) in January 2022 after testing positive for Covid. The New York Post says it's "favored by law enforcement and, sometimes, their mobbed-up targets."

1378: Bombay Chowk, Indian (from a Hindi word for "marketplace") Delizia

1374: Delizia, pizzeria opened 1983




1372: Vanguard, wine bar

1370 (corner): B&B Bagels


W<===     EAST 73RD STREET     ===> E

West:



1257: Daona Market Place, groceries

1255: NorthEast Community Bank, founded 1934

















1347: A Matter of Health, health food

Corner (355 E 72nd): Eastwood Towers, 19 stories of white brick from 1962.

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Petaluma

1356 (corner): Petaluma, Italian since 1985

1354: Nino's, Italian opened in 1991. Owner Nino Selimaj reported being tied up, held at gunpoint and robbed of $9,300 here in February 2022.




The Amherst

Corner (399 E 72nd): Eastview House, 20 stories from 1961. It's not clear to me why this building's address is not 401, which is usually the number for the first building northeast of First Avenue.


W<===     EAST 72ND STREET     ===> E

The southern boundary of Yorkville.

West:

Corner (360 E 72nd): This 1964 supertower has a total of 455 apartments. Originally white brick, it was thankfully reclad in red in 2007. 360 East 72nd Street Milton Caniff (1907–1988), creator of the comic strip Terry & the Pirates, lived here from 1964–70. Tennis star Arthur Ashe moved here in 1977.





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Coleman Tower

1130 (corner): Coleman Tower, a 20-story building that went up in 1987; provides housing for staff of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, which owns the building.










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West:

1321 (corner): Sweetgreen, locavore chain

1319: Dig, farm-sourced veggie chain

1317: Cafe Luka, diner

1315: Texas Rotisserie & Grill, barbecue




Corner (343 E 70th): Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a settlement house founded in 1894; this is the project's senior center.

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Windsor Apartments

Corner (400 E 71st): Windsor Apartments, 23 stories from 1979

1316: Coffee Inn

1306: Just Salad








W<===     EAST 70TH STREET     ===> E

West:



John Krtil Funeral Home

1297: John Krtil Funeral Home was founded in 1875 by a Czech blacksmith, serving what was then a thriving Czech and Slovak neighborhood; since then it's always been run by a succession of John Krtils.

1293: Hawa Smoothies and Bubble Tea

1287: Dr. Wine, liquor store

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The Kingsley

Corner (400 E 70th): The Kingsley, 42 floors from 1984, designed by Stephen Jacobs. "Rhythmically dramatic, even if it is not beautiful"—Carter Horsley.

















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West:

Patsy's Pizzeria 69th

1279: Patsy's Pizzeria 69th, a branch of the venerable East Harlem pizzeria

1275: Kuu, ramen












Corner (359 E 68th): Matto Espresso

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1284 First Avenue

1284 (corner): An attractively detailed six-story building from 1911.

1280: Bamboo Sushi is in the same building.















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West:

St. Catherine's Park

St. Catherine's Park

Named for St. Catherine of Sienna Church, nearby on East 68th. The park was purchased by the city in 1907 and built as playground in 1917; it's been repeatedly redesigned, most recently in 1996. The layout is said to mirror the form of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, a Gothic church in Rome that houses the remains of St. Catherine (except for her head). The elephant-shaped sprinklers in the park evoke Bernini's elephant statue in front of the Roman church.

The park's plantings prominently feature lilies, a symbol of St. Catherine.


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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

1250 (block): One of the world's leading cancer treatmnt centers, the institution began as the New York Cancer Hospital, founded on the Upper West Side with money from John Jacob Astor III at the urging of his wife Charlotte, who was shocked to learn that the Women's Hospital of New York refused to accept cancer patients. It moved here in 1939, on land donated by John D. Rockefeller Jr. It merged in 1960 with the Sloan Kettering Institute, a biomedical research facility launched in 1948 by two former GM executives.

Notable patients at Memorial include Babe Ruth, Robert De Niro, Happy Rockefeller and Brian Piccolo, a Chicago Bears player whose illness was dramatized in the movie Brian's Song.


W<===     EAST 67TH STREET     ===> E

West:

1239 (corner): Cafe Fresco

1237: Chamoun's Way, Lebanese




1233: Pizza Park




1229: Bagelworks; Greek Eats



































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Corner (400 E 67th): The Laurel, a 30-story glass and limestone tower designed by Costas Kondylis, completed 2008. The building contains offices of the Weill Cornell Medical College, including its Center for Global Health. The medical school of Cornell University was established in 1898 with a grant from tobacco and oil investor Oliver Hazard Payne; the school was located in New York rather than in Ithaca, where Cornell's main campus is, because a big city would give students a greater variety of clinical experience. It affiliated with New York Hospital, now New York Presbyterian, in 1913. The school changed its name after receiving a $250 million donation from financier Sanford Weill in 1998.

Notable alumni include Anthony Fauci, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Henry Heimlich of the eponymous maneuver, the Atkins Diet's Robert Atkins, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

Formerly on the site was the Bethany Memorial Church, built in 1910 to a Nelson & Van Wagenen design. Originally a mission of the Madison Avenue Reformed Church serving East Side immigrants, in the early 1980s it began focusing on ministering to cancer patients, providing lodging to outpatients at the neighborhood's hospitals. In the 1990s, the Collegiate Church Corporation that owned the church sold out to a developer for $143 million; the mission was torn down in 2008. St John Nepomucene

Corner (411 E 66th): St John Nepomucene Church. Named for John of Nepomuk, a Bohemian saint who was drowned on the orders of King Wenceslaus IV—who was not the good one.

The Roman Catholic congregation started in 1891 as a group of Slovakian immigrants worshiping at St Bridget's on Avenue B; they got their own church on East 4th Street in 1895, and moved uptown to East 57th Street in 1908. The present church was built in 1925,


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West:

1219 First Avenue

1219 (corner): The Deli Deli; Kung Fu Tea. Building dates to 1920.

1217: Tai Sheng, Chinese takeout













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The Pearl

Corner (400 E 66th): The Pearl, a 23-story apartment building from 2000.














1208 (corner): Gristedes supermarket branch


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West:

Corner (360 E 65th): A 21-story building put up in 1962 as The Buxley; now known as Stonehenge 65.


1191: Maya, Mexican











1181 (corner): This was Maxwell's Plum from 1966 until 1988—not the first but perhaps the most famous bar catering to "swinging singles," attracting the likes of Warren Beatty and Barbra Streisand. When it closed, the iconic island bar was bought at auction for Tribeca Grill.

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City and Suburban Homes

1168-2000 (block): A for-profit development where investors (including Cornelius Vanderbilt) agreed to limit their profit in order to provide salubrious housing for the working poor. The recessed mid-block entrance is an example of the kind of detail included by architect James Ware to add light and air to the tenement apartments. This section of the project is called First Avenue Estate.

1198: Oaxaca Taqueria

1196: Milk & Cookies Kids Spa and Salon

1188: Goldberger's Pharmacy, since 1898





1168 (corner): Apple Bank


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West:

Corner (340 E 64th): The St Tropez, 34 floors of dark-brown brick that went up in 1964, is considered the city's first condo tower.































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1166 (corner): Felice 64, Italian

1164: Ginger Root Vegan, Asian

1162: Lunetta Pizza

1158: Cork & Bottle, wine store

1154: Ahana Sushi Baker Street Pub

1152 (corner): This was the location of the original TGI Friday's, which opened here in March 1965—often cited as the first singles bar. (It was after the brand was franchised nationwide that it became associated with family dining.) The exterior was used in the 1988 Tom Cruise film Cocktail—though the interior was a soundstage in Toronto.

Before it launched a nightlife revolution, the space was The Good Tavern—"a dirty old First Avenue bar with a bullet hole in the window," according to TGIF founder Alan Stillman. In 1992 it became Boxers, the UES outpost of a Village restaurant that is still there on West 4th. Later it became the Baker Street Pub, a sports bar named for Sherlock Holmes' address in London. In 2022 it morphed into Irregulars, a more subtle Holmes reference.


W<===     EAST 63RD STREET     ===> E

West:

1149 (corner): Moti Mahal Delux, Indian

1147: Sutton Animal Hospital

1143: Sushi Seki, spendy Japanese




1135: Ravagh, Persian




Ritz Diner

1133 (corner): Ritz Diner, open 24 hours. The exterior was used as the Island Diner in the CBS TV show Rules of Engagement.

