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Abandoned Christmas trees on 34th and Park.

Full Floor Of A Murray Hill Brownstone, One Bed With Home Office -- $4250

This blog is totally turning into real estate eye candy, but I got an amazing listing this morning.

It's the entire floor of a Murray Hill brownstone, right off of Park Avenue. It's an enormous (1300 square feet) one bedroom with a home office. Extra high ceilings, two working fireplaces, new kitchen, small patio, tons of closet space. Huge windows, very bright and tons of pre-war detail and charm. $4250 a month. Live/work OK. (Past tenants include a man in the haberdashery business who used it as his showroom.) I have the keys and can show it at any time. If you're having a bad day just come and look at it. It will make you happy. Full specs here.

Get Out Of The House! It's Summer Streets!

TR had the idea to get up early this morning and take advantage of Summer Streets, which is when Park Avenue is closed from 72nd Street all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge. Biking, jogging and rollerblading are all encouraged, so we packed up Andre and off we went -- from Murray Hill to Chinatown!

You can read more about Summer Streets and the whole New York 400, Holland on the Hudson program here.

Full set of my photos here.

First things first: my morning coffee in the perfect August weather.


Modern fatherhood: Real men push the pram.


This young entrepreneur/philanthropist on Lafayette Street sold two kinds of lemonade, which was quite good, and will offer baked goods next week. Even better: a portion of her profits are going toward a local school's autism program.


Who knew there were so many bicycling enthusiasts in NYC?


Pimp your ride


Andre and I on Spring Street


Dance class on 11th Street


Slumming on Park Avenue. Next time I'll use a flash.


The best part of Summer Streets is that you can walk over the bridge around Grand Central Terminal. If you're a dork about New York City, like I am, this sort of thing is fascinating.


I never knew there was a statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt here. Mostly because taxis speed by it way too quickly.


You can thank Jackie Kennedy for saving this. It almost went the way of the old Penn Station


How else could I ever get a shot like this?


Dwarfed by Gotham


I've never seen Park Avenue without traffic. Well, not in the middle of the day.


Next week we're going to walk up Park north of 42nd Street, all the way up to Central Park. I expect much more aggressive bicyclists uptown. Stay tuned!

Live On Park Avenue For $2100 or $2400 A Month

Who says you can't live in style in a recession? An amazing pre-war building right on Park Avenue in the 30s (yes, you'd have a proper Park Avenue address!) has two huge units available -- for $2100 and $2400. They've been on the market for all of two days.

First, this one on the fourth floor of an elevator building with a part time doorman. Roughly 700 square feet, it has a large living area that leads to a balcony. (Very Eva Peron!) It's drenched in sunlight, has French doors and lots of closets.


View from the balcony


Bedroom is king sized with real parquet floors and large windows.


On the second floor of the same building is an even larger one bedroom for $2400, roughly 750 square feet. It has soaring Catherdral ceilings, over sized windows, parquet floors, built in shelving with a library ladder so you can always reach your favorite volumes. Bedroom is king sized and there are many closets throughout the apartment. $2400.


You'll never have a dark day here!


Are you a cook? Large kitchen with dishwasher as well.