Most true New Yorkers take pride in knowing their city like the back of their hand. Still, there are some hidden streets still to be discovered. And they are amazing locations for your engagement and/or wedding photos. Here are seven of our favorites...
1. GROVE STREET
Only spanning five blocks, this West Village street is lined with Federal-style buildings and leafy trees making for an almost European, old-world feel. Not only does it have one of the city’s oldest homes (17 Grove Street), it also has one of the most secret housing developments located between 10 and 12 Grove Street, called Grove Court. Behind a wrought iron gate are just six townhouses that were built in 1853 for the poor, but now they are a hot commodity.
Once known as the "Bloody Angle", Doyers Street is a 200-foot-long curved street between Pell Street to Bowery in Chinatown. Its strange curve actually follows the route of an old stream and was also home to the first Chinese language theater in NYC. Now it’s a pedestrian-only street that attracts New Yorkers because of its great restaurants and bars.
This Upper West Side strip can be found between 94th and 95th streets between Broadway and West End Avenue. You’ll know it by the rooster on an iron sign that hangs above its entrance. When you look through the gate, you might not believe your eyes. This small street with homes facing each other looks like something out of a Disney movie. That’s because Thomas Healy, who bought the property in 1920, was inspired by a rom-com play called "Pomander Walk".
Hidden between Warren and Baltic Streets, this little alley-like residential property in Brooklyn's Cobble Hill neighborhood will make you swear you’re not in New York City anymore. This was actually built as a working-class housing development in 1879 by Alfred Tredway White. Now, 34 homes still exist here and sell for millions.
5. GAY STREET
Another angled street, Gay Street, was named after a family who lived there during colonial times, hence the Federal-style houses on the west side of the street. This West Village stretch, between Christopher Street and Waverly Place, has been in a few different films and videos, including 1943’s "A Night to Remember", and the music videos for Cyndi Lauper’s "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", and Sheryl Crow’s "A Change Would Do You Good".
6. STONE STREET
Stone Street, sitting between Whitehall Street in the west and Hanover Square, is one of NYC’s oldest streets. The downtown block has been around since the Dutch were here. In 1658 it became the first cobbled street in New Amsterdam. After the British moved in, it was called Duke Street before it was paved in 1794 and renamed Stone Street. Today it is for pedestrians only and home to some quaint restaurants and bars & taverns full of character. During agreeable weather, it is also some of the best outdoor dining in the city.
A private, gated (but usually open) street just north of the Village's Washington Square Park, between Fifth Avenue and University Place, is a trip back in time to the days of row houses and stables. These mews (a row of stables) serviced horses from homes in the neighborhood during the 18th and 19th centuries. Some were also were homes. Around 1950, NYU rented most of these buildings and converted them into faculty housing and offices.