We LOVE our neighborhood and street. After walking the city for the last month, I haven't seen a place in the entire city that would have been a better place have as "home sweet home".
Our Street:
Our apartment is in a 6-story 1930's building on the corner of Greenwich Ave. and Bank St. Bank St. is tree-lined, and is 7 short blocks long--it takes us bout 5 minutes to walk it end to end. Bank St. begins at our apartment (One Bank St.), and at the very end of our street is the Hudson River, with views of NJ across the river. Walking the street, mostly you pass attached row homes (townhouses), with pretty doors and elaborate iron work staircases. While Banks is mostly residential, on some corners there are either little shops (Marc Jacobs), cozy restaurants, or small parks (with fountains and benches). Most townhouses are 3 or 4 stores tall, plus they have a lower level that is entirely underground or partially underground. The underground spaces in residential buildings usually have their own entrance and are rented out as separate apartment.
The Vibe:
Bank is residential and quiet, but there are always people out and about. People are out strolling, walking their dogs, sitting on the stoop, getting coffee or a bite to eat at one of the small corner restaurants etc. We read that this area is quite "gentrified". In checking the real estate notices, it looks like a 1BR might sell for something like 800K, and full townhouses go for as much as 2-4 million. When I look in the townhouse windows I see lots of original architectural woodwork, exposed brick, original chandeliers, elaborate fire place mantles, and floor to ceiling bookcases. In general, (the girls especially) are dressed "smart". Not really dressed up, but look very "put together".
What was weird:
They have a thing here called "alternate street parking" which means on 2 days a week you have to move your car between 10-11:30 AM so the street cleaning trucks can clean the street. On these days, you see people sitting in their cars, (eating, reading, napping) just waiting for the truck to arrive so they can circle the block till the truck is done, and they can get their parking space back.
The History:
Bank Street was named for Alexander Hamilton's Bank of NY. B of NY, opened a branch here after their downtown offices were quarantined in 1798 because of a yellow fever epidemic.
