Ave C Between Houston St and 4th St

    

Very few neighborhoods are as well-defined as Alphabet City. You get a distinct feeling that you've crossed over some boundary once you pass Houston and make your way up Avenue C. Historically close-knit and rugged, Alphabet City maintains a flavor all its own. Though that's starting to change little by little. You can start to see signs of gentrification taking root with shiny new apartment buildings, which look completely out of place amongst the older New York standbys.

Between Houston and 2nd Street the narrow triangle formed as Ave C works its way northward is occupied by a Mobil station – a rare sight in Manhattan. Normally gas stations are relegated to the outermost reaches of the borough– this one manages to sit itself inland by two blocks.

1st Ave Between 7th St and 9th St

   

A block away from the tree-filled oasis of Ave A and Tompkins Square, the decidedly different First Avenue shares only a handful of things in common with it's eastern cousin. While much of the "indy" village feeling it present, the overdevelopment of the past decade or so has left this stretch of blocks looking like a battered line of trendy storefronts, each catering to another fad of the past 10 years.

Cutting right through St. Mark's Place, the street is lined with a rainbow of colorful storefronts–mostly restaurants. A few surprises along the way, such as a used record store, help to remind you that you're in the east village, where a premium is placed on impractical businesses simply for the sake of nostalgia and authenticity.

Ridge St Between Delancey St and Houston St

In the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge, this short street acts as a conduit between the Lower East Side and Alphabet City. Half of its entire length is dominated by two grade schools – the southernmost of which features an interesting round building and a large open playground. The remainder of the block seems to be in a struggle between modern and vintage as new buildings bully their way in between classic-looking New York walk-ups.

Dark, dingy and just a little bit sketchy, the street is exactly what you'd expect from the Lower East Side. The schools bring a bit of whimsy, but they're fighting a losing battle. There are a series of local shops, none of which look terribly inviting, but I'm sure carry a local following just-the-same. Approaching Houston Street, there's a feeling of relief, as if you've just walked out of the desert to find a vast world of riches…or in this case gas stations.

4th St Between Ave A and 1st Ave

How is it that a neighborhood generally personified by its unchanging landscape and classic architecture finds itself overtaken by a series of superblocks at the very last moment? These large housing projects feel so utterly out-of-place amongst the shorter tenements that dominate the rest of Alphabet City that it made me wonder whether or not the neighborhood began before or after Avenue A. In a strange way, I would feel better if these buildings weren't considered part of the same neighborhood but rather were simply a block away in a different world.

The middle of this block is home to a classic-looking New York school, P.S. 751, which is also known as the Manhattan School For Career Development. Right next door to the school is McKinley Playground. Now, maybe it's me, but would you name a place of recreation after a man who looked like this? Like several other streets in the area, this wide open block allows for an abundance of street parking, making it feel more like a garage than a street.

Tompkins Square Park

This week I decided to take advantage of Saturday's perfect weather and dedicate all the posts to a few choice Manhattan parks. Enjoy!

With a rich history of riots and general disorder, the Tompkins Square Park of today stands in stark contrast to its previous incarnations. Really it's only been the last decade or two that the 10-acre plot has enjoyed a relatively calm existence. Like many other parks in the city, Tompkins was affected by the economic turmoil which engulfed New York in the 70's, causing it to go into a prototypical downfall. The seediness of Alphabet City at the time only aided in Tompkins' bad image.

Though the park saw plenty of conflicts throughout the past 150 years, the most recent took place in 1988. In an attempt to remove drug dealers and vagrants, police descended upon the park – however due to a mixture of bad communication and a ridiculous number of homeless people the entire situation devolved very quickly. 

The park as we know it today is, of course, a result of Robert Moses's grand scheme to redesign the entire metropolitan area. Featuring playgrounds, various game courts, plenty of open grass space and walkways all the way around the perimeter the park is very friendly to activities of all sorts.

It's a formidable feature of the neighborhood; one you'll find hard to avoid regardless of where in Alphabet City you find yourself walking around. Looking down from above, the park is literally in the center of everything – even lining up with the 14th Street loop up in Stuyvesant Town.

Perhaps the biggest issue troubling the park today is the sheer influx of people. No longer a (major) harbor for creeps and meth heads, gentrification has made it a family-friendly place where kids run and scream as fast and as loud as they can. In many ways, Tomkins Square Park is indiscernible from any other neighborhood park...it's safe, clean, and utterly plagued by sameness.

 

2nd St Between Ave A and 1st Ave

Really just a stretch that moonlights as a glorified parking lot, this first part of 2nd street after exiting Alphabet City has little to offer. Being extra wide the block is unique with its diagnol parking arrangemet - something you'll rarely see in the space-deprived lower east side.

Besides endless cars, you'll also find some religious institutions lining the southern half of the street. Even more parking lots seperate the buildings allowing glimpses of Houston St. Near the ends of the block there are a few hookah bars, but nothing of particular note.