Here’s one of those pieces that make you both cringe and smile. Time Out Magazine apparently believes it is capable of naming the Top Ten Blocks in all of New York City. I cringe because that’s one hell of a presumption, but I smile because I like the idea.
Using criteria like aesthetics, amenities, a “greeness factor” (which one assumes means the people there like trees and flowers as well as clean burning fuels) and affordability, they break them out in nicely written, icon-laden glory. Never mind that the icons’ meaning is stuck way below at the bottom of the page so you have no idea what they’re tlaking about unless you scroll down. So forgive them their navigational trespasses and take a brief look with me at some of their top choices.
First, (and I mean first, this is their top choice) they regard South Portland Avenue between DeKalb and Lafayette Avenues, Fort Greene, Brooklyn as the finest block in New York. This may be so. I hate to say I’ve never actually spent time there. Of course now I want to. Then they move onto Grammercy Park, Chelsea and Long Island City. Boy are they casting a wide net. I like it though. It gives me the gumption see some places in the other boroughs I’ve never seen before. But why in the world is the West village not listed here is beyond me. It must have failed on the affordability meter.
If you are a tourist coming to the city, I suggest that this is the kind of article you would want to use to help guide you around town. Take the day to check out some of these blocks rather than go to Times Square or some other God awful tourism-infested hole.