West 3 St, Greenwich Village

West 3rd is a pretty rowdy street. It used to be a pretty historical area but now it is completely overrun with downtrodden "jazz" clubs and NYU buildings. It's a lively street but I wouldn't call it the cleanest, quietest or most interesting street in the village
There's a really famous basketball court called the West 4th basketball courts. The people playing are always really good and it's fun to stop and watch them for a few minutes before you press on to the subway. Directly across 3rd are a couple of bars that are an absolute nightmare on weekends. The Fat Black Pussycat used to be a pretty famous jazz club like many of the music venues on 3rd. Bob Dylan used to perform here a lot. But, now, it's mostly just frat kids. The West 3rd bar scene scares me a little to be completely honest. They are all packed, like mob style packed, with deafeningly loud music.
The IFC theatre is right at 3rd and 6th. They definitely play an interesting selection of independent films but I prefer the Angelika as far as location, films . . pretty much everything. It's a little too rowdy in this part of town (and a little too dirty) for an indie theatre.
The entire block between Sullivan and Thompson is taken over by NYU. There has been much fanfare to save Edgar Allen Poe's house where he wrote The Raven. NYU has, so far, gutted the inside of the house but saved the facade. I think this is criminal but that's NYU for ya.
NYU has pretty much taken over this entire area (they'll probably dominate the city by the end of this decade. A lot of the buildings are ugly and they are built over buildings that had a lot of history. The hall that takes up the entire south side of the block of West 3rd between Mercer and Broadway is a perfect example.
The block used to be the site of Tripler's Hall -- where many famous actors and singers performed in the 1850's. James Fenimore Cooper's memorial service was also held here. It burnt down in 1859 and was replaced by the Winter Garden Theatre. All of the Booth brothers performed Julius Caesar here for the only time they would ever work together. Edwin went on to much fame in New York and started the Players' Club. John Wilkes went on to infamy for killing the President. Then it was a hotel that was the site of the famous Fisk-Stokes shoot-out. And, finally, it was an original NYU hall that collapsed and killed four students in the 70's. Pretty crazy but that is the great thing about New York!