East Village

The East Village.... ive only been there during the day, but ive heard during the night its the best place in town. I went there this May to meet up with a friend who lives above Tompkins Square Park on Avenue B. He took me out to see all the people and it was one of the awesomest things ive ever seen. The area is well populated with families, so its a safe neighborhood, compared what it used to be. Just dont wander east of Avenue C at night. Its one of the most affordable areas in Manhattan so if you're on a budget make sure to check here. Welcome to the neighborhood. Cant wait to see what its like at night!

The East Village is an amazing place to live. It’s a neighborhood that has undergone a lot of changes, not all of them good, but for the most part it remains a vibrant, interesting area unlike any other in Manhattan. It is accessible by nearly a dozen different subways. Take the F or V to the Second Avenue station, the L to First Avenue or Third Avenue, and the N, Q, R, W, to Union Square and the 4, 5, 6 to Astor Place.

The East Village’s north and south borders are East 14th Street and East Houston Street, respectively, with Fourth Avenue and the East River providing the other defining boundaries. It should not be confused with Greenwich Village/The West Village which extends west from Broadway to the Hudson River south of 14th Street and north of Houston. The East Village ‘vibe’ has more in common with Lower East Side tenements than with Greenwich Village Brownstones.

Like many of New York’s oldest neighborhoods, the East Village has been targeted by developers seeking to replace decaying buildings with luxury high rises. Long time residents are fighting this trend tooth and nail, working hard to maintain the distinctive characteristics – good and bad – of the area. Their efforts have resulted in new zoning laws that will limit future constructions to 8 stories and under and regulations about creating more affordable housing to ensure that gentrification does not force low- and middle income individuals and families to relocate.

To get a good feel for the zeigeist of the East Village, you should definitely head to Tompkins Square Park on Avenue A. It’s a meeting place for locals and you’ll share benches there with youthful street musicians, NYU students, and just-graduated professionals. There are concerts in the park, an annual Halloween doggie parade, and plenty of people spouting a wide range of political viewpoints.

Drinking is both a pleasure and a problem in the East Village. It packs more bars into its small area than any other neighborhood in Manhattan, so on weekends, popular blocks like St. Marks Place are deafening with the sound of music and party people. Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the East Village continues to be riddled with crime.

Old time New Yorkers remember days when the East Village was filled with squatters and under the ‘protection’ of biker gangs and rents were dirt cheap. Now rents are skyrocketing, and renting a two-bedroom apartment will run you about $3,500. And what you get for your money won’t be a luxury.

What you will get is proximity to some of the most interesting destinations that Manhattan has to offer. There are galleries, vintage clothing stores, multiplexes, and enough ethnic cuisines to let you eat your way around the world. Most notable is East 6th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, which is dotted with authentic Indian eateries, both high-priced and low.

The East Village retains its funky edge even though gentrification has occurred over the past several years. This is the area where the Broadway musical "Rent" and "hair" were set. The area is bordered by Greenwich Village to the west, and Stuyvesant town to the North.

The neighborhoodhas many places for cheap eats, along with hip bars and clubs with live music. The New York Theater Workshop and the Public theater, two of the city most famous theater companies are both in the area. All of the restaurants offer good food at reasonable prices with The Smith being a crowd favorite for its prices and variety of food choices.

A must visit is the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe on East 3rd Street which presents innovate works of literature, theater, music, poetry, and visual art from both established and new artists. The famous poet, Allen Ginsberg lived on East 7th Street and was a regular patron of the Nuyorican Cafe. If you are up for a bit of history, visit McSorely;s Ale House on East 7th Street, reputed to be the oldest bar in the city. Most everything in the place remains the same as when it first opening in 1854. The New York Marble Cemetery is locate don East 2nd Street and is the oldest non-sectarian cemetery in the city.

The main hub of the area is St. Mark's Place (East 8th Street) which houses many quaint and offbeat shops like Trash and Vaudeville, boutiques along with several tattoo piecing parlors. A downside to the East Village is that many chain stores are opening in the area robbing it of some of its edgy flavor.

While no area of Manhattan is inexpensive to live, you can find some reasonable priced rentals i this area, particularly if you are willing to share. Many students from nearby NYU and Cooper Union live here. It is a great area for young people who seek to be out and about and experience the vibe of the neighborhood. More mature singles and couples will likely prefer more sedate areas of the city. The area is also not well served by public transportation.

There was a time when the East Village was the "cool" part of Manhattan. The place where new era musicians, poets, and anyone else with a counter-culture vibe used to dominate is quickly changing into another Manhattan neighborhood with high rents, chain restaurants and department stores, and high priced dining options.

