New York Songlines: 3rd Avenue

West:

Bloomingdale's

Block: Starting out selling hoop skirts on the Lower East Side in 1861, the Bloomingdale brothers had a proto-department store, the East Side Bazaar, by 1872, which they moved to the corner of 59th and Lexington in 1886. By the 1920s, they had expanded to fill the entire block. It became part of Federated Department Stores (parent company of Macy's), in 1930; the following year the cobbled-together store here was remodeled in a unifying Art Deco style. The store is credited with inventing the designer shopping bag in 1961; Queen Elizabeth shopped here in 1976.

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Cinema I II III

1001: Opened in 1962, I and II were among the most prestigious filmhouses in the 1960s and '70s, with a modernist design by Abraham W. Geller that contrasted sharply with the old movie palace aesthetic. Films like Nashville, The Exorcist, A Clockwork Orange and The Battle of Algiers opened here. A third cinema was squeezed in in 1988.

993: Was The Coronet I & II, movie theater that started out as a nickelodeon called The Arcadia, which became the Baronet; in 1962 another screen was added, and it became the Baronet & Coronet. Closed September 2001, subsequently demolished and replaced by a 27-story apartment building designed by Richard Dattner.

West:

Bloomberg Tower

Block (731 Lexington):
A 55-story banded office tower that houses the billionaire mayor's media company, with condominiums known as One Beacon Court stretching above. Built in 2007 to a Cesar Pelli design.

Previously on the site was Alexander's, the flagship of a discount department store chain founded in 1928 that went bankrupt in 1992; the five-story marble building here was built in 1968 and demolished in 1968. It survives as a real estate company controlled by Vornado (which itself began as the Two Guys discount chain).

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East:

989 (corner): Phil's, men's clothing; Shooz & Soulz, designer shoes

985: Artistic Frames, furniture

983: Samuel & Sons, housewares

D & D Building

979 (corner): The Decoration and Design Building is an 18-story 1965 building with a sawtoothed facade that houses interior design showrooms; David & Earl Levy, architects.

West:

964: Interiors by Royale

958: Gigi Cafe

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969 (corner): Was The Gotham, cinema that began in 1963 as the Trans-Lux East. Last Tango in Paris premiered here. Closed in 2001.

West:

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935 (block): Includes Maurice Villenchy furniture

West:

926 (corner): Ray Bari Pizza, local mini-chain

922: Pig & Whistle, Irish pub

914 (corner): Cafe 55 used to be a bar called The Olde Stand, which was a frequent location on Law and Order.

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919 (corner): Forty-seven stories of black glass designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and completed in 1971. Housed the Eastside Cinema (opened in 1974, closed in 2003), which had midnight showings of Rocky Horror for a while.

P.J. Clarke's

915 (corner): A landmark tavern. The building dates back to at least 1868; it's not clear when the saloon opened, but the well-preserved decor seems to originate in the 1880s or '90s. Patrick J. Clarke, an Irish immigrant, worked here starting c. 1902 and owned the bar from 1912 to 1948.

Appears as Nat's Bar in The Lost Weekend; Charles R. Jackson, whose novel was the basis for the film, was a regular here, as were Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Richard Harris and Jackie Onassis. Johnny Mercer wrote "One More for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" here. The characters on the TV show Mad Men come here to celebrate a promotion.

A celebrated holdout, the building was saved when 919 was built around it, but it lost its top two floors.

West:

906 (corner): Pax Wholesome Foods, Flowers by Nicholas

900 (corner): A 32-story office tower designed by Cesar Pelli and Rafael Vinoly and completed 1983.

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East:

909 (block): Honey- combed cast- concrete office building houses the USPS's Franklin D. Roosevelt Station. Thirty-two stories built 1968, Emery Roth & Sons, architects. The sculpture out front is Ann Gillen's Red Flying Group.

West:

Citicorp Center

880 (block): Fifty-nine stories built in 1977 for the banking giant, designed by Hugh Stubbins Jr. The 45-degree angle on this building's roof--originally intended for solar panels that were never installed--make it one of the most distinctive on the Midtown skyline. Set on four giant columns that allow it to cantilever over St. Peter's Church on Lexington. Includes Houston's, American, and Cucina, Italian; also a Barnes & Noble.

It was the first skyscraper in the United States to feature a tuned mass damper to protect against wind-induced oscillation. Nevertheless, the structure turned out to be dangerously vulnerable to hurricane-force winds, leading to reinforcements that were kept secret for 20 years.

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Lipstick Building

885 (block): A 1986 building of 34 stories by Philip Johnson, given its nickname for its elliptical shape and red granite exterior. Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff used to have his offices here. Wolfgang's Steakhouse is the third New York location of the restaurant chain opened by Wolfgang Zwiener, former headwaiter at the classic Peter Luger's. Used to be the Lipstick Cafe, before that Toscano, Italian.

West:

Marriott Courtyard Midtown East

866 (block): Originally built for Macmillan Publishing, this office tower now houses a Marriott hotel as well as the Memorial Sloan-Kettering outpatient center for cancer care.

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875 (block): This 29-story office building, designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and completed (at long last) in 1983, is described by the AIA Guide as an "octopod invention."

