Movies that take place in Manhattan often have scenes in alleys, particularly action scenes (Home Alone II, Highlander, Jason Takes Manhattan come to mind). In reality, Manhattan real estate is so valuable that every bit of empty space is gobbled up and real alleys are very few and far between.
Broadway Alley is located between 26th and 27th streets, between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue. Despite the name it is not particularly close to Broadway - the name was supposedly to make it seem classy.
One side of the alley is unpaved, making it the only dirt road in midtown and one of only two in Manhattan, according to the great
Scouting NY blog.
I noticed another alley a couple of blocks away. With the empty alleyway space, the trees, and shack, it is hard to believe you are at the corner of 29th and Lexington.
A few blocks further up is a more typical Manhattan alley. Sniffen Court at 36th and Lexington features 19th-century carriage houses converted into private homes. It is best known as the location for the cover of the Doors Album
Strange Days.
Those alleys are what I think of when I think of NYC.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Especially the Jason Takes Manhattan reference. Man that movie is terrible.
ReplyDeleteMy neighborhood is all about alleys...but we're kind of far from downtown Cincinnati so all our alleys are just really shady. Mostly they're used for doing heroin. There's a drivable one behind our house that has our garage off of it, and all that's done is have our garage broken into once and "tagged" once. Ah city life lol.