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1144 (corner): Totoya Japanese (was Sushi Yugen

1142: Frankie's Sandwich Shoppe ("The Hungry Hero")

1140: Best Pizza #2

1138: Roy's Fish Market

1136: Imli, Indian

1132: Marwin, Thai




1130 First Avenue

1130 (corner): Space Market is in a c. 1900 tenement.


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West:

Treadwell Park

Corner (350 E 62nd): Beekman Condominium. On the ground floor is Treadwell Park, gastropub mini-chain named for the Treadwell Farm Historic District a block to the west.






















1113 (corner): One Lenox, Mediterranean

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CMX CineBistro

Corner (400 E 62nd): Was CMX CinéBistro, the New York location of a dinner-and-movie chain.











Dangerfield's Comedy Club

1118: Was Danger- field's comedy club, opened in 1969 by comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Comics who have headlined here include George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Chris Rock, Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr, Tim Allen, Andrew Dice Clay, Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison and Jeff Foxworthy. Closed in 2020, a victim of the Covid pandemic.

1114 (corner): Eight-story building from 1947. Goodwill on ground floor.


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West:

1111 (corner): Daily Bagel

1109: New home of John & Tony's pizzeria.

1097 First Avenue

1097 (corner): Old home of John & Tony's Pizzeria

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Block (401 E 60th): Bridge Tower Place; 38-story tower built in 1999, designed by Costas Kondylis.
















W<===     EAST 60TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Queensboro Bridge

Queensboro Bridge by Darks Adria, on Flickr Also known as the 59th Street Bridge— this is the bridge that Simon & Garfunkel sing about in "Feeling Groovy." Completed in 1909, the bridge is mentioned in The Great Gatsby: "The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world." It features as an icon in Woody Allen's Manhattan and the TV series Taxi.

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Bridgemarket

by Kramchang, on Flickr

A vaulted space under the Queensboro Bridge, with a ceiling covered in Gaustavino tile. Long neglected as city storage space, it was converted in 1999 into a Food Emporium and a Conran's Restaurant & Housewares Store.






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1078 First Avenue

1076 (corner): Writer John Cheever lived here in the late 1940s before moving to suburban Scarborough, New York, in 1951. In the early 2000s, Casa la Femme North was located here.






1066-1074 First Avenue


W <===     EAST 58TH STREET     ===> E

West:

1063 (corner): Rosa Mexicano on First Avenue, part of a local chain

357 East 57th Street

Corner (357 E 57th): This 19-story building opened in 1958 was home to "Preppie Killer" Robert Chambers after he was released from his 15-year prison sentence for killing Jennifer Levin in Central Park. He was arrested in 2007 for selling cocaine out of his apartment here and sent back to prison for 19 years.

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Above the Corner, After Dark (New York, NY) by takomabibelot, on Flickr

Corner (401 E 57th): Ultimate Pizza


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West:

Corner (360 E 57th): The Morrison, 25-story apartment building from 1983.


The Sutton East

Corner (345 E 56th): A 22-story apartment building from 1960 is on the site of 353 E. 56th, where painter Piet Mondrian moved in 1939 after fleeing the Nazi invasion of Holland and then the London Blitz. He painted Broadway Boogie Woogie, now at MOMA, here.

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1044 First Avenue

Corner (400 E 57th): 1931 Art Moderne apartment building takes up the whole blockfront, though the ground level stores have their own addresses.

1038: Best Pizzeria on 1st



1026: Sutton Cafe.


W <===     EAST 56TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Catholic Center of New York

Terence Cardinal Cooke Building

1011 (block): This building, known as the Terence Cardinal Cooke Building, dates to 1979 and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The building is also home toCathedral High School, a Catholic girls' school founded in 1905. It moved here in 1973, supposedly, though that's before this building was reportedly built, so one of these dates seems to be off.

Catholic Charities are also based here.

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West:

360 East 55th Street

989 (corner): International Film and Video Center; Reme's Oggi Pets







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994 (corner): A 17-story building from 1956













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West:

Corner (350 E 54th): A six-story building from 1959

Madison Restaurant

965 (corner): Madison Restaurant, a 24-hour diner opened in 1948

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Corner (400 E 54th): The Revere, a 30-story, dark-brown-brick apartment tower from 1970. Presumably named for Paul Revere, silversmith and patriot.






Corner (411 E 53rd): Sutton Manor, a 20-story white-brick apartment building from 1960.


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West:

Parnell's Pub

Corner (530 E 53rd): Parnell's Pub, opened in 1968 and named for Charles Stewart Parnell, the legendary advocate of Irish home rule.



949: From 1987 through 2011, this was New York Video, one of the last great video stores in New York City, with more than 20,000 titles. Still operates as a delivery service.

Corner: Blueberry's Deli

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948: The site of Billy's Restaurant, opened 1870 and closed 2004—at the time, reportedly the oldest family-owned restaurant in New York.










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West:

939 (corner): Jeffrey Wine & Liquor on the ground floor

Corner (351 E 51st): The Beekman Regent's five-story base was originally built as P.S. 135 in 1892 (George W. Debevoise, architect), expanded in 1904. It later served as the United Nations School, educating the children of diplomats. A tower was added to bring it up to 20 stories in a 2000 condo conversion. 51st Street and 1st Ave by Randy Levine, on Flickr

This was the site of Mount Pleasant, James Beekman's mansion. During the Revolutionary War, it was headquarters of the British military force. Nathan Hale was tried and sentenced to death here.

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891 (corner): Azaza, Asian, was Wylie's Ribs and Steak Joint.

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The Grand Beekman

1st Avenue NYC by ehpien, on Flickr

Corner (400 E 51st): A 32-story apartment tower designed by Costas Kondylis and completed in 2002. With a Post-Modern crown and distinctive corner bay windows, it's a fairly interesting and attractive building—much better than the average generic new apartment building.


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Corner (400 E 50th): This is the address of The Women's Mosaic, "Recognizing our unity, celebrating our diversity."

Beekman Tower Hotel

Beekman by chathamshooter, on Flickr

Corner (3 Mitchell Place): This 28-story Art Deco landmark was originally built in 1928 as the Panhellenic Tower, designed as a residence and clubhouse for members of Greek-letter sororities. The architect was John Mead Howells, the winner (along with Raymond Hood) in the Tribune Tower design competition, though it more resembles the influential second-place plan by Eliel Saarinen. Zephyr by chathamshooter, on Flickr

The Zephyr Grill is in this building but has the address 1 Mitchell Place.


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West:

875 (corner): Nations Cafe Germany Embassy at NY by _Gene_, on Flickr

871: German House, Germany's permanent mission to the UN.



865: This 1929 neo-Medieval building was designed by George & Edward Blum. Christopher Gray praises their work for its "informality" and its "picturesque and varied crowning towers."

Corner: United Nations Plaza, 1990s apartments by Der Scutt.

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First Avenue, Looking North from the U.N. by dsjeffries, on Flickr

Block: 860 UN Plaza Apartments, a 40-story tower that's part of a 1968 apartment complex designed by Harrison, Abramovitz & Harris.













W <===             EAST 48TH STREET             ===> E

Below this intersection flows De Voor's Mill Stream, aka Turtle Creek, which used to flow into Turtle Bay. An 1854 cholera epidemic prompted the city to turn it into a culvert, which still empties into the East River.

West:

Trump World Tower

NYC - Trump World Tower by wallyg, on Flickr

845 (block): This 72-story building, completed in 2001, is the tallest residential building in the world. It closely resembles the monoliths from 2001, but is far less likely to advance human evolution.


W <= DAG HAMMARSKJOLD PLAZA




823: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith is in a 1953 building put up for the Carnegie Endowment International Center. Founded in 1913 as a broad-based civil rights group, the ADL increasingly tends to make support for Israel its litmus test— honoring Italy's Silvio Berlusconi despite his praise for Mussolini, for example.


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821 (corner): The UN missions of Turkey and Bangladesh are at this address.

809: Built in 1961 as the Institute for International Education, this building is noted for its penthouse Kaufmann Conference Rooms, designed by Finland's Alvar Aalto—one of only two US projects by the renowned Modernist architect.


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Federal Office Building

NYC - Federal Office Building (under construction) by wallyg, on Flickr

799 (corner): This 35-story building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Maki and Associates, replaced the US Mission to the UN, a 1959 building surrounded by a perforated concrete shell.