873: The address of Ryan's liquor store, a holdout whose resistance to selling resulted in 875's oddly angled facade. Finally bought out in 1990, along with three neighboring tenements, and replaced with the present plaza.

West:

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Corner: At a boardinghouse at this site in 1934, Albert Fish was arrested for the murder of 10-year-old Grace Budd. Fish has been called "without a doubt the most repugnant criminal in New York history"--a sadomasochistic killer, pedophile and cannibal. He was executed at Sing Sing in 1936.

845 (block): This 21-story Emery Roth & Sons building from 1964 is home to the British Consulate-General.

West:

830 (corner): Girl Scouts Building; on the ground floor is Oren's Daily Roast, local coffee chain.

Corner (155 E 50th): Affinia 50 Hotel, formerly the Plaza 50.

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833 (corner): Pax Wholesome Foods was Kyung's Garden

831: Ess-a-Bagel is said to have some of New York's best bagels. ("Ess" is German for "eat"--as in "delicatessen.")

829: City Best Men's Suits; Liberty Cafe

827: Al Bustan ("The Orchard"), Lebanese

825 (corner): This 40-story Emery Roth & Sons tower, built in 1969, is known as the Random House Building, though the publisher moved out in 1999. On the ground floor is Dos Caminos ("Two Roads"), Mexican; formerly La Maganette, Italian noted for its salsa dancing. The Norwegian consulate is on the 38th floor.

West:

800 (block): The Icelandic consulate is one tenant in this gigantic brown-glass monolith--a 41-story Emery Roth & Sons design from 1972.

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805 (corner): Crystal Pavillion houses the Japanese restaurant Oikawa.

Smith & Wollensky

797 (corner): Noted steakhouse founded in 1977 by no one named Smith or Wollensky, but instead by TGI Friday's Alan Stillman, who picked the restaurant's names out of a phone book.

West:

Wang Building

780 (block): Built for the computer company in 1984 by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The windows form an interesting triangular design. Devon & Blakely, fancy deli, on the ground floor; also Ribot, Mediterranean.

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U.S. Plywood Building

777 (block): Designed by William Lescaze for the U.S. Plywood Company, finished in 1963. Architect Philip Johnson's house was one of the buildings torn down for the project. The 38-story building houses the headquarters of Grey Global Group, a major advertising agency founded in 1917. The plaza features the sculptures Contrapunto by Beverly Pepper and Big Red Swing by Theodore Ceraldi.

West:

768: Was Koli Koli Japanese Crepe & Tea; Soho Photo

764: Viski Wines & Liquor

762: Cafe Basil Cafe

760 (corner): Filles & Garcons ("Girls and Boys"), haircuts

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767 (corner): The AIA Guide calls this 1980 Fox & Fowle building ''stylish and sinuous.'' Jamaica's U.N. mission is here.

757 (corner): Harcourt, Brace & World Building, 25-story Emery Roth building completed in 1964. Houses the publishing house (now Harcourt Trade, a division of Reed Elsevier) that was founded in 1919 by former employees of Henry Holt. The company published some of the most important writers of the 20th Century, including George Orwell, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, C.S. Lewis, Sinclair Lewis, John Maynard Keynes, Mary McCarthy, etc.

The Manhattan offices of Sen. Charles Schumer are also in this building.

West:

750 (block): A 34-story building completed in 1958, designed by Emery Roth & Sons.

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747 (block): As with 777 and 767 above, the developer for this 37-story building was Mel Kaufman--"the city's greatest pioneer for creating a humane, interesting, surprising public environment" (City Review). This 1972 Emery Roth-designed building--which houses the New York bureau of the Canadian Broadcasting Company and the Australian Broadcasting Company--features an undulating sidewalk, exposed ductwork reminiscent of the film Brazil, and a sculpture of a nude woman that can be glimpsed between the revolving doors.

Corner: This was the site of the U.S. Provost Marshal's Office, where on July 11, 1863, a Civil War draft lottery was started. Two days later the building was burnt down, sparking the Draft Riots, the bloodiest unrest in New York's history.

West:

720 (block): Teachers Insurance Building, a 1959 structure owned by the Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association.

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733 (corner): Sun America Building. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, founded in 1946, is based here, as is the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

729: O'Neill's, an Irish pub that features traditional music

725: Pinnacle Deli & Hot Bagel

Corner: Was M & N 45th Deli

West:

714: Texas BBQ; Off Track Betting

712: Pastafina.com

710: Blarney Stone, dive bar that dates back to 1925 (i.e., the middle of Prohibition). In a five-story tenement--a rare survivor on this stretch of 3rd Avenue.

708 (corner): Commerce Building, vaguely Deco ziggurat from 1931.

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711 (block): This 1955 building, designed by William Lescaze, houses Crain Communications and Parade Magazine, the largest-circulation magazine in the country. Also found here is Bridge Kitchenware.

West:

700 (corner): Khera Perfume Gift Shop; Health King juice stand; Portami Via newsstand.

696: 696 Deli is part of a row of surviving five- and six-story tenements--a glimpse of what 3rd Avenue used to look like.

694: InVite Health Anteaoxident Bar wins some kind of prize for cutesiest name.

