13th St Between Ave A and Ave B

I consider 13th street the first real stretch within the Alphabet City neighborhood (even though 14th exists between avenues A, B & C). With the bustle of Stuyvesant Town a distant echo, much of this block is only just beginning to see the redevelopment that defines much of the nearby Bowery.

As an almost exclusively residential street, I came across a few condo developments nestled in with the low rise apartments. Some of these newer buildings looked completely out-of-place on the character-driven street, as if they were transplanted from Florida.

Trees, plants, graffiti and wall murals are all common sights – as are blue or red-painted bricks. By the time you get to Avenue B, there are almost no new buildings, and much of the neighborhood seems untouched by developers – but for how long is anyone's guess.