Tag Archives: Murray Hill Brownstones

Day One Hundred and Seventy-Two: Walking the Avenues of Murray Hill from Madison to First Avenues August 14th, 2020

I have recently been reading articles about New York City and how ‘dead’ it has become and how ‘it will never come back this time’. It’s funny when people who did not come into New York in the 1970’s and early 80’s or were even born remember what we went through when visiting Manhattan. Some residents who came into the City in the last ten years see a much different place than what I remembered in all my years working on Macy’s on 34th Street. It was ‘no miracle in 1990’s when I started in the Buying offices and Seventh Avenue after 6:00pm was no better when left the store for home.

Ford to the City

That famous cover from so many years ago

Still by doing this walking project I don’t see a ‘dead city”. I see a City going through another transition and adaption. New York City is unique in the way it changes over time. When I walked the streets of Manhattan at Christmas just nine months ago, I saw a City again in the process of changing. I had never seen so many homeless out on the streets and saw the streets and avenues get dirty again. This started the last two years under Mayor Bloomberg and continued under the current mayor.  I was not too sure what was happening or why it was changing considering all the building going on and renovations in parks, squares and pathways around the City.

Still as I started to walk the Avenues of Murray Hill, I did not see a ‘dead city’. I saw vibrancy and energy on each block. I saw adaption in restaurants with outdoor dining and delivery. I saw stores open to limited people but still open and display their wares with zest. I saw hopelessness next to enthusiasm but the one thing I didn’t see was everyone giving up.

Bryant Park waking up after a long slumber.

From the delivery guys from Grub Hub piling up orders to the men and women meeting their friends socially distanced at outdoor cafes all over the neighborhood to the little girl who was shooting hoops (and hitting every basket) in St. Vartan Park that afternoon. There is still resilience and things to do and get done in Murray Hill and all over New York City.

I really had a nice time walking around Murray Hill the other day and started today with a plan to walk all the Avenues of the neighborhood. Again I was amazed how quiet the City was this afternoon but more people are starting to sit in Bryant Park and the lines for the bathrooms there (the public bathrooms there are still the best in NYC) are getting longer.

Bryant Park Bathrooms

The Bryant Park bathrooms; they should all be like this

I am starting to see tourists slowly coming back as I am seeing more selfies in Midtown. Not like Christmas (not at all) but still slowly coming back in. There are still a lot of people (masks included) walking around the City taking pictures, searching for an open restaurant and sunning themselves in the park.

Bryant Park is still alive with people and flora

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bryant-park

I started the walk today walking down Eighth Avenue to see if some of the restaurants on my ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com site was still open. Restaurants have been closing like crazy, but the small places still have staying power.

Check out the blog:

https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/

Fu Xing at 273 West 38th Street (now closed 2021)

I stopped for an early morning snack at Fu Xing at 273 West 38th Street for some roast pork buns ($1.20) which they make homemade and when they come fresh out of the oven are amazing. They are soft and sweet on the outside and filled with freshly chopped roast pork. I ordered two and munched on them on the walk around Bryant Park. I was just happy that all the places in the Garment District are still open.

Fu Xing buns

The assorted buns at Fu Xing are available in the mornings and late afternoons

I took these wonderful little treats on my walk around the Garment District and back up to West 42nd Street and then cut across town back to the borders of Murray Hill. I started my walk again at the front of New York Public Library admiring the architecture of Fifth Avenue and passing it on my way to Madison Avenue.

When I was walking Fifth Avenue, even after all these years, it feels like I am seeing it for the first time. With not many people walking on the sidewalks, you have more time to look up and admire what is right in front of you. I never realized how from 34th to 42nd Streets was such a prominent shopping district before the move further up Fifth Avenue. The buildings reflect how retailers took themselves more seriously about setting up shop and how the exteriors should match the importance of the interiors. They were merchants that were there to stay (now mostly gone with the closing of Lord & Taylor).

The former Lord & Taylor Department Store headquarters on Fifth Avenue

http://www.thedepartmentstoremuseum.org/2010/05/lord-taylor.html

Madison Avenue is still an important advertising and communications business neighborhood with many current office building renovations to workers who may or may not come back after the pandemic. It was really creepy to not see more than ten people walking down the Avenue.