692: Muldoons Irish Pub Bar & Restaurant. This apparently used to be McAnn's, a hangout for Travis Bickle.

690: Was Valente Imports, Italian menswear

686: Was Famous Original Ray's Pizza; Stella's Delicatessen. End of the row of tenements.

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699: This former address was the site of Costello's, a famed journalists' bar. Declared the perfect "bar bar" by the guidebook The View From Nowhere. The likes of A.J. Liebling, Joseph Mitchell and Jimmy Breslin used to drink there; John McNulty has a collection of New Yorker stories about the bar called This Place on Third Avenue. Ernest Hemingway broke a shillelagh here in a fight with John O'Hara. It used to have some famous murals by James Thurber, a big fan of the place--they were moved to 44th Street when the bar relocated there in 1972, but subsequently disappeared.

American Home Products Building

685 (corner): Now known as Wyeth, AHP marketed such brands as Advil, Robitussin, Chap Stick and Preparation H.

West:

666 (block): The Kent Building, also known as the Chrysler Building East. A 1952 Reinhard, Hofmeister & Walquist design was reworked in 1998 by Philip Johnson.

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679 (corner): Prince Deli Middle East Cuisine is in a quaint five-story brick building painted pale green.

675 (corner): A 40-story brown-glass-and-brick tower that resembles the monolith from 2001.

West:

Mobil Building

Block (150 E 42nd): 1955 structure made from pressed stainless steel had the largest air-conditioning system in the world-- and, on the second floor, the largest expanse of floor space.

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Corner: New York's last Automat was here, closing in 1990.

655 (block): Stylish building, a 30-story Emery Roth & Sons design from 1958, alternates brown glass with dark blue panels. The Durst family views this as their first complete project. There's an abstract sculpture out front, Windward by Jan Peter Stern.

West:

630 (corner): Monet Shoes

622: Grand Central Plaza, also known as the Blue Cross Building, a 38-story black-glass tower that L-shapes across the block. Houses English Is Italian (formerly Tuscan), where celebrity chef Todd English (who is, in fact, part Italian) serves all you can eat.

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633 (block): Thirty-nine stories of dark green brick, built in 1961 to a Harrison & Abramovitz design. On the southern ground floor corner is Docks Oyster Bar, popular but pricey seafood.

West:

600 (block): A 42-story Emery Roth & Sons building from 1971.

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605 (block): John Wiley Building; offices of John Wiley & Sons. Founded in 1807, they published some of New York City's greatest literary figures: Herman Melville, Edgar Allen Poe, Washington Irving. Now known for technical books. Also houses the Neuberger Berman mutual fund.

West:

596 (corner): Cafe Trend is in an old four-story building.

594: Ming's Delight, Chinese take-out

592: "The Famous" Chicken Place; Royal Pizza. Interesting detail under the grime.

Corner: Dagostino 38th Street Market is in a 16-story white-brick box.

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593 (corner): Frontier Coffee Shop

591: Margarita Murphy's Grill was the Murray Hill Tavern, P.J. Carney's. Nice old red-brick building.

587: Mica Bar

585: Pomodoro Italiano

583: The Black Sheep was Cleary's.

581B: Hane Sushi

West:

564: Delectica Cafe Catering Party-Planning

560: Duke's, second incarnation of the Southern kitsch faux diner on 19th Street; this branch used to call itself Earl's. "Real Good Cookin'." Was Bobby O's, Rive Gauche.

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575: East West Gallery

569: Daniel's Bagels on 3rd Avenue

567: Doggie-Do and Pussycats Too!, pet salon

561: Josie's/Better Burger, health-oriented fast food. It's good!

West:

558 (corner): Winfield-Flynn Ltd. Wines. I like the old speckled-brick little building.

556: Very tall for its width

550: Pharmacy Value Center

Sarge's

548: Founded by a retired police officer in 1964, it's "one of the city's great Jewish delis," according to the Voice's Robert Sietsema. The hash is recommended.

546: Libretto's Pizzeria

544 (corner): Euro Diner

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557: Spade's Noodles Rice & More-- in a three-story building with a mansard roof

555: Decor Gallery is in a cute four-story building.

West:

538 (corner): Hudson Place, a maritime-themed restaurant opened in 1990

536: Nono Hana/Imperial Garden, Japanese/Chinese

Corner: Dagostino 35th Street Market

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541 (corner): Pookie & Sebastian, the Midtown branch of a boutique mini-chain named after a couple of Yorkshire terriers. Also Visio Fine Optics.

537: The Shoe Box

535: Wild Edibles Murray Hill Seafood Market

533: Crepe Mania and Genevieve are in a building allegedly used by the so-called Murray Hill Madam for $900/hour trysts.

529: World of Nuts & Ice Cream

West:

Corner: Precision, women's clothes

520: Excel News

514: Manh Central Market

510: Akiko, women's clothes

Corner (155 E 34th): Warren House, 19-story white-brick building from 1962.

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523 (corner): Third & Long, sports bar

521: Jackson Hole, cowboy-themed burger chain. Owners lived in Jackson Heights when they opened the first branch in 1972--hence the name.

