Washington Mews

One block north of the Arch, a gated lane of Belgian block runs between Fifth Avenue and University Place, lined with low two-story buildings that began life in the 1800s as stables and carriage houses for the grand homes on Washington Square North. The horses are long gone; the scale never changed. Painted shutters, climbing vines, lanterns by the doors — it reads like a village street that Manhattan grew up around and forgot to demolish.

Most of the Mews now belongs to NYU, which uses the little houses for language institutes and faculty offices, so the lane stays strangely quiet even at midday. The gates at either end are often open to walkers during the day, but it is a private street — if they're closed, the view through the ironwork from Fifth Avenue is still worth the detour.