NYC - 1 U.N. Plaza by wallyg, on Flickr

787 (corner): 1 UN Plaza is a strikingly folded glass and aluminum form by Roche-Dinkeloo (1975). "The public spaces within are some of the best in New York's modern architecture"—AIA Guide. The National Bank of Pakistan is on the 1st Avenue side. The Milennium Plaza UN Hotel starts on the 28th floor.


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NYC - U.N. Church Center

777 (corner): UN Church Center; built by the United Methodists in 1962, this 12-story building provides offices for UN-related programs of many denominations and non-governmental organizations. (cc photo: Wally Gobetz)

771: Brunei's mission to the UN. This used to be the Herbert Hoover Building, a 1960 building that housed the Boys and Girls Club of America.

765: UN Plaza Dental









763: Bhutan's mission to the UN


W <=== SHCHARANSKY STEPS

Named for the Soviet dissident (now an anti-Palestinian Israeli politician) Natan Sharansky, these steps lead up to Tudor City and E. 43rd Street.

Ralph J. Bunche Park

NYC - Ralph J. Bunche Park - Peace Form One Sculpture by wallyg, on Flickr

This small park commemorates the African-American U.N. official who received a Nobel Peace Prize for leading the Palestine Peace Commission in 1947. The tall, silver sculpture here is Daniel LaRue Johnson's Peace Form One.







Isaiah Quote Near UN by mcotner, on Flickr

The Isaiah Wall on the edge of the park, a gift from New York City, bears the hopeful message "They Shall Beat Their Swords Into Plowshares...."

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2016-04-06_11-25-20_ILCE-6000_DSC06097

The flags of the U.N. members fly along U.N. Plaza in alpha-betical order; the flag of Afghanistan is at the corner of 48th Street. (cc photo: Miguel Discart)

United Nations Headquarters

This land, formerly used by slaughterhouses, gas works and the like, was going to be developed by William Zeckendorf into a futuristic housing/retail complex called X-City. When that fell through, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave the UN the money to buy it for its headquarters, to spare New York the embarrassment of having the world organization base itself in Philadelphia instead. The land is now considered international territory, not part of the United States.

Construction began in 1947, following the design of an international architectural committee, with Switzerland's Le Corbusier probably the most famous and influential member.

North Garden

"The Sleeping Elephant" The Sleeping Elephant, by Bulgarian-born artist Mihail and donated to the UN by Kenya, Namibia and Nepal, has attracted more than its share of controversy. The bronze, based on a cast of a tranquilized wild bull elephant, made UN officials squeamish because of the animal's anatomically correct erection; some strategically planted shrubbery was added for modesty. Model Cheryl Teigs, who volunteered to be a test subject for the casting process, has been in court with Mihail over the product of the experiment. Saint George and the Dragon by Catching Flies, on Flickr

Good Defeats Evil, by Georgian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, depicts St. George killing the dragon; the dragon was created from two actual dismantled nuclear missiles, US and Soviet. It was donated by the Soviet Union in 1990.

Let Us Beat Our Swords Into Plowshares, by Evgeny Buchetich, was also given to the UN by the Soviet Union, in 1959.

Visitors Plaza

United Nations Sphere by François @ Edito.qc.ca, on Flickr

In front of the UN entrance is Arnoldo Pomodoro's Sphere Within a Sphere, a reflective sculpture.










Karl Fredrik Reuterswar by Cam in Van, on Flickr The gun tied in a knot is Non-Violence, a 1988 gift from Luxembourg by sculptor Karl Fredrik Reutersward.

General Assembly Building

by mhawkins, on Flickr The lobby of this building contains a stained glass window by Marc Chagall, as well as a Foucault pendulum, donated by the Netherlands, demonstrating the rotation of the Earth. The General Assembly Hall, where Nikita Kruschev banged his shoe on the table in 1960, seats 1,800.

Conference Building

Hidden away behind more prominent buildings, this is where the real power at the UN, the Security Council, meets, in a chamber donated by Norway.

Northwest of the Secretariat Building is the Japanese Peace Bell, cast out of coins collected by children in 60 countries. It is rung twice a year, on the first day of spring and on International Peace Day (September 21).

Secretariat Building

The United Nations Building by stevecadman, on Flickr Built in 1952, 544 feet high and only 72 feet thick, this was the first major example of the International Style built in New York.

The 21-foot-tall bronze oblong with the hole in it is Single Form, by Barbara Hepworth, created in 1964 as a memorial to Dag Hammarskjold, the two-term UN secretary general. Hammarskjold died in a plane crash in 1961 while on a peace mission to the Congo. Nearby is Henry Moore's Reclining Figure: Hand.

Dag Hammarskjold Library

NYC: United Nations HeadquartersAn expansion of the original plan built in 1963, it was a gift from the Ford Foundation and is mainly intended for the use of UN officials. (cc photo: Wally Gobetz)

The flag of Zimbabwe, the last member nation in alphabetical order, flies at the corner of 42nd Street.


W <===             EAST 42ND STREET             ===> E

The boundary of Turtle Bay and Murray Hill

West:

Tudor City

NYC - Tudor City: Prospect Towers by wallyg, on Flickr

A self-contained development, built in 1925-28 by the Fred F. French Company, in the half-timbered style of Ye Olde England. Few of the windows face east because in those days there were mostly slaughterhouses and glue factories where the U.N. is now.

The area used to be called Dutch Hill, where "one can hardly enter a shanty where is a sober family," according to an 1872 account. NYC - Tudor City: Tudor Tower by wallyg, on Flickr

Block (25 Tudor Place): Tudor City's Tudor Tower. Tom Hanks lived here in Splash. In the mid-1800s, gang leader John Corcoran aka "Paddy" aka "Genteel Jamie" had a hideout around here known as Corcoran's Roost, from which his Rag Gang terrorized the neighborhood.

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Robert Moses Playground

Moses, despite never being elected to any office, did more to reshape New York City than perhaps any other person--for better and for worse. Among his many projects were Shea Stadium, Lincoln Center, the BQE, the Cross-Bronx Expressway, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and Jones Beach. Among the things he destroyed or tried to destroy: Penn Station, the South Bronx, Greenwich Village and Shakespeare in the Park. He was involved with the construction of the United Nations Headquarters, which is presumably why his park is here. The large, oddly angled building provides ventilation for the Queens Midtown Tunnel.






















W <===             EAST 41ST STREET             ===> E

An underpass to bypass UN Plaza begins here. You can't actually turn west on 41st Street here, there being a large dropoff.

West:

Block (5 Tudor City Pl): Tudor City's Windsor Tower, noted for its ornate stonework entrance. This building is the target of a bomb plot in the Al Pacino movie Scarface.


W <===         E 40TH ST


695 (block): One UN Park, a 2018 black-glass tower designed by Richard Meier.





W <===         E 39TH ST

Block: Schindler Elevator Corporation




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Con Edison Waterside Station

Demolition of ConEd's Waterside Steam Plant, New York, NY by Grufnik, on Flickr

700 (block): Con Ed shut down this plant and increased power production at its 14th Street facility. This plant was demolished, to be replaced with high-rise apartment buildings and office towers. There's talk of a riverfront park being built over the FDR Drive.

The section between 39th and 40th streets was actually quite handsome— a classic old red-brick factory building. It's highly unlikely that what they replace it with will be more attractive.

The middle section, built more recently, was admittedly kind of bland.

The section of the plant by the corner of 38th Street was kind of cool again. Bore the inscription "NY Edison"— a reminder that the electric company was founded by the same guy who invented the lightbulb etc.





W <===             EAST 38TH STREET             ===> E

West:

The Corinthian by Bobcatnorth, on Flickr

645: The Corinthian, 1987 luxury apartment building with distinctive fluted bay windows. "Corinthian" is used to mean "luxurious" because Corinth was the party town of ancient Greece— noted as the home of Aphrodite's sacred prostitutes.

The fountain in front of the building is called Pierene— named for the fountain in Corinth where the flying horse Pegasus was captured.

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660: This office building was originally the Kips Bay Brewing Company's brewery. NYU Medical Center and other healthcare practices have offices here.















