Park Ave, Midtown

With the lush green bushes and flower arrangements that make up the Park Avenue "mall", the leafy trees lining a stream of pre-war co-ops, and the array of white-gloved doormen preening outside of every Park Avenue building, this avenue has it all. The Old World elegance of the Upper East Side is in full force here - from the ladies who lunch walking their tiny dogs in the afternoon to the picture-perfect children heading home (escorted, naturally, by nannies) after school. The presence of doormen make this one of the safest areas around, although there have been reports of unaccompanied children being mugged (often without the use of a weapon) of Ipods or expensive phones in the area. There's little here beyond the residential (Brick Church on 90th Street is one example, not to mention the office buildings south of Grand Central, where the street takes on a vastly different field), and no up/downtown bus serving the area, giving Park Avenue the feel of a somewhat isolated village. That said, a quick walk to tony Madison or more commercial Lexington offers all necessary transport and shopping amenities.