Essex St, Lower East Side

Essex is what Avenue A turns into once you cross Houston and go from the East Village to the Lower East Side. In a way, Essex doesn't look particularly different from Avenue A, but it seems busier and less quaint despite the fact that A has a ton of bars and restaurants and neither A or Essex have the most pleasing architecture in the world. The block of Essex between Houston and Stanton has some sort of massive nightclub that to this day I have no idea what it is or who goes there, a playground, a school and a market. Something for everyone but me, eh?
The block between Stanton and Rivington houses a couple of bars, a comedy lounge, a gallery and a liquor store all of which, again, I don't patronize. It's kind of a weird realization seeing that I'm in the Lower East Side all the time. And, there's a street that has so many things that I just walk past on my way to something else. I never knew how little I cared for Essex until I had to stop and think about it. These particular buildings are all former tenements from the 19th century that now house somewhat expensive apartments, by the way. That's how most of the LES is, though. Same poor person apartment without the poor person rent.
There's a really rowdy bar on Essex just before Delancey called Boss Tweed's. Apparently, Boss Tweed died two blocks from this location but it honestly smells like maybe he died in the bar. This is one of the most hangover inducing smells I've ever taken in as far as bars go. Speaking of death, the Eastern Dispensary (sister building to the Northern Dispensary in the Village) is on the corner of Essex and Broome. Unlike the Northern Dispensary, the Eastern one did not have to be kept only for public works so instead of standing vacant it now houses a sporting goods store. I find this funny for many reasons and one of them is that I can't think of a worse spot for a sporting goods store than in the middle of a neighborhood that prides itself on being underweight and not athletic.
The entire next block is taken up by Seward Park and a massive high school that used to be a jail. This high school has alumni that counts Walter Mathau, Tony Curtis and Jerry Stiller and prison inmates such as Boss Tweed. Same difference in some ways.