Kenmare St, Little Italy

Kenmare in Little Italy is a lively little street as it runs through Little Italy. There are always people on it which can be a good or a bad thing depending on what time of day you happen to be on it. I love that there always seems to be people when I'm walking on it late at night. But, a Saturday afternoon down Kenmare can be trying of Job's patience. It can be quite a lot, but I do like the block.
There's a great little cheesecake shop, a couple of restaurants and a Paul Frank shop right at Cleveland giving this particular block more of a Soho kind of energy than Little Italy, but it becomes very Little Italy at Mulberry. The intersection of Mulberry and Kenmare is where all of the bootleggers in the '20's used to go to trade liquor -- I find this particularly exciting since Boardwalk Empire started airing. The actual block, weirdly, has more Chinese restaurants than Italian and I suppose that's because as the majority of the Italian restaurants have settled onto other streets, the Chinatown places have started migrating north. There are a couple of little Italian spots on the block, and though they aren't many in number, I still think the vibe of the street is very in line with the neighborhood. The apartments are adorable too, though mostly old school walkups. I tend to think of this as a street that people have lived on for generations (an older street) and I definitely wouldn't recommend it for people with small children. The walkups with a stroller don't really work out.

Kenmare Street starts at Lafayette Street with Petrosino Place, and goes down a few blocks to the Bowery, where it turns into the much bigger Delancey Street. Since it is a bit wider, the street has less personality than the narrower, intimate streets it crosses, such as Elizabeth Street, Mott Street, and Mulberry Street. Most of its character comes from the spillover of shops and sights associated with these cross streets. At Petrosino Place, the Corner Diner is charming simply because it's such an unbelievably tiny burger joint. Eileen's Special Cheesecake is on my required eating list. The Storefront for Art and Architecture is truly a delight of aesthetics and playful moveable panels that you have to see for yourself. There are Asian and Italian restaurants, obvious influences of the Chinatown and Little Italy, represented even more strongly on the cross streets. There's a storefront psychic on this street, which I've never visited, but I like passing by and staring in through the window. There are also a couple of auto garages, which is another reason I find this street less romanic, less flavorful, than its perpendicular neighbors. As it approaches the Bowery, the street is suddenly much less inviting to pedestrians because of the sudden noisy transition into Bowery traffic.

Another one of the street remaining with some REAL Italian food. You might actually even feel like you’re dining is Sicily, or in Roma. L’Asso NYC is a staple in this neighborhood with some cheap slices. And La Esquina is a little less known, but equally delicious!

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!