6th Avenue Between Lispenard St and Canal St

   

Canal Street has this gravitational pull which has the potential to suck all life from any surrounding area. While blocks like this suffer from a drought of things to do or see (save for a restaurant or business or two), Canal is positively overflowing with crap and people – causing a bottleneck that is almost impossible to escape from. I'll grant that this isn't aways true, and the sphere of influence is limited to only a few blocks, but it's a noticeable effect.

The neighborhood has some stunning old-world architecture which is being offset by a collection of very strange modern buildings. Personally I like this sort of dichotomy, but I can understand the cries of New Yorkers who lament to loss of previous marvels.