10th Avenue

Off-setting the shortness of 11th Avenue is 10th Avenue, which runs more than 10 miles from 218th St. in Inwood to Gansevoort Street in the West Village.

Today's walk

Like all the other avenues west of Central Park, 10th Avenue is also known as Amsterdam Avenue north of 59th Street (except for its final stretch in Inwood between Dyckman Street and 218th Street).  I'd always wondered why the West Side avenues all lost their original names above the park while the East Side avenues all retain theirs, and it turns out the answer is very simple: Real Estate Developers.  As the Upper West Side began to develop in the late 1800s, the people building and selling housing didn't want the new addresses to be associated with the tenements and factories to the south, so 8th Avenue became Central Park West, 9th Avenue became Columbus, 10th Avenue became Amsterdam, and 11th Avenue became West End.

10th Avenue runs through a number of neighborhoods and historical sites, but I've written about most of them before, so here are some pictures.

Start of walk

10th Ave at 218th St.

Ad hoc Car Wash

10th Ave. btw 216th St. and 215th St.

Flat Fixed

10th Ave. btw 207th St. and 206th St.

Mountain bike course

Amsterdam Ave. at Ft. George Ave.

School

Amsterdam Ave. btw 188th St. and 187th St.

Apartment building

Amsterdam Ave. btw 180th St. and 179th St.

White buildings

Amsterdam Ave. btw 175th St. and 176th St.

More apartments

Amsterdam Ave. btw 168th St. and 167th St.

Cosmopolitan Baptist Church

Amsterdam Ave. btw 165th St. and 164th St.

Mural

Amsterdam Ave. btw 159th St. and 158th St.

Cool old mansion (or something) [Edit: It was a police station.]

Amsterdam Ave. btw 152nd St. and 151st St.

Wry smile

Amsterdam Ave. btw 152nd St. and 151st St.

Cool building

Amsterdam Ave. btw 146th St. and 145th St.

Mayor of Harlem

Amsterdam Ave. btw 146th St. and 145th St.

Neat brickwork

Amsterdam Ave. btw 123rd St. and 122nd St.

Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Amsterdam Ave. btw 113th St. and 112th St.

Doorway

Amsterdam Ave. btw 113th St. and 112th St.

Saints(?)

Amsterdam Ave. btw 113th St. and 112th St.

Cathedral history

Amsterdam Ave. btw 113th St. and 112th St.

Clever

Amsterdam Ave. btw 113th St. and 112th St.

Angel with Dead Satan & Giraffes (a common motif)

Amsterdam Ave. btw 111th St. and 110th St.

Cathedral side and gardens

Amsterdam Ave. btw 111th St. and 110th St.

Dive Bar

Amsterdam Ave. btw 96th St. and 95th St.

Apartment building

Amsterdam Ave. btw 97th St. and 96th St.

View up Amsterdam Ave.

Amsterdam Ave. btw 94th St. and 93rd St.

Window and face

Amsterdam Ave. btw 80th St. and 79th St.

Subway station

Amsterdam Ave. at 72nd St.

Dorilton Apartments

Amsterdam Ave. btw 72nd St. and 71st St.

Confusing monument

Amsterdam Ave. btw 66th St. and 65th St.

UWS apartment buildings

Amsterdam Ave. btw 64th St. and 63rd St.

World's Most Depressing High School

10th Ave. btw 55th St. and 54th St.

Hells Kitchen apartments and restaurants

10th Ave. btw 47th St. and 46th St.

Hell's Kitchen Corner

10th Ave. btw 46th St. and 45th St.

Midtown from 10th Ave.

10th Ave. btw 39th St. and 38th St.

Taxi Parts

10th Ave. btw 35th St. and 34th St.

Joe's Tavern has seen better days

10th Ave. btw 26th St. and 25th St.

Chelsea apartments building

10th Ave. btw 24th St. and 23rd St.

Chelsea gallery

10th Ave. btw 24th St. and 23rd St.