I could not believe how many restaurants had closed and stores that have not reopened. The problem is that with all the office workers gone, the foot traffic during lunch went with it. So many restaurants that were packed just a few months packed up and closed. Still there are many bright spots that make Madison Avenue so unique.

The Library Hotel at 299 Madison Avenue at 41st Street is a beautiful spot on the Avenue with music drifting from the main lobby and outdoor tables from the cafe spilling on to the sidewalk with a few people dining in the early afternoon.

The Library Hotel at 299 Madison Avenue

https://libraryhotel.com/en/

Their outdoor restaurant, Madison & Vine is a beautiful little cafe with an interesting menu and the few people dining there looked like they were having a nice time. I will have to try it in the future (I had lunch here later on when walking the neighborhood in 2020-See review on TripAdvisor).

Madison & Vine at the Library Hotel

https://www.madisonandvinenyc.com/

The hotel is housed in a former office building designed in the ‘sliver design’ facing East 41st Street across the street from the New York Public Library. The hotel is designed in the ‘Neo-Gothic style’ in 1912. Many of these historic office buildings have been turned into hotels while historic hotels like The Plaza and The Waldorf-Astoria are being turned into condos.

Madison Avenue in the East 40’s is mostly office buildings but here and there are architectural gems tucked here and there left over from the Gilded Age. At 205-209 Madison Avenue is the Church of the Incarnation, an Episcopal church that was built in 1896. The original church had been built in 1865 but was destroyed by fire in 1882.

The Church of the Incarnation

The original design for the church was designed by architect Emlen T. Littel and after the fire all that survived were the walls and the tower. The redesign of the church was built by architect David Jardine and added many of the features seen today. Many prominent ‘old families’ of New York were parishioners here like the Sedgwick’s, Delano’s and Roosevelt’s. Take time to look at the church’s details and stained-glass windows (Wiki).

The church is now an historic landmark

Further down Madison Avenue are reminders of the ‘Gilded Age’ in the form of the Morgan and De Lamar mansions built at a time when money was no object and there were no income taxes. These palaces of gracious living were a reminder of people who wanted to show their place in the world and Society welcome them with open arms (if Mrs. Astor allowed it).

The church’s gardens to the side of the church.

The De Lamar Mansion, which is now the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland of New York since 1973. was built by C. P.H. Gilbert in the ‘Beaux-Arts style’ for millionaire Joseph Raphael De Lamar, a Dutch born sea merchant who made his fortune in mining and metallurgy. The home was completed in 1905. By the time the mansion was finished, he and his wife divorced, and he lived in the house for another eight years until his death in 1918. The mansion was sold by his daughter shortly after on her move to Park Avenue (Wiki).

The De Lamar Mansion (now the Polish Consulate) at Madison Avenue & East 37th Street

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Raphael_De_Lamar_House

Jan Karski Statue

Jan Karski Statue outside the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland/De Lamar Mansion

The statue is of Jan Karski who was a courier who served as part of the Anti-Nazi Resistance in German occupied Poland during WWII. The statue was created by Polish artist Karol Badyna. The statue was dedicated in 2007 (Big Apple Secrets).

Karol Badyna artist

Artist Karol Badyna

https://badyna.pl/

Karol Badyna is a Polish born artist who has studied at the Post-Secondary School of Conservation of Works of Art and Sculpture at Monuments Conservation Studio in Krakow, Poland. He currently serves a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts (Artist bio).

Jan Karski I

Jan Karski Polish Diplomat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Karski

The Morgan Library & Library is at 225 Madison Avenue is a wonderful little museum that holds the art and library collection of J.P. Morgan, the famous banker. The museum is made up of three buildings, the original library that JPMorgan built before he died, the annex building where the bulk of the museum collection is located and the brownstone mansion where the Morgan Dining Room and gift shop are located.

The first part of the building was the Italianate brownstone on the corner of Madison Avenue and East 37th Street that was built by Isaac Newton Phelps in 1854 who left it to his daughter upon his death. It was bought by J.P. Morgan for his son, J.P. Morgan II who lived there from 1905-1943. It houses the Morgan Dining Room and the gift shop (Wiki).

