Turtle Bay, 43rd Street at Tudor City Place

Mary Sargent © 2009 ……….... click to enlarge

Tudor City is a large apartment complex, "a city within a city", according to its builder, Fred French, who built it in the late 20s in an area formerly filled with slums and slaughterhouses. Its boundaries are from 40th to 43rd Streets and Second Avenue to First which means that we've been in Tudor City since I crossed Second Avenue a few nights ago. In this Wikipedia article I learned that it was built on a bluff! There's my answer! (The question was why does 43rd Street overlook First Avenue.) And the reason 42nd Street goes under Tudor City is that the cliff was cut through in the late 19th Century. I can't wait to walk on First Avenue on the other side.

Since 43rd and 41st Streets dead end here and 42nd Street goes under, it is very peaceful. The first time I was here, several years ago, it was on my lunch hour, and I was just walking across 42nd Street, getting some more streets for my project (pre-blog). Suddenly I came across a set of stairs right there on the sidewalk, so up I went. It was like climbing a bean stalk and finding myself in another world. It was magical.

If you go, I recommend you go up the stairs. You won't get the same effect walking there on 41st or 43rd.



Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

This is one of two parks in Tudor City. Since I was there at lunch time, there were a fair number of people in the park, but I'm guessing you could find some solitude at other times of day.



Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………….……………….. click to enlarge

See map.