W <===             EAST 37TH STREET             ===> E

West:

Queens Midtown Tunnel

Queens Midtown Tunnel by terraplanner, on Flickr

Opened in 1940 to relieve congestion on the East River bridges. Ole Singstad, who earlier dug the Holland Tunnel and later started work on the Brooklyn-Battery, was the chief engineer. FDR broke ground on the project in 1936.

The entrance to the tunnel is the western end of the Long Island Expressway.

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630: Manhattan Place. This 1984 apartment building is situated at an angle, creating a triangular public plaza. On the ground floor is Karabelas Food Market & Cafe.





Fountain at 1st ave and 36st, Manhattan by lawrence's lenses, on Flickr


W <===             EAST 36TH STREET             ===> E

West:

St. Vartan's Park

Sadly enough, this out-of-the-way, one-square-block piece of green, bisected by the Queens Midtown Tunnel entrance road, is the only real park in Manhattan's 30s. Opened in 1904 as St. Gabriel's Park, it was renamed in 1978 for the Armenian cathedral on 2nd Avenue. Vartan was a general who fought against Persians in Albania who were trying to force the Armenians to convert to Zoroastrianism.

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616 (block): This former Con Ed plant is slated for demolition and redevelopment as luxury condos.










W <===             EAST 35TH STREET             ===> E

West:

Corner (350 E 35th): Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN








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Block (401 E. 34th): Rivergate, a U-shaped luxury apartment building with a three-story atrium featuring a waterfall and ponds filled with koi.

There used to be a Coca-Cola bottling plant on this block, where a reader recalls getting free soda on hot summer days.




W <===             EAST 34TH STREET             ===> E

The boundary of Murray Hill and Kips Bay

Between 34th and 30th streets, the avenue has the honorary name "Samuel D. Leidesdorf Way," after the accounting tycoon and philanthropist who helped create the NYU Medical Center.

West:

593 (corner): Kips Bay Delicatessen

591: Golden Dragon #1

587: Bagels & Cafe









577 (corner): NYU Child Study Center


W <===     E 33RD ST

545: Greenberg Hall

Residences for NYU's med school.



Kips Bay Plaza

lots of windows by roboppy, on Flickr

This 21-story exposed-concrete slab was built in 1960 to an I.M. Pei design.

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NYU Medical Center

NYU Medical Center by Joe Shlabotnik, on Flickr

Built from 1950 to 1977 to a Skidmore Owings & Merrill design.

Corner (400 E 34th): Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine; part of the NYU Medical Center, it's named for Dr. Howard Rusk, who pioneered medical rehabilitation treating injured airmen during World War II.

560: NYU's Tisch Hospital. Lawrence Tisch, the media mogul who funded it, ended up dying here, November 15, 2003. My daughter, Eden Jean Jackson Naureckas, was born here February 24, 2004.

540: NYU's Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine

Schwartz Health Care Center (Co-op Care)

The Morgue

The Morgue by edenpictures, on Flickr

520 (corner): Offices of the New York Medical Examiner. John Lennon, Andy Warhol and the Son of Sam victims all came here after their deaths.


W <===             EAST 30TH STREET             ===> E

West:
















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Bellevue Men's Shelter

Bellevue Men's Shelter by edenpictures, on Flickr

Block 9400 E 30th): Also known as the 30th Street Shelter, this Victorian pile houses elderly and mentally ill homeless men.






W <===             EAST 29TH STREET             ===> E

West:

491 (corner): East Bay Diner & Cafe


















W <===         E 28TH ST









W <===         E 27TH ST

Closed to vehicle traffic.

Sentinel by edenpictures, on Flickr

Theodore Roszak's 1969 statue Sentinel honors ''those intrepid men and women who dedicate themselves to science and humanity.''

Public Health Laboratories

455 (block): A division of the NYC Department of Health; houses the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, which played a key role in developing the combination drug therapy that greatly reduced the death rate from HIV. In 1996, Dr. David Ho, the center's director, was named Time's person of the year.

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Children's Center

Children's Center by edenpictures, on Flickr

492 (corner): A shelter for children and teens run by the city's Administration for Children's Services. The building, which is quite striking, is a McKim, Mead and White design added to the Bellevue complex from 1907-12. It formerly served as the hospital's morgue, but it sounds like ACS has gone out of its way to make it hospitable.

Bellevue Hospital

My Old Neighborhood by richpompetti, on Flickr

462: This institution got its start in 1794, when the city needed a site to treat victims of a yellow fever epidemic far from the city center, they bought the Belle Vue estate of Peter Keteltas, named for its beautiful view of the East River. In 1811 additional land nearby was purchased from the Kip family.

Songwriter Stephen Foster, who fatally injured himself in a Bowery flophouse, died here in 1864. Socialist Congressmember Meyer London died here after being struck by a car in 1926.

People used to refer to the emergency ward as the Eastman Pavilion because gangster Monk Eastman sent so many people here with his club. The city that is eating me by lunchtimemama, on Flickr

It's most famous for its psychological services; Dr. Norman Jolliffe's study of patients here helped establish the modern concept of alcoholism. Santa Claus was sent to Bellevue for observation in Miracle on 34th Street, Ray Milland dried out here in The Lost Weekend and Michael Caine was a shrink here in Dressed to Kill. In "For You," Bruce Springsteen sang that "They're waiting for you at Bellevue/With their oxygen masks."


W <===         EAST 26TH STREET         ===> E

West:

433 (corner): Built in 1897 as the Bellevue Hospital Medical College; now NYU Med School's Basic Science Building.








Corner (341 E 25th St): Built for the NYU Medical Center's School of Medicine in 1938.

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Hunter College Brookdale Health Science Center

Brookdale Health Science Center by edenpictures, on Flickr

Block (435 E 25th St): Includes the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, the Brookdale Center on Aging and the Hunter College School of the Health Professions.


W <===         EAST 25TH STREET         ===> E

West:

NYU College of Dentistry

421 (corner): Weissman Clinical Science Building houses part of the largest dental school in the country.

Corner (345 E. 24th) NYU's Schwartz Hall of Dental Science


W <===     E 24TH ST

Corner (340 E 24th): International Center for the Disabled, a rehabilitation center.

East Midtown Plaza Apartments

East Midtown Plaza Apartments II by edenpictures, on Flickr

The AIA Guide is very excited about this 1972-74 complex, calling it "an ode to brick." No. 403 was the East End Temple-- now moved to 17th Street.

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VA Hospital

VA hospital and public baths by Dr.DeNo, on Flickr (423 E 23rd): Technically, this is the New York Campus of the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System. It's Manhattan's main hospital for veterans. Manhattan VA by edenpictures, on Flickr


















400 (corner): District 75/Citywide Programs; provides instructional support for students with special needs throughout New York's public school system.


W <===         EAST 23RD STREET         ===> E

The southern boundary of Kips Bay

West:

Post Luminaria II by edenpictures, on Flickr

385 (corner): Post Luminaria, a 2002 apartment building that appears to have been inspired by Mondrian.

383: 1st Avenue Wines & Spirits has a neat old sign.














377 (corner): Lucky Chicken, formerly Chirping Chicken

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Peter Cooper Village

stuyvesant-town-from-booklyn by dandeluca, on Flickr Built in the late 1940s by Met Life Insurance Co. as afford- able housing for veterans returning from World War II; now being converted to market-rate (i.e. luxury) apartments. When Met Life sold it and Stuyvesant Town--a total of 110 apartment buildings--for $5.4 billion in 2006, it was reportedly the biggest real estate transaction in history. The purchaser was Tishman Speyer Properties, a real estate group that owns Rockefeller Center, among other things.

Peter Cooper was a 19th Century industrialist who ran the first U.S. railroad (the Tom Thumb), helped lay the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable and invented jello. He founded Cooper Union, a school of art, engineering and architecture where tuition has always been free.


W <===     E 22ND ST / PETER COOPER RD     ===> E

West:

375 (corner): PB Deli & Grocery

371: Frank's Trattoria

367: Vera Cruz Council of the Knights of Columbus

361 (corner): There was a bar here from the 1930s until 2005--first as Walter Mac's, later as Freddie's, then as the First Avenue Pub. Served as an unofficial local of the Steamfitters' Union. Now a corporate doughnut franchise.


W <===         E 21ST ST

Ess-A-Bagel by warsze, on Flickr

359 (corner): Ess-a-Bagel ("Eat-a-Bagel"), a contender for the best bagels on the island. Opened in 1976.

357: Rose Restaurant, buffalo wings.