The Morgan Library & Museum-The Phelps Mansion and the Annex

https://www.themorgan.org/

The Morgan Library’s Annex building in the middle of the Museum was built on top of the original family mansion and was built by Benjamin Wistar Morris. This is where the exhibition hall and theater is located (Morgan Library Museum).

The last part of the building is the Morgan Library that houses the manuscript collection and artworks. The building was designed in the ‘Classic Revival Style’ by Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White. The building was finished in 1907 (Wiki).

The former J. P. Morgan mansion is now the Morgan Library Museum.

The Morgan Library Museum Annex and Library buildings

The inside of the Morgan Library Museum Annex

On the corner of Madison Avenue and East 34th is the old B. Altman Department store, the final location for the iconic department store that closed in 1989. The store was the brainchild of merchant Benjamin Altman. The store was designed by Trowbridge & Livingston in 1906-1913 expanding from Fifth to Madison Avenues. The store was designed in the ‘Italian Renaissance style’ (Wiki).

The former B. Altman & Company at the Fifth Avenue entrance

http://www.thedepartmentstoremuseum.org/2010/05/b-altman-co-new-york-city.html

The store was known for its exclusive designs, Couture clothing, its elegant wooden interiors, Christmas window displays and the famous Charleston Gardens Restaurant.

Charleston Gardens at B. Altman & Company

The Charleston Gardens Restaurant at B. Altman & Company

Walking back up Madison Avenue, I notice another sculpture that popped out at me. The sculpture of “Eight” by artist Robert Indiana located in front of 261 Madison Avenue.

Eight by Robert Indiana

Artist Robert Indiana was an American born artist who was involved with the ‘Pop Art’ Movement. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Edinburgh College of Art (Wiki). He looked at art with images of small-town America with the visual image of High Art. The result was what he called a “verbal visual forms’ (MIA).

Robert Indiana artist

http://robertindiana.com/chronology/

I rounded the corner from Madison Avenue to the open blocks of lower Park Avenue seeing Grand Central guarding over the Avenue. This beautiful ‘Beaux Arts Style’ building seems to define the elegance that is Park Avenue.

Grand Central Station defines Park Avenue with its elegance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Terminal

Just walking down Park Avenue you can see the difference in the way the Avenue portray’s itself with its elegant office buildings, Gilded Age mansions tucked here and there, private clubs and interesting pieces of street art creating an ‘open air’ museum to walk through.

Just outside of 90 Park Avenue is the interesting artwork “The Couple” by artist Arthur Carter. Mr. Carter’s extraordinary life took him from the military to Wall Street to publishing to farming to art. A Brown and Dartmouth graduate from a financial background is pretty much self-taught. His works are very impressive and this work does stand out.

“The Couple” by artist Arthur Carter in 1999

Arthur Carter Artist

Artist Arthur Carter

http://www.arthurcarter.com/about

Retrospect on the Arthur Carter’s work

the corner of Park Avenue and East 37th Street on the side of a building is the plaque for the home of the Murray family mansion (which the neighborhood is named after) ‘Inclenberg’, that once stood on the site.

Murray Hill Mansion II

The plaque to the Murray home “Inclenberg”

The Murray family were merchants and prominent business people at the time of the Revolutionary War. Robert Murray’s wife, Mary Lindley Murray, had delayed General Howe’s troops by several hours letting the Patriots escape by serving wine, tea and cake to the British soldiers and entertaining them with music and conversation (Wiki and Untapped Cities).

Murray Hill Mansion V

Mary Lindley Murray entertaining the British at her home

The Murray's home, Inclenberg

The Murray Mansion ‘Inclenberg’ now the site of Park Avenue and East 37th Street

The continued walk on Park Avenue brought me to the Union League Club at 38 East 37th Street. The club was founded in 1863 by former members of the Union Club who did not like the Pro-Southern activities of club members and created their own club with the Union League Club. The current clubhouse was designed by member Benjamin Wistar Morris and opened in 1931.

The elegance of the Union League Club at 38 East 37th Street

https://www.unionleagueclub.org/

The club’s historic plaque

At 23 Park Avenue, another elegant mansion graces the beauty of Park Avenue and a reminder of its Gilded Age past. The home was designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White with architect Stanford White leading the design. The home was built in 1890 for retired Senator James Hampden Robb and his wife Cornelia Van Rensselaer Robb. The mansion is now a co-op (Street Easy & Wiki).

