the neighborhood

We've been living on 36th Street for a year and a half now. It's funny the way a place slowly becomes home and slowly you stop noticing the things around you. But then every once in a while I'm walking up 34th to go to the post office and the empire state is framed perfectly by brick buildings. Or early in the morning I turn the corner at 42nd and 3rd avenue and the Chrysler is just there: sparkling, stunning, magnificent. The city is sometimes too much. It's loud. It smells like cigarettes and underground steam and dirty snow. When it's cloudy and I'm tired, It seems like the buildings are crowding closer, closer. But when I stop to recognize its beauty I find that I actually love it. The energy of it. The craziness. The history.

Here's just a glimpse at some of the things we see almost every day. A few of the places I love most in our neighborhood. The gated alley across the street lined with 1850s carriage houses. The rooftops we look across at from our window. The 33rd street subway station. The empire state building seen from lexington avenue. And a look at 36th street from our balcony.