519: Aji sushi (formerly Okura)

517: Imperial Pizzeria

515: 515 Bar, bar 7amp; grill

513: Joshua Tree, 1980s-themed bar/restaurant

511: Go Sushi, local chain

509: Patsy's Pizzeria, family-friendly local chain that dates back to 1933

507 (corner): Carl's Steaks-- cheesesteaks, that is. And for those who don't like cheesesteaks, there's Jenny's Healthy Eatery.

West:

Block (166 E 34th): A 20-story brown-brick building from 1975.

500: Oxford News & Smoke

488 (corner): Caliente Cab Co., local Mexican chain, used to be Back Porch.

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505 (corner): This used to be Hotel Cavalier; the building dates to 1888, the name and sign to 1940. Of late it's been a home for AIDS patients. On the ground floor is the Cinema Cafe, pre-movie eatery.

501: La Giara, Italian

499: Blockheads Burritos, in an old three-story building

497: Patrick Kavanagh's, bar opened 1991

495: Ethos, Greek seafood

493: Mercury Bar; La Salle Coffee/Ice Cream; Et Cetera Gifts

Corner (201 E 33rd): Brick Oven Pi33a. A clever name, now a mini-chain.

West:

484 (corner): Silver Star Deli; Abdo's Discount

478: Deli Bagel de Jour

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471 (block): Thirty-nine-story beige-brick apartment building

West:

Block (151-155 E 31st): Windsor Court Apartments-- 31 stories, built 1988. This 710-unit building was the subject of a 2011 New York Times profile that presented it as a haven for recent college graduates.

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Corner (200 E 32nd): The Future, high-rise apartments. This is what the future looked like in 1992: quirky balconies and a nice little public plaza.

451 (corner): The Corner Drug Store

West:

446 (corner): Kips Bay New York Public Library, built in 1971 to a Giorgio Cavaglieri design.

444: Was Tibetan Kitchen

442: LA Pizzeria

440: Iron Sushi had to change its name from Iron Chef Sushi for trademark reasons.

436 (corner): Bentley Apartments, 23 floors, built 1986. For some reason I like this building and its wrap-around brown brick--it looks older than it is, and kind of industrial. Sybele fashions, Oren's Daily Roast on ground floor.

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449 (corner): Moonstruck Diner, mini-chain named for the Cher movie. This branch notable for its salt-water aquariums. The building is a handsome five-story tenement.

447: Pasticcio, friendly Italian est. c. 1980

441: Sweet four-story building has a Pita Grill

437: Omega Art Expo; Toyo Sushi

431 (corner): Banc Cafe, tapas restaurant, was Bank Cafe, sports bar. The building is a former bank.

West:

430 (corner): La Cocina, Mexican

426: Lord John's Bootery

416: Dip, yuppie hangout

Corner (155 E 29th): Biltmore Plaza Apartments--30 floors, built 1980.

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429 (corner): Bagel Cafe was Bagelry, which some said had the best bagels in New York.

425: Future Village Farm

419: Simon's Hardware & Bath occupies three red-brick tenements.

417: Noodles 28 moved here after its 28th Street place had a fire; was Sotto Cinque, Italian. I recommend the sesame chicken dumplings.

415 (corner): Bistango, Italian, was All American Chinese Restaurant. A nice old four-story building.

West:

Corner (154 E 29th): Habitat, apartment building

398: Buy Rite Liquors

396: Jaiya Thai & Oriental Restaurant. The food here is way spicy. Has a reputation for iffy service.

394 (corner): Thai NY, not-so-tiny restaurant. This was the original home of Noodles on 28th, closed due to fire.

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Corner: Tonic East is a fratty multi-level sports bar, in a plastic facsimile of an old New York building, that has been sued by the state for a racially discriminatory door policy. The building before was Sam's Noodle Shop, a Chinese restaurant noted for its bubble tea.

Vatan

409: An all-you-can-eat Indian vegetarian, the interior is a recreation of an Indian village square. Great food and service.

405: Maker's, a bar, was BS New York, a gay bar. Also known as the Dakota Bar.

399: Was Oxford Catering House

Corner (201 E 28th): Chesapeake House, 20-story white-brick apartments. White brick is the curse of 3rd Avenue.

West:

390 (corner): 3rd Avenue Quick Stop was California Farmers Market

388: www.pastafina.com

386: Turkish Kitchen

384: Was Fancy 3rd Avenue Cleaners & Tailors

382: Marble Thrift Shop was Helpline Thrift Shop

378: Coppola's

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393: L'Annam, friendly Vietnamese (part of a local chain), used to be a restaurant called Tammany Hall. On the ground floor of the Rosehill, apartments named for the mansion of Gen. Horatio Gates, who saved the American Revolution by winning the Battle of Saratoga.

389: Was Better Health Juice Bar

385-387: Was Farkas Films--burned down.

383: Van Diemens, happening bar named for Tasmania's old name because the island was "an escape destination for Irish rebels"--and a home for devils. Used to be Aiello's Pizza.

381: Was Empire Szechuan/Sushi Kyoto

379: Tease, bubble tea, Was Lex Vacuum

Rodeo Bar

375 (corner): Urban honky-tonk. The bar is in a converted horse trailer. The band American Ambulance made me cry here with their song "Hey Richard Nixon."