On the plus side, all is not completely lost. Parts of the East Village retain their counter culture values, albeit in more commercial way like boutiques and headshops. There are even parts where you can find a place that is affordable.

Folks living in the area enjoy the great food options available in East Village, especially the ethnic food places you find in-between the generic chain cafes. Parts of the area still retain their artsy attitude but there is no denying the area is a long way from what it once was.

Visitors to the area will still enjoy the legendary counter culture historic sites, get a chance to snag some cheap merch at St. Mark's Place, and sit and relax in a couple of parks that Manhattan has managed to hold on to. Despite whatever losses it may have incurred, there are still places where you can get a cheap drink and listen to some indie music or enjoy the underground art scene.

I very much fear that the East Village is quickly going the way of Soho. Soho, before it was the clean, exclusive shopping district it is today, was a quirky little neighborhood of artists and actors. There were special zoning laws passed that allowed artists to have their studio space included in their living space to make it significantly more affordable for them to maintain their place. Now greedy factions have tipped their fingernails into the canvases and ripped that idea to shreds.

The East Village still has a lot of its cool. There are the more extreme brand of hipsters lounging outside organic hummus restaurants and smoking menthols on corners next to community art projects. Some of the best, most cutting-edge bands in the city play to tiny, packed houses in buildings that, from the outside, look like abandoned warehouses. The neighborhood is definitely safer than it had been, with significantly fewer crack dens and much less violent crime. But with the influx of the younger, better-off set, many of the old artists have been forced to find much cheaper digs.

While this influx of money brings increased public safety along with twentysomethings toting home bags of bok choy from Trader Joe’s, it takes away a lot of the bitter flavor that made the East Village such a cool place for so long.

One of the small charming things about the East Village is the presence of a couple of community gardens. One is at 9th and Avenue C, another is at 6th and Avenue B. The East River Park, a man-made extension of land into the river, was created during World War II, when ships returning from Europe dumped the excess dirt they used as ballast into the East River. The dog run at Thompkins Square Park is one of the largest in the city and even comes equipped with a giant wooden statue of a bone. St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery Church is host to the Poetry Project, a crucial venue and hotspot of the New York downtown poetry scene. Cinema Classics offers a neverending stream of vintage films, plus beer. Veselka and the Second Avenue Deli are staples of Ukrainian and Jewish specialties, respectively. Meanwhile, on 6th Street, there is an entire block of Indian Restaurants. There is so much to see and do in the East Village, and so many textures and groups right next to each other, it's no wonder this area has been a destination and hangout place since the sixties. People complain that the yuppies have taken over this vibrant neighborhood, but it still has touches of its rich and colorful past. One day I noticed someone had embedded some colorful mosaic tile right into the sidewalk. That's the kind of place the East Village is. Or was, in any case.

I don't need the East Village to be edgy in order to appreciate it, and I don't especially miss the pre-teen punks with purple hair (most recently replaced with Emo kids) that loiter around in the bars. The grunge of St. Marks Place has given way to sushi and Asian grocery stores – who saw that coming? – but I'm not crying. It makes it easier to notice that many of the brownstones in the East Village, though often dilapidated, were quite attractive originally. I love Cooper Union's sumptuous new building and spent a good two hours one day gawking at it from every angle. I love Yaffa Cafe's unapologetic sense of style, and the fact that they still give out free condoms. I love the touches of the Ukrainian presence that seems to be alive and well here, including Veselka and the Russian Sauna. Anthology Film Archives is still championing eccentric and experimental filmmakers, KGB is still doing damn good literary readings, and La Mama, NY Theater Workshop, PS 122, and several other off-off-venues are still putting on fantastic performances. So, as far as I'm concerned, the East Village is still what I need the East Village to be, minus some grunge, and plus a couple more zeroes added on to the average income of residents. The rabble-rousers and artists who bought into this neighborhood many years ago are still here, though they've all got kids now and pension plans. I'm okay with that; everyone needs a pension plan.

