Walk in NYC # 8, Gramercy, Stuyvesant, Kips Bay, is a 3 miles self-guided tour off the beaten track with several variations possible.
Count 2 hours to explore mainly residential parts of Midtown: Kips Bay, Stuyvesant Town, Cooper Village, East River, Gramercy Park.
You’ll discover a private park and beautiful mansions, second-hand clothing and furniture shops, red-brick buildings and the shores of the East River.
This walk is now only available on Payhip in pdf format with a clickable map and updated descriptions (it has also been shortened with the suggestion to take a ferry when you get to the East River).
In this pdf you will also find:
- the list of Highlights.
- the Metro stops to get there and back and infos for Buses.
- tips about restrooms, places to sit and eat.
- details about a particular place you will find on your route.
You can download it (or just the map of the walk) to your phone to help you in your discoveries.
This will allow you to live a unique experience of the city far from what you might find elsewhere.
If you purchased the Boston NYC book, this download will be free for you, just send me a note for an access code for this walk if you don’t have it already.
The description below, incomplete and with cropped photos, gives you an idea of this walk before you decide to buy it.
A and B: From …, find .. and follow it towards … then take it on your right.
After … and before …, you’ll be in what’s called …, a set of red brick townhouses that was an artists colony in the 1920s and still houses celebrities looking for a peaceful setting.
C: Once you’re done admiring the facades, retrace your steps and take …
Surrounded by beautiful building in Greek, Italian and Gothic revival styles, it’s also a quiet place, away from the crowd and only accessible by the inhabitants who have a key. Yet you can still go around and dream to be invited inside!
D: Next, continue on … until you see …on your right, an extraordinary spice shop situated after the ….
If however the detour seems too long, turn on …. and walk to …. You’ll be able to go and see … later if you decide to shorten your walk along the river (see the marker G further down with the proposed route and its alternative).
E: …. has 4 furniture and second-hand clothing stores, one on your left before the .. named …p and designed to help people with HIV, the others on your right after …
If only to see a beautiful interior, try the…, the last of the series and the smallest one, but one where you’ll probably find the most incongruous treasures.
Opposite to it, you can go and have a look at the small gallery in the …, in its lobby.
F: The tour now takes you to two amazing architectural ensembles, …
Built in red brick after the Second World War, they form a group of about one hundred residential buildings almost all identical, housing a population of about 25,000 inhabitants, with its own police, shops, cafes and public places. It’s a kind of city in the city.
To get there, you have two choices: go through the large … and take … between two buildings of the …. This is the path shown on the map. It will allow you to visit …. Or take 22nd St. to go directly to ….
G: In any case, get to… after your visits and walk towards … You’ll have to go under the ..highway to reach the banks of the river.
Although the noise of the highway is constant, it’s another world you enter now, made of local joggers and walkers, seabirds and various boats. In front of you, …, a Brooklyn neighborhood.
Head north and once again, you’ll have two choices, then a 3rd one:
- Go to .. via a footbridge directly opposite the United Nations School, then take.. on your right and turn left on … If you haven’t been to… yet but wish to go there, go to ..and turn right, the shop will be a bit further on your right, after …. Then you’ll go to… (see point H for the rest of the tour)
- Go to… as shown on the map to have the opportunity to walk a bit longer along the river. If you choose this option, you need to turn right past the footbridge in front of the ..and rejoin the boardwalk along the river. If you don’t find the way, don’t hesitate to ask the guards who are in front of the school. You will then be far from everything and the walkway is dated but you’ll eventually see and reach a heliport. It will be there that you’ll go back under the highway to take…
- Unless, 3rd option, that you want to go a little further to take a…to the North that will bring you to Walk in NYC # 6, along the East River, part 3, or another ..to the south that will bring you to Walk in NYC # 16, the quiet Bay Ridge.
If you stay on this tour, … at the beginning of …. has restrooms. It also offers beautiful views of the …, actually two towers of luxury apartments connected by a footbridge, and the …, a wavy tower that allows all apartments to have bow windows.
The edge of the river at this location is in fact a succession of high rise apartment buildings, but these two towers have a particularly interesting architecture.
After the park, turn right to take… on your left.
H: Once past …, you’ll see on your left an alley from another time, …, the smallest historic district of New York.
Built in 1863 to house stables, it remains as it was, without the horses though, and with a gate now closing it.
I: All you have to do next is turn right on … to find …on your left after reaching …
It’ll be the end of this walk but if you want to do more, … is also the starting point of Walk in NYC # 5, along the East River, parts 1 and 2, and Walk in NYC 7, Midtown from Grand Central to Union Park.
Convinced that this walk will be exceptional? Find it on Payhip