St Marks Pl, East Village

St. Marks kind of gets a bad rap, and while some of it is well deserved, it still is a really cool street. Yeah, it's always loud and jam-packed. Yeah, it's dirty with a lot of crummy stores and screaming college kids. But, there are some really fantastic things about St. Marks that get overlooked a lot by locals. For one, this used to be a big mob hangout for some bizarre reason. There was a big shootout in front of Arlington Hall when a bunch of innocent people were walking. The only person actually shot was some elderly guy. This was 1914, and I expected more from the gangsters but I think that's really suiting. Of course, a mob fight in the East Village would manage to have no actual mobsters getting shot. Mamoun's Falafel is almost directly across the steet -- a really famous Falafel joint. You can tell mob stories over cheap delicious food on a sunny afternoon. . . what's not to like?
Down toward 1st Ave are two of my favorite spots in the East Village: La Palapa and St. Marks Theatre. The last play at St. Marks that I saw was Uncle Vanya with Maggie Gyllenhall. It's a tiny and old theatre that always has great plays with outstanding actors. La Palapa is a fantastic Mexican food place with great food (a great happy hour to boot) and a fun energy. It's fully opened up in the summer and I went there two days in a row last month. It's just a good time and you can get a little buzz going before a play if you're into that sort of thing -- which I am.
The block between 1st and A is my favorite part of St. Marks. It's always packed but I feel like, somehow, tourists don't make it this far east as often because it has more of a local, crowded feel. There are too many great places to name, but I am a huge fan of Bua, St. Dymphna's and Cafe Mogador. My sister met her now husband at St Dymphna's two weeks after she moved to New York. It has the craziest mix of people but it is always crowded in a good way and the food isn't half bad for a bar. There are a lot of crazy stores, great take-out places (like Dumpling Man) and the buildings are old and cool looking. I don't know that I would necessarily want to live on this block over the age of 25, but it's the block I visit the most frequently out of all the East Village hangs. And, if you're a tourist, you have to try Crif Dogs and the "hidden" cocktail bar connected to it, PDT. PDT doesn't have the luster that it did a few years ago, but it's still pretty cool and tourists seem to love it.
There's a lot of history to this street too. Jeff Buckley used to play at what is now Bua, the most popular gay bath house was at 6 St Marks all the way until the 1980's, and James Fenimore Cooper lived at 4 St Marks. There's are two karaoke bars, a weird hat shop, psychedelic clothing stores, you name it. St. Marks has something for everyone. Even the heroin addicts: I saw two people on a lovely day this spring just high out of their minds sitting on a stoop on St. Marks. I was kind of mesmerized. It looks gritty but it's not that dangerous on this street because there are just too many people all of the time. Would I recommend a family live or hang out here? No. But, you have to see it.

Like Jonathan Larsen's 1996 musical "Rent," St. Mark's Place is a bit of a historical relic. The musical, set in the heart of the East Village-Alphabet City area - is a well meaning paean to bohemia - to "Ooda, Buddha, Pablo Neruda," as the lyrics go. But today, the once-cutting-edge show has been dulled by decades in which its trangression is seen as increasingly less transgressive, and the show's bohemia has been distilled, repackaged, and mass-marketed throughout America. So too has St. Mark's Place gone from a haven for disaffected punks and junkies to thirteen-year-olds in Gothic makeup and wannabe metal heads. Sure - the shops are still there (including fetishwear locale Trash and Vaudeville and a variety of band T-Shirt stores, plus a few good CD shows), but the spirit is long gone from the locale. The scene here is strictly for-tourists-only - repackaged transgression for cultural voyeurs. While you may still see punks clad in white makeup, black leather, and pink mohawks, they're as likely as not to be nice boys from Westchester as they are to be junkies or rent boys. While the surrounding East Village area has a grittier, more authentic charm, St. Mark's Place itself is better read about than walked through.

