People who have never lived in Midtown assume it is all tourists and office towers. People who have lived on West 46th Street know it is a working neighborhood with a very particular rhythm: quiet until mid-morning, busy through the afternoon, loud from 7 pm curtain until the last stage door empties, and then still again. This is a guide to that block and the ones around it, written for someone about to move in rather than someone visiting for a weekend.
The block itself
The 46 is at 129 West 46th Street, between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. The building is nine stories, built in 1902, with a limestone-and-brick facade, a black iron balcony and a red awning that reads "129." It has been a place people stay for more than a century, and the street around it has kept the same mix of theaters, small restaurants and offices for most of that time.
On the same block, at 145 West 46th Street, is the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, an Episcopal church known for its music. Whatever your beliefs, it is worth stepping inside once; it is one of the calmest interiors in Midtown and a short walk from the front door.
The block is a west-east corridor between two avenues, which means two things in practice. First, the avenues carry the traffic and the street itself is comparatively calm. Second, everything described below is reached by turning left or right at one end of the block.
Broadway houses on West 46th Street
Walk west across Seventh Avenue and you are in the heart of the Broadway theater district, and two of its houses are on this very street. The Richard Rodgers Theatre and the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre both sit on West 46th Street west of Seventh Avenue. On a show night you will see the queue for the stage door from the corner.
For performers and theater students this is the whole point of the address. For everyone else it is the reason the block wakes up at 7 pm and goes quiet again just after 11. If you keep office hours, the pattern suits you: the street is busiest when you are out at dinner, and calm by the time you want to sleep. We wrote more about housing for performers and theater students for readers who are here for a contract or a conservatory term.
Duffy Square and the TKTS booth
One block west is Times Square, and its northern triangle, Duffy Square, at 47th Street and Broadway. That is where the TKTS booth sells same-day discounted tickets. The line forms early on matinee days; the red glass steps above the booth are one of the better places in the city to sit with a coffee and watch the district go about its business.
For a resident, the useful fact is that same-day theater is a walk of a few minutes, and a spontaneous Tuesday night at a show is a real option rather than a plan you make three months out.
Rockefeller Center and Radio City
Two to four blocks northeast, Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. In summer the plaza is an open square; in winter it is the rink and the tree, and the crowds that come with them. The concourse below is a covered walk with places to pick up lunch, which comes into its own in February.
NBCUniversal and Deloitte have offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. If that is where your internship is, the walk is short enough that you will not bother with the subway even in the rain.
Bryant Park and the New York Public Library
Four blocks south, Bryant Park is the neighborhood's living room. It is a proper lawn with movable chairs, a reading area, and programming through the summer: films on the lawn, free classes, outdoor games. Early morning, before the office crowd arrives, it is one of the quietest public spaces in Midtown. Bring a coffee and sit on the terrace; it is where residents go when the room feels small.
The New York Public Library's main branch anchors the park's eastern edge. Its Rose Main Reading Room is free, silent, and open to anyone with a reader's card. If you have a thesis chapter to finish, a bar exam to study for, or a script to learn, it is the best study room in the city, and it is about a 6-minute walk from the building via 42 St-Bryant Park.
Restaurant Row
Two blocks west, West 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues is Restaurant Row, a stretch of dining rooms that have served pre-theater dinner for decades. Prix-fixe menus timed to curtain are the norm. If your family visits and you need somewhere for dinner before a show, this is the street.
It is also a reminder of how much of this neighborhood is organized around the theater schedule. The pre-theater seating fills at 5:30, empties at 7:30, and the rooms are calm again by 8.
Little Brazil
The next block east, West 46th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, is Little Brazil. It is a short stretch, but it is real: Brazilian restaurants, a few shops, and the annual Brazilian Day festival that closes the street in late summer. For a resident, it is where you go when you want a plate of something substantial rather than a Midtown salad.
The Diamond District
One block north, 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues is the Diamond District, the densest concentration of jewelers in the country. You are unlikely to be shopping for a stone during an internship, but walking the block once is worth it: it is a trade district that has kept its character while everything around it changed.
Getting anywhere: transit from the block
The transit density here is the practical reason to live in the Theater District rather than somewhere quieter. Every line in the table is within a few minutes of the front door.
| Station | Lines | Walk |
|---|---|---|
| 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Center (Sixth Avenue) | B, D, F, M | about 2 minutes |
| 49 St (Seventh Avenue) | N, R, W | about 4 minutes |
| Times Sq-42 St | 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, W, S | about 5 minutes |
| 42 St-Port Authority | A, C, E | about 5 minutes |
| 50 St (Broadway) | 1 | about 5 minutes |
| 42 St-Bryant Park and Fifth Av | B, D, F, M, 7 | about 6 minutes |
Grand Central Terminal is about a 12-minute walk, or one stop on the S shuttle from Times Square. Penn Station and Port Authority are within a 10 to 15 minute walk. Between the three, you can get to any airport, to New Jersey, to Long Island, and up the Hudson without a taxi.
For campuses: Fordham Lincoln Center and Juilliard are about a 20-minute walk or one stop on the 1 train from 50 St. Columbia is the same 1 train, further uptown. NYU and The New School are one ride downtown on the N, Q, R, W or the 1.
Quiet spots
Midtown has more of these than its reputation suggests.
- Bryant Park before 9 am. The chairs are out, the lawn is empty, and the only sound is the fountain.
- The Rose Main Reading Room. Silence enforced by architecture. Take your laptop; the tables have lamps and outlets.
- The Church of St. Mary the Virgin. On the block. Cool in summer, still at any hour it is open.
- The building's own study room. A work and study room on site means you do not have to leave for quiet. The amenities page has the list.
- Rockefeller Center's channel gardens on a weekday morning. Before the tour groups.
Groceries, coffee and the everyday
The Theater District is not a residential neighborhood in the brownstone sense, so it helps to know how errands work here.
For groceries, there are supermarkets and greengrocers within a few blocks on the avenues, and the pharmacies that stock the basics are on nearly every corner. Most residents do a larger shop once a week and pick up fresh things on the way home. Delivery apps cover the area thoroughly and the 24-hour front desk receives packages, so a heavy order does not depend on you being home.
Coffee is not a problem. Independent cafes and the large chains are dense here because the office population demands them; you will settle on one within a week. The resident lounge at The 46 has its own coffee bar for the mornings when you do not want to go out at all.
Laundry, dry cleaning and tailoring are all within a short walk. It is a district that has served performers and office workers for a century and the services reflect that.
Living here
The honest summary: West 46th Street is loud from seven to eleven and quiet the rest of the time, everything is close, and you will walk more than you expect. If that sounds like the summer or the semester you want, come and see the block for yourself. Book a tour and we will walk it with you.