Lexington Avenue - Irving Place

Irving Place

In contrast to Lexington Avenue, the five-block stretch of Irving Place, from 14th to 20th Street at Gramercy Park carries two-way traffic and is decidedly local in nature. After the opening of Union Square in 1839, the Irving Place area became one of the most sought-after residential neighborhoods in the city, a situation which was only enhanced by the development of Gramercy Park to the north and Stuyvesant Square to the east.

An assortment of restaurants and bars line Irving Place, including Pete's Tavern, New York's oldest surviving saloon, where O. Henry supposedly conceived of "The Gift of the Magi", and which survived Prohibition disguised as a flower shop. Irving Plaza, on East 15th Street and Irving, hosts numerous concerts for both well-known and indie bands and draws a crowd almost every night. Another component of the avenue are the large apartment buildings which line the street from Gramercy Park to 17th Street. Also at 17th, a small bed-and-breakfast, the Inn at Irving Place, occupies two Greek Revival architecture townhouses built in 1840-1841 and renovated in 1991-1995.

Historically and architecturally significant are 47 and 49 Irving Place – the latter where Washington Irving is said to have lived, but did not – which are part of the East 17th Street/Irving Place Historic District and the Stuyvesant Fish House on the corner of 20th Street, part of the Gramercy Park Historic District.

Offices located on Irving Place include those of The Nation magazine, the New York branch of the Rosicrucian Order and the Seafarers and International House mission. There are also a number of clinics and official city buildings along the street, including Washington Irving High School and the headquarters of the New York City Human Resources Administration. The bottom of the street is anchored by the rear of the Zeckendorf Towers condominium apartment complex on the west side, and the Consolidated Edison Building on the east.