349: Bangkok Express

347: Tony's House of Pizza

345 (corner): 345 Produce & Plus

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Peter Cooper Village

beggars would ride by rhinomite, on Flickr

Peter Cooper Village and Stuy- vesant Town were built on the site of the notorious Gashouse District, where fumes from chemical plants kept out all but the poorest immigrants. Home to the Gashouse Gang, one of New York's more fearsome crews--they specialized in robbing other gangs (since there was so little to steal on their own turf).






















W <===         EAST 20TH STREET         ===> E

West:

343 (corner): Season's Clothing

339: Cooper Town Diner, since 1984

331: David's Bagels

329: MJ Armstrong's, a restaurant opened in December 2001 and named after Michael Joseph Armstrong, a Cantor Fitzgerald vice president who was killed in the September 11 attacks. ''You could say you went to a building on 14th Street, and he would know exactly what building it was and what it looked like,'' his fiancee recalled.


W <===         E 19TH ST

Police battled mobs at this corner during the 1863 Draft Riots.

327 (corner): Donna's Deli

321: Adriatic Pizzeria

319: K's Gourmet Food & Cheese

315: One's Fruit & Grocery

313 (corner): Quigley's, a restaurant/sports bar, formerly the Stuyvesant Town Cafe


W <===         E 18TH ST

U.S. Rep. Meyer London, a Socialist, run over at this corner, June 6, 1926.

311 (corner): Karpas Health Information Center; connected to the hospital Beth Israel ("House of Israel")

Corner (353 E 17th): Gilman Hall, housing for Beth Israel, built 1969. This was the first home of writer Teresa Gardstein.


W <===         E 17TH ST

Beth Israel Medical Center

Beth Israel Medical Center in East Village area by mmwm, on Flickr

The university hospital for the Manhattan campus of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

295 (corner): The tall building is Beth Israel's Linsky Pavilion.


W <===         E 16TH ST

273: Ambrosia Diner

265: No. 1 Restaurant (Chinese take-out)

263: La Bagel, dairy restaurant. (Kosher restaurants can generally serve either milk or meat, not both.)

261: Murray's Falafel & Grill-- glatt kosher; Johnny's Pizza & Pasta.

259 (corner): Orchid Garden was Pan Pangea, veggie burger joint; before that Far East Oriental Restaurant.


W <===         E 15TH ST

239-241: Salt & Pepper was Darbar East Haute Indian Cuisine. Cornice says "G. Wilkens." Papaya Dog by edenpictures, on Flickr

Corner: Papaya Dog (formerly 14th Street Papaya) was a Gray's Papaya imitator, offering cheap, tasty hot dogs and frothy tropical fruit drinks. Sandra Bullock and Rihanna ate hot dogs here in Ocean's Eight.

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Stuyvesant Town

Stuyvesant Town by warsze, on Flickr

Like Peter Cooper Village, built in the late 1940s by Met Life Insurance Co. as housing for returning World War II vets; it was slightly more affordable than its uptown neighbor. Now being converted to luxury condos. To build these highrises, Met Life leveled the notorious Gashouse District— whose chemical fumes made it one of Manhattan's least desirable neighborhoods.

The development is named for Peter Stuyvesant, New Amsterdam's one-legged governor, who owned most of the land in this neighborhood. Autocratic, anti-democratic and intolerant, he was something of a 17th Century Giuliani.

346 (corner): Emerald Too, greeting cards, etc.


338: The Villager is a concierge for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village—not to be confused with the local paper of the same name.

332: Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town leasing office




310: The Gramercy Theatre (not to be confused with the one on 23rd Street) was once here. Veterans Housing in East Village by mmwm, on Flickr









298: Elm Drugs & Wellness Center; a good drug store.




288: The Linen Depot

284: Stuyvesant Camera Fountain by edenpictures, on Flickr



















Earlier the mansion called Petersfield could be found here, less than one block east of 1st Avenue between 15th and 16th streets. It was the home of Petrus Stuyvesant, a descendant of Peter.









Stuyvesant Town, May 2008 by Marianne O'Leary, on Flickr

1ST AVENUE STATION: L to 3rd Avenue

This subway stop is chiefly responsible for making Williamsburg a hip neighborhood— people could live there and still get to the East Village easily. Now the East Village is cool because it's only one stop away from Williamsburg.


W <===         EAST 14TH STREET         ===> E
The northern boundary of the East Village.

West:

1st ave and 14th Street by su1droot, on Flickr

237 (corner): Was 1st Federal Savings & Loan; later one of the last Love Stores in New York, a local drug store chain. The offices of City Council member Margarita Lopez were in this building.

233: Big Arc Chicken, Middle Eastern barbecue, popular with cabbies. Vinny Vincenz Mural

231: Vinny Vincenz Pizza

229: Was Old Fashioned Donuts, driven out of business by the oppressive corporate doughnut chain. Now Petit Chou, great French bakery.

227: Was Blue Velvet, fancy Vietnamese 1st ave by vansgirl12, on Flickr

225: Crab du Jour was the designer discount shop Gabay's from 1970 to 2014.

223: Mee Noodle Shop was Allen Ginsberg’s favorite Chinese (though it was down the block then). There use to be a bakery here variously known an Build a Green Bakery, Birdbath, Prince of Peace Bakery and Prince Bakery.

221: Was Senor Pollo ("Mister Chicken"), Peruvian, before that Rancho El Girasol ("Sunflower Ranch"), Mexican featuring mariachis. Was Prince Fruit & Vegetable. Bless the E Vil

219 (corner): Was Mee Noodle Shop until it closed in 2005 when the building started to collapse. The building is now an interesting vintage/ modern hybrid.

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228: Taverna Kyclades, Greek. Was David's Bagels, where I used to go for Sunday morning bagels.




226: Wine on 1st, shop with helpful labels; Kathe's Jewelry, where I got my ring resized once.

224: The Crossings apartments—I think it includes all the addresses north to the corner. Building dates to 1911 but was modernized at some point.

222: Veeray da Dhaba,Indian, was Ikura, Japanese

220: H&W Hardware, founded 1924; seems to have gone out of business c. 2022.










Space Gorilla Continued

218 (corner): Was Victor's Marketplace, long-running meat market. The building underwent thoroughly uglification, but now houses Ichibantei, Japanese noted for its love of Reggae music and cool street art.


W <===         EAST 13TH STREET         ===> E

West:

217 (corner): Hamptons Market Place, a deli formerly known as Olympic Deli & Grocery, was DiBella Brothers, Italian grocery known for its stuffed artichoke hearts. Luzzo's Exterior by Adam

211-213: Luzzo's was Zito's East, a charming old place that claimed to make one of the best 50 pizzas in the world.

207: Slavic Evangelical Christian Church

205: Tribeca Pediatrics (a satellite office) was Lugo's Mecca of Hair

203: Sao Mai, Vietnamese, was Tuba's Shish Kabob, Mideastern; before that Cyclo, Vietnamese with a namesake bicycle rickshaw out front.

201: Jeepney, Filipino, was Wai? Cafe

199 (corner): S'Mac, for Sarita's Mac And Cheese. Tasty, and has a community fridge out front. Was Fuji Apple Deli a friendly neighborhood grocery.

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214 (corner): Koko Sushi was Kumo Sushi; Elvie's Turo-Turo, tasty Filipino fast food

214B: Tallgrass Burgers

210: Gena's Grill was National Cafe, a notable Cuban hole in the wall; next door was Lazzat, halal.

208: Balade, Lebanese, was Christine's, Polish diner from 1982-2008. Allen Ginsberg mentioned it in his poem "Charnel Ground." The building is dated 1911.

204: No Relation, formerly Treasure Trends NYC, vintage and pseudo-vintage clothing



200: Brodo, broth to go 1st Avenue & East 12th by edenpictures, on Flickr

198 (corner): Hearth, fancy American; used to be Tappo, another pricey place.


W <===         EAST 12TH STREET         ===> E

West:

Asher Levy School

Asher Levy School by edenpictures, on Flickr

185 (block): P.S. 19 is named for an early Jewish immigrant, a kosher butcher, who won an important victory for religious tolerance when he successfully appealed Peter Stuyvesant's ban on Jews in the New Amsterdam militia.

His name is also spelled "Asser Levy," but you can see how grade school kids might find that too entertaining. Art, dance and drama are integral parts of the curriculum here.
















