East 11 St, Greenwich Village

Like my review title notes, there is so much history on this street but really no neighborhood feel. It's mostly large buildings and there aren't really any bars or restaurants so there just isn't a vibe to this part of 11th. I guess there used to be, however, because a lot of famous people have lived here.
The corner of 5th and 11th houses a collection of really beautiful apartment buildings that were all built around the turn of the 20th century. They are incredibly grand but definitely take the charm away from the street that the rowhouses provided just a block west. It definitely feels like a city once you cross 5th. The building on the northwest corner has been in a ton of movies so a lot of people recognize it. It was supposedly the grandest apartment building downtown and it really is beautiful. Marlon Brando lived here at one point. I believe it's call the Beauart or something like that. And, directly across the street is the building where Eleanor Roosevelt kept an apartment from the 1930's -1940's. Just down the block at 21 is where Edith Wharton's sister used to have artist salons. John Singer Sargent, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry James were among some of the guests. I wish people still did that; or, if they do, I wish I were invited. That must have been incredible to be in a room with that many prominent figures in the arts discussing your work.
Across University, 11th looks really similar to the previous block but it houses a pretty noteworthy building. The Albert (now apartments) was a hotel when it was built where both Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Wolfe lived. Frank Zappa and John Phillips also both lived here -- this is where California Dreamin' was written. At the opposite end of the block (at Broadway) another former famous hotel sits. It's now some storefront with apartments but it used to be the luxury hotel of New York City. Abraham Lincoln, PT Barnum, Alexander Graham Bell and Buffalo Bill were all guests at the St. Denis. The building is quite extraordinary so it's a shame that people barely even look at it now while passing through the street. In between the two former hotels there are about a hundred antique stores. I don't quite know how this became antique row, but apparently, this is the place to be if you like old things. Across the street from the antique bonanza is a Bahai center. You gotta love New York and its geographic placement, right? I once saw a classmate of mine walking into this center pretty late at night. He is an Australian guy that drank a lot so I never understood his connection here, but it was definitely him. I think about that every time I walk down this street.