72nd Street, Street in the Upper West Side, Manhattan, US

72nd Street is a crosstown street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, running from the Hudson River to Central Park. Both sides of the street are lined with residential buildings, shops, restaurants, and schools that make up the everyday fabric of the neighborhood.

The street developed in the late 19th century, when the Upper West Side grew from an open area into a dense residential neighborhood. Many of the businesses still open today were founded in the 1980s, when the area recovered from a difficult period of social change.

The street is known for a mix of family-run restaurants and shops that have served the same regulars for decades. Walking along it, you notice Irish pubs sitting next to Cuban-Chinese restaurants, which reflects the history of different communities that have settled here over time.

The street is best explored on foot, giving yourself time to stop and look around at the different shops and the people passing by. Starting from the subway entrance at 72nd Street puts both Riverside Park and Central Park within a short walk in opposite directions.

Westsider Books, one of the last used bookstores in the area, fills its window and shelves floor to ceiling with secondhand books, leaving almost no room to stand. Nearby, Silver Music has run a small music school for decades, teaching students of all ages and surviving a period when many specialist shops closed.