Empire Diner

10th Ave. btw 22nd St. and 21st St.

Gehry Building and High Line

10th Ave. btw 17th St. and 16th St.

Game Boy

10th Ave. btw Little W 12th St. and Gansevoort St.

11th Avenue

I had a couple of hours to spare on a Sunday afternoon, so I fit in a quick walk down 11th Avenue (called West End Avenue north of 59th St.). 

Today's walk

11th Avenue is one of the shorter avenues, running just under 5 miles from 108th Street to 22nd Street.  North of Lincoln Square (66th Street) the avenue is almost completely lined by tall (~15 floor) pre-war apartment and condo buildings, most of which would have the word "luxury" in their marketing materials.  Below Lincoln Square 11th Avenue runs through the less densely populated western section of Hell's Kitchen, where many of Manhattan's auto dealerships are located (along with the stables where the Central Park carriage horses go at at night).  Things start to get pretty gross around 34th St., where the avenue crosses over the massive train yards of Penn Station (located to the east).  This is changing though - a massive 27 acre / $20 billion development project known as Hudson Yards is underway to build what will essentially amount to a new neighborhood over the train yards.  When complete, Hudson Yards will be home to 16 new skyscrapers and nearly 13 million square feet of new office, residential and retail space.  It would get nicer as you move south into Chelsea, but 11th Avenue dead ends into the West Side Highway at 22nd Street.

Start of walk

West End Ave. at 106th St.

Stuck bikes

West End Ave. btw 106th St. and 105th St.

West End Ave. apartments

West End Ave. btw 106th St. and 105th St.

View down West End Avenue

West End Ave. btw 102nd St. and 101st St.

Flowers / Berries

West End Ave. btw 101st St. and 100th St.

I thought this was cool

West End Ave. btw 99th St. and 98th St.

Pomander Walk

West End Ave. btw 96th St. and 95th St.

More West End Ave. apartments

West End Ave. btw 88th St. and 87th St.

Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew

West End Ave. btw 87th St. and 86th St.

Church window

West End Ave. btw 87th St. and 86th St.

The Mickey Mantle School (don't know what the relation to Mickey Mantle is)

West End Ave. btw 83rd St. and 82nd St.

The Apthorp (b. 1908) - famous people live here

West End Ave. btw 79th St. and 78th St.

Apthorp entrance

West End Ave. btw 79th St. and 78th St.

Top of apartment building

West End Ave. btw 76th St. and 75h St.

Cool old home and corner market

West End Ave. btw 73rd St. and 72nd St.

It started snowing pretty hard

West End Ave. btw 70th St. and 69th St.

Condo buildings

West End Ave. btw 65th St. and 64th St.

VW Minibus

11th Ave. btw 56th St. and 55th St.

Daily Show studios

11th Ave. btw 52nd St. and 51st St.

Mailbox numbers

11th Ave. btw 45th St. and 44th St.

Jeff Boss, you so crazy

11th Ave. btw 41st St. and 40th St.

Hudson Yards construction

11th Ave. btw 36th St. and 35th St.

Train yard

11th Ave. btw 33rd St. and 30th St.

Ice floes in the Hudson

8th Avenue

Today I walked about 8 miles down 8th Avenue, which is also called Central Park West and Fredrick Douglass Boulevard.

Today's walk

8th Avenue runs from about 160th St. in Harlem to  W 12th St. in the West Village.  It's known as Central Park West between 59th St. and 110th St. and Frederick Douglass Blvd. north of 110th St.

At it's north end, 8th Avenue starts next to the former location of the Polo Grounds stadium, which was the home of the New York Giants baseball team from 1891 - 1957 and the New York Giants football team from 1925 - 1955.  It was demolished in 1964 (they painted the wrecking ball to look like a baseball) after the baseball Giants moved to San Francisco and replaced with the Polo Grounds Towers, a 15 acre / 1,600 apartment public housing complex.

