East 11 St, NoHo

11th isn't a bad street to live on in Noho by any means. But, there are an awful lot of people and trash for an area that doesn't have that much going on. I wouldn't say no to living here but it's not my first choice either.
East 11th and University is marked by the Albert Apartments and a Wholesale Antique Shop on the corners. The antiques shop building is nothing to write home about but the Albert is a really cool building. It used to be a hotel where a lot of big writers stayed. The Dean and Deluca where Felicity worked in the show Felicity is on the ground floor of this building. There's another really cool hotel turned apartment building across the street but the majority of the block is taken up by Antique shops. I wish I could say whether or not they are good shops but being that they're wholesale, you can't go in without a license. I think this is a really weird spot for this sort of district. It's such prime real estate that I would have expected that they would have been driven uptown by now. The end of the block where there is now a Eastern Antique shop used to be the most popular high end hotel in the city -- we sensing a theme with this street? It was called the St Denis: President Lincoln, Buffalo Bill, Alexander Graham Bell and Ulysess Grant all stayed here.
The next block is entirely taken up by Grace Church and I'm not complaining about that. The building is so beautiful it's impossible to ignore. It makes you imagine what this street looked like before it was so commercial. It's a Gothic Church that was designed in the 1840's by a completely unknown architect -- whose grandfather owned the land. I think he lived up to his nepotism in this case, though. The church is unreal.
The block at 4th Ave has a cool looking post office that used to be a school with a really not cool looking billiards hall across the street. Next door to the post office is my favorite concert hall in the city: Webster Hall. It was built in 1863 and was nicknamed The Devil's Playground because they used to have such wild parties. It's a really cool, old building that isn't glamorous in any way. But, the place is so small that every concert seems intimate. I saw Owen Palett here last year and it was magical. The corner of the block is marked by a place a go to all the time and wish I didn't and a place I never go to an wish I did. Village Pourhouse on the south corner is a massive sports bar that gets out of control and there are a lot of turds that hang out there. But, it's our go to spot (so, I guess we're turds too) for football season and I never have a bad time -- and, I never leave even knowing where my face is. Across 10th is a little movie theatre that I've only been to twice and always wonder why I don't see more movies there. It's little and cute and rarely crowded.
11th has a good mix of things to do, things to see and things to pass over. But, it is a little lacking in neighborhood feel, trees and restaurants. It's not a bad block and it's central to everything, but this far north in Noho lacks a little charm, in my opinion.