Meet 54th Street
It is always a welcome beginning to my walk from the east side of Manhattan to the west when I can sit on a bench and look out at the East River from a quiet pocket park. Sutton Place offers a perfect vantage point to view the bridges and the boats, to meet some of the residents in the neighborhood, and to simply reflect before wending my way west.
There is no shortage of history on 54th; Towards the East River is the almost one-hundred-year old Neighborhood Playhouse, an acting conservatory. Monkey Bar, is a classic restaurant with a fascinating history dating back to 1936. It is Graydon Carter, editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair Magazine, who is credited with bringing it back to its original splendor in 2009. The street is home to the Rockefeller Townhouses, a historic prewar building overlooking the sculpture gardens at the Museum of Modern Art, as well as the University Club, one of the city’s oldest and most distinguished private clubs. Unsurprisingly, considering the amount of change that New York has gone through in the past century, there is little remaining evidence of some of these historic sites. The Ziegfeld Theatre (Lost Gem), a movie theater in midtown, was named after the legendary Broadway theater that stood only a block away from 1927 to 1966. After residing on historic ground for almost 50 years, the movie theater was closed in 2016 to make way for a new ballroom. Then, there is the building that once housed the Hit Factory. One of the most famous recording studios of the twentieth century – and allegedly the location from which John Lennon was returning on the night of his murder – the building now houses residential condominiums.
Saint Peter’s Church, connected to the building formerly known as the Citicorp Center, is not immediately obvious, but well worth discovering – especially the private chapel designed by the American sculptor, Louise Nevelson. On the west side, my timing was perfect as I met a member from the congregation of St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church ascending its steps along side me. This allowed me the opportunity to slip inside with this kind woman as my guide and to ultimately meet the committed head pastor, Jim Kordaris. Farther down the street, I stumbled across Champion Stamp Co. with, literally, millions of rare and contemporary stamps for sale. While stamp collecting is a vanishing pastime, I found wandering through the bins to be an exceptional experience.
I am yet to find a side street that did not offer abundant choices in food, especially Italian. Some of us from the Manhattan Sideways team spent time chatting with owner, Gianfranco Sorrentino, and his accomplished chef, Vito Gnazzo, at their side by side restaurants, Il Gattopardo and Mozzarella & Vino. Where the first allows diners an intimate setting for some spectacular dishes, the other is low key with an emphasis on small plates filled with imported Italian cheeses and meats. Like many other streets in the 50s, 54th Street boasts a small enclave of Russian businesses just east of Hell’s Kitchen. One of these is Uncle Vanya Cafe (Lost Gem), an authentic Russian eatery that describes itself as a “dive art cafe.”
As I had begun my day gazing out over the East River at Sutton Park, I was able to conclude it at DeWitt Clinton Park, making for a leafy bookend with numerous plazas tucked in between. There were sculptures, vine-covered walls and calming fountains in the middle of 54th Street, while at the most western side, it sloped downward towards its conclusion at the expressway, and beyond it, the Hudson River. De Witt Clinton, named for New York’s sixth governor who was an avid naturalist, the park is notable for its baseball and soccer fields, which take up the majority of the space. Less evident was a small path within the park that runs parallel to 54th. Replete with trees providing much-needed shade, rose bushes and even a wrought iron archway, it was a fitting end to a street that included so many unexpected treasures along the way.
