Mulberry St, Little Italy

Mulberry Street is one of the main streets through Little Italy. It's the street that both the St. Anthony and San Gennarro festivals are held every year. Tourists love these festivals and Mulberry is absolutely packed during the weeks that these run. Locals, understandably aren't nearly as enthused for the festivals but I think they're kind of fun if impossible to navigate. There are food and souvenir stands lining the street for about five blocks; and, there are people everywhere. It takes about three times as long to get down this street during a festival and forget about a cab if you're anywhere in the vicinity. So, I can imagine that living here is a terrible pain during these, but other than that, Mulberry is pretty cool. And, the name Little Italy isn't joking around. Pretty much the only thing on Mulberry Street is the Italian Restaurant. There are a few other things, naturally, but on any given day at any given hour, there are people standing outside to lure tourists into their restaurants where old men sit for hours and plan their next mob crime (in my mind, anyway). It's a little cheesy but it's still kind of cool.
Mulberry starts at Bleecker so a block of the street is, technically, in Nolita. That block has the original NY Police Headquarters which was start in the 1860's. Directly across the street (at 303 Mulberry) is where the New York Tribune used to be. Jacob Riis got his photography start here. He's famous for the photography book How the Other Side Lives -- or something like that -- which showcased how awful the slums were in and around this neighborhood. The book still sells really well and it is pretty disturbing.
Mulberry and Houston holds one of the more famous buildings in lower Manhattan, the Puck Building. It was built in the mid-1800's and it really is magnificent. It was showcased in When Harry Met Sally and Will and Grace and I wish more buildings that went up looked like that one. Just down the street is another beautiful relic, St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was the first Roman Catholic Church built in New York, appropriately in the predominantly Italian neighborhood. It is gothic, stunning and creepy. And, the cemetery is pretty cool looking as well. The inside is a must-see, in my opinion. It is perfectly opulent and the stained glass windows were put in at enough distance from the street so that no one could throw a rock through them during anti-Catholic protesting . . those mobsters think of everything. The whole block is quite old and really well preserved so I always tell visitors to take a quick jaunt down this way.
The block between Prince and Spring is the thick of Little Italy. There are a ton of Italian restaurants, little shops and one of my favorite hangouts, 8 Mile Creek. It is an Australian bar that has no place being in this neighborhood and it is awesome. All Aussies work there and an awful lot of Aussies go there. The food is great, the owner is lovely and there is a back patio that is a fantastic place to hang all day during the Spring. I used to go here once a week. Right across Spring is the aptly named Spring Street Lounge. It's not really a lounge so much as a smelly, packed sports bar. It gets crazy during football season but I still love the place.
The rest of Mulberry is legitimately all Italian Restaurants as far as I can tell. They're all jut ok except for a few that are worth mentioning. There's a place called Mulberry Street Bar that is crazy authentic. It has been in a number of films: the scene is 9 1/1 Weeks where they go on their first dinner with the Italian lady singing pretty much sums up how this restaurant is. You feel almost like you're in Italy and it's really cool. Angelo's has great food, too, but Il Cortile is probably the best. That's the place I go with my family every time they come into town and no one is ever disappointed.
There are cute apartments on Mulberry but they are pretty expensive and most are really tiny considering this area used to be one of the biggest slums and the buildings are all still from that period. But, the street is always lively and you will definitely never go hungry living here. Plus, it's a great location for walking just about anywhere. Just, ya know, don't talk back to any of the Italians because they're not messing around.