West 28 St, Chelsea

We're getting way to close to Hell's Kitchen this high up in Chelsea. And, while there are some really lovely buildings around 9th and 10th avenues, the rest of the street is really commercial in a midtown (read: not fun) sort of way. And, unfortunately, even the western streets with the pretty buildings are ruined by ghastly looking things like the post office annex at 10th and 28th.
There's a church from the mid-19th century right at 28th and 9th that looks extremely out of place and it is. It was saved from being leveled because of its architecture. It's not the prettiest thing I've ever seen but it definitely is pretty compared to a lot of the other buildings on this street. This area used to be the Tenderloin, a huge crime neighborhood, so a lot of it has been leveled and replaced with massive condo buildings such as the Onyx right on the corner at 8th. I actually like this building despite the fact that it's new and big. This could be due to the fact that the rest of the buildings on this block are big, depressing slabs.
Once you cross 7th, you enter the flower district. This has been the big floral and plant selling area since the mid-19th century and I think that's pretty cool. There are a lot of flower shops on this street which does spruce up the ugly buildings quite a bit. In the midst of all the flower shops, there's a sort of unnamed landmark building: 147. It was the site of the three victims of the Draft Riots. One of them was a baby thrown from one of the higher floors. Kind of makes the sidewalk a little creepy and depressing.
Across 6th Ave, there's a little plaque marking what used to be Tin Pan Alley, named for the fact that this is where all the new sheet music was played on the street to lure buyers. That must have been really cool. I get happy any time I hear music in the streets . . .except for the sax . . man, I hate the sax. There are still a lot of plant shops on this street, but sadly, no tin panners. There is, however, a cool, old building in the midst of all of the uglies right at the corner of 6th. It looks very shabby chic for lack of a better term. There's another cool, castle looking building on the other side (at Broadway) that was a church and then a bathhouse and now it's a wholesale center. Go figure, New York.
I wouldn't live on 28th unless I found a sweet deal. There are no bars or restaurants and not much of a neighborhood feel. It's just pretty boring and ugly. It's a passover street in my opinion.