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Neighborhood in New York City
Photo: (WT-shared) SHC, CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
The East Village, east of the Village on Manhattan, was traditionally considered part of the Lower East Side, and constitutes the portion north of Houston St., south of 14th St., and east of Broadway. Although increasingly gentrified, with former crack dens that are now modern apartments so hip you can't afford them, it remains an ethnically diverse area of students, young professionals, immigrants, and older longtime residents. This colorful neighborhood is full of eateries as diverse as its population, and there's always something happening on St. Marks Place, 24/7.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
A sculpture at the center of Astor Place. This steel cube actually rotates as you push on any side, though you may need the strength of two or three people for a complete rotation. One of its sister cubes resides on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This sculpture was removed in 2015 but returned to an enlarged pedestrian area in the fall of 2016.
Until 2014, Cooper Union was the only private, full-scholarship college in the United States dedicated exclusively to preparing students for the professions of art, architecture and engineering. It now charges tuition for regular classes but still gives free extension courses. The college, established in 1859, occupies several buildings, but the most recognizable and famous is the Foundation Building, on the block to the south of Astor Place between the two branches of Cooper Square (one being the southward extension of 3rd Av. and the other, an avenue that connects the Bowery with 4th Av. at Astor Place). The college, the legacy of Peter Cooper, occupies a special place in the history of American education.
Most of this park is on the Lower East Side (and indeed the part of the East Village this far east is often also still called the Lower East Side or Loisaida), but the portion of it in the extreme East Village contains one or two baseball diamonds, some basketball courts, a playground or two and a well-tended path along the river that provides very worthwhile views in good weather. Popular with joggers, cyclists, picnickers, ball players, kids, and people taking a stroll.
MoRUS
A very small museum, that illustrates the history of activism in the neighborhood. Tours of legendary historic neighborhood sites and of community gardens are proposed every Saturday and Sunday at 3PM.
The oldest continuously existing free lending library in New York, it was designed in 1884 as a "Freie Bibliothek u. Lesehalle" (free library and reading hall) when this neighborhood was part of Kleindeutschland (Little Germany) and now serves as a branch of the New York Public Library. Another part of this lovely red brick building, constructed as a "Deutsches Dispensary," features reliefs of heroes of German culture such as Goethe but stopped functioning as a clinic several years ago.
The eastward extension of 8th St./Astor Place past 3rd Ave. There are many bars, restaurants, and shops (many with a street vending presence) on the block between 2nd and 3rd Aves. There's always quite a mixture of folk walking up and down the street and within the area not to mention the slew of students from Cooper Union and NYU, which has plenty of dormitories and facilities nearby. Be warned that it can be unpleasantly crowded with slow-moving tipsy people at times, but it is a good place for people-watching.
The only street in Manhattan that actually runs due east to the compass. There are several 18th- and early 19th-century buildings along this street, which runs from a bit south of 9th St. and 3rd Ave. to 10th St and 2nd Ave. At the corner of 10th St. and 2nd Ave. is St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, a historic landmark and a very active church today, with an old and lush graveyard to the north, on and near the corner of 11th St. and 2nd Ave. Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of the colony of New Netherland before the British took possession and renamed it New York, is buried in a crypt in the east wall of the church. On the other end of Stuyvesant St., at the triangle between 9th St., Stuyvesant St., and 3rd Ave., a small garden and a compass fountain were constructed a few years ago for beautification and in order to show that Stuyvesant St. does go due east to the compass.
Not much to see, but a nice park nonetheless and historically significant for its long reputation of political demonstrations and radical thought. The Grateful Dead played their first East Coast show here in 1967, and the first Hare Krishna gathering outside of India took place here in 1965. The park has a curfew — it closes at 1 AM.
A varied program of unique films, both repertory and new, most playing for only one or two screenings. Many of the films shown here can't be seen anywhere else (for better or worse). It also plays host to several film festivals yearly.
