The Strangest Alley

The strangest alley in New York City can be found on the north side of Morris Park Avenue between Matthews and Muliner Avenue in the Bronx, where a new basic brick two-story office building has been recently built. But it has a secret.

On the opposite side of Morris Park Avenue, a “Graham Place” sign is affixed to a lamppost. But there is no apparent Graham Place…

…until you walk through the entranceway seen at bottom right of the above photo.

Two dwellings, #191 and 193 Graham Place, come into view…

…and to not confuse cab drivers and postal workers, the two buildings’ back entrances also have Muliner Avenue street numbering, adjoining the Matthews-Muliner playground.

So, what’s going on here? In 1905 this was part of a subdivision called Hudson Park. Sorry I could not capture more of the map, but Historic Map Works’ copyright protections cause immediate zoom when a screen shot tool attempts to capture it. You can see two streets, Graham and Delancey; both survive, because Cruger Avenue, now called Muliner Avenue, was extended south and a dogleg was added to Delancey Street (now Place) to meet it. Graham Street, now Graham Place, remained a dead end and today, just two dwellings on it remain.

Before a couple of years ago, Graham Place was a trickle of a sidewalk leading from Morris Park Avenue to the two houses. However, that new brick office building was constructed in its place, with an opening leading to its dwellings, making it invisible from Morris Park Avenue—unless you know where to look.

The Graham it was named for has been lost in the mists of time.

Kevin Walsh is the webmaster of the award-winning website Forgotten NY, and the author of the books Forgotten New York (HarperCollins, 2006) and also, with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, Forgotten Queens (Arcadia, 2013)