West:

372 (corner): La Delice Pastry Shop, attractive desserts

370: Lamazou Cheeses

368: Was Lumberland, before that Kama 2 New York

366: East, Japanese

364: La Posada is in a building labeled Elite.

362: Staghorn Ltd. cards/gifts

360: Mad Hatter Saloon was Caliban, restaurant named for the monster from The Tempest. Hatters were mad because they worked with mercury.

358 (corner): Bamiyan -- Afghan

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373: Was Futon Furniture

371: Was L.D. Convenience & Grocery

367: Video Stop had a pretty good selection.

365: McCormack's Pub, Irish restaurant and sports bar

363: Anh, Vietnamese, was Young's Palace, Chinese

361: Joe Hug Deli, named for its poker-faced owner.

359 (corner): Sunflower Diner

West:

354 (corner): Vertigo is an updating of Abbey Tavern, long-running Irish pub; in the 1960s was Tobin's, described as having "old-time decor but modern prices." The building has recently been modernized as well--an interesting treatment of fire escapes.

352: Imperial Hunan has become my bubble tea connection. There's a sexy mural here that seems to be related to an earlier cuisine.

344: Manhattan Promenade apartments, a 22-story building finished in 1998, deserves some credit for trying to fit in with the neighborhood--the building has a base roughly the same height as the old tenements on either side. Includes Gramercy Park Dental and Optical--although Gramercy Park is more than five blocks from here (between 21st and 22nd).

340 (corner): Kelly & Ping Gramercy -- Asian grocery/ teahouse/ noodle shop mini-chain -- replaced old-school Chinese Jimmy's House. An interesting rounded townhouse.

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355 (corner): Innovative Woodwork

D'Agostino

West:

338 (corner): Mike Due Pizza

336: Fitzgerald's Pub features an acclaimed Irish juke box and glass etchings of scenes from The Quiet Man.

330: Big apartments

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337 (corner): The Hairy Monk bar was Pagliacci Due pizza. One of the bartenders here used to do quality control for Guinness, so they know how to pour a pint.

335: Ziggiz was Big City Kitchen

329: Baluchi's, local Indian chain

325: East Side Diner, 24 hours

323: Gramercy 24, American seafood. Was Spread, Time Out's "best make-out bar." Formerly Marcel Lounge.

West:

318 (corner): Gramercy Pawnbrokers was spared when the rest of the block was demolished.

316 (corner): Johnny Fox's pub and all the others southwards on this block were demolished for Gramercy Green, intended to be a luxury condo for Irish investors but sold instead to NYU for use as a dorm at the last minute. Students have complained that it's too luxurious.

310: Was Garden of Eden supermarket

304: Was Poolbeg Street Pub, named for the lighthouse in Ulysses; formerly Glocca Morra Pub. An earlier building on the site was the home of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

302 (corner): Was National News, which stocked foreign papers, art mags.

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Corner (200 E. 24th St): The Crystal House apartments are a boxy 19-story structure from 1972.

307: Andrea's Brick-Oven Ristorante

Corner: Amalgamated Bank. Labor-owned.

West:

296 (corner): Nice old neo-Classical building.

294: Push Cafe, "Coffee Beer Wine Ambiance"

290: The Elektra is a 32-story apartment tower built in 1991. With a name like that, it should be a whole complex.

286: Vintage Thrift Shop is in the Elektra.

284: Flurt Yogurt Culture is compared favorably to Pinkberry.

282 (corner): Lamarca Pasta was Pippin's restaurant

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299 (corner): Professional Tae Kwon Do is above the NY Gourmet Deli.

297: Pick A Bagel on 3rd

295: Bull's Head Tavern, named for the Bowery bar where Gen. George Washington celebrated the liberation of New York from the British in 1783. Formerly Reilly's.

293: MT Food Store

291: Casual Male Big & Tall

287: Molly's Pub * Restaurant * Shebeen, highly regarded Irish place

283 (corner): Lyric Diner

West:

280-272 (corner): Buildings built 1844-45, demolished 2008. Most recently housed a branch of the Ricky's local beauty products chain.

276: Was Texas Rotisserie & Grill--demolished 2008.

274: Black Bear Lodge, bar with animal heads; formerly Bahi

272: Copper Door Tavern was Fifth Avenue Landmark Bakery/Cafe, which had a cool old sign.

266-270: These narrow buildings date from 1847, including the Gramercy Natural Frontier Market at No. 266.

260 (corner): Gramercy Park Flower Shop, established 1904 in the old Academy of Music building on 14th Street and moved to this location that same year. Now owned by the grandson of the founder. Oz's Margaret Hamilton was a regular customer; PR maven Benjamin Sonnenberg bought white anemones here for Greta Garbo.

Gramercy Park is half a block west of this corner.

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East:

281 (corner): Rolf's German-American Restaurant seems like its been around since this was a German neighborhood in the 19th Century, but it actually opened in the 1960s.

279 (corner): Elman's Fine Wine and Liquors is on the ground floor of Quaker Ridge, a large white-brick apartment building.

