East 26th St, Murray Hill

26th between 3rd and Lex has a fun little mix of big buildings and neighborhood joints like Vertigo (weird for an Irish bar), a little Indian restaurant, Ray's Pizza and an Afghan place. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it's pretty big for Murray Hill. There's also a gorgeous building in the middle of the block that is the back side of Baruch's library. And, the block across Lex has an even more rare occurrence for Murray Hill: actual rowhouses. They are beautiful, as they usually are, and don't seem completely out of place because the block has some other old gems like the Armory building. There are office buildings on the corner (at Park) that took the place of houses. Herman Melville lived at the south corner. I really do recommend taking a stroll down the block just to check out the houses but I'm a sucker for old New York homes. My favorite part of Gangs of New York is where they invade all of the houses just because I like to take a look inside of them.
Once you cross Park heading up to Madison, it's just all big, boring commercial buildings so there's nothing really to note unless you are just dying to see the New York Life Building (hint: you're not dying to see it).
26th isn't too shabby of a block to live on, particularly if you have the money to fetch one of the rowhouses. But, there's not a ton to do in the realm of nightlife or the arts. And, the restaurants on the street aren't much to write home about, but it's central to a lot of great things so I wouldn't dissuade anyone from looking here. It doesn't feel like Murray Hill which I, generally, have a bit of disdain for.