The New York Times examines pockets of tranquility in the heart of New York City. Neighborhoods such as Pomander Walk (pictured here), a hidden street on the Upper West Side, are nearly invisible to passersby. In fact, because delivery people could never find the street, residents renamed it to a more delivery friendly 265 West 94th Street.View full image.

The properties on these streets tend to be small, and many have been carefully restored to recall a bygone era. They rarely come up for sale, but when they do, they can command hefty premiums.

“You almost never see these kinds of properties come on the market, because the people who move into them almost never move out,” said Beverly Sonnenborn, an agent with Sotheby’s International Realty who specializes in properties in Greenwich Village, where many of these historic properties exist.

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