Broome St, Little Italy

Broome is a pretty jamming little street in Little Italy because of all of the run off of Soho and the Bowery. A lot of neighborhoods collide right here so the Little Italy energy isn't too apparent throughout most of the street. It's still there in some parts, but there are so many people milling about on Broome (mostly tourists) that the energy gets a little lost. Broome's a cool street, don't get me wrong, and there's nothing wrong with living on it . It's just crowded.
There are a lot of gorgeous cast-iron buildings on Broome right at Broadway that give the street a fun, old timey commerce kind of feel. The two buildings right on the corner are both landmark buildings. One has the clothing store Madewell on the bottom with residences above it now and the other holds a real estate brokerage. Not the most glamourous uses for the buildings but I don't think they were built for anything glamourous to begin with. The rest of the block follows suit with old cast iron beauties and things like a bicycle shop, a paper shop and an art space. It's a very Soho kind of block.
The next block feels a little more Little Italy but still has a lot of Soho to it. There are a few cast iron buildings mixed in with smaller ones, and while there is a shi shi French cafe at Crosby, there's a lovely Italian grocer on the other end at Lafayette. Trendy shops like Nanette Lapore and Calypso are on this block as well as an interior design studio, offices and apartments. It slowly starts to fade out of Soho right on this block which is kind of a trip.
There's a really interesting apartment building at Centre that used to be Police Headquarters until the '70's and now has ultra luxury units. A lot of famous people have lived in this building and while I'm sure the apartments are gorgeous, it definitely looks like a police station from the outside which is kind of cool but kind of weird to me. Once you get past Centre, the area is markedly Little Italy save the nightclub Goldbar right on the corner. I worked at Goldbar for a stint and it was amazing to me how many old mafioso types would come in and chat over a cocktail with management before we opened. Apparently, you had to keep nice with the longtime locals around here, or they would see to it that your business ends. I think that's pretty scary in a Godfather sort of way, but it's definitely true. I saw it every week. Across from Goldbar there's an old Italian restaurant called Umberto's that I know has been around forever, but I consider it more of a tourist Little Italy spot than a local. It's just to kitschy and the food is just ok for my taste. Across from Umberto's is an old school Italian Cafe that I love called Caffe Roma. The staff is really gruff but the place is so charming and the coffee and pastries are fantastic. Next to Umberto's is a very un-Italian but fantastic vegan asian restaurant called Wild Ginger. I think there was a period when I would eat at Wild Ginger twice a week. I can't say better things about this spot. It's always crowded (it's tiny), the service is lovely and the food doesn't taste like creepy vegan food at all.
Across Mott holds an old fire station, an old Church and a tourist kind of pizza spot. The block looks very Little Italy but doesn't have a ton to offer in the realm of partaking in that vibe. It's beautiful, though. And, once you cross Elizabeth, the street starts to turn very Bowery. But, not the trendy kind of Bowery: the kind of old Bowery that's not attractive with nothing to do.