East 25 St, Murray Hill

25th picks up in Murray Hill about the same as it left off in Kip's Bay. There's a cool building right at the corner of Lex that is used for AIDS treatment and another cool building on the other corner that is an Armory building. Kill em or save em . . make up your mind New York. There's a sad mockery happening at the corner of Park wherein a cheap clothing store called Strawberry is on the site of Henry James' last home. I hate when things like that happen but they seem to happen every day in this city. This neighborhood could have been so cool if they would have just left it alone.
The block at Park has a great Danny Meyer restaurant called Tabla. It's expensive, like all of his restaurants, but it really is fantastic if maybe a little bit stuffy. It's also in the midst of all these big lifeless buildings like the Credit Suisse monster which doesn't help with the homegrown feeling. But, I would still give the food a whirl: it's worth it. It's also across the street from a courthouse which I find such an odd place to have a court. But, it's been there since the early 20th century so you can't exactly guess how the neighborhood is gonna go.
After Park, you run into Madison Square Park which is one of my favorites. It always has a lively energy and there's a great mix of sun and shade.