From there, 8th Avenue runs through Harlem to the Upper West Side, where it runs down the west border of Central Park and along one of the most expensive row of apartments (co-ops, really) in the city.  Central Park West is home to a number of famous people and America's first automobile fatality (in 1899 a taxi ran over a man exiting a street car at 74th and Central Park West).

Below Central Park, 8th Avenue runs along the western side of Times Square and the theater district (think Sbarros and gift shops), through Chelsea and into Greenwich Village, where it ends at Abingdon Square Park.

Start of Walk

Frederick Douglass Blvd. at Harlem River

Public School 46

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 155th St. and Harlem River

Polo Grounds Towers

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 155th St. and Harlem River

Polo Grounds Towers public housing projects

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 155th St. and Harlem River

Harlem apartments

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 152nd St. and 151st. St.

View north on Frederick Douglass Blvd.

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 145th St. and 144th St.

The Bradhurst at Strivers Row

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 140th St. and 139th St.

Garages behind Strivers Row

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 139th St. and 138th St.

View down Frederick Douglass Blvd.

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 135th St. and 134th St.

He'll get it back in April

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 135th St. and 134th St.

First Ebenezer Baptist Church

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 133rd St. and 132nd St.

I just thought this looked cool

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 128th. and 127th St.

Greater Zion Baptist Church

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 128th. and 127th St.

"Spirit of Harlem"

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 125th. and 124th St.

New building

Frederick Douglass Blvd. btw 114th. and 113th St.

Frederick Douglass statue

Frederick Douglass Blvd. at 110th St.

View of Frederick Douglass looking north on Frederick Douglass Blvd.

Frederick Douglass Blvd. at 110th St.

Beginning of Central Park West apartment buildings

Central Park West btw 109th St. and 108th St.

Cool window ornamentation

Central Park West btw 109th St. and 108th St.

View into Central Park

Central Park West btw 109th St. and 108th St.

Basement Deli

Central Park West btw 108th St. and 107th St.

Central Park rocks

Central Park West btw 107th St. and 106th St.

Former New York Cancer Hospital (b. 1887)

Central Park West btw 107th St. and 106th St.

The hospital moved to the UES in 1939 (now Sloan Kettering)

Central Park West btw 106th St. and 105th St.

Today it's luxury condos (and supposedly haunted)

Central Park West btw 106th St. and 105th St.

Drinking Water Sampling Station

Central Park West  btw 106th St. and 105th St.

Apartment building

Central Park West btw 105th St. and 104th St.

Pelican statues

Central Park West btw 105th St. and 104th St.

Rock outcrop

Central Park West btw 104th St. and 103rd St.

Central Park

Central Park West btw 104th St. and 103rd St.

Beautiful apartment building

Central Park West btw 102nd St. and 101st St.

Cool gargoyle

Central Park West btw 102nd St. and 101st St.

Central Park path

Central Park West btw 100th St. and 97th St.

Church (b. 1903)

Central Park West btw 97th St. and 96th St.

CPW Apartments

Central Park West btw 93rd St. and 92nd St.

Apartments

Central Park West btw 93rd St. and 92nd St.

Cool patterns

Central Park West btw 92nd St. and 91st St.

El Dorado

Central Park West btw 90th St. and 89th St.

The Dwight School

Central Park West btw 89th St. and 88th St.

Classy Entrance

Central Park West btw 89th St. and 88th St.

Apartments

Central Park West btw 89th St. and 88th St.

More apartments

Central Park West btw 89th St. and 88th St.

Three cool row homes

Central Park West btw 86th St. and 85th St.

View up Central Park West

Central Park West btw 83rd St. and 82nd St.

The Beresford

Central Park West btw 82nd St. and 81st St.

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park West btw 81st St. and 77th St.

Lions

Central Park West btw 81st St. and 77th St.

Teddy Roosevelt

Central Park West btw 81st St. and 77th St.

New York Historical Society

Central Park West btw 81st St. and 77th St.

