East 52 St, Midtown

52nd starts off in Midtown at Lexington with a very Midtown kind of office building set. The modern, high rise onset of the street through this neighborhood is a bit deceiving, though, because there are some great things on this block to see. The Trans Lux Theatre is on this block. It's a great old theatre where Fellini's La Strada had its US premiere. Next to the theatre is the famous Marilyn Monroe vent from the Seven Year Itch which is worth a look to most people even though it's really just a subway vent. The big power lunch spot for powerful people, The Four Seasons, is next to the vent on the other end. I've never been here because I'm not powerful but I have heard it's very snooty. The Four Seasons is on the ground floor of a very famous building called the Seagram Building. I don't love many skyscrapers but this one is pretty cool. Across the street from the Seagram building is an ugly skyscraper that replaced the hotel that Marilyn Monroe lived at during her divorce from Joe DiMaggio because of the street vent directly across. That poor vent.
Across Park, there's an interesting glass skyscraper that houses the private men's Racquet and Tennis Club. I think it's actually still only for men which I find mind boggling. I'm guessing these are the people who eat at the Four Seasons. More to my speed, there's a lovely Italian place across the street called Fresco that is worth a try if you happen to be in the area.
Across Madison, there are a ton of massive buildings and that's about it. Among them are the Omni Hotel, the very pretty Look building, Harper Collins Publishing, and La Grenouille. La Gren used to be a stable and eventually became the Armand Hammer headquarters. It now has a French Restaurant on the ground floor which, I believe, is the last remaining from the era when French restaurants were everywhere in this part of town. It's very quaint and pretty good. Across from La Gren is the Cartier flagship store. This is the epitome of 5th Ave shopping as Cartier is the go to place for ridiculously expensive jewelry. Apparently, this building was bought by Cartier in 1915 from the Vanderbilts for the price of one hundred bucks and a million dollar pearl necklace. Oh, rich people . .
There are some great things to see on 52nd but it would be hard to live on for me. There's not a lot in the way of restaurants, nightlife, or young people. And, there are a lot of suits and tourists hanging around which takes away from the neighborhood vibe. It's not a bad street. It's just not my speed.