Chrystie St, Bowery

Located along the side of Sarah Roosevelt Park, across from Forsythe Street, Chrystie Street is a rarity in New York City: an urban street located along a patch of green. While the green in question may be relatively small, it's still quite a bonus in a city not known for its wide open spaces. Chrystie Street is also easily accessible by public transportation: the F train is a step away at 2nd Avenue and East Houston, while the Grand Street subway stop (at Chrystie Street) services the B and D trains. (Frequent travelers to the Boston or DC area will be pleased to note that Chrystie Street is also about five minutes from the Fung Wah Bus). The street itself is relatively quiet, although a quick walk towards the bottom of the Bowery yields a wealth of trendy cocktail bars, although Home Sweet Home on Chrystie Street itself is a nice local cocktail bar. Other streetside eateries include the wildly popular Sammy's, and the low-key Freeman's! But this street is far quieter than others in the Bowery area, which - combined with its park proximity - makes it better-placed for families than some of the other LES streets.

Chrystie Street is the extension of 2nd Avenue once the neighborhood transitions from the Bowery to the Lower East Side. Chrystie is really starting to look up over the last several years but it still has a ways to go. There are some cool spots and some spots that are still really dingy. There are bars and restaurants peppering the street but none really as great as other streets in the Lower East Side.
Right at the corner of Houston and Chrystie is the Avalon Chrystie building. The Avalon Chrystie and Avalon Bowery are two luxury apartment buildings that went up when the Bowery was still the drug-riddled homeless haven of New York City. I kinda credit these two buildings for spearheading a major neighborhood upheaval. And, I'd probably be met with a lot of contention for saying this, but I think the upheaval is for the better. This is area used to be so sketchy. And, these apartments are so crazy expensive and nice, that the preppies started coming in by storm. The Avalon Chrystie has a Whole Foods in it that, weirdly, has one of the better views of downtown Manhattan and an upstairs eatery that is often voted best place to pick up on the opposite sex (or same sex). A Whole Foods: who knew?
Directly across the street is a park that isn't much to look at, but hey, there is absolutely no green anywhere else in this area so you take what you can get. The playground attached to this park was the second African burial ground in the city and I highly doubt the bodies were moved (they never are here) so there is a real creep factor to watching kids on those swings. 195 Chrystie is where the Talking Heads lived and performed their first show. I love them so I find this pretty neat.
There's a bird garden (I'm not kidding) at the corner of Chrystie and Delancey where people take their birds for some fresh air. You gotta love New York! Between Delancey and Broome, there isn't much to do but once you get to Broome there is this beautiful archway designed by the people that did the New York Public Library. I don't know what function this massive arch serves, exactly, but it really is beautiful. I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Christie Street is the counterpart to Forsythe Street. Both streets run on either side of the blocks-long slit of playgrounds known as the Sarah Roosevelt Park, which, further down, then turns into the Hester Playground. Christie Street starts at Houston and ends at Canal Street, just at the roaring mouth of the Manhattan Bridge. Near Canal, you have a whole lotta wholesalers along one side of the street—lumber shops, electrical suppliers, even the tiny “Bulbs World,” devoted exclusively to, well, to lightbulbs—but as you move up from Canal, you start to see sexier fare among the shops and restaurants. Sammy's Rumanian has a solid reputation as a restaurant. Dixon Place is a tiny venue for independent performance art, and you might miss it if you don't know to look for it. Just before you get to Houston, you get some very chic design shops, indeed, as well as the stylish Lehmann Maupin Gallery. The street ends with Whole Foods at the corner of Houston. You can get yourself hot food at the open bar, and then sit upstairs at Whole Foods and enjoy a quick lunch while looking out at the little park across the street. Or, in the summertime, just join all the old folks hanging out on the steps to the park.

Chrystie St crosses Nolita and Chinatown. It stretches from Houston St to Canal St. I like this street because of the nice mix of Chinese shops, art galleries and performance places. The Box opened two years ago and offers interesting performances. It is also a comparably quiet street, with no many cars around. I think it is a good street where to live in Manhattan.

I love KUSH! It's hard for me to find good hip hop in the city, but this is a great straight hip-hop place, and its fantastic! It also has some killer drinks. During the day, go to Roosevelt park and try some kite flying or speed skating. I liked this street because it has a name and a face in every way imaginable.

Avenue C is close to the following metro: L at 14th ad the M at Bleeker and Lafayette and is accessible to many buses. Foot traffic is moderate, and it is a good neighborhood for all people!