When you think of famous New York City streets, traffic-jammed roads like Broadway and Fifth Avenue are likely what comes to mind, but the Big Apple is also chock-full of tiny thoroughfares even the locals could pass by without another thought. With the help of NYC & Company, we’ve put together a list of miniature neighborhoods—one is no longer than a block—that are hidden away off the main drag, requiring a careful look at the map to find them. Many are impressively preserved, transporting you back in time to when the structures were horse stables and street lamps were lit with gas. Now, for the lucky few who live on these streets, the areas offer unusual privacy and quiet amid the hustle and bustle of the city.
Washington Mews, Greenwich VillageOne block north of Washington Square Park, this cobblestone street is lined with horse stables and homes dating from the 19th century.
Dennet Place, Carroll GardensSure, this Brooklyn lane is tiny in length, but it’s the doors on the street that seem particularly small. At the ground level of each house here are peculiar four-foot-high entrances that require residents to duck as they go in and out.
Gay Street, Greenwich VillageLook to the west side of this tiny one-block-long road and you’ll see Federal-style houses. Turn to the east and you’ll be met with Greek Revival homes, which were built later on.
Sixth 1/2 Avenue, MidtownHead to this passageway on foot—it’s for pedestrians only. The “avenue” spans six blocks between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.
Freeman Alley, BoweryMeandering down this dead-end alley covered in colorful graffiti might seem pointless at first, but there’s a surprise tucked in the back: the popular (yet unmarked) restaurant Freemans.
Sniffen Court, Murray HillBehind an elegant gate on East 36th Street are ten brick carriage houses built in the 1860s, making this spot one of the tiniest historic districts in Manhattan. On the far end is a nod to the byway’s life as a mews: two plaques of horseman, designed by artist and onetime resident Malvina Hoffman.
Patchin Place, Greenwich VillageNestled off of 10th street, this cul-de-sac of rowhouses came to be in the 1840s, and an original public gaslight street lamp still stands here, reportedly one of only two left in the city.
Verandah Place, Cobble HillThis mid-19th century thoroughfare of attached brick houses looks out on Brooklyn’s verdant Cobble Hill Park, which was created much later on in 1965.
Pomander Walk, Upper West SideSixteen buildings make up this charming European-style gated community, which is fittingly named after an imaginary London street in the play Pomander Walk. And it’s not going anywhere—Pomander Walk was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982.