Another apartment building

Central Park West btw 77th St. and 76th St.

San Remo

Central Park West btw 74th St. and 73rd St.

The Dakota

Central Park West btw 73rd St. and 72nd St.

Creepy detail on the Dakota

Central Park West btw 73rd St. and 72nd St.

More cool CPW buildings

Central Park West btw 70th St. and 69th St.

View of Midtown through Central Park

Central Park West btw 66th St. and 65th St.

"Spook Central" from Ghostbusters

Central Park West btw 66th St. and 65th St.

This is the church the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man steps on

Central Park West btw 66th St. and 65th St.

Cool window boxes

Central Park West btw 62nd St. and 61st St.

The Century

Central Park West btw 62nd St. and 61st St.

Central Park bridge

Central Park West btw 61st St. and 60th St.

USS Maine Memorial

8th Ave. at 59th St.

Columbus Circle

8th Ave. at 59th St.

Unfortunately, this is the warmest it's been in a while

8th Ave. at 59th St.

Columbus memorial

8th Ave. at 59th St.

Christopher Columbus

8th Ave. at 59th St.

Steam

8th Ave. btw 58th St. and 57th St.

Hearst Tower

8th Ave. btw 57th St. and 56th St.

View up 8th Avenue

8th Ave. btw 48th St. and 47th St.

Painted Building

Madison Square Garden / Penn Station

8th Ave. btw 35th St. and 34th St.

Big Post Office

8th Ave. btw 33rd St. and 31st St.

View up 8th Avenue

8th Ave. btw 33rd St. and 31st St.

Cool old building

8th Ave. btw 25th St. and 24th St.

Neat penthouse

8th Ave. btw 19th St. and 18th St.

Chelsea

8th Ave. btw 19th St. and 18th St.

Awesome Winslow Homer rip-off

8th Ave. btw 16th St. and 15th St.

Cool building

8th Ave. btw 14th St. and 13th St.

View up 8th Avenue

8th Ave. btw 14th St. and 13th St.

Abingdon Square Doughboy

8th Ave. btw 12th St. and Bleeker St.

2nd Avenue

Today I walked about 7.5 miles down 2nd Avenue (and Chrystie below Houston St.).  I forgot the battery to my camera, so I had to make due with my cell phone.

Today's walk

2nd Avenue runs down the east side of Manhattan from 128th St. to Houston St., passing through East Harlem, the Upper East Side, Murray Hill, Gramercy, the East Village, and Lower East Side.

Start of walk

2nd Ave. at 128th St.

Apartment Building

2nd Ave. btw 119th St. and 118th St.

Yellow Building

2nd Ave. btw 111th St. and 110th st.

Real Estate

2nd Ave. btw 110th St. and 109th st.

HOME

2nd Ave. btw 103rd St. and 102nd st.

Tequila Sampler

2nd Ave. btw 92nd St. and 91st st.

I thought the brick lines were cool on this one

2nd Ave. btw 78th St. and 77th st.

"My First Graffiti"

2nd Ave. btw 78th St. and 77th st.

Crane in Repose

2nd Ave. btw 50th St. and 49th st.

View north on 2nd Ave

2nd Ave. btw 24th St. and 23rd st.

St. George's Episcopal Church (b. 1856)

2nd Ave. btw 17th St. and 16th St.

St. George's Episcopal Church (b. 1856)

Rutherford Pl. btw 17th St. and 16th St.

St. Mark's Church in the Bowery (b. 1795)

2nd Ave. btw 11th St. and 10th St.

Peter Stuyvesant's tomb marker (the black thing on the lower right)

2nd Ave. btw 11th St. and 10th St.

Colors

Chrystie St.

Chinatown in Winter

Manhattan Bridge

East River ice floes

Manhattan Bridge

St. Nicholas Avenue (and others)

I went back up to Harlem to kick off the avenue portion of the project, where I walked St. Nicholas Avenue, Manhattan Avenue, Morningside Avenue and Convent Avenue.  About 8 miles.

