Hell's Kitchen, Ninth Avenue Between 36th and 37th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….………….....… ………………….. click to enlarge

As I mentioned at the beginning of this walk, I was headed to a Pakistani restaurant for discussion of a Pakistani book (The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid).  The restaurant is known to some as Kashmir 9; to others as Pakistani Restaurant, and it gets mostly great reviews (for food, not atmosphere).  However, I stumbled on a Restaurant Inspection Report which left me a little queasy, and I'm not easily made queasy.  I had a couple of vegetarian dishes which didn't impress me, but then I thought maybe meat dishes are the thing to get.  I didn't get sick, which is good.

The book?  Well, as usual, the group was split.  I was on the negative side this time because I didn't like the way the story was told.  But I did like getting the viewpoint of the protagonist.

And so this walk has ended and now it is Daylight Saving Time and Spring comes tomorrow along with a whole new walk.

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Hell's Kitchen, Ninth Avenue Between 35th and 36th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………… ………………….. click to enlarge

A convenience store.  Gitcher beer, yer lotto cards, yer newspapers and cigarettes and don't forgetcher ATM to pay for those cigarettes.  Every New Yorker deserves one of these within one block.  They wouldn't agree with me over on Park Avenue. 


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Meatpacking District, Ninth Avenue at Little West 12th Street

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

At Greenwich Street, Little West 12th Street joins in, and, along with Gansevoort, forms a plaza. The shock of this encounter prematurely transforms Greenwich Street into Ninth Avenue.

This shot is taken looking back from where we came. See the Charles Nolan store off in the background? This gal in the foreground is carrying a bag from Zadig & Voltaire, a store on Washington Street, around the corner. The New York Times's Critical Shopper wrote an amusing article about checking out the merchandise. But skip the first half, which is not amusing, just confusing.

Apparently, until last year, this area was not a plaza, just a really wide and unregulated meeting of three streets, very difficult for pedestrians to navigate. I don't know if this is considered complete. I hope not. Anyway, it's safe. Read about it here.




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

The northern edge of the Plaza is defined by the famed restaurant Pastis on Little West 12th, famed more for its scene than its food although the food is judged reasonably good.

Oh, okay, why Little West 12th? Because it's only one block long, from Ninth to Tenth Avenues. It's separated from 12th Street proper by a mess of streets typical of Greenwich Village, so I suppose it's always been that way.

P.S. If you link to the map below, and go to the street view, you can get a good sense of what it must have been like to try to cross that street.

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Times Square, Ninth Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge


Doubling up again, I need to get out of April. But these are very much like they could be shot today, yes?


Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

I love these photographs. I would never live anywhere else.

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Times Square, Ninth Avenue between 44th and 45th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

L'Allegria is one of many restaurants in this area offering pre-theater menus. I know nothing about the place, but based on the tacky Italian theme music that plays at their site, I wouldn't set a foot into it. Ordering pizza from them may be a different story.

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Inwood, Ninth Avenue at 208th Street

Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . click to enlarge

Ninth Avenue begins downtown at 14th Street, and later becomes Columbus Avenue, which ends at 110th Street. Completely ridiculously, it picks up again at 201st street (that's 91 blocks!) and stumbles along 7 blocks until it comes to an ignominous end right here. Do we call this an avenue?

However, I love these streets on the edges; they're my favorite places to walk. There's such surprising color and design in these very practical, and very unbeautiful places. Can you believe that arrow? By the way, the sign on the building says New York City Transit Authority, Ninth Avenue Unit Shop.

I also did a tight shot of the doorway, which I can't resist showing you, thus violating two rules with one photo.
1. Show only one photo per day. 2. Show one view only per site.


Mary Sargent © 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .click to enlarge

There.