23 Park Avenue-The Cornelia Robb House.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robb_House_(New_York_City)

Another Gilded Age mansion is now the Guatemala UN Mission at 57 Park Avenue was once the Adelaide T. Townsend Douglas mansion. She had been the wife of William Proctor Douglas, a Capitalist and rumored to be the mistress of JPMorgan, the banker. Never divorcing her husband, she continued on as a New York Socialite (Untapped Cities).

The mansion was designed by architect Horace Trumbauer in the ‘French Classical style’ and it was completed in 1911. In 1978, the house was sold after several owners to the Guatemala UN Mission as their headquarters to the United Nations (Daytonian).

57 Park Avenue-Guatemala UN Mission & the former Townsend Mansion

https://streeteasy.com/building/adelaide-l-t-douglas-residence

The detail work on the home is so detailed.

One of the little treasures I found on Park Avenue though was the alleyway of the Church of our Savior at 59 Park Avenue. This beautiful church has hidden off to the side of the building a tiny alleyway with a garden with statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. It is such a nice tranquil place to relax and think that I did not want to leave. It was a relaxing reprieve from the hustle of the City.

The Church of Our Savior at 59 Park Avenue-Check out the garden alleyway

The entrance to the church.

https://oursaviournyc.org/

The church’s details on the outside of the building.

The garden is tucked in to the side of the building and hidden from Park Avenue unless you walk past it. It is really a hidden gem in the City and a nice place to relax on a hot day.

The hidden garden of the church from the entrance at Park Avenue.

The view from the back of the garden.

The Virgin Mary Memorial in the garden.

The garden is a perfect to reflect on life.

Another building that stands out is 41 Park Avenue owned by the Stonehenge NYC. This beautiful and elegant building was built in 1950 and has all the pre-war details.

41 Park Avenue

47 Park Avenue

https://www.stonehengenyc.com/buildings/41-park

The plaque to artist Ara Starck where the hidden artwork on the canopy is unique.

Artist Ara Starck

https://www.arastarck.com/about

Artist Ara Starck is a French born artist who takes a very non-conformist and almost ghostly approach to her creative works (Artist website).

The artwork by Ara Starck

The artwork from another perspective.

I was in a mood most of the morning because of some past events of the week and as I passed a small cafe on the corner of Park Avenue and 40th Street I heard a familiar song from the 1980’s that reminded me of college and immediately put me back in a good mood. It is amazing the power of the memories of songs.

‘Once in a Lifetime’ by Talking Heads

I was humming all the way to Lexington Avenue. The rest of the day just seemed so much better. The song brought me back to my wonderful college years.

Lexington Avenue was quiet for most of my walk down to East 34th Street. Lexington Avenue between it and Park Avenue has some of the most beautiful brownstones on the side streets. It looks like a classic New York neighborhood. That runs between about East 40th to East 36th Streets and then gets more commercial as you get closer to 34th Street.

Murray Hill Brownstones at East 36th Street

East 38th Street in Murray Hill

What I was surprised by is the number of restaurants that closed their doors on Lexington Avenue. I never saw so many for rent signs on buildings before. Some well-known neighborhood places like House of Lasagna were shut at the time of my visit.

House of Lasagna at 334 Lexington Avenue

Home

The menu at the restaurant.

On a recent visit to the neighborhood in 2021, I went to dinner at the House of Lasagna after it reopened for business. I thought the restaurant was really nice and the service was excellent, but the lasagna was okay. I had the Lasagna Bolognese, and it was just okay. I am not too sure it warrants another trip, but I am willing to try it in the future.

One restaurant going strong with outdoor dining with a creative menu is Hunan Manor (now Hunan Village) at 339 Lexington Avenue. I saw some of the patrons eating outside and their Soup Dumplings and Chicken dishes that I saw people eating for lunch looked really good. Another restaurant for the bucket list. I finally ate in the restaurant in May of 2021 when it reopened under a new name and new owners.

The lunch specials here are very reasonable and the food was very good that afternoon. I had a General Tso’s Chicken lunch special with Vegetable Fried Rice and Hot & Sour Soup. I thought the meal was delicious, but they put all of their food on cold plates, so the food got cold fast. The place was empty as this section of the City is still opening up in May of 2021.