Today's walk

I've walked all these neighborhoods before, so not history on this one.  Lot's of cool apartment buildings though.

Start of walk

Fort George Hill at Hillside Ave.

Inwood

Fort George Hill btw Hillside Ave. and Fairview Ave.

View of Ft. Tryon Park (and Yoshi)

Fort George Hill btw Hillside Ave. and Fairview Ave.

View down St. Nicholas Ave

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 190th St. and 189th St.

Church and Furniture Store

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 188th St. and 187th St.

Apartment building

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 185th St. and 184th St.

Another apartment building

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 183rd St. and 182nd St.

More apartment buildings

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 177th St. and 176th St.

GW Bridge and crosswalk

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 176th St. and 175th St.

Mordor

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 172nd St. and 171st St.

Apartments

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 164th St. and 163rd St.

View up St. Nicholas Avenue

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 161st St. and 160th St.

Apartments

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 161st St. and 160th St.

Snow removal

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 159 St. and 158th St.

Row homes

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 158 St. and 157th St.

Duke Ellington's House

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 158 St. and 157th St.

Duke Ellington's House

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 158 St. and 157th St.

Cool old homes

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 155th St. and 154th St.

Row homes

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 153rd St. and 152nd St.

Apartments

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 151st St. and 150th St.

St. Nick's Pub

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 149th St. and 148th St.

Portrait of a Garbage Truck

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 149th St. and 148th St.

Not a Portrait of a Garbage Truck

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 149th St. and 148th St.

Apartment building and row homes

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 147th St. and 146th St.

Face and dragons

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 147th St. and 146th St.

Cool brick buildings

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 147th St. and 146th St.

WABC Music Radio - All the Hits All the Time

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 145th St. and 141st St.

View up St. Nicholas Ave.

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 145th St. and 141st St.

Church

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 145th St. and 141st St.

City College of NY

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 141st St. and 140th St.

Hamilton Grange

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 141st St. and 140th St.

Red Apartment

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 134th St. and 133rd St.

View up St. Nicholas Ave.

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 133rd St. and 129th St.

It's cold out

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 133rd St. and 129th St.

PS 152

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 128th St. and 127th St.

More Apartment Building

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 125th St. and 124th St.

Harriet Tubman memorial

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 122nd St. and 121st St.

Harriet Tubman

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 122nd St. and 121st St.

View down St. Nicholas Ave.

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 122nd St. and 121st St.

Abandoned Gas Station

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 122nd St. and 121st St.

Child and Monkeys

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 117th St. and 116th St.

Thin building

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 117th St. and 116th St.

First Corinthian Baptist Church

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 116th St. and 115th St.

Cool doorway

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 114th St. and 113th St.

Still more apartments

St. Nicholas Ave. btw 112th St. and 111th St.

Row homes

Manhattan Ave. btw 122nd St. and 121st St.

More row homes

Manhattan Ave. btw 117th St. and 116th St.

More cool row homes

Manhattan Ave. btw 113th St. and 112th St.

Morningside Park

Manhattan Ave. btw 111th St. and 110th St.

Washington and Lafayette

Morningside Ave. btw 113th St. and 114th St.

View up Morningside Ave.

Morningside Ave. btw 115th St. and 116th St.

What's with this guy and apartments?

Morningside Ave. btw 118th St. and 119th St. 

Almost done with the apartment pictures

Morningside Ave. btw 122nd St. and 123rd St.

Apartment - detail

Morningside Ave. btw 122nd St. and 123rd St.

City College of NY

Convent Ave. btw 135th St. and 138th St. 

More City College campus

Convent Ave. btw 135th St. and 138th St. 

Beautiful Row Homes

Convent Ave. btw 142nd St. and 143rd St. 

Yellow Church

Convent Ave. btw 144th St. and 145th St. 

More row homes

Convent Ave. btw 148th St. and 149th St.