Murray Hill: Third Avenue between 38th and 39th Street

Before Third Avenue makes its way north from Murray Hill and Kips Bay to the high-rises of Midtown East, it bisects this transitional block.

By the middle of the 19th century, this was a pretty well-off part of the growing city. Then came the Third Avenue El in 1870 and many of the townhouses gave way to tenements. When the elevated train was torn down in the 1950s, the newly airy street was ready for transformation. It’s still defined by a few tenements on either side, but modern apartments are defining more of this area.

This is a short, quick block. I’m not going to pretend this is my favorite place in the city, but we’ll find something fun.

Take a peek on Google Maps here.

590 & 592 Third Avenue | 1900

This is a pair of mixed-use buildings typical of the turn of the 20th century. Number 592, on the right, stands out for its red brick texture and some detailing. It’s nice! But you have to feel bad for the decorative face on the fifth floor that seems to be covered in pigeon poop.

Some time from the 1960s through the 80s, Number 590 was the home of Seashells Unlimited, a store selling nothing but conches, run by Veronica Parkers Johns, a mystery author, one-time president of the New York Shell Club, and publisher of the autobiographical “She Sells Sea Shells.” Compiling a list of Christmas gifts in 1985, the New Yorker wrote:

Pieces of Indonesian blue coral cost from $5 to $35, depending on size; blush-pink land snails from Ceylon are $1.50; and the Xenophora, or carrier shells, which are encrusted with tiny shells as if with paillettes, are $15 to $50.

This place honestly looks like it was incredible.

The 155 Condominium at 155 East 38th street | 1960

This mid-century slab is typical of the white-brick ivy that rose across the East Side from the 30s to Yorkville in the 1960s. (This apartment listing looks nice.)

There’s some evidence that Bonanno crime family boss Carmine Galante lived on the 20th floor here with his girlfriend in the years before he was gunned down in 1979 after finishing lunch in Bushwick.

And some time back in the early 2000s there was a convoluted case involving the condo board and one of the building tenants. I don’t really understand it, though one of the court filings cited a letter with this memorable passage: “So, your Majesty, please ask Empty Emperor Caesar … how much time will be available to me to see the records or to sit on the toilet and audit the records?”

Construction site, northeast corner of Third Ave and 38th St

The two buildings here were demolished and as of the end of 2025 the site is awaiting construction, though it’s not clear what’s going here just yet. (But, I mean, it’ll be apartments.)

The Lindley | 2018

Do we like this? I don’t know, man. At first, I thought this and the building on the corner was one really weird thing, but it’s actually two different things. That pizza place has some really good reviews, though.

What’s Good: Like a bento box of classic Manhattan: a Gristedes, a Chinese restaurant or two, a bodega, and place to get your nails done, and a place to get a slice.

What’s Not: Third Ave. bisects this like a small highway and it’s a bit a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. This would be a much better place if there was a store selling seashells is all I’m saying.

Block rating: 3.5/10