West 10 St, West Village

West 10th is a very West Village street. There are trees everywhere and a comparatively calm vibe without that ruining the cool. The buildings are old and beautiful and there are great little restaurants and bars lining the blocks. It's hard to pick favorites as far as this neighborhood goes, but 10th is up there. It's just very quaint and very coo.
The corner of West 10th and West used to be the first prison in New York. It opened in 1797. It was supposed to be progressive but ended up being overrun by disease and closed in the mid 19th century. Nothing remains of it today but I don't know that I'd want to live on that site. It would just creep me out. The whole area by the Westside Highway, while pretty, is still pretty creepy at night. It's almost too quiet and too old.
The street is beautiful and has lovely buildings but doesn't start to pick up, energy-wise, until Hudson. At the corner of 10th and Hudson is this fun little restaurant called Cowgirl. It sounds cheesy and it kind of is but it always has people in it and the food's not bad. It's one of the few places in the city where you can get a monster-sized (California size) salad. Across the street from Cowgirl is Blind Tiger Ale House. I like this place though it has a lot of tourists and kids. It's in a former row house and I just think it's cool and old timey.
Heading up to Bleecker you get all kinds of fun: a bunch of gay bars, the Village Apothecary and the Police Station / New York Bomb Squad. What more do you need in a day, right? All jokes aside, that's one of the things I love about this neighborhood. You never know what mishmosh of things are going to be on each block. And, they're all housed in three hundred year old buildings. And, the Village Apothecary is great if you happen to be a girl that likes beauty products .. . . so, basically, if you happen to be a girl. One of my favorite lunch spots is also at West 10th and Bleecker: Westville. The crowd is always cool and the food is always on point.
10th at West 4th is one of my favorite blocks in the West Village. It's so cute you can't help but fall in love with the neighborhood. I Tre Merli is this cute little bistro that is a fantastic place to stop for a drink on a blustery day -- that's exactly how I found the spot before I moved to the neighborhood.
Once you cross 7th Ave, you're kind of in the lesser coveted part of the West Village as it starts to become Greenwich, but I still think the street is so quaint. There's a massive Gourmet Garage market that somewhat ruins the old aesthetic, but it's a great store and much needed in the area so I'm not really complaining. And, one of my favorite coffee shops in the city, Jacks, is right here. It's a must if you're even nowhere near the neighborhood. There are some great restaurants and the Jefferson Market Library at the next block (at Greenwich) which are also not to be missed. The library was a former courthouse and prison. The guy who shot Stanford White had his trial there. And, it was going to be demolished in the '60's which would have been such a shame because it's gorgeous. So, a bunch of preservationists including ee Cummings helped save it and turn it into a library. It's worth a visit, for sure. But, then again, the whole street has gems all over it