Gay Street

Gay Street is one block long and it still manages a bend — a soft dogleg laid down in the 1800s that breaks every sightline and makes the little Federal rowhouses seem to lean in toward each other. The curve is the whole show: stand at the Christopher Street end and the street simply disappears around its own corner, shuttered windows and painted brick stacked against the turn.

The houses here date largely to the 1820s and 30s, and the street has collected more history than its length should allow — Ruth McKenney wrote 'My Sister Eileen' from a basement at No. 14, and the block has been painted and photographed more or less continuously since the Village became the Village. It takes three minutes to walk and most people turn around and walk it again.