Hester St, Little Italy

Hester is a tricky street because once you go south of Broome, Little Italy and Chinatown start to blend into one another and Chinatown is starting to win that battle. The aesthetic and energy is really bizarre because of that crossing and it makes Hester somewhat of an undesirable street. I talked about this on the Centre Street profile, but Hester kicks off with a building where an inordinate amount of stabbings have occurred for one little building. It's not like they advertise that but I wouldn't want to live here and I don't think it helps my impression of the street. None of them have happened for quite some time, but it makes the building and corner pretty eerie to me. The same block holds a little market and a condo building that used to be a stable for police horses. Only in New York, would you pay high dollar to live in a "luxury" space that used to only be good enough for horses. I bet they're pretty awesome on the inside though.
Across Baxter, we get into the weird mix I was talking about. There are new condo conversions, really old walkup buildings, two Chinese restaurants and two Italian ones. The Italian ones on the corner, Casa Bella and Da Gennaro are both pretty good but packed with tourists all the time so neither would be my recommendation for a great Little Italy dining experience. The block after Mulberry is very Little Italy. The entire block is Italian restaurants with old apartments above. It's very quaint and has quite the energy. Vincent's is a particularly well known and very good spot. It was popular with the rat pack and started off as a push cart in 1894. This place is lovely and very old school. There's also a great little caffe, a pizza joint and Puglia which is also old and fantastic.
The block between Mott and Elizabeth takes a sharp into the world of Chinese restaurants and ugly buildings. There's not a lot of energy and I wouldn't want to live on it. And, the block leading up to the Bowery is filled with condos and weird stores like a tiny jewelry shop. The corner of Bowery and Hester used to be a flophouse and still looks like one. It's not a bad to live on and I'm sure the condos are amazing, but it doesn't have that Little Italy energy . . or the Bowery for that matter.
All in all, Hester's not a bad street, and you may be able to find a great deal on it. It's not my favorite but it's not as tourist heavy which gives it bonus points.

Little Italy has long been on the fast track to becoming a tourist trap – it seems like every restaurant has a guy outside the door, begging you to come inside. But Little Italy can be fun, if you take it for what it is – a tourist attraction. Though I spent years in New York, I have actually been in this area very little. The street features a lot of Italian restaurants that are very similar to each other.

Hester St stretches from Centre St to Seward Park, in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. It was historically part of Little Italy, but there is not much left of it besides some Italian shops amid Chinese markets. On the Lower East Side part you can find nice restaurants. I personally like Brown, a small and intimate restaurant.

Yet another cute street in what is left of little Italy. Because of the rapid growth of Chinatown and Soho, Little Italy has literally shrunken to the size of about 2 blocks. On this one, you’ll find some more great Italian fare, please try Il Cortile Restaurant.

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 accessible by the bus system!