Monroe St Between Market St and Catherine St

Just beyond the traditional reaches of Chinatown, and in between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, the short staccato existence that is Monroe Street sits. Monroe really only spans two full blocks; beyond that it pops up only as a small side street a few blocks to the east. This is the longer of the two main stretches and is mainly home to a large apartment development on the south side of the block. The north side is a more traditional combination of low-rise structures, new buildings, and a church.

Despite not officially being Chinatown, the cultural influences of the neighborhood still reign here. The majority of the stores and shops sport bilingual signs. The south side of the street with the apartments had a number of basement community centers, as well as some offices. There were a number of gates which seemed to lead into some nice communal green spaces.

Perhaps it was just the time of day I visited, but there wasn't much light reaching the street, and there weren't a whole lot of trees to place the blame on either.  The towering apartments really cut out a lot of the natural space, especially being this close to the waterfront. Though, the Verizon building looming in the distance didn't help much either.