West:

258 (corner): Cleo II Spa-Zone is in a building built c. 1832--the oldest building in the neighborhood and the oldest surviving building put up by Samuel Ruggles, who developed Gramercy Park.

256: Petes' Place was built in 1856 as a butcher shop.

254: Fancy Cleaners replaced an 1856 building built for a confectioner.

252: Eden Farm grocery

250: Elliott Pharmacy claims to have filled more than a million prescriptions.

248: Warshaw hardware, established 1928

246: Gramercy Bagels' building dates from 1837.

244 (corner): Barfly is in an 1837 building that was for many years the Homeopathic Medical College.

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261: Les Nanas de Gramercy boutique

257: Plug Uglies; oddly, this cop bar was named for a vicious 19th Century street gang. Said by the New York Observer to have one of the worst bar bathrooms in Manhattan.

253: Adriana Pizzeria

251: Was World Wide Book Service, 1960s publisher of nudie books.

247: Cabrini Wound Healing Center is in old red-brick building with nice arches.

245 (corner): Gramercy Corner magazines

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240 (corner): Sude clothing was Gramercy Eyewear

238: The Natural Pet

236: Gramercy Wine Cellars was the Manhattan Dollhouse Shop

234: At Home Gramercy Park

228: Le Petit Cunard ("The Little Duck") was Musette: A Country Market

226 (corner): Piccolo Cafe was Pitchoune, French bistro

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243 (corner): Was Tang Tang Noodles, aka T'ang Asia Cuisine

241: Was The Burger Joint

239: Proof, two-story sports bar

237: Paddy Maguire's Ale House

233 (corner): Cabrini Eye Care Center

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220 (corner): Added five stories in 2008. Includes Punjab on 3rd, deli/grocery

218: Ponty, French Mediterranean; Nirvana Cafe, Sri Lankan (formerly Cafe Amiana) are in a building that dates to 1838--as do the two addresses to the south.

216: Happy Palace, Chinese

214: Green Gourmet Market

212: Magazines & Cigars was Gramercy Greetings

210: Hairapy was Crops for Girls, which specialized in short haircuts for women. Before that Filmfest Video, which was also a paperback bookstore and a vacuum and lamp repair shop.

208: Ko Sushi was Sushi Boy

206 (corner): Sunburst Espresso Bar

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Gramercy Park Towers

205 (block): Another awful white-brick apartment tower houses Liberty Travel, Alpine Cleaners.

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Corner (150 E 18th): Author Herman Melville lived briefly at this address in 1862.

194: Basics Plus Hardware & Houseware was Pastry World Bakery

192: Still, bar opened 2004; was Tavaru, named for a Balinese surfing village

Scheffel Hall

190: Sal Anthony's Movement Salon was built in 1894 as a beer hall for the large German immigrant community, named for a German songwriter. It was later a jazz scene and literary bar for writers like O. Henry (who immortalized it as "Old Munich") and Bayard Taylor; politicians like Al Smith held court here. During World War I it was Allaire's, the name still on the facade, when it was a meetingplace for German spies. Later known as the German-American Rathskeller, Joe King's Rathskeller, Fat Tuesday's Jazz Club, Tuesday's Restaurant, Highlander Brewery--before becoming a pilates studio.

188 (corner): Young's Cleaners

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Park Towers

197 (block): At 30 stories, the tallest thing in the neighborhood. Park Towers Medical Plaza on ground floor.

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184 (corner): Gramercy Cafe, 24-hour diner--"Your Neighborhood Place"

180: Dang Lai Palace, Chinese vegetarian whose chef comes from the late lamented Zen Palate; formerly Summer Palace, Tien Fu Guong

176: That Missing Sock laundromat

174 (corner): Mariella Pizza

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179 (corner): I assume Mumbles Restaurant is named for the Dick Tracy villain. Recently got a makeover.

175: Paquitos, local takeout burrito chain; J East, Chinese; Chino's

171: Amai -- Jap- anese for "Sweet" -- is an all- natural bakery and teashop in an old three-story brick building.

167 (corner): Joe Junior, old-school burger. This corner is the only part of 3rd Avenue included in the Stuyvesant Square Historic District.

West:

162 (corner): Natural Green Market health food

Gramercy Spire

160 (corner): Apartments with mock-Chinese styling. Note taxi signal on corner.

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163: Address of the Disinformation Company, publisher of alternative information, turned out to be a Mail Boxes Etc. Now a UPS Store

161: MJK Wine & Liquors used to have a classic "LIQUOR" sign.

149 (corner): Dashing Diva, international nail salon chain

West:

Tammany Hall site

136: Was the Sharon Hotel, called in 1901 a resort of "toughs and desperadoes," and one of the worst places in the district. It was known in the neighborhood as "Cock Suckers Hall."

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141 (corner): Hattan House is the name of the apartment building on this corner. You can take the man out of Manhattan, but you can't take the Hattan out of Man, I guess.

139: Was Oh! Sweet Cheeses, the best name for a store ever.

137: Was the Garden Bar, frequented by Jack Kerouac.

135: Jam Paper & Envelope, funky stationery store. In the 1970s, there was a Polynesian-themed restaurant here.