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196 (corner): 1st Avenue Gourmet Deli did not make it through the pandemic.

194: Cafe Sandra

192: Juice Vitality; Koko Wings, Korean fried chicken. Was Neptun, seafood; before that KK, Polish diner

190: Trees replaced Brunetta's, an incredibly old little Italian

188: Uogashi, Japanese restaurant shut down by fire in 2018. Earlier was Mandarin Grill, Filipino.

186: Handsome Dan's, eclectic candy shop, was closed by the fire that wrecked Uogashi. Previously A-1 Music. NYC 354 Atomic Wings by watz, on Flickr

184: Atomic Wings, which painted over its "Make Wings, Not War" slogan when the war in Afghanistan started. At the same address is Sahara East, Mideast restaurant noted for its backyard and its hookahs. Madina Masjid

182 (corner): Madina Masjid Islamic Council of America, one of the few mosques in Downtown Manhattan. It originally served the spiritual needs of the Bengali restaurants that once lined Sixth Street.


W <===         EAST 11TH STREET         ===> E

West:

177 (corner): Lhasa, Tibetan, was Schnitz, specializing in schnitzel. Before that it was Something Sweet, aka Black Forest Bakery, when this was a mini pastry district.


Five Roses Pizza by Adam

173: Iggy's Pizza was Five Roses Pizza, neighborhood pizzeria from 1964 to 2008. Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators lived upstairs here for 18 years.

Momofuko Noodle Bar

171: The flagship of David Chang's chain of raved-about Asian restaurants. Named—like the Elvis Costello album of the same name—for Momofuko Ando, the inventor of the instant noodle. Used to be Krystal's Cafe, a Filipino bakery—before that Ferucci's Gourmet Market. In a cast-iron building atypical of the neighborhood.




167: Tatsu ramen was Sandobe Sushi, before that the retro Bendix Diner.

165: Commodities natural food store




Momofuku Ko by Dan Dickinson, on Flickr










163 (corner): Momofuku Ko —"Child of Momofuku" — only takes reservations online, and the 12 seats are booked within seconds every day at Chang's hearty Japanese. Used to be a wrap place.

Taralluci e Vino's name means "cookies and wine," but sells sandwiches and espresso—go figure. Formerly Sassy's Sliders, tasty White Castle–like burgers. Upstairs used to be Princess Pamela's, a secret apartment/restaurant "where you could eat great homecooking, served by the hostess often wearing scuffy slippers."

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180 (corner): Was Eleven Consignment Boutique, a high-end clothing resale shop that closed suddenly in 2020; before that it was Village Fabrics. The building dates to 1872.

178: REVMPD, thrift store. This used to be the offices of Bella Tile, landlord to much of the immediate neighborhood. Orange flowers and lined tiles by moriza, on Flickr

176: Black Seed, bagels and coffee, was DeRobertis Pastry Shoppe, Italian pas- tries since 1904; was a more authentic Old New York experience than Veniero's. Handsome Jack Giordano, a Gambino family member, ran a bookmaking operation out of there in the late 1980s; the FBI said they had "bugs in everything but the cannolis and the espresso machine." Tom Cruise carries a box from DeRobertis in Eyes Wide Shut. 'The Spoon' at Xunta by JeffreyPutman, on Flickr

174: Xunta, Galician tapas, eaten on barrels. Formerly Pete's Spice. Upstairs is First Flight Music.

172: Fourth World House, progressive daycare

170: This building has a faded ad for corsets (!) on its southern wall. Formerly Lanza's

168: Joe & Pat's is the East Village outpost of a Staten Island pizza institution, founded in 1960 by Giuseppe and Pasquale Pappalardo, two brothers from Naples. They took over the space of Lanza's, old-school Italian since 1907, which was the favorite restaurant of Gambino underboss Joe "Piney" Armone, who died in prison in 1992.

166: Ferns, American, was La Zarza, Spanish/Argentine. Earlier was a club called One66, Izzy Bar.

First Avenue Crosswalk

Corner (245 E. 10th): Beron Beron, Japanese, was Sapporo East, one of the first Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood, from 1983-2013.


W <===         EAST 10TH STREET         ===> E

McLaughlin's Bear Pit, where one could bet on fights between dogs and bears, was located at this intersection in the 1860s.

West:

159 First Avenue by edenpictures, on Flickr

Corner (242 E 10th St): Was NW3, a cool bar named for London's hip zip code. Now called Company. Until the early 1980s, Dee Dee Ramone lived in apartment 21 upstairs.





157: Stickett Inn, intimate cocktail bar

Theater for the New City

Voting Line VIII

155: A progressive, experi- mental playhouse founded in 1971, and named for a remark by Mayor John Lindsay about building a new city for all. Vin Diesel started his acting career with a TNC play when he was 7 years old; Tim Robbins starred in the theater's production of The Little Prince. Sam Shepard won a Pulitzer for TNC's The Buried Child. It moved to this location in 1984, which used to be the First Avenue Retail Market, built by Mayor LaGuardia as a way to get pushcarts off the streets.

Serves as a neighborhood polling place and used to house anarchist May Day Books, which made for an interesting combination. The city, which controlled the air rights, forced the building of a luxury condo above the theater, known as the New Theatre Building; though very 21st Century-looking, it seems to have made some effort to echo the surrounding tenements. Coyote Ugly NY VII by makkaaa, on Flickr

153: Was Coyote Ugly, bar that the movie was based on, sort of.

149: This small spot has had many tenants in recent years, including This Little Piggy roast beef, Birdies ("Grandma's chicken for the people") and Flor's Kitchen, Venezuelan. It's currently Rowdy Rooster, very tasty Indian fried chicken. A red-tailed hawk once flew in here.

147 (corner): Was The Bean, local coffee chain; before that Angelica's Herbs. Upstairs is the East Village Hotel.

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E 10th Street Finest Deli

162 (corner): The deli here was where Dee Dee Ramone used to get his morning coffee after he got his morning heroin. Has been vacant for a while now.

160: Gizmo Sewing Supply; Sabor a Mexico Taqueria

158: Was Yu's on First, massage, which replaced Mary's Dairy, ice cream parlor. Before that it was Standard, a stylish and mellow bar that succeeded Downtown Beirut, a classic punk bar featured in After Hours. I fell in love with my wife there.

156: Hello Banana Vintage is also Amy Van Doran's Modern Love Club, a matchmaking service. Was Diamonds & Oranges, a gallery in a former bodega.










P.S. 122

PS 122

150 (corner): Public school turned performance space in 1979 for the likes of Spalding Gray, Penny Arcade, Karen Finley, Quentin Crisp, etc. Booting out Children's Liberation, a long-running daycare center, didn't endear them to the neighborhood. Performance Space 122

Ira Gershwin is said to have attended here when it was still a school. The auditorium was featured in the movie Fame.


W <===         EAST 9TH STREET         ===> E

West:

145 (corner): East Village Pizza has a million followers on Instagram. Baji Baji, Chinese, is also at this address.

Nicholas Stuyvesant, a descendant of Peter, had a dwelling approximately here called Mansion House.

143: Paquitos, Mexican

141: Kikoo Shushi was Ramen Setagaya, first US branch of a Japanese noodle chain. Before the noodle chain, it was (briefly) Gourmet Market Place and 1 Ave Fish Market. 1st Ave by barbiez, on Flickr

139: Stuffed Ice Cream was Caffe Emilia; Orchard Garden Spa. Has an unusual blue paint job with red and yellow trim— reminds me of Amsterdam.

137: Drunken Dumpling; Davey's Ice Cream. I miss Tara Thai here—friendly, tasty, affordable...with shadow puppets.

135: Dan & John's Wings was Shiki Kitchen, sushi restaurant decorated with the chef's paper art.

Corner (83 St. Marks): Stromboli Pizza, named for a Sicilian volcano. My wife and I were mistaken for employees here once because we were wearing matching T-shirts. Subway shooting suspect Frank James hung out here for half an hour shortly before his arrest.

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Corner (400 E. 9th): Lime Tree Market, Japanese deli



140: The Hard Swallow was Cheap Shots, newish dive bar. Was First Avenue Meat Products, one of several butcher shops along this stretch of First Avenue.

138: East Village Wines, noted for annual palindrome contest. "Dubya won? No way, bud" was one winner.