Enjoy a day of self-indulgence with a very authentic Russian feel. Then nosh on bagels and cream cheese, or an authentic Russian meal in the restaurant. Maybe after all that shvitzing (that's Yiddish/New Yorkese for "sweating"): a huge bottle of seltzer, or fresh carrot juice is the thing you'll want most.
This unassuming place is one of the few remaining old-time inexpensive restaurants in the neighborhood. It serves kosher dairy and pareve (non-meat but including fish) food. Since the soup costs only 50 cents more for a bowl than for a cup, always order a bowl. Good challah and good honest food - nothing fancy, but a very fair value. You can view the menu as of 2018 at their Facebook page; some prices have gone up, but it'll give you a fair idea of the selection.
Widely renowned by hot dog lovers for their pork and beef, deep fried frankfurters. Perennial favorites include the Spicy Redneck and any of the bacon-wrapped dogs.
Delicious Cantonese dim sum; one of six locations, all in Manhattan.
This restaurant specializes in Sichuan dry pot, which is different from hotpot, in that hotpot is a soup that the diner traditionally prepares by being given two kinds of broth and ingredients of their choice to boil in real time, whereas dry pot has some sauce but is not soup-like, is prepared in the kitchen before being brought out to the diner and can be ordered to go without a notable dropoff in quality or freshness. The restaurant also serves appetizers, but the flavorful, aromatic (and if you order it spicy, quite chili-laden) dry pot is what you should order. You must order at least 3 ingredients in your dry pot, but 4-5 are common for an individual and 7-8 for a couple. Ingredients range from $3-12, but cluster around $4-8, so the price can mount fairly quickly, and tabs of around $24-27 plus tip for an individual and $40 for a couple are common. Tastes vary, but some of the ingredients that stand up well to the powerful sauce and spices are the soup filled beef balls, the lamb, the beef tongue and the lobster balls, and among the better ingredients for enjoying the sauce are the bean curd sheets, noodles and enoki mushrooms. Rice is also available for an extra charge of $1 for white rice and $2 for purple rice. This restaurant has other branches at 41 West 46th St. and 245 East 53rd St.
A real neighborhood hangout that offers terrific coffee and light meals.
This restaurant specializes in yakitori - Japanese-style grilled items on skewers. They sell other food items, but in general, it is best to stick to yakitori and similar items, and definitely do not get things like ramen there, because the further away it is from being grilled, the worse it is likely to be. Most of their yakitori is dependably good, and it's definitely a great value. They also sell pretty good sake for about $8 for a large carafe, and the servers are knowledgeable about the sakes. Because the restaurant is cheap and open late, it gets all kinds of freaky, drunk customers, and the aisles and seating are definitely at close quarters. Just consider it an experience and enjoy.
This is a branch of an Isaan restaurant headquartered in Bangkok. Expect spicy food unless you request for it to be made milder, and also be aware that items marked on the menu as including fermented fish have a very strong rotten-fish taste, which is authentic but may or may not meet with your approval. Among their best items are the gaeng om kai (Isaan-style chicken soup in a large bowl with cabbage and herbs, though you may want to ask for it with "less salt"), sa poak kai tod der (Der-styled deep fried chicken thigh), moo ping kati sod (grilled coconut milk-marinated pork skewers) and tum mangsavirat (vegetarian papaya salad). The restaurant is mellower at lunch, when the lights are on and Quincy Jones Band albums from the 1960s play on their sound system. At night, the low lights, techno music and crowds of young customers may make you think you should be dancing at a club. The restaurant is more crowded since Michelin gave it a locally-controversial star, but if you are a small party, you are unlikely to have a long wait except perhaps at peak hours on Saturday night.
This is a branch of a Hong Kong-based dim sum chain. It serves dim sum all day, and it's very popular, so you are best off going close to opening time, or at least for weekday lunch, and figure on the possibility of having a drink at a nearby bar while you wait for them to text you. They do dim sum right, with thin wrappers and excellent ingredients, and it's very tasty.
