Elizabeth St, Little Italy

Elizabeth Street is a great street for boutique shopping and eating. The block of Elizabeth between Bleecker and Houston used to be called crackhead alley. It was a really terrible part of town -- in fact, the bar of the south east corner of Elizabeth and Bleecker used to be a bar that gave out free pot -- but, now the area is beyond nice. The North corners of Elizabeth and Houston have two of my favorite things. On one corner, there is this amazing little bakery that has been around for over 100 years and is still owned by the grandson of the original owner. On the other corner is a ridiculously overpriced apartment building called Soho Court. It is 1. Not in Soho and 2. Ugly, looks like a dorm, and has a weird fountain in the middle of the building. The apartments are not nearly big enough to justify the price (even in New York) for a building as grossly wrong in every way as this thing.
But, I digress . . . . the block of Elizabeth between Houston and Prince is probably my favorite. There are a bunch of boutiques on this block that I love. I am obsessed with Labo. You can pick out about a million billion different smell combinations in this store -- and we specially made one for my dad. I also love the Rainbow store. Yeah, it's just a bunch of flip flops -- but, I'm from California, so Rainbow is close to my heart. And, these shoes are so comfortable and have a lifetime guarantee. Martin Scorsese also lived on this block right between Labo and Rainbow. On the third floor. Cafe Habana is right on the corner here, as well. It's the first restaurant I went to in NY. And, it's the one I always take out-of town guests. It's tiny, packed, simple and delicious.
Very New York, to me.
There's a carriage house on the corner of Spring and Elizabeth that is famous for having elaborate graffiti murals painted on the side of it. There are a ton of little restaurants on the bottom floor of apartment buildings for the rest of the way down. But, at the corner of Elizabeth and Kent is a Bank that was built in 1894 -- which, apparently, is the reason that banks often resemble Roman Temples. Or, at least, it was the original.
Elizabeth is great for a bite and a bit of shopping. But, I don't know that I'd want to live on the street. It's a pretty street. But, it's predominantly old, dark, walk-ups that I'm just not really into. I don't know who is into a 6th floor walk up that's dark as night on a 110 degree summer day, though.

The landscape of this area is constantly changing – bars and restaurants in New York are constantly opening and closing, and this is especially true in areas where both businesses are especially numerous, like on Elizabeth Street. This is an especially interesting area for tourists, or people who just love to shop, as the street offers plenty of fashionable stores and places to eat.

Elizabeth Street, formerly a part of Little Italy, is today an elegant street in NoLiTa (North of Little Italy). It is a quite street, full of nice boutiques and places where to eat. A café where I often go for a snack is Café Habana. It is a nice over-crowded hangout place that offers good Cuban food.

I really love East Houston right around the Bowery and Broadway. It's gone through such a transformation within the past few years. There are a lot of new trendy apartments, art galleries, coffee shops, and great restaurants. There's even a new museum, the New Museum which shows some of the most cutting edge contemporary art in New York City. It's a great area to live in. There's a new Whole Foods Market too, so it's really convenient now to go food shopping in the area. It's very lively and hip.

This street houses something cool: Tory Burch, an interesting fashion designed with a very interesting boutique. This one, I can’t comment on. I don’t think it was aesthetic. Elsewhere on this street was Classic Kicks Inc, which could quite possibly be the hippest vintage show store in the city. If you’re into that old look, be sure to stop by!
This village is best accessed by the followed Metro Stations: 1,2 Houston Street, A,C,E, Spring Street, Prince St N,R,W, Broadway-Lafayette, B,D,F,V, Bleeker St, 4,6 2nd Ave- Lower East Side F,V, Canal St 1, 2, Canal St, A,C,E, ...N, Q R,W,... 4, 6,... J, M, Z, Grand St, B, D Bowery, J, M, Franklin, 1, 2. It is also very well acessible by the bus system!

Elizabeth Street, formally a quiet little compliment to Little Italy, is now known as "Nolita," absolutely one of the hottest shopping strips in the area. Scattered all along Elizabeth Street, are an increasing number of shops, and this number seems to grow more and more every year. Elizabeth Street is also an easy walk to the subway unlike many shopping destinations in NY.I would DEFINITELY recommend shopping on Elizabeth the next time you're in town, you won't be disappointed.