Broome St, Bowery

Like much of the Lower East Side, particularly the stretch near The Bowery, Broome Street is at once happening, about-to-happen, and already-happened. The immense history of this downtown district makes it one of the prime NYC destinations for tourists interested in New York's past: a legacy of tenement buildings and multinational waves of immigration. Today, however, this once-destitute immigrant neighborhood has been so gentrified by bars, slam poetry festivals, and trendy eateries that "old New York" is far from recognizable. The narrow, brick tenement-style buildings that stand on this street have now been dominated by artsy storefront designs and glittering marquees. That said, a few local tailors, laundromats, and other "neighborhood" amenities still remain, along with a large number of Chinese restaurants, a reflecting the historic immersion of this street into the large Chinatown district. But the biggest draw on this street nowadays is its bar scene, with standbys like the Broome Street Bar, Goldbar and The Randolph at Broome attracting a well-heeled crowd easily capable of affording the area's rent hikes. Tourists may be disappointed not to see echoes of turn-of-the-century New York, but trendy types know that yesterday's slum is today's $2300 studio.

Broome street seems like it should be a good street. It's surrounded by all good streets and goes through a good neighborhood. But, it's just pretty uneventful. There's a bar on the corner of Broome and West Broadway that's called Ken's Broome St Bar. It's a really cozy place with beer and burgers in a townhouse that was built in 1825. It's a cool place to stop in on a fall day.
There are a couple of boutiques (Catherine Malandrino and Kate Spade) on Broome between Mercer and Greene but even the shopping on this street is pretty sedate. The one cool thing about Broome is that there are a lot of really interesting buildings. A ton of cast-iron buildings line the street. There are about five huge ones from the late 19th century that are famous and grand. Heath Ledger died at 419 Broome street and that's interesting to some.
Not a ton to say about the street as far as food or nightlife. Goldbar is on Broome and Mulberry and they have great cocktails and cool decor. But, it's a trendy place that has kind of fallen off so there's a lot of riffraff that goes there now. A few high end boutiques (Calypso and Nanette Lepore) dot Broome but it's fairly quiet as far as things to do; although not quiet at all as far as street and car traffic.

Every street in New York has its own great flare and Broome St is no different.

There are no great restaurants, but there is something you don't find terribly often in this city, which is silence. This is a residential street in the heart of Greenwich Village, and being privileged enough to score a place to live here, you're also in a prime location for the great shopping and eating on other streets.

I recommend this street to young couples or professionals, and really for anyone who likes tree lined blocks.