East Village - Manhattan
Long known as a bohemian part of the city, the East Village is now a mecca of avant-garde hipsters, skaters, young artists, Goths and NYU students living side-by-side with Italian, Polish, Latino and Ukrainian families who have lived here for generations. The East Village used to be a lot more rough and dicey back in the 80s (when Madonna dwelled here), but the 90s saw a clean-up of the neighborhood and greater safety. If you're a young artist, then this is the place for you. Stuffy conservative Wall Street wanna-be's need not apply, although they are anyway, perhaps trying to live out their grungy side outside their suits. Prices have dramatically risen in the East Village since the days of Madonna, but it's still less expensive to live here than in other parts of the city. The East Village is increasingly being considered the new Greenwich Village of New York, since prices there are steadily rising and are being taken over by young professionals and young artists with wealthy parents.
St. Marks Place and Avenue A are considered the main drags here, with groovy cafes, restaurants, boutiques and a few touristy T-shirt shops lining the quaint street with some charming brownstones and walk-ups.
Alphabet City (Avenues A through D) is the grittier part of the East Village, the facades here weren't cleaned up as well as the rest of the area in the 90s, so it doesn't hold the charm of some of the better streets. But Avenues A and B are being taken in and cleaned up; Avenues C and D are currently following in A's and B's footsteps.
Tompkins Square Park, once a popular place for riots and general raucous behavior, is now a great place to sip your coffee from Café Pick Me Up on A and East 9th, walk your dog, strum your guitar, take the kids or pick up a game of basketball. The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is held here annually, as the jazz legend once lived at 151 Avenue B.
You'll do your grocery shopping like a real New Yorker here-at the bodegas sprinkled throughout the neighborhood. But you'll never go thirsty in the East Village-in fact; we challenge you to walk more than two blocks without passing a watering hole. You'll find everything from the somewhat cliché Coyote Ugly on First Avenue (yep, the infamous joint turned tourist trap from the movie of the same name) to more low-key places like Standard (158 1st Ave).
Don't miss Veniero's on First Avenue and East 11th, one of the city's best places to get a canolli, among other yummy pastries. A young and hip trendy neighborhood whose appeal is growing every day.
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