Manhattan’s Billionaire’s Row — the nickname given to West 57th Street, from Columbus Circle to Park Avenue — possesses some of the most expensive, and enviable, real estate in New York City. But if you’re looking for a MewTwo, one of Pokémon Go’s most powerful and rare finds, you’re out of luck.
The stretch of cityscape that routinely breaks records for luxury property sales and offers unparalleled views of Gotham from sky-high, high-end homes like One57 and 432 Park (as well as the forthcoming 111 West 57th Street) does not possess a single Pokémon Gym for its residents to train their Pidgeys (you’ll need to head to Columbus Circle or Tao Uptown for those).
While titans of industry and elite entrepreneurs may call Billionaire’s Row home, the Pokémon that reside there are downright pedestrian.
We strolled the highly valued section of Manhattan this morning to see which Pokémon we might encounter and the results were beyond bland. Voltorbs, Rattatas, Eevees and the aforementioned Pidgey’s abound— the same par-for-the-course Poké eco-system you would expect to encounter on decidedly less luxurious Big Apple avenues.
While Billionaire’s Row does feature a few interesting Poké Stops, points of note that offer in-game items, like Carnegie Hall and The Russian Tea Room, none offered much more than Poké Balls. Nary an egg was found.
Furthermore, only a handful of the stops had Lure Modules attached to them. The Lures, which are purchased by players in-game and placed upon a specific Poké Stop to attract Pokémon, are usually a sign of a thriving Pokémon Go community.
For the luxury buyer looking for a more engaging Pokémon Go experience (with minimal movement at least), look no further than Central Park-adjacent properties.
A brief foray along West 59th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, the southern end of Central Park and what we’re now calling Pokémon Plaza, yielded immediate results. We almost instantly captured a decently powered Growlithe and Shellder, Fire and Water types, respectively, that we had yet to see in the game.
As we posited previously, diverse climates are a Pokémon Go player’s paradise, and New York City’s park system has that in spades.