By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — A narrow stretch of West 35th Street has earned the dubious distinction of the "ugliest street in Midtown."
The strip between Broadway and Seventh Avenue was among a handful of blocks singled out by the Municipal Art Society as examples of bad design during an "Ugly Streets Tour" given as part of the organization’s two-day Summit for New York City.
The block is dark and clogged with parked trucks and bumper-to-bumper cars. The south side is overwhelmed by the back of Macy’s, which has no storefronts or windows and only a vast expanse of brick and garage doors.
"They have 800 feet of blank wall," said Frank Addeo, a member of the MAS’s streets committee, who led the tour. "You would have to go out of your way to be worse than that."
Addeo — who has beefs with street vendors, sidewalk scaffolding and gritty newsstands — included a lack of landscaping, few trees, narrow sidewalks, and no activity or imagination as the characteristics of an ugly street.
Another ugly offender: Eighth Avenue between West 32nd and West 33rd streets, between the Farley Post Office and Madison Square Garden.
Despite the wide sidewalks and the "magnificent" Farley building, Addeo declared it a very ugly street.
"It’s barren," he complained, and said he hoped the Department of Transportation would consider sprucing it up.
One public space that got high marks from Addeo was the plaza that runs next to K-Mart at 1 Penn Plaza, which he praised for its easy access, seating and plantings.
The new pedestrian plaza in Herald Square also got praise.
"This is a great street," he said, standing among the cluster of busy tables filled with people.
Will Wetherholt, a tourist from Atlanta, Ga., who stopped in the plaza to grab a snack, agreed.
"It’s nice to have a place to sit down. There’s not enough of that in Midtown," he said.
Ipsita Shroff, 33, who was visiting with her 1-year-old son from New Jersey for the first time since the plaza’s installation, also praised the space.
“It’s pretty cool," she said. "It’s nice to see all the people sitting out."
