This neighborhood was built around a private park with the same name by Samuel Ruggles, one of the city's first great developers, in the nineteenth century. The houses and apartment buildings around the park are some seriously coveted real estate, since ownership is still the only way to make it through the gates of the park. walking is a paradise along Irving Place.
Dining and bar options are plentiful in the neighborhood, particularly on and around Park Avenue South. And lest we forget, the neighborhood is famous for Pete's Tavern which also holds a place of honor as the city's oldest bar.
The area north and east of the park (Murray Hill) is residential and not particularly interesting to tourists, though the Morgan Library, with its spectacular new renovation, is to the northwest.