Hunan Manor Restaurant NYC

Hunan Manor Restaurant at 339 Lexington Avenue (now Hunan Village)

https://www.hunanvillagenewyork.com/

The General Tso and Fried Rice special at Hunan Village.

Walking down Lexington Avenue was very different from Fifth, Madison and Park Avenues with their unusual architecture, interesting parks and street art. It was more of a combination of low-rise buildings and commercial spots. There was one standout though and that was the Sailors Club at 283 Lexington Avenue.

Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Club

283 Lexington Avenue-The Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club

http://ssmaclub.org/

The Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club is the only private club of its kind to provide accommodations at a subsidized rate for service men and women and retirees, veterans and their families visiting New York (Club website). The club was founded in 1919 by Cornelia Barnes Rogers and Eleanor Butler Alexander Roosevelt with General John J. Pershing. The club is housed in two 1880 twin brownstones that once served the area as upper middle-class housing (Club website and Wiki). Towards 34th Street you will enter the midtown campus of Yeshiva University.

Walking back up Lexington Avenue, you can see how both Lexington and Third Avenue are quickly changing. Gone are all the low rise and smaller buildings and their businesses giving way to large office high rises and commercial spots. The small rise buildings are being razed for larger buildings.

Here and there on Third Avenue are pockets of the old neighborhood below East 38th Street but the neighborhood is changing to a more modern commercial area. There are more smaller businesses as you get closer to 34th Street. One older restaurant, Sarges Delicatessen & Diner at 548 Lexington Avenue has been around since 1964. It offers traditional deli items such as Matzo-ball Soup and over-sized sandwiches. The restaurant was the idea of retired NYPD Sargent Abe Katz, who loved Jewish style cooking and wanted to open a deli when he retired. The family has been carrying his tradition for all these years offering many dishes made from scratch in-house (Meat & Poultry-Fox 2019).

Sarges Deli Third Avenue

Sarges Delicatessen & Diner at 548 Lexington Avenue

https://sargesdeli.com/

All around Sarges though the neighborhood continues to morph into a commercial neighborhood where skyscraper office buildings are becoming the norm. Here and there tough are little touches of artistic creativity.

The sculpture “Windward” is sitting just outside an office building at 655 Lexington Avenue by artist Jan Peter Stern.

Windward Jan Peter Stern

“Windward” at 655 Third Avenue

Jan Peter Stern was a German born American artist who specialized in contemporary, politically influenced artist of the Post-War era. He graduated from Syracuse with a degree in Industrial Design and married to artist Irene Stern.

http://www.artatsite.com/NewYork/details/Stern_Jan_Peter_Windward_contemporary_statue_Art_at_Site_New_York.html

The changes of Lexington and Third Avenues in the East 40’s is also changing the complexity of Second Avenue as well. In the upper parts of the neighborhood, the small buildings and brownstones that set the character as one of the last bastions of ‘old New York’ are giving way to office buildings and apartment high-rises. Second Avenue to me from 100th to 34th Streets still represent ‘old New York’ to me with the smaller buildings with character and the ‘mom and pop’ stores that still line the Avenue.

In the East 30’s there are still the quintessential small brownstone and low-rise buildings with many ‘for rent signs’. A lot of the smaller ‘mom and pop’ have closed with the ravages of COVID-19 or just have not reopened. Some of the smaller restaurants have opened outdoor cafes and with the NYU Langone Hospital around the corner, there is a small lunch business when I visited but most workers take their lunches to the open garden courts and then get back to work. Still there is a lot of character to this part of the neighborhood.

One of the standouts in the lower part of the Murray Hill between Second and First Avenues is St. Vartan’s Park. This small oasis of green is very popular with families in this part of the neighborhood.

St. Vartan Park is between Second and First Avenues at East 35th Street

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/st-vartan-park

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/st-vartan-park/history

The park is always busy on a warm day.

The park is named after the Armenian Orthodox Church nearby, St. Vartan Cathedral which is a nod to the neighborhood’s Armenian heritage (NYCParks). The park has a wonderful basketball court, playground and lawn space to run around on. The bathrooms were shut which was not helpful but still a nice place to just relax under a tree.

