Park Avenue Photos: From Top to Almost Bottom

Accidentally caught some blurred birds in this shot of a big construction project on Park in the 30s.


Pershing Square, best restaurant in the city for car exhaust aficionados, on Park and 41st.


Somewhere under the Met Life building, the seemingly popular Beer Bar.


On Park in the 50s or 60s, I think.


The nicest parts of Park in the 70s and 80s have insanely well-manicured medians with tons of fresh flowers and plants. I don't understand why you still see squirrels struggling with gloom on the Lower East Side when nice space like this is available uptown, but perhaps it's a culture issue.


First sign this neighborhood is about to turn bad: a city bus maintenance warehouse on Park Avenue.


The Metro North comes above ground at about 96th Street, and everything takes a turn for the Harlem. Something about active train tracks just makes most areas seem more run down, even in the suburbs, and up here there's not only an elevated train, there's this huge dark brick wall dividing the north and south lanes on Park, and essentially also dividing scarier Spanish Harlem on the east from still semi-UES and Mount Sinai Hospital area on Madison. Here's a better look at the great wall:



And finally, at my next-to-last block, I spotted further proof that we're not in Kansas anymore:



You just don't see that in midtown.