kennyg

Well, it used to be, anyways, back when W 8th Street in the Village was just shoe store after shoe store. Many of those places are gone now, giving rise in their stead to cheap neighborhood restaurants (many of which have cycled through tenants) and lunchtime eat in/take out spots. Not really a cozy vibe, but it is a little strip of convenience if you're happening through this part of Greenwich Village. Plenty to eat for sure: Gray's Papaya on 6th has cheap cheap hot dogs (that pink salty tang!), Elettaria serves trendy cuisine and deadly cocktails, and literally a dozen lunchtime joints lie near Broadway. Ones to try are Rickshaw Dumplings for fast meaty dumplings, Maoz for customized falafel in a colorful mod setting, 'wichcraft for gourmet-style sandwiches, Cafetasia for pan-Asian fare accompanied by hordes of NYU kids, and good ol' reliable Chipotle for giant burritos and tacos. Again, not a bad street to stop by but no need for a special visit.

Bond St is one of those quirky little streets that's different enough from the blocks around it to know instantly where you are. It doesn't look like much on a map, running east from Broadway to Bowery, a couple of blocks above Houston. However, it's still cobblestoned and cavernous loft-filled buildings line the sidewalks, and the road is wide enough to evoke avenues far away from the Village. In this little strip of Noho, you can get a feeling for what Soho used to feel like before it became a fulltime shopping mall. Unfortunately, new luxury condominiums are going up (or have gone up) on both sides of the street, including the admittedly striking 40 Bond (Ian Schrager's venture), so it is unclear how the nature of this little piece of NYC is going to change in years to come. In the meantime, though, you can still sample the Catalan cuisine and red wine at Mercat and drop some bucks at Il Buco (Italian) and Bond Street Sushi (Japanese).

Sure, St. Marks Place is no longer the real hangout of punk abandon, the kids with the funny hair are most likely uptown refugees, and hipsters and models outnumber the junkies in Tompkins Square park, but I still have a place in my heart for these few seedy blocks between Astor Place and Tompkins Square Park. A number of things have changed the place, from NYU's encroachment along nearby streets to the meteoric rise of the housing market, but there are still a few things anchoring the neighborhood. One of them has to be proliferation of nearby cheap, excellent Japanese food, from the smokey yakitori (grilled meats and vegetables on skewers) places to discount sushi to the dark, cave-like sake bars (check out Angelshare and Decibel around the corner). These places are nestled at the western end of St Marks, near Astor Place.

These few blocks on a north-south street running between Houston and Washington Square Park are a peaceful, relatively quiet respite, especially compared to the usual frat boy bedlam that reigns a couple of blocks west, in the bars of the Village. This is in particular true now that the infamous Senor Swanky's has closed. What remains are a few low-key gems for those foodies willing to llok around. Bruno's is an Italian bakery and coffee shop that turns out incredibly flaky cookies and pastries; we return time and time again, however, for the remarkable assortment of cakes (it's become a hallowed birthday tradition where I work). Nearby, Marumi's is a quiet, understated place to catch excellent sushi for a great price; a step above your average local sushi joint, ask to sit in their cozy covered garden in the back.

Don't bypass Great Jones St on your visit to the East Village; it is only two blocks long, bordered by Broadway to the west and Bowery to the east. It is relatively easy to find, as it is continuous with both W 3rd St and E 3rd St, forming a bridge between the two. Though short, there are a few gems worth visiting on this wide, quiet street. On the eastern end of the street, Great Jones Cafe serves up southern New Orleans-style charm, a cheap selection of beers, and stick to your rubs comfort food in a bright orange building - just look for the bust of Elvis in the window! For something a little more upscale, Five Points is across the street, providing sleek, stylish Mediterranean-American food in a white tablecloth setting. Don't miss the spectacular and cavernous Beaux Arts firehouse at 44 Great Jones, home to NYFD's Engine 33 (who lost 10 of 14 of there firefighters on 9/11).

Blink as you travel by on 5th Avenue or University Place and you will miss the gates that guard either end of this tiny block long beauty that is sandwiched between 8th st and Washington Square North. Actually a private street, the gates are unlocked during the day and the curious can wander the still-bricked lane. This mews once housed stables that have been converted to the quaint two-story carriage houses that now line the street. Well worth a visit, if only to marvel at the marked difference between the small architectural remnants of a bygone era and the nearby towering apartment complexes that stare down from the sky.

Washington Place is a tiny street of 5 blocks bisected by Washington Square Park. Either end is relatively quiet, especially the east end which is only 3 blocks long and bracketed by the park on one end and Broadway on the other, keeping through traffic to a minimum. The architecture is primarily NYU buildings, relatively tall but architecturally interesting (one interesting historical note is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Building, site of the infamous deadly 1911 fire - now an NYU building)

I lived on the Broadway end of the street when I worked at NYU, which is fantastically close by - this road is smack in the middle of the de facto campus. This proximity is one of its greatest assets, keeping the area relatively safe; if hordes of undergraduates busily crisscrossing the sidewalk isn't your thing, you may want to stay away during daytime hours. Because of the presence of the school, there is not much to do or eat on Washington Place itself, but there are options close by. For eating, you can head up to the cheap places along 8th st, east a few blocks to the Japanese shops on St. Marks, or west over to Laguardia and other Village eateries. For shopping, head downtown along Broadway and you will find shopping (and shoppers!) galore, even on the blocks north of Houston.

Notably, Washington Square Park (now under renovation) is a welcome break from all the surrounding concrete, with shade and trees, some green space, a monumental arch, and a central fountain, not to mention all sorts of interesting people: artists, drug dealers, students, tourists.