136: Village Craft Beer & Smoke. Subway shooting suspect Frank James was arrested here on April 13, 2022, after several members of the public alerted the NYPD that he was hanging out in the neighborhood. 134 First Avenue

134 (corner): Goodnight Sonny, cocktail bar that opened in 2015. The name is what the owner's grandmother used to say to him when he'd start the late shift at the family bar. The space used to be Simone Espresso and Wine Bar. The building dates to 1872.


W <===         ST MARKS PLACE         ===> E

West:

131 (corner): Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Automat-style restaurant opened 2021. Personally it worries me when a Manhattan business invites customers to fantasize that they're in Brooklyn.




129: Was Lulu's, bar noted for skeeball

127: Was Prana Foods, organic, pro-animal rights, anti-genetic manipulation grocery

125: Nudibranch, foodie restaurant. The name means "sea slug."

123: Was Organic Grill, which moved to West 3rd Street.

121: Sticky Fingers Bakery

119: Dok Suni ("Strong Woman"), Korean




Tile bar by dataharvest, on Flickr

115 (cor- ner): Real name is WCOU Radio, but best known as Tile Bar. My first date with my wife was here.

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132 (corner): The Wild Son cafe, formerly Tribe, before that St. Marks Bar. In the video for "Waiting on a Friend," Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meet the rest of The Rolling Stones here.

130: Rainbow Records was a hoarder-like trove of music; Homemade Pierogi & Deli Co. made dumplings like my Lithuanian grandmother's.

128: Noreetuh, Hawaiian, was Kebab Garden, Mideastern with a "flaming" sign. Until 2004 this was La Focacceria, Sicilian that first opened up the avenue in 1914.

126: The Grafton, modernist Irish bar named for a Dublin street famous for its cafes and buskers. Opened in 2003 under the name Lunasa, referring to the Celtic holiday of Lughnasa; the name was changed in 2015 because patrons couldn't pronounce the old one. Previously was Galapagos, Ecuadoran restaurant.

124: East Village Organic, grocery, was Kurowycky & Son Meat Products, sausage-makers opened in 1955 and closed in 2007.

122: MaLa Project, spicy Chinese

120 1/2: Bubbleology, bubble tea, was International Bar, super-skinny bar that moved down the street.

120: Raiz, vegan, was Wechsler's Currywurst & Bratwurst, German sausage place, and before that La Casalinga, compact Italian—two restaurants I miss.

118 (corner): E7 Deli & Cafe


W <===         EAST 7TH STREET         ===> E

West:

Corner: Yubu, Korean

111: Suki, Japanese, was B & M Meat Market.

109: SenYa, Japanese, was Ginger, neo-sushi

107: Huertas, Basque Mister Paradise

105: Mister Paradise, cocktail bar, was Counter, stylish Cajun vegetarian.

103: Sidney's Five, American, was Solex, French wine bar; before that Teresa's, charming, affordable Polish diner.



Mancora by edenpictures, on Flickr

99 (corner): The Headless Widow, cocktail bar, was Mancora, Peruvian; before that Spice House, grocery serving "Little India."

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116 (corner): Saifee Hardware, where we've bought paint for our apartment and plants for our community garden plot, among much else. The manager here was one of the folks who alerted the NYPD to the presence of subway shooting suspect Frank James. This used to be Pauline's Bar and Restaurant. It was also Tunnel Bar, which pioneered the East Village gay scene in the early 1980s. Before that it was Red Bar, a hangout for artists like Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.

112: Hunan Slurp was Imagine Bar & Grill, but before that was Miracle Grill, Southwestern restaurant where celebrity chef Bobby Flay achieved fame. Building dates to 1885. Diner by edenpictures, on Flickr

110: Sushi Dojo was Polonia, cozy diner; even cheaper and more Polish than Teresa's was.

102: I don't usually note fast-food chains on the Songlines, but this corporate burger joint is notable as the place subway shooter Frank James was spotted hanging out on the day of his arrest.

102: Has the same address as the building next door, although an entirely separate structure. Houses the Coal Yard Bar, skinny dive that opened 2014; formerly Lilly Coogan's, and before that the Old Homestead Inn


W <===         EAST 6TH STREET         ===> E

West:

97: Kindred, Italian, was Banjara, spiffy Indian named for Indian relatives of the Romani (aka "Gypsies"). Next door i Panna II by saitowitz, on Flickr

93: Bengali rest- aurants with so many Christmas lights they're psychedelic. Milon is on the left and Panna II is on the right; Royal (which used to be light-free) is down below. Warning: Make up your mind which Christmas-light restaurant you want to eat in before you go up the stairs--or the decision will be made for you.

91: Sigiri, Sri Lankan; E & C Trading had Indian movies, music, instruments; Dual (formerly Dowel Quality Products) has Indian groceries.

87: Was First, restaurant/bar noted for fancy martinis. Now Blue Door Video.

85: The Chippery was Mod World, Little Ricky-style kitsch Three of Cups by edenpictures, on Flickr

83 (corner): Emmy Squared, Detroit-style pizza. Was Three of Cups, romantic Italian where Quentin Tarantino got into a brawl in 1998. Previously Dizzy Chicken.

<=== E 5TH ST



75: This eight-story metal-and-glass building from 2017 doesn't look like anything else around it—whether that's good or bad I suppose is a matter of taste. Critics got it reduced in scale from 14 stories. It does make the drugstore squatting on the corner look like less of an eyesore. by beatak, on Flickr

71: The Sabieng Thai, formerly known as Pukk.

69: Downtown Bakery II is an unassuming hole in the wall that serves good Mexican food. Noted for breakfast burritos.

67: Batsu!, Japanese-inspired interactive game show.

Corner (133 E 4th): Jennifer Cafe, snack bar

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Village View Apartments

Sunset on Village View in the East Village of NYC by jebb, on Flickr Mitchell- Lama co-op whose seven towers were built in 1964.













There is a pleasant shortcut through these highrises to the rest of 5th Street.














In the universe of Marvel Comics, Empire State University (where Peter Parker goes to college) is located here.



































W <===         EAST 4TH STREET         ===> E

West:

61 (corner): Houston Village Farm, deli

59: Cho-Ko, Japanese, was New Rage, another kitschy gift shop.

57B: Mitumi Sushi

55: Brickman's Ace Hardware

51: From 1999-2020 this was Karma, hookah bar.

49 1/2 (corner): Was The Bean, local coffee outpost that a cab drove into in 2010. It replaced Kudo Beans, a coffee shop of New Jersey origins. Earlier it was Bulgin' Waffles, breakfast joint; and before that was Little Ricky's, kitsch mecca of the Lower East Side.

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W <===         EAST 3RD STREET         ===> E

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45: Aziza Cafe & Lounge, hookah joint d.b.a. by Michael Dietsch, on Flickr

41: d.b.a., bar with great beer, scotch selection. Stands for "Doing Business As," a standard acronym in small business documents. Norman Mailer wrote most of The Deer Park upstairs in this building.

39: Former home of Edwin Fancher, who founded the Village Voice along with Norman Mailer.

37: New Double Dragon, Chinese takeout

33 (corner): 1st Ave Laundry Center

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W <===         EAST 2ND STREET         ===> E

West:

Gringer Sign

27 (corner): The Ezra Pound apartments. Ground floor is Gringer's, appliances since 1918.


25: Divya's Kitchen, Ayurvedic vegetarian; associated with the Bhakti Center, yoga-connected spirituality. Previously was the restaurant Sanctuary and the Interfaith League Guest House, respectively.






Storefront Radio by pattie74_99, on Flickr

21: Fineline Tattoo was East Village Radio, an alternative station that played on 88.1 FM. You could literally step in the front door and be on the air.






Lil' Frankie's by Adam

19: Lil' Frankie's Pizza,
spin-off of the popular Frank, is "the East Village's best pizza parlor"— Village Voice.

17: Speedy Lock & Door Co., since 1982. Was Harlyn Stationers, where the bad guy in the 1979 movie The Warriors uses a pay phone.

15: La Linea, lounge

13 (corner): The retro bar Boilermaker was here from 2014 to 2022; Boca Chica, festive South American, had the space from 1989-2013.

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26 First Avenue

26 (corner): The ground floor of this 1920s building has been Spiegel Cafe, Rama Cafe, Animal Crackers pet supplies, Arka Co. Ukrainian gifts. Little Gio's Pizza is tucked into the downtown side of the building. Lucky Cheng's by saitowitz, on Flickr

24: This was the original home of Lucky Cheng's, Asian food served by attractive cross- dressing or trans waitresses (one of whom was Laverne Cox). Opened in 1993, by 1995 it was a celebrity hot spot, turning away the likes of Barbra Streisand and Robert De Niro for lack of tables. The first episode of Sex and the City, in 1998, had a scene shot here.