This big dining room has a pleasant, somewhat faded Old World elegance, with parquet floors and chandeliers, and unlike most other restaurants in New York, it has high ceilings and somewhat of a sense of spaciousness. Tango classes are offered in an adjoining room in back of the restaurant twice a week.
A fun little Italian pastry shop. You can eat in the dining room or purchase items to go at the counter.
Half-century-old Ukrainian diner now has a snazzier decor and hipper clientele but still offers traditional Eastern European fare like pierogi, blintzes, and stuffed cabbage.
Serves Moroccan, French, and Middle-Eastern cuisine, all dependably good. The cafe is especially popular for weekend brunch, but a very good breakfast/brunch is available every day of the week. More dishes are on the brunch menu on weekends, but you are likely to wait a half hour or more for weekend brunch during peak hours.
This is a branch of a ramen-specialist chain that's well-known in Japan. They are best known for tonkotsu ramen, but also make nice spicy ramen. Some of their appetizers are really good and very much worth getting. No reservations, and there could be a long wait; your best bet is to show up, give them your cell phone number, and hang out at a local bar while waiting for them to contact you.
This old-school Italian-American red-sauce place has friendly service, ample portions, loads of atmosphere and a century's worth of history. Expect to pay around $40-50/person for a 3-course meal with a glass of wine. Appetizers are often served family-style.
This Indian restaurant used to have the most complex flavors of any Indian restaurant in the neighborhood before the much more expensive Adda opened on 1st Ave near 7th St., and your food can be spicy, but depending on your taste, you may find everything too sweet. Two main dishes plus bread or rice feeds a couple amply, and one main plus a "small" plate and bread or rice would probably be adequate for a couple with a moderate appetite.
This Sichuan-style restaurant is the Manhattan branch of an establishment that began in Flushing. It's in the former Grand Sichuan St Marks space, accessed by climbing an outdoor staircase to the 2nd floor. They redid the decor to make it much fancier, but the main difference is the food, which is much more refined. Some of it is quite spicy and some of it is not, but either way, the flavors are very well balanced and the ingredients are high-quality. Good service, too. The restaurant is quite small and very popular, so either go for a weekday lunch — better yet, at odd hours (e.g. 3-4PM), or if you go for dinner, come on the later side or show up, give your name and then go somewhere else while you wait for as long as 90 minutes.
Describing themselves as a "modern Chinese restaurant and tea house," they serve a variety of regional Chinese cuisines. Their food is delicious and they are very popular, especially with Chinese people, doing a brisk eat-in business and sometimes having waits of an hour or more for takeout. Standout items include their thin, light scallion pancakes ($7); woodear mushroom salad ($10); Sichuan beef jerky, which is somewhat chewy with a fragrant, spicy, tangy and sweet sauce ($17); steamed chicken with sesame in chili sauce ($15); Nanjing salted duck ($19); and vegetarian dry pot ($36).
An upscale American restaurant strongly influenced by Italian cuisine. Hearth is open for dinner only. Expect to pay roughly $80/person, including wine. Reservations recommended.
Restaurant and bar, this place caters mostly to the bar and club crowd.
Has a good selection of beers including many from microbreweries, as well as a bunch of single malt whiskeys, and prices are slightly high for the neighborhood but not outrageous. It can get crazy on Saturday nights, but it's a pleasant, relaxing place on weeknights.
Old-timers to the neighborhood may remember this as a no-frills bar that had booths with torn upholstery and was presided over by a friendly old Ukrainian bartender/owner. After he died, the bar remained shut and vacant for several years. The new owners had it renovated and somewhat redesigned, but it still has the feel of an old-time room. To afford today's expensive rents and follow the new trends, they now specialize in excellent cocktails and also have a menu of small plates. However, one thing hasn't changed: The bartenders are still personable.
Wine bar with great list and some microbrews. Cozy, elegant without being pretentