West 29th St, Garment District

This run of 29th, from 5th to 6th, looks now about how seedy it used to be back when this was the Tenderloin. It used to be a big neighborhood in the gambling, dance hall and prostitute arena in the 20th century; but, now it's just a dark commercial wholesale kind of jam. It's not dangerous around here for the most part, nowadays, but it's not fun by any stretch now either.
The block at 6th has just about every kind of wholesale shop you can imagine. There's a hat shop, accessories, clothing, party supplies, jewelry. . . you name it. They kind of scare me so I don't shop here but a lot of people do, apparently, because this area is always really crowded during the day. The costume jewelry shop on the corner used to be the most popular dance hall in the neighborhood where people like Eugene O"Neill would come to drink amongst other seedy activities. There were at least four gambling / dance halls on this block alone in the 19th-20th centuries. And, now, there are enormous, weird hats. Go figure.
Across Broadway, there are two magnificent looking cast-iron apartment buildings that used to be popular hotels for the likes of Oscar Wilde and other literati. I imagine the rent is grotesque at either of these buildings, but the apartments must be lovely if not maybe a little small even for Manhattan. The ground floors of both house bizarre wholesale shops which I'm sure the residents just love. There are some great, old buildings on this block like the Marble Church and other lovely apartment buildings so it kind of annoys me that the store fronts are all chintzy shops or to go places like a dingey falafel. This stretch of 29th could be so pretty but the businesses here really drag the aesthetic and energy down, in my opinion. It makes what could be a lovely street into a crowded and creepy passover one. It's not a horrible stretch to live on, but I think it has so much more potential than what it is now. Luckily, New York always changes so I'm sure it'll come back around.