Sullivan St, Greenwich Village

Sullivan is such a Greenwich Village Street. It's one of those streets the perfectly embodies its neighborhood to me. And, Greenwich is a really colorful neighborhood so that's no easy task for a street in this area. The buildings are quite old for the most part seeing as people moved North from Downtown to this area around the 1800's. It doesn't have the sprawling townhouses that many streets in the West and East Villages have, but there's a lot of history to the area. And, there's a lot of hustle and bustle on Sullivan due to its proximity to NYU.
Sullivan starts on the North side of Washington Square Park which lends itself to there already being quite a lot of foot traffic -- WSP is one of the most crowded parks in the city on any given day. And, you can often hear music echoing through the buildings on Sullivan because of all the musicians in the park; a pecadillo which I love and many people aren't terribly happy with. The corner of Sullivan and Wash Square North has (what a shock) two NYU buildings directly across the street from each other. The Law School building went up with much contention because in order to build the department the school had to destroy a number of historical homes including Eugene O'Neill's house. But, that's NYU for you . . .
The next block represents what I was talking about in regards to Greenwich: a mish mosh of the most bizarre things in old buildings that seem to work. There's a restaurant that's menu is entirely comprised of things made with peanut butter. I'm not kidding: everything has peanut butter in it. Expectedly, this joint is pretty popular with the college kids that live in the surrounding area. There's a fantastic ice cream place directly across the street and two bars. What else could a student want but fatty food and booze, right? The bar next to the ice cream place -- I think it's called the Sparrow -- is so beautiful. It has a really low-key vibe and it's decor is old world French. It gets really crowded on the weekends but a weekday happy hour perfect, especially when it's gloomy out. You have to walk downstairs to get to it (in case I have the name wrong) and there are candles everywhere, so it's definitely a fall / winter spot. But, the cocktails and ambience are great.
The next block over is packed with torn down history, sadly. The Sullivan Street Playhouse was just torn down ten years ago after being open for a million (the sign is still there) and Mayor LaGuardia was born in the next door address (177) in the 1880's. His birthplace collapsed during renovations in the 80's and people were killed so I fancy that it's double haunted which adds to the creep factor of the block in a good way . . . especially considering that a 150 year old Catholic Church is across the street and old churches are always creepy. The block between Houston and Prince on which the church stands is, again, pretty representative of Greenwich. There's a cheese shop, a yarn shop, a pastry shop and some other little chotchke spaces that I love but wonder how they're still in business.
The next block past Prince is where Sullivan changes over again as it turns into fancy town. Blue Ribbon and Blue Ribbon Sushi are both on this block. They are highly regarded as two of the best restaurants in the Village (the Sushi spot is often noted as the best in the city). I'm not a huge fan of Blue Ribbon Bakery's food but I love everything else about it that I go all the time. It's tiny and warm and always packed. And, this particular block of Sullivan is too adorable for words. Any place you walk into on this street feels like you're walking into someone's house. Last Halloween, I went to Blue Ribbon at 2 am for oysters and champagne. The room was warm and packed and everyone in the place seemed really happy. It was one of my favorite nights I've had in this city. The houses across the street from the restaurant are both historical landmark houses from 1832. They're really beautiful.
Sullivan ends at 6th Avenue, solidifying it as a true Greenwich Street -- it doesn't traverse any other neighborhoods. It's loud and lively, but not dirty or ugly -- and, that's hard to find in Greenwich. And, it has evolved pretty nicely. It's crazy expensive to live on Sullivan and considering the street and sidewalk traffic of the street, I wouldn't necessarily want to live on it. But, it's definitely really safe, cool, and central.