Coral Towers

129 (corner): NYU dorm built (with non-union labor) in 1999 on site of the Sahara Hotel, a notorious drug and prostitution den--closed 1985.

3RD AVENUE STATION: L to Union Square

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Corner: Robin Raj Discount Health & Beauty Aids was the site of Disco Donut, where Robert De Niro took Jody Foster in Taxi Driver. Upstairs was Carmelita's Reception House, a sketchy club used in the audience-participation play Tony and Tina's Wedding. (New Wave band The B-52s stayed here when they first came to New York.) It was closed down after the 1990 Happyland fire resulted in a safety-code crackdown. The floors above the first were apparently removed as part of a deal that allowed NYU to put more floors on the Palladium dorm; it seems like bad public policy to reward the creation of stumpy, stunted buildings like this one.

114: Was Grace & Hope Mission. "Christ Died for Our Sins."

Site of Variety Arts Theater

110-112: One of the earliest cinemas (c. 1911); later a porno house, featured in Taxi Driver as the place de Niro meets Jody Foster. Later a live theater; it's where I saw They Might Be Giants play for the first time. Demolished without warning in 2005, replaced by One Ten 3rd, a multi-colored highrise. This really should have been saved, Landmarks Commission.

108: Was Finnerty's, college bar now on 2nd Avenue; earlier was Looking Glass, The Dugout. Demolished with the theater.

106: Was Clifford's, which "always [had] a colorful granny bird out front"--New York Unexpurgated.

Corner: Hea, styley bi-level Korean, was Oahu Deli, with the curious slogan ''The Gathering Place.'' In the late 1970s/early 1980s, this was the site of the UK Club, a live music venue.

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3RD AVENUE STATION: L train to 1st Avenue

The climax of the noir classic Pickup on South Street is set in this station.

123 (corner): Sandwiches offered at the City Gourmet deli included Con Ed Energizer Heroes, Variety Theater Hungry Souls Fantasies and Jam & Kiehl French Baguettes. Demolished 2008.

111: Ricky's, funky beauty products chain est. 1962, was Jam Paper & Envelope before it moved up the street. A friend lived in the apartment building above in the early 1990s; the local prostitutes used to scold her for bringing up her child in such a bad neighborhood. Times have changed.

Kiehl's

107-109 (corner): "Since 1851" is part of the official name of this old-time apothecary, with its own line of beauty products and historical displays. It recently expanded to the corner, taking over the spot that used to be Cafe Centosette--but where Kiehl's long ago used to be.

Corner: Site of the Stuyvesant Pear Tree, which New Amsterdam Governor Peter Stuyvesant planted in 1647, having brought it back from a return visit to the Netherlands. It lived for more than two centuries, until 1867, when it was killed by a wagon accident. A replacement pear tree was planted there on November 12, 2003.

West:

This block, made up entirely of fairly well-preserved old tenements of three, four or five stories, deserves landmark protection.

104 (corner): Gothic Cabinet Craft, affordable custom furniture. My apartment has several bookshelves from here. Note dinosaur mural on north wall.

102: New York Central Framing & Furniture Annex, the expansion of a venerable art supplies shop

Bar None NYC

98: Divey bar that serves as flagship for a chain of Bar Nones across the country. It opened in 1993, replacing The Space at Chase, music venue where bands like Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers played. GG Allin's violent performance here on December 7, 1991, is featured in the documentary Hated. From 1978-84, this was The Nursery, a notorious after-hours club frequented by bikers, drug dealers, porn stars and celebrities like John Belushi, Mick Jagger and David Bowie.

96: Was Village Crown, Moroccan

94: 99 Miles to Philly serves "old style cheesesteaks." Was another Village Crown, the Italian alter ego.

92: Blue 9 Burger--nothing but burgers (and only beef). Was Pravine Ice Cream & Cafe.

90: Montien Thai Cuisine

88 (corner): New Amici pizza used to be Due Amici

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103 (corner): Penny Farthing was Cafe Deville, a Parisian- style bistro featuring Sunday jazz brunches. Used to be Hudson's Army/Navy. Le Bar Bleu is in the basement.

101: Cosmic Cantina, burritos Durham-style

99: Friend House Asian Bistro

97: Air Market, 21st Century kitsch

91 (corner): Surprise! Surprise! housewares and furniture; the East Village's answer to Ikea.

West:

76: Yummy House, old-school Chinese

74: Nevada Smith's, a bar for soccer fanatics named for a Steve McQueen movie. Chrissy Mac's is downstairs.

66 (corner): Loews Cineplex Village VII, vertical cinema built 1992, replaced an 1868 NYC Department of Public Charities Building.

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Third Avenue North

77-83 (corner to corner): NYU dorms built 1987; Lady Gaga used to live here when she was a college student. Includes Midatlantic News, well-stocked with magazines; Border Burrito (was Rocket Wrapps); Fern Cliff Deli.

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64 (corner): Village Pour House, owned by the Webster Hall folks, was Roll 'n' Roaster, Manhattan outpost of a Brooklyn burger joint. Earlier Penang Bar & Grill, Malaysian with Adventureland decor; before that a pawn shop.

This whole block of tenements dates to c. 1900.

