East 7 St, East Village

The corner of 7th and 3rd houses the Cooper Union Engineering Building and a church that was built in the mid-19th century as a bank, originally. The school building is so modern and high tech looking that it's really odd to see that next to this very old world looking building. But, that's New York for ya. A few doors down from the church is one of the most famous bars in New York history, McSorleys. It's kind of shocking when someone hasn't heard of this bar. You have to go, but I'm not a huge fan because it's such a tourist attraction. It would be really cool if it weren't for that. It's the fourth oldest bar in NY (opened in 1854) and supposedly the longest continually running bar in the city. Women weren't permitted inside until 1970 and there used to be no chairs because they thought if you're too drunk to stand then you have to leave. Everyone from Boss Tweed to John Lennon has been in this bar that only serves either a dark beer or a light beer (I'm not kidding). And, they have fun historical tidbits like a pair of Houdini's handcuffs to the original wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth up on the walls. It looks like it hasn't been dusted since about a week after it opened but it's a must -see / enjoy at least once.
There's a cool looking Italian joint on the corner of 2nd and 7th that has catacombs in the basement. There are a lot of places in New York where people are eating above dead bodies, but not a lot of those places necessarily advertise it. Creepy but kind of cool. The rest of the block is a bunch of vintage stores that are basically graveyards for what used to be cool places. One in particular is 64 East 7th. It used to be a coffee house that had poetry readings graced by Ginsberg and Berge. Then it became just a poetry facility before it become the world's first macrobiotic restaurant where Yoko Ono even worked. It has basically always been a hippie establishment. But, the hippie factor becomes less interesting every time it turns over. The end of the block, however, has a really cool, little bar that has been there forever and hopefully won't find the same fate as the rest of this street's turnover.
The next block (between 1st and A) is a very East Village block to me. It houses a lot of little vintage stores that aren't exactly cheap, a church (naturally) and two of my favorite restaurants in the city that couldn't be more different. Caracas Arepas bar is tiny and very cheap. This place is always packed and very loud. And, the food is incredible. Across the street is Pylos Greek restaurant. It is wildly expensive for Greek food in this neighborhood but also fantastic. It is also always crowded but weirdly never loud. I suppose anyone that is willing to pay that kind of money for Greek in the East Village tends to be little less of the rowdy sort. They're both great, though, in completely different ways. Directly from Pylos is a place called Other Worldly Waxes. It's a witch shop that is really cool and always crowded too. They hand carve candles for different spells you want and they're all really nice for witches.
The block between A and B is very residential and very charming in an East Village kind of way on one side and has Tompkins Square Park on the other. Tompkins Square Park is a great park with a very ramshackle history. It used to be hunting grounds for the Stuyvesants and was turned into a park in 1834. There have been a lot of back and forths between the artist and homeless set and the police in this park. The park has a curfew now of midnight which is unheard of in the city. But, you would hardly want to be walking through any park after midnight anyway. They have a great outdoor movie series every summer here. There's a great bar at the corner of B and C that has been featured in a lot of movies for it's East Village aesthetic and neighborhood feel. It's the best place to go for a drink after aforementioned summer film is over.