89th St Between Madison Ave and Park Ave

A suspiciously quiet street, this stretch of 89th is practically devoid of any commercial property. Perhaps the only outstanding feature is the Church of St. Thomas More on the north side of the block.

Shady (in the the good way), and short (in the bad way), it's book-ended by the two avenues I tend to do the most complaining about. With buses to the west, and traffic to the east, you can almost feel trapped here.

82nd St Between 3rd Ave and Lexington Ave

Narrow and shady (in the good way), this block has a bit more going on than your typical stretch in Carnegie Hill. With a few restaurants, you're certainly not stranded in a sea of apartment buildings as can sometimes happen up here. And the apartments that are here, aren't so bad.  Most are older buildings which have plenty of detailing to make them worth a second glance.

The western side of the block has the fantastic Lascoff Pharmacy, which the likes of Forgotten NY, and Jeremiah's Vanishing New York have covered far better than I could ever hope to. Though, I think Jeremiah puts it best when he said:

In a city overrun by Duane Reades, sterile and bland, walking into Lascoff's Pharmacy on Lexington and 82nd is like being in The Wizard of Oz when everything goes from black-and-white to brilliant Technicolor.

While I've said before that I don't share the same bleak, hopeless view of commercialism that many other city bloggers have– I couldn't agree more with the sentiment put forward there.

Park Ave Between 84th St and 86th St

I'm always impressed with how generally restrained the skyline is along Park Avenue. I'm not sure if it has something to do with the Metro-North tracks below the ground here, but practically all the buildings along the street share a similar height. It creates for a nice optical line for your eyes to follow as they all converge on the Helmsley Building downtown.

Of course, this being the part of town that it is there's nothing to be found but fancy apartments, ornate churches, and rows of trees. The same similarities that make for such an interesting skyline also make for a somewhat bland sidewalk. You have to look hard (around corners, down alleys) to find some really interesting gems. But just at a glance, everything blends together – creating one big beige blob of buildings.

5th Ave Between 87th St and 89th St

Smack-dab in the middle of Museum Mile, these two blocks house quite a few cultural institutions – the most notable and noticeable being the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Coming up here on the weekend to take pictures, there's no way not to look like a tourist. Practically everyone on the street can be found posing for or taking photos.  And who can blame them?  With the recent restoration (finished last year), the Guggenheim absolutely glows and makes for a great pic to send home.

There's not much I can say about the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building that hasn't already been said- except that I always enjoy how the stark, modern, rounded structure plays off the pure natural beauty of Central Park.  There's such contrast in environments that you can't help but appreciate both.

83rd St Between Lexington Ave and Park Ave

Amongst the expensive condos and doctors offices, I was really excited to stumble across the Lexington Candy Shop Luncheonette on the corner of 83rd and Lex. Around since the 1920's, the corner shop looks like something I wish I could find everywhere.  Jeremiah's Vanishing New York has a much better write-up on the joint from earlier in the year.

The rest of the block is expectedly plain. Sure, there's a few things here and there, but as I've mentioned numerous times, as one gets closer to Park Avenue the less embellishment and character you're likely to find.

91st St Between Madison Ave and 5th Ave

In order to make my job as complicated and expensive as possible, today's photos were shot on film.

Right off the beaten path of Museum Mile is this relatively empty block– mainly home to some residences and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. While most of the buildings here are older and clearly very expensive, they lack some of the character and intrigue so often found in more affordable areas on the lower east side.

There appeared to be only one restaurant on the street, an organic pizza place (an employee of which seemed none-too-pleased that I was taking photos on a public street *shrug*) which had some quaint signage sitting outside. 

Overall, a quiet block, which makes sense - with central park blocking the street's flow at the end of the block, there aren't many options for cars  (beware of the massive speed bump on the west side of the block).

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