Museum streets: places in New York that fascinate with beauty and history

New Yorkers may know their city like the back of their hand, but some hidden corners of New York have yet to be discovered. New York always has something new to replace something old, but luckily there are still plenty of old places to explore, you just have to know where to look.Time-out compiled a list of just such places.

Here you will find everything from historic residential groves and tiny roads that have become abandoned due to vehicle traffic requirements, to lanes that were once only used for horses and carriages.

1. Washington Mews (Greenwich Village)

A private gated (but often open) street north of Washington Square Park, between Fifth Avenue and University Place, is a journey back in time to the days of row houses and stables. These stables catered to horses from the houses in the neighborhood in the 1950th and XNUMXth centuries, and some of them were also houses. Around XNUMX, New York University leased most of these buildings and converted them into faculty residences and offices.

2. Doyers Street (Chinatown)

Doyers Street, once known as "Bloody Corner", is a 200-foot (61 m) curved street between Pell Street and the Bowery that was once one of the deadliest streets. Of course, now it is full of restaurants such as Nom Wah Tea Parlor, hairdressers and other shops, but at the beginning of the XNUMXth century it was the site of numerous murders by Tong gangs. From ax murders to gunfights, the street has been infamous for its violent events. It also housed the first Chinese theater in New York. Now it is a pedestrian street that attracts New Yorkers with its excellent restaurants and bars.

3. Gay Street (Greenwich Village)

Another corner street, Gay Street, was named after a family that lived there during colonial times, hence the Federal style houses on the street's west side. The section between Christopher Street and Waverly Place has been in several different films and videos, including the 1943 film A Night to Remember, as well as the Cyndi Lauper music videos Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Change Will Suit You for the benefit of Sheryl Crow.

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4 Grove Street (West Village)

Stretching for five blocks, Grove Street is lined with Federal-style buildings and leafy trees, giving it an almost European old-world feel. It contains not only one of the oldest houses in the city (17 Grove Street), but also one of the most secret residential complexes located between 10 and 12 Grove Street, called Grove Court. Behind the wrought iron gates are just six townhouses, which were built in 1853 for the poor, and have now become very popular.

5Sylvan Terrace (Washington Heights)

This street was once the driveway for the Morris-Jumel mansion, but when the property was sold off in the 1800s, 20 wooden houses for government employees and workers were built here until the early 20th century. Fortunately, since 1970, Sylvan Terrace has been recognized as a city landmark and kept as uniform as possible. One of these houses was recently listed for sale for $1,5 million.

6. Pomander Walk (Upper West Side)

Another gated complex, Pomander Walk, can be found between 94th and 95th Streets between Broadway and West End Avenue. You will recognize it by the rooster on the iron sign that hangs above its entrance. When you look through the gate, you cannot believe your eyes. This little street with houses facing each other looks like something out of a Disney movie. This is because Thomas Healy, who bought the property in 1920, was inspired by a romantic comedy called Pomander's Walk, set in "a secluded crescent of five very small old-fashioned houses near Chiswick, London." The houses were eventually subdivided into apartments and designated landmarks in 1982. Recently, one of the houses was sold for about $2,5 million.

7 Verandah Place (Cobble Hill)

Located in the Cobble Hill Historic District, this little street harks back to its mid-1800s roots with townhouses and a park across the street. It was originally a stable for carriages and horses. The street is only one block long and 20 feet (6 m) wide, making it unique for pedestrians. Like many of these hidden streets, Veranda Place also became a hotbed of criminal activity in the early XNUMXth century.

8. Freeman Alley (Bowery)

This is not so much a street as a dead-end alley on Rivington Street between the Bowery and Christie Streets. Yes, there is a Freemans restaurant there, but at the turn of the XNUMXth century there was a line for bread from Bowery Mission.

9. Warren Place Mews (Cobble Hill)

Hidden between Warren and Baltic Streets, this small alley-like apartment complex of townhouses and cottages will make you think you're not in New York anymore. It was a working-class residential complex built in 1879 by Alfred Treadway White. Now there are still 34 houses that are selling for millions.

10. Hunts Lane (Brooklyn Heights)

This dead-end street stable is off Henry Street near Remsen and seems frozen in time. The early 20th century carriage houses are now worth millions, but horses once lived here.

11 Stone Street

Stone Street, located between Whitehall Street on the west and Hanover Square, is one of the oldest streets in New York City. It has existed since the Dutch lived here, and in 1658 it became the first cobbled street in New Amsterdam. After the British moved in, it was called Duke Street, and in 1794 it was paved and renamed Stone Street.

“During the 1970s through the 90s, it was a nook and cranny for selling drugs,” said Carl Weisbrod, current board member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. In the 90s it became a common street where the public could dine at street restaurants, including the Stone Street Tavern. “It served as a precursor to what can be done with open space, dining and entertainment, and the new use of public streets, and a model for open streets and open restaurants. This is a big achievement."

12 Cortlandt Alley

Cortlandt Alley is the most filmed street in New York, but not very famous. You have probably gone through it so many times and thought about it. This narrow, dark alley located in Chinatown is pretty gritty with graffiti, rusty fire escapes, and creepy doors you wouldn't want to go through. It served as the backdrop for violent scenes in Gotham, Crocodile Dundee, and NYPD Blue. However, in fact, it is not terrible - here is the smallest museum in the city of Mmuseumm and luxurious apartments. And yes, the street is named after a descendant of the Dutch colonial landowning family, the Van Cortlandts.

13. Patchin' Place

This cul-de-sac is located in Greenwich Village, next to 10th Street and Greenwich Avenue, between 10 brick houses. There is one of only two 19th-century gas street lamps still standing in the city (today it is powered by electricity), and the three-story brick houses here were built in 1848 as boarding houses. The houses belonged to the Patchin family until 1920. This lane is famous among writers because several famous writers lived here, including Theodore Dreiser, E. E. Cummings, John Cowper Powys, and Djuna Barnes. It now has many therapists' offices and almost two dozen residents.

14. Six 1/2 Avenue (midtown)

This divided street is the only divided street in the city. This tiny street, which stretches from 51st to 57th Streets, is made up of private spaces (POPS) with plazas and atriums, and has actually been used by Manhattan's urban workers for years as a shortcut between the bustling downtown streets. It wasn't until 2012 that the city gave the street an official address on a map. Cars can't drive across it, but it's open to pedestrians who can find iconic New York sites like La Grande Boucherie and some cool sculptures.