New York Central Art Supply

62: Has been around since 1905, serving artists like Willem de Koonig, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

56: Lan, Japanese

50: Renew & Relax, spa; used to be Pluck U, wings. The facade has been modernized, making it look newer--and uglier--than the rest of the block.

48 (corner): Element Beauty Lounge was Galaxy Delicatessen. I'm fond of this building-- I guess I like the arched windows, and the brickwork is nice.

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55 (corner): M2M, convenience store open "morning to midnight" featuring mostly Asian imports. Next door is The Smith, fratty black-and-white restaurant that was a Pizzeria Uno outlet. Building from 1986.

47 (corner): Used to be Bendiner & Schlesinger, medical lab. Torn down and replaced with a School of Visual Arts dorm, after negotiations with NYU fell through. There used to be a plaque here falsely marking the site of the Stuyvesant Pear Tree--because the owner of the building rescued it when it was displaced and then refused to give it back.

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40: East Village Cheese, great prices on gourmet cheese

Corner (115 E 9th): The 19-story white-brick Saint Mark apartments, built 1964, were the home of punk rocker Joey Ramone. It's presumably named for St. Marks Place, and only indirectly for the Gospel writer and Pope of Alexandria.

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Alumni Hall

Block: NYU dorms built in 1986. Note "aerodrome" on roof.

39: St. Alps Teahouse, pioneering bubble tea parlor

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Cooper Union Engineering School

Part of the tuition-free university founded by inventor/philanthropist Peter Cooper. Cooper Union is scheduled to replace the present less-than-inspiring structure with with a futuristic 13-story building designed by Fumihiko Maki. This site used to be the American Bible Society, which distributed bibles by the tens of millions.

Note the eagle sculpture salvaged from the destruction of Penn Station.

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George Hecht Viewing Gardens

1999 gardens are supposed to allude to the vegetation of Peter Stuyvesant's farm, which this was the front entrance to. Compass refers to the true east/west orientation of Stuyvesant Street. The fence needs to be painted a different color.

Hecht was a electronics manufacturer and a supporter of Cooper Union. The garden is named after him because he paid for it--a terrible precedent.

STUYVESANT ST       ===>

Cooper Union Undergraduate Dormitory

27: Was Anarchy Cafe, a pricey radical chic restaurant; now a corporate burger joint. I think I prefer the corporate burger joint.

Continental

25: Grungy bar used to feature many local acts. ''Best rock club for drinking in city''--Time Out. The Canadian band Nice Cat had their first U.S. gig here. Now it's just for drinking.

23: Israeli falafel joint started out as chickpea, then sold the brand name and had a contest to come up with the new name Kosher Village. When they realized that to be glatt kosher you have to be closed half the weekend, they became Tahini. I thought Pita Cooper would have been a good choice.... Replaced a pizza parlor.

23 (corner): King's Magazine, all-night newsstand. DJ Lenny M's Music World, mix tapes and CDs, has a niche here.

West:

The northeast corner of this block, on October 14, 1888, was the site of Manhattan's first recorded Mafia hit, when Carlo Quarteraro stabbed to death Antonio Flaccomio, who had cooperated with police in breaking a counterfeiting ring.

Cooper Union

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art was established as a free college in 1859 by Peter Cooper, who ran the first U.S. railroad (the Tom Thumb), helped lay the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable and invented jello. The Union is the oldest steel-framed building in United States, using Cooper's railroad rails.

Cooper Union's Great Hall, dedicated to the free discussion of public issues, was site of Abraham Lincoln's "Right Makes Might" speech (1860); other speakers over the years have included Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Emma Goldman, H.L. Mencken, William Jennings Bryant and every president following Lincoln until Woodrow Wilson--plus Bill Clinton.

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St. Marks Hotel

Corner (2 St Marks): Was the Valencia Hotel; good place for an illicit rendezvous. Shops on ground floor where you can get your genitalia pierced by a guy who sells baseball caps. Pizza place has some interesting East Village murals; was Sagamore Cafeteria, called by Jack Kerouac "the respectable bums' cafeteria."

First Ukrainian Evangelical Pentecostal Church

59 (corner): This 1867 marble building was originally The Metropolitan Savings Bank. Now serves the large Ukrainian immigrant community in this neighborhood.

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Peter Cooper Park

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Cooper Union Academic Building

201-209: 2009 should see the completion of Cooper Union's new engineering and art building, a futuristic glass-walled nine-story structure designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis.

In this spot from 1905-2006 was Hewitt Memorial Hall, a Cooper Union building named for Abraham Hewitt, Peter Cooper's son-in-law and a mayor of NYC. It originally housed the Cooper-Hewitt collection of decorative arts. It was kind of a depressing building, really.

It in turn was built on the site of the Tompkins Market Armory, which housed the 27th Regiment of the New York National Guard--the force that put down the Stone Cutter's Riot of 1834 and the Astor Place Riot against elitist theater in 1849. They were sent down to Washington at the beginning of the Civil War (1861), earning the title "the regiment that saved the capital." They fought at Gettysburg, but were summoned back to the city immediately afterwards to put down the 1863 Draft Riots. The regiment moved to Park Avenue and 69th Street in 1881.

Still earlier, this was the site of an early greenmarket.

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