Over time, it became more of a drag show, moving to Times Square in 2012; it's had a few spots since then, and can currently be found in Chelsea.

In a previous incarnation, this building was Club Baths, a plush gay sex club; later a restaurant, Cave Canem, whose basement featured lesbian orgies.

22: Ortiz Funeral Home. Child abuse victim Nixmary Brown's wake was held here in 2006.

20: V-Nam Cafe, Vietnamese

18: Chris Stein, later of Blondie, lived here while attending the School of Visual Arts. He then sublet the place to Tommy and Dee Dee Ramone. SUTRA0508-14 by Edgie168, on Flickr

16: The Grayson, sports bar. Previous bars here include Sutra Lounge, The Flat, xvi; Artists Rec. Ctr.

14: Lucien, French bar/restaurant

12 (corner): One and One, Irish-y pub


W <===         EAST 1ST STREET         ===> E

One of only two places in Manhattan where a numbered street meets an avenue with the same number.

West:

First Park

First Park Swings by edenpictures, on Flickr

Corner: A sliver of playground created in 1935 from land left over from widening Houston. Renovated in 1997. Little Veselka by jebb, on Flickr The snack stand, formerly known as Le Kiosk, is now run by Vesel- ka, the popular East Village Ukrainian diner, and serves an abbreviated version of their menu.

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Peretz Square

russ and daughters by Zanco Panco, on Flickr Named in 1952 for Isaac Loeb Peretz (1851-1915), a Jewish Pole who has been called the father of modern Jewish literature.















W <===         EAST HOUSTON STREET         ===> E
The southern boundary of the East Village.

West:

Corner (161 E Houston): Oliva, cozy Spanish restaurant

205: Mole Mexican Bar & Grill. Was Isla Del Encanto, deli.













































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Allen Street Lower East Side New York by Rafael Chamorro, on Flickr

In part to improve Allen Street's bad repu- tation (it was part of the Lower East Side's red-light district), the street was widened in 1932 and a median put in in an effort to create a Park Avenue-like effect. All the buildings on the east side of the street were demolished for this project. The street is just now beginning to recover from this ill-conceived plan. Obligatory by hilisapie, on Flickr

Corner (200 Allen): Sugar Cafe is an eclectic 24-hour neo-diner in the former Economy Foam & Futon space, which was founded here in 1937 and is now on 8th Street. A huge American Apparel ad looms over the restaurant. Pala by roboppy, on Flickr

198: Pala, Roman- style pizza

196: Rock- wood Music Hall, rock club. Actor/playwright Nicole Dufresne worked here as a bartender the night she was murdered on the corner of Clinton and Rivington.

188: Bar-B, DJ lounge

Corner (82 Stanton): Epstein's Bar, burger-and-beer joint named for the Welcome Back Kotter character (and not, they say, for the Epstein-Barr virus). Was The Living Room, acoustic-music club now on Ludlow.


W <===     STANTON STREET     ===> E

West:







165: Dish, fancy foods at affordable prices.

163: The address of Parkway East, a legendary Roumanian steakhouse. Allen Street by emily geoff, on Flickr

157: Happy Happy Happy, dairy-free and gluten-free desserts







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Bluestockings

bluestockings by alexa627, on Flickr

172: A progressive bookstore and activist resource center. The name is a 19th Century term for "a woman with strong scholarly or literary interests." This was also the site of Surf Reality, an experimental theater space of the sort that can no longer afford to be on the Lower East Side.

158: Jutta Neumann makes remarkable things out of leather.

152: Moo Shoes, vegan footwear. Founded 2001, moved to LES 2003.


W <===     RIVINGTON STREET     ===> E

West:



143: Two-and-a-half story brick building, built in 1831. Landmarked in 2010. Daytonian has more.

133: Formerly the Allen Street Baths; between 1905 and 1988, an estimated 4 million baths were taken here. Now houses the Church of Grace to Fujianese NY, a Chinese immigrant congregation.



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Eastern edge of chinatown by Martin Haesemeyer, on Flickr

120 (corner): Full Wedding Service Center


W <===     DELANCEY STREET     ===> E

West:




Fried Dumpling-Allen Street by Harris Graber, on Flickr

99: Fried Dumpling is one of the cheapest places to eat in town--recommended by the Voice's Robert Sietsema.

95: Lucky's Restaurant




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Congee Village by roboppy, on Flickr

98: Congee Village Bar, noted for outstanding karaoke rooms, as well as for tourist-challenging dishes like pork-stomach porridge and steamed fish head. This used to be the address of EastSide Sound, a recording studio now on Forsyth Street.


W <===     BROOME STREET     ===> E

West:



85: Herbalica

83: Paramount Variety Goods Center

81: Leyartte Bakery grand-and-allen-streets by dandeluca, on Flickr

Corner (302-306 Grand): Grand Home Center; Rui Hui Books; Sunny Fashion Trading

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88: Natural Restaurante

















W <===     GRAND STREET     ===> E

West:

















45 (corner):

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62-70 (corner): This building, an 1876 French Empire structure, was E. Ridley & Son, which claimed in 1886 to be the country's largest retail store. Founded as a small dry goods store here in 1850, Ridley's moved uptown in 1901. A fire badly damaged the building in 1905, and one side was removed for the 1932 widening of Allen Street.

On November 23, 1859, No. 70, the corner address, was the birthplace of Henry McCarty--better known as Billy the Kid. McCarty moved west with his family in 1865, where he later killed 21 men under the name William Bonney.

No. 62 is now Atlantis Seafood Wholesale.

40: Lobster Farm


W <===     HESTER STREET     ===> E

West:

37: Time Art in Glass

27: This building, now a garage, served as a stable for Ridley's department store.

21: Mr. Tall Coffee & Bakery, Chinese/American

17: The Voice of Fujianes, immigrant magazine

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W <===     CANAL STREET     ===> E

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11: Proton Saga Malaysian Restaurant

3: Sentosa Malaysian Restaurant

1 (corner): beat your kids! neckface by spinachdip, on Flickr
Tay Shing Corp. This used to be the head- quarters of the Manhattan Railway Co., which used to have a line up 2nd Avenue starting at Chatham Square.

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10 (corner): 328 Grand Supply Inc.


8: Happy Cafe















W <===     DIVISION STREET     ===> E

West:

2 (block): There's a Mobil station here.

chinatown east broadway street by stevehuang7, on Flickr

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east-broadway-and-allen by dandeluca, on Flickr

Corner (120 East Broadway): Wedding Garden Studio


W <===     EAST BROADWAY     ===> E

West:

Corner (109 East Broadway): Night Market on East Broadway by moriza, on Flickr
Was the Hong Kong Super- market, which collapsed after a fire on May 14, 2009.




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Corner (123 East Broadway): First American International Bank

15: Was the Pike Street Synagogue, a Classic Revival building from 1903 that housed the Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie. Eddie Cantor was bar mitzvahed here in 1905. Now a Buddhist temple.









W <===     HENRY STREET     ===> E

West:











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W <===     MADISON STREET     ===> E

West:






W <===     MONROE ST

Coleman Square Playground

The Manhattan Bridge bisects this rare bit of Lower East Side green space.

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Rutgers Houses

playground, Rutgers Houses by 2613 say yeah!, on Flickr

61 (block): An NYC Housing Authority development built in 1965, with five 20-story buildings housing 721 apartment with more than 1,600 residents. It's named for Henry Rutgers (1745-1830), a local landowner and brewer who used to own a large farm on what is now the Lower East Side, including the land this project is built on. He also gave his name to the New Jersey university.


W <===     CHERRY STREET     ===> E

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W <===     SOUTH STREET     ===> E

W <===     FDR DRIVE     ===> E







EAST RIVER







What's missing on 1st Avenue? Write to Jim Naureckas and tell him about it.

Topography: Thirst Avenue is a collectively produced guide to 1st Avenue drinking establishments.

Allen Street: A Journey Through Chinatown.

Allen Street posts on the Manhattan Street Project, a photoblog

New York Songlines Home.

Sources for the Songlines.

NYSonglines' Facebook Fan Page.

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