Henry St Between Catherine St and Pike St

Starting on a dark, quiet lane, Henry Street is a bustling mixture of stores, apartments and restaurants. In a way it's appears very similar to the old New York neighborhoods from the early 20th Century. Without a chain store in sight, the entire area seems completely self-sufficent, relying on a number of unique services that are almost all locally-owned. Likewise, there are hardly any commercial buildings. All the storefronts have apartments sitting directly on top of them and very few of the buildings reach above six stories. With a bit of re-dressing, you could probably shoot a period movie here without much trouble. 

The main attraction (or distraction) here is the Manhattan Bridge. Leaping right over the center of the block with it's long approach ramp, it's a bit of an ominous structure. Every few minutes you can hear an N, Q, B or D train rumble overhead, adding to the dread. Walking under it, I had a strange sense of déjà vu when I noticed how similar it was to the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge. Built in the same decade, the Queensboro shares a handful of structural similarities, including stone archways which jump over the street. In this case, I also noticed how similar the neighborhood below the anchorage was. Up on 59th Street the Queensboro market is home to a beautiful Food Emporium which sits inside the bridge itself. Down here the Manhattan Bridge has a supermarket sitting directly underneath it as well. Though, the vast cultural differences of the Lower East Side and the Upper East Side make it an easy comparison to miss; really they they only share a common function. Aesthetically the two markets are worlds apart.