West 40 St, Garment District

West 40th starts off much more pleasingly than most other streets in this neighborhood -- and, it's actually it pretty lovely start for any neighborhood in the city. The block at 5th Avenue holds one of the prettiest buildings in the city: the main branch of the New York Public Library. It's a gorgeous building inside and out and I can't recommend it more for a visit. I went to a party once there and it sort of blew my mind. But, even going for a walk through stacks is a pretty good time. Everything is so old and the detail to the building is beautiful. It's very grand. And, speaking of grand. Next door to the library, you run into Bryant Park. This park used to be a cemetery and I highly doubt they moved the bodies once it became a park because they never do in this city. Then it was big drug haven they used to call Needle Park. And, now it's a great place to watch movies in the summer. It's actually my favorite park for summer screen. A couple summers ago we went to see Rosemary's Baby here. Just a bottle of wine, a few hundred of our fellow New Yorkers and a few thousand bodies below us for a pleasant horror film screening. How can you beat that? They have all kinds of great activities here in the summer and it really is one of my favorite outdoor spaces in the city. It's a little loud surrounding the park but you adjust quickly.
The block directly across 6th brings you abruptly into a midtown aesthetic with a bunch of big business sky scrapers and a big hotel. You get this brief respite of the city only to be plunged directly into the thick of it. It's not my favorite block, but I do enjoy the Croton Resevoir Tavern right here because I like old timey places and this one is really old timey. Plus, there aren't a lot of great bars around here so this one is even more appreciated.
It goes downhill from there are things to do and aesthetic. The block at Broadway holds the World Apparel Center which is an utterly massive (and ugly) building that houses show rooms and textile businesses -- it is the Garment District, after all. And, the block at 7th houses Parsons School of Design which is one of the bigger design schools in the country. Oh, and Drama Book Shoppe is on this block as well which is one of my favorite book stores in the city. But, there's really nothing much else to the street. It's definitely not a street you'd want to live on. There's not much of a vibe and nothing in the way of restaurants. But, it's a pretty good street for a day of visiting in the summer.

Amid the hustle and bustle of midtown, it sometimes feels that the closest one can get to an oasis is the local Starbucks. But Bryant Park bucks the midtown trend. A green space in the middle of one of the most crowded parts of the city, Bryant Park is not only charming in its own right, but also a great social hotspot for all sorts. From older men playing chess in one of the park's frequent tournaments to twenty-somethings here for the outdoor movies in summertime, this park is alive with so much more life than one would expect from midtown Manhattan. That doesn't mean the park doesn't fill up with suits, of course - there are plenty of mid-to-high end restaurants in the park to cater to them - but the feel of the place is far more satisfying than a business lunch.

The nearby New York Public Library is one of the city's most beautiful buildings, with a pleasant and quiet reading room and an enormous selection, not to mention the frequent exhibitions on offer. For those looking for a quick coffee or bite to eat, there are plenty of sandwich kiosks, including 'wichcraft. With an outdoor Reading Room that frequently plays host to literary events, a carousel, and free wifi, what's not to love?

I’m not a very picky person and I didn’t really like the street. I enjoyed the Hell’s Kitchen Flea market on it, which held some of the greatest items I could ever find You should also try the Tangine Dining Market for a taste of some good Moroccan cuisine. This street will take you perfectly into 9th avenue and Hell’s Kitchen, and if you like interesting and unique dining, you should take a trip to this wonderful area. It is easily access by all modes of public transportation and is not far from the Garment District and midtown Manhattan.