At the northern edge of Central Park, a row of a modestly sized brick apartment buildings sit facing southward.
Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile boasts the Museum of the City of New York, El Museo del Barrio and The Africa Center in the Upper, Upper East Side known as East Harlem.
At 116th, the street is designated Luis Muñoz Marín Boulevard, after the poet, journalist, politician and statesman, and notably the first democratically elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
On this sunny Easter Sunday, the streets were quiet and the church doors closed, leaving the Spring-like day to the amblers. Puerto Rican flags and empty chairs dot the many alleyways in the area.
On Park Avenue at 116th, the avenue takes on a different shape from its infamous wide stature further south. The buildings are brick instead of stone and the train rides above ground instead of below.
Beneath the rumbling Metro-North, a delightfully welcoming garden center catches my eye. The Urban Garden Center has been family-run for four generations, in various locations around the city.
In 2010, they took over an empty lot known as “Lot 6” at La Marqueta and turned it into a sprawling green shop.
The lot also boasts a private party space that is available for rent.
The invitation might read: Party Under the Bridge.