St. Vartan Armenian Church at 630 Second Avenue

It was just nice to sit and relax both when I was walking Second and First Avenues. The shade trees blocked the sun and there were nice benches to sit down on and watch everyone playing basketball and paddle ball.

What really caught my attention was at the other end of the basketball court was this little girl who could not have been older than four throwing the basketball into the adult hoop. What was amazing was that she made it every time! I could not believe it. She would just throw it and it went right into the basket with no problems. I was mystified by it all how she did it.

St. Varta Park between First and Second Avenue

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/st-vartan-park

After some rest in the park, it was time to finish the walk with a stroll down First Avenue which I made on my border walk of the neighborhood a few days earlier.  The upper parts of First Avenue like everything between Lexington and Second Avenue is going through a big transition and must have been before the COVID-19 pandemic with the upper sections of the neighborhood. The low-rise buildings are giving way to new office and apartment buildings that offer views of the river and the changing Brooklyn and Queens skylines.

The New York Public Library and Murray Hill during the day.

Just like the rest of the City during the Pandemic, the Murray Hill is quietly changing and morphing into a new neighborhood. It will be interesting to see what will develop here in the future. Like a flower in the Spring, it will show its ‘true beauty’ in the future.

The Murray Hill skyline at night

Midtown at night

Please read my other blogs on walking the Murray Hill neighborhood:

My walk of the Borders of Murray Hill on August 13th, 2020:

https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/14324

My walk of the Streets of Murray Hill on September 4th-6th, 2020:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/14568

My walk of the Avenues of Murray Hill on August 14th, 2020:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/14465

Places to Eat:

Fu Xing (formerly New Li Yuan) (Closed in 2021)

273 West 38th Street

NYC, NY  10018

(212) 575-6978

http://www.fuxingnyc.com/

Hours: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-5:30pm

My reviews on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d14037661-Reviews-Fu_Xing-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d12562531-Reviews-New_Li_Yuan-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/149

Madison & Vine Restaurant at the Library Hotel

299 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10017

(212) 867-5535

https://libraryhotel.com/en/dining.html

https://www.facebook.com/MadisonAndVine/

Open: Sunday & Saturday Closed/Monday-Friday 12:00pm-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d1020156-Reviews-Madison_Vine-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Hunan Manor (now Hunan Village)

339 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY  10016

(212) 682-2883/2886

Fax: (212) 682-2992

https://www.hunanvillagenewyork.com/

Open: Sunday & Saturday 12:00pm-10:00pm/Monday-Friday 11:30am-10:00pm/Every day from 3:00pm-5:00pm Closed.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d2389603-Reviews-Hunan_Manor_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Pizza and Pita Halal Food (now Previti Pizza)

344 East 34th Street

New York, NY  10016

(212) 679-6161/(212) 679-3183

https://www.pizzaandpita.com/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-11:00pm/Delivery until 1:30am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d4727274-Reviews-Pizza_Pita-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

Sarges Delicatessen & Diner

548 Third Avenue

New York, NY  10016

(212) 679-0442

https://sargesdeli.com/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 11:00am-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d457802-Reviews-Sarge_s_Delicatessen_Diner-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

House of Lasagna

334 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY  10016

(212) 883-9555

Home

Open: Sunday-Saturday 5:00pm-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d425343-Reviews-House_of_Lasagna-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Places to Visit:

Bryant Park

Between Fifth & Sixth Avenues and 40th to 42nd Streets

New York, NY  10018

(212) 639-9675

https://bryantpark.org/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d136347-Reviews-Bryant_Park-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

St. Vartan Park

First Avenue & East 35th Street

New York, NY  10016

(212) 639-9675

Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-11:00pm

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/st-vartan-park/history

Morgan Library & Museum

225 Madison Avenue

New York, NY  10016

(212) 685-0008

https://www.themorgan.org/

Open: Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Friday 10:30am-5:00pm/Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm

Fee: Adults $22.00/Seniors (over 65) $14.00/Current Students with ID $13.00/Free to Members and Children under 12 accompanied by a parent. Free on Friday Nights from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Discount for people with disabilities $13.00-Caregiver Free. review

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d107356-Reviews-The_Morgan_Library_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/visitingamuseum.com/5208

All the street art and architecture I mentioned by Avenue and by Artist. Look up and around the neighborhood when you are walking, or you may miss it.