East 38th St, Murray Hill

East 38th starts off at the East River with an old Con Ed plant and an animal shelter. It's not exactly the most welcoming start to the street, but the Con Ed building is actually really cool looking and the animal shelter is no kill so I guess it's sort of uplifting if you actually think about it. This building (the Con Ed one) is going to be demolished soon to put in a luxury high rise and I think that's sort of a shame. I'm not often a huge fan of abandoned buildings but in some cases -- like this one and the Northern Dispensary -- I think they should just be left alone.
The next couple of blocks are marked by a series of residential buildings, some old and some new, and one fun little neighborhood bar. The owner of the bar lost her husband, a firefighter, to 9/11 and named the bar Bravest on 38th. It has a great energy and it is very much a neighborhood joint which I love.
Once you get up to 3rd, however, the block aesthetic shifts to a very old world, brownstone kind of street that is much more common to the Village kind of situation. It's a really beautiful block. There's a great old townhouse with a notable front garden that has been landmarked (thank god) and there's a global issues center (whatever that means) in a stable house from 1902. Dashiell Hammet and the Mount Rushmore sculptor both lived in homes on this block. It has a great history that seems to have not dissipated. And, the block at Lexington is even more lovely and timeless. The entire block is taken up by brownstones, townhouses and trees. You feel like a character in a Wharton novel walking down this street . . or at least, I do. The line of townhouses on the north side of the street dates back to the mid 19th century. And, the south side has an equally impressive line of homes that are partly still residential and part taken over by businesses. There's an architectural firm in here, an environmental group and a few other businesses mixed in with single family (rich) residents. But, I don't think the businesses take away from the charm in any way.
38th is gorgeous for enough of the street that it's not a bad street to consider living on. It's not my speed because of the lack of restaurants, etc. And, it's a bit removed from transportation. But, it's not a bad street at all for a family or someone that's a bit older.

My Street (more appropriately, the few square blocks surrounding my apartment between Lexington Ave and 3rd Ave on 38th Street) seems pretty cool after 1 night of living here. The traffic is bearable (even though we are very close to a main artery out of the city) and the noise didn't really get to me last night while sleeping on the 8th floor of a street-side apartment. I had a nice dinner at the Rio Grande (mexican) and a nice 8 minute commute to my office in the morning. There was a man standing on a roof last night screaming as if he had been stabbed, but it turned out he was just happy to be in New York, as am I.