That said, the location is next to plenty of good eateries further away from the main drag. Cafe Mogador and Jules are two of the city's best restaurants, although they're not for the vampiric crowd; Sunday brunch is the most popular meal!

St Marks Place is definitely a rowdy scene at night -- there are a lot of college kids who live around this area and a lot of cheap eats and bars on the street attract them in droves. But, it is a pretty cool street with some interesting history and some great places to hang . . . even for an adult.
The corner of St Marks and 2nd holds one of my favorite brunch spots in the city, Cafe Orlin. The food is great, the servers are darling and the crowd is interesting and cool. It's just a great spot.
La Palapa is on the corner of St Marks and 1st Ave. It's a great Mexican food joint. It's a little nicer and pricier than most Mexican fare but the food is great and it's a really lively joint. And, the poet, W.D. Auden lived just below where the restaurant is now for many years which is pretty cool. Just across the street from La Palapa is The Pearl Theatre company which has a lot of really good theatre. It used to be Theatre 80 (I think) where Joan Crawford and Jane Russell performed!
Across 1st Ave are a couple of food joints (definitely joints) that all have great little eats. Dumpling Man and Hummus Place are both fantastic. Just down the street a bit further is Crif Dogs (famous for hot dogs and they are pretty sinful). Through the phone booth and downstairs is a speakeasy called PDT. It used to be really trendy and while it's kind of slow now, it's still pretty cool if you're into mixology and having a hot dog brought downstairs.
Just across the street are two cool bars: St Dymphna's and Bua. St Dymphna's is where my sister and her husban met. It's a tiny bar with a really mixed crowd (hipsters, students, squares, you name it). Bua is owned by one of my favorite bars (Wilfie and Nell). It's a pretty cool place for the St Mark's area but it's a little dingier and less cool than Wilfie.
It's not my favorite area by any means, but St Mark's is definitely worth checking out. Oh, the street is also home to Yoga for the People -- donation only, always packed and a great workout if you're a local!

St Marks Pl is a street that has changed a great deal in the last thirty or so years. Somehow, though, little pieces of each stage have stayed throughout. There is the classic flophouse, the St Marks Hotel, through to some Irish bars, then a new outpost of the iconic CBGB club from a couple blocks away, a dive bar or several, but then the newer tattoo parlors, Japanese food joints, Korean restaurants, and the Automat food vending machine. Still a great street, and always entertaining, through all of the guises.

St. Mark's was once the hangout of those who didn't fit in perfectly with mainstream society. It catered to a different type of person and offered a seedy and somewhat dangerous atmosphere. That was some time ago though and now St. Mark's Place caters to a far trendier crowd. The area has been infused with Asian influences and is home to some great authentic Asian food. It still maintains some of the tattoo parlors and bars that it was once known for but it's nothing like it once was. St. Mark's Comics is a popular spot for teens and young adults who are into the comic scene. St. Mark's Market is a popular stop for food, but honestly the street is littered with great eateries. A foodie will love the area.

dumpling man, taisho, udon west... besides the mass of japanese/asian retailers on this street, there's also a number of piercing tattoo proprietors open till late into the night. there's a japanese supermarket on st marks, closer to the 2nd ave corner that's accessible through a stairs that lead to the basement level or another one called sunshine on the 9th and 3rd ave corner that's a lot larger.

St. Marks Place is LITERALY a permanent street market. Here, you'll find endless jewelry stands and T-shirt vendors, and of course used-record stands at the right times. Keep in mind, if it's shady or illegal, you'll find it on St. marks Place. Definitely wouldn't recommend this area for tourists or families with children; but if you're a risk taker with a brave soul, try exploring the harder-edge East Village southward toward the Bowery.

Yes, the neighborhood has changed, but when I was a teenager in the '90s my father had to push drug dealers away before we could get to his squat on 3rd between C and D. Now my partner and I live with my son on an eclectic street just a block away from the park. If I want bohemian I may have to search a little bit more, but at least it's safe.