9th Ave Between 23rd St and 25th St

With well-groomed hedges and sparse building density, the Penn South Mutual Redevelopment Houses make for an interesting juxtaposition to the London Terrace Apartments on the opposite side of the block. While the former is setup as an affordable co-op, it's landscape and use of space is far more pleasant than the exclusive and foreboding London Terrace buildings. Granted, several decades separate the two in terms of initial planning and construction – with Penn South being built in the super-block-happy 60's, but it's still interesting to see how two different groups choose to use the space provided them.

9th Avenue is home to a massive bike lane, whose obnoxious presence is only challenged by the pedestrian plazas recently build up and down Broadway. I'm always in favor of making life better for the car-less in the city (it's in my best interest!), but there simply aren't enough bicyclists to require an entire lane reaching down the west side of Manhattan - especially one with such complicated medians as this one.

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[plumpdumpling]

What in the world is that first picture?! I might ask you to send it to me when I finally get my new blog, www.lostandlonelyleftovers.com, up and running.