West 34th St, Garment District

There used to be quite a bit of mansion happening in this stretch of 34th. And, now there's just quite a bit of commercial space and quite a bit of tourists. The whole block running from 5th to Broadway was once taken up by big mansions built for the likes of the Waldorfs and Astors. The original Waldorf Astoria Hotel was built on the site of the two families mansions and then moved uptown to make room room for the current building: the Empire State Building. The Empire State is probably the most recognizable and popular landmark in New York City. It was the tallest building in the world until the '70's and is still, currently, in 3rd place. Needless to say, there are tourists crawling around this intersection and block all day long every single day. And, just to add to the crowds, there's all kinds of shopping on the other side of the street. Nine West, Banana Republic, Solstice, H and M, etc can be found on this block so it's pretty much always a madhouse around these parts. The Victoria's Secret building on the corner at Broadway used to be an 11 story department store that originated the price tag and money back guarantee. I think that's kind of cool. I also can't imagine having to shop without price tags.
Across Broadway, you run into Herald Square which is a big sitting area / no car zone. It's mostly tourists sitting at the tables and benches, presumably resting from shopping and touring, but it's a pretty cool looking little area especially at Christmas. Unfortunately, it's also very loud and crowded around here pretty much all the time.
Once you cross Herald Square, you run into another big shopping stretch with the original Macy's paving the way. This massive store (the biggest in the world) takes up the entire north of the block. It was built in 1902 and is credited with inventing the baked potato, the tea bag, the store Santa and the Thanksgiving Day Parade. I don't like Macy's, in general, but I love this store. It's old and beautiful and there hasn't been a ton of work done to it so the escalators are still very antiquated. It's just really pretty and looks, in many ways, like what you would imagine a department store to look like 100 years ago. Across the street, you will find Old Navy, Sephora, etc. One of the buildings in the middle of the block (116) used to be a hotel that was famous for the "recluse of Herald Square," a socialite who checked into the hotel in 1907 and didn't check out until 1931. She had quite a lot of money stashed away in these rooms which they found after her death. Really weird / man, I love New York.
The block across 7th is a mix of older buildings that house actual little garment stores that gave the neighborhood its name and massive commercial skyscrapers. It's a weird block with no aesthetic and no energy because of that, I think. It's just very commercial and offers nothing to see. I wouldn't want to live on 34th, in general, but especially not on this block. It's really a street you go to for shopping and sightseeing. It's way too crowded and loud to live on. And, there are no local bars or restaurants so the neighborhood vibe is abysmal.

Before I relocated to New York City, I used visit the Big Apple annually as a tourist on shopping expeditions. My preferred locale for all my shopping used to be the retail corridor along 34th street. This retail corridor which continues to be popular with tourists until today extends all the way along 34th street from Fifth Avenue until Eighth Avenue and has within its environs outlets of almost all the major brands in the USA like Banana Republic, the Gap, Old Navy, Ann Taylor Loft, Forever 21, H&M, Foot Locker, Payless and Victoria’s Secret. However the star attraction of this retail corridor is of course the gargantuan, flagship store of the Macy’s chain of department stores which stands tall on Herald Square located on the intersection of Broadway and the Avenue of the Americas.
Macys which extends over two buildings and has several diverse departments which are filled to the brim with inventory is a favorite with international tourists as it offers them a Visitor’s card which entitles them to an 11% discount on a wide array of merchandise. This Visitor’s card can be acquired from the Macy’s Visitor’s center located on the 1 and a half floor within the store. Aside from these main retail outlets, the 34th Street retail corridor is also home to several discount retailers like Daffy’s , K mart and Conway and a whole host of souvenir stores so it’s a extremely convenient spot for a shopaholic tourist who needs to buy gifts for friends and family back home. Moreover this area is also well connected to the rest of the city as it hosts the B, D,F, V, N,R, W, Q trains at the 34th Street station at Herald Square, the 1,2,3, trains at the station on 7th avenue and the A,C,E trains at the Penn Station subway station which is located at 34th Street and Eight Avenue.
However the only significant drawback of this area is that it is perennially crowded and busy and it lacks decent eating places populated as it is with outlets of prominent fast food chains