West 4 St, West Village

While the West Village's gentrification shows no signs of slowing - prices at the upscale eateries and bespoke boutiques are as high as ever - this neighborhood is nevertheless one of New York's most aesthetically pleasing (just ignore the tourists). With tree-lined streets of brick town houses and winding alleyways, the West Village feels less like a teeming metropolis than like a quaint New England town. Adding edge to the area, however, is the neighborhood's vibrant gay scene - camper, friendlier, and less exclusive than the trendier LGBT nightclubs of Chelsea. West 10th Street in particular serves as a kind of cultural hub for the area; it's home to the popular charity bookstore Housing Works, which also hosts readings by up-and-coming writers, as well as to popular Smalls Jazz Club (the low key jazz-pub Fat Cat on West 9th is also within a stone's throw). Dining opportunities here are plentiful - from trendy Bobo and Cafe Codensa to more laid-back Chow Bar and Agave, the latter of which is a particularly good brunch options. Rejoice, fitness gurus - the long, winding street is also home to one of the city's most scenic bike lanes.

West 10th is a great mix of history, architecture, food and drinks. It's a great spot for tourists and locals.
Bill the Butcher got into a gang fight and cheated at West 10th and what is now Washington. This would later lead to his death by retaliation. I loved Gangs of New York, so I find that interesting.
There are a number of gay friendly bars stretching the next couple of blocks of this street. Some of them have been unspokenly gay since Truman Capote times. I kinda like that a precinct of the NYPD and the home to the NY Bomb Squad is on the block between Hudson and Bleecker, literally surrounded by gay bars. That's all there is on this block: gay bars and a police station.
There are a number of cool little restaurants, book stores, and bars from Bleecker up to 6th Ave. I Tre Merli is a particularly charming one. Jack's coffee is repeatedly voted the best coffee in NY and a lot of my friends swear by it. I prefer Joe up the street -- but, that's strictly because there's no where to sit in Jack.
The block between Greenwich and 6th is an interesting one. There is a park where a former women's prison was. Mae West was detained here if that's any indication of how recently this was still in the midst of all of these beautiful, expensive rowhouses. A former courthouse that is now a library is next door. It's a really beautiful building, and interesting, e.e. cummings was one of the main people who fought for it to become a library. Directly across the street is the entrance to Patchin Place. I've talked about that "street" under it's actual heading; but, a lot of famous people have lived here (including e.e. Cummings) and I would not mind at all to have Patchin Place as my address.
The block between 5th and 6th also housed a number of literary figures and is really beautiful. It's mostly very old, beautiful row houses that are now millions of dollars. Mark Twain lived in the appropriately named "Mark Twain Building." Emma Lazarus, Edward Albee and Emily Post all lived on this block. There's a great bar on the block called Pete's Backyard, so you kind of have it all!

West 11th is a pretty great street for everything. You can celebrity stalk, people watch, get great food, have a drink, take a historical tour . . .and, even go to church. It's a very old-world meets new -world kind of street. It's one of my favorites!
There's a big, bright red building on the corner of west 11th and Washington that Julian Schnabel had painted that color. He also added a huge tower to it and the people in the neighborhood went nuts. When you look at the other new buildings on the street, you tend to think it's not the worst thing anyone could do to the feel of the street. But, apparently, the stigma from that has kept the building from moving units. Weird, when you consider that people live in Stuytown, but ahhh, New Yorkers. These couple of blocks leading up to Greenwich were all rent-stabilized homes and tenements that artists and writers once lived in. Now, they've been vamped up and are outrageously priced.. . . which is probably why only rich artists live in the neighborhood now. It's kind of a shame on one hand because it is so beautiful and would be great to have cool bohemians still lurking about. On the other hand, it'd be pretty depressing in the West Village if half of Williamsburg could afford to live there. Yuck.
11th and Greenwich Street has two amazing places on one block: The Spotted Pig and The White Horse Tavern. The Spotted Pig is cozy and has incredible comfort food -- you try to not enjoy some gnudi on a snowy night in a back booth. However, everyone in town is on to the wonder of the Spotted Pig -- so, you can't ever get a seat during usual dining hours. I love this place at 4 pm on a Wednesday. The White Horse tavern has been around about 150 years. It is sort of kitschy now . . and, maybe a little bit fratty. But, it is the place where Dylan Thomas drank himself to death and Kerouac was notoriously and repeatedly thrown out. It has a lot of history and it hasn't changed really at all so it's pretty cool, and, I guess, has always been a little rowdy.
Lee Strasburg used to live at 285 W 11th. He always had his students, many of whom later became quite famous, over. Two Boots Pizza is at the corner of 11th and Greenwich Ave -- I actually like this place for take out -- I'm sorry but it's way better than most West Village Pizza places. Just a block up (at 6th) is the famous Ray's Pizza. This is the actual famous one so if you want to try Rays, you gotta go here.
The block between 6th and 7th has a lot of old, beautiful buildings and townhouses where a lot of famous people have and continue to live. Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft lived in the middle of the block (Jon Stewart now lives in the house). Oscar Wilde, Jane Curtin and Dustin Hoffman are a few other inhabitants of this block.

This street is really active and filled with things to do. For food try the following places:
Café Condesa, Diablo Royale, and Westville. This street is nicely located in the Village with some great housing options. I think this would be a good place to settle for some singles looking for roommates post-graduation. I also think it’s a cute neighborhood for families. Really, you could make it work to fit your life. It wasn’t too crazy or too calm. It was very nicely balanced.