Native east villagers complain about how awful the neighborhood has gotten because of gentrification and the yuppies that followed. But, I think there's still enough edge to the neighborhood to make it cool. This neighborhood really has it all. It has cheap but delicious pizza every other block, cool bars, hip restaurants, live music venues and art.
The New York Theatre Workshop and the Public Theatre (two of the city's most prestigious theatre organizations) are both housed in the East Village. Checking out a play in one of these houses is requisite! All of the restaurants on 2nd avenue are pretty terrific -- you can really take your pick. But, for a laid back environment with an eclectic menu, The Smith is a crowd favorite.
There are so many exciting cultural things to do in the neighborhood as well! You can go pay homage to Allen Ginsberg at his stoop on East 7th, catch a poetry reading at the Nuyorican, and check out McSorley's Old Ale House. McSorley's is the oldest bar in New York city and everything has remained almost exactly the same as the day it opened in the mid 19th century.
This neighborhood is just beyond cool.

There are thing I enjoy about the East Village and things that I just can't relate to. My absolute favorite thing about the area is the Indian restaurant on 1st ave, Panna II. The food is decent - though admittedly I tend to gravitate toward the veggie dishes - and the prices can't be beat. It's a great place for a get together with friends, as you can bring your own bottles of wine and you never end up spending too much money.

Another highlight of the area is the shopping on 9th street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, where the Ukrainian restaurant Veselka is also located. The East Village does not have the underground current of cool it used to carry; now mostly what you see are middle class New Yorkers who enjoy the good meals and pricey bars their neighborhood offers. However, it is certainly a nice neighborhood and is ideal strolling ground, especially during the warmer months.

The East Village which lies downtown on the East Side of Manhattan and extends from 14th Street to Houston Street and from Bowery Street to the East River . The real estate scenario of this vibrant and somewhat artsy neighborhood is dominated with old world walkups which are today slowly being replaced by the seemingly ubiquitous glass towers which are springing up all over the city. Located within the boundaries of the East Village are several distinct neighborhoods like Alphabet City, the Bowery and St Marks Place as well.

The vibe in the East Village is definitely ‘young and restless’ as this neighborhood which has long been associated various underground movements like the Punks and the Hippies continues to be favored by students, artists ,creative folk and young families who enjoy its unique ambiance and its relative affordability while compared to other neighborhoods in the city.

The East Village is also renowned as a dining locale in Manhattan as it is home to a plethora of diverse restaurant which can easily accommodate all kinds of budgets. Some of my personal favorites include the excellent Sri Lankan restaurant Sigiri( located between 5th and 6th streets and 1st avenue), the cheap and cheerful Lebanese joint Moustache( E10st between 1st Avenue and Avenue A), the divine Momofuku Noodle Bar( 10th Street and 1st Avenue) and the historic Veniero’s coffee house(E11th street between 1st and 2nd Avenue) which never fails to delight with its wide array of many mouth watering treats.

Gritty and grim, the East Village still carries with it today echoes of the rough red-light district portrayed in "Rent." While the countercultural scene today is more commercial than controversial, the East Village has nevertheless resisted to some degree the gentrification of its Western counterpart. Cheap Ukranian eateries - reflecting the demographic of the region - dot the landscape, among them the favored Veselka, one of the city's best-loved hipster hangouts for goulash and borscht, and the record stores around the dilapidated St. Mark's Place hold on to their grunge-rocker charm.

That's not to say the East Village is for everyone. Though by no means dangerous, the mohawked and metal-clad punks and goths making their way through shops like "Trash and Vaudeville" and into tattoo parlors are certainly a fixture of the landscape, and while they're more likely to be middle-class kids dressing up for the evening than bona fide drug addicts, older visitors might feel somewhat out of place for extended periods of time. That said, of course, the East Village boasts a thriving culinary scene, making it worthwhile for an evening excursion at least. Highlights include Holy Basil, a Thai eatery (with its more upscale sister, The Basil, located in Chelsea), Banjara, one of the city's best Indian restaurants, and the Moroccan Cafe Mogador.

The East Village is also the place for book shopping. The Strand, on Broadway and 11th Street, has - as it advertises - eighteen miles of books, many rare or at least very inexpensive. East Village Books has a smaller, but nevertheless charming selection. But be warned: carrying bags of hardcovers uptown is no fun at all!

In my opinion, the east village is the best part of New York. Last New Years, I rented out an apartment on 6th avenue for a week. The neighborhood is classic new york, lots of brown stone apartments. There are great places to eat, and I had some of the best mexican food i've ever eaten at a little restaurant on the corner of 6th Ave. The area is young and hip and has a lot of boutique shops and salons. The best part is that it is easily accessible by walking to greenwich village and to the big department stores on Wash Ave. There is a great amount of history in this borough, which is definitely palpable. One thing that would probably keep me from moving here are the prices. My one week studio rental was $500, and the girl who rented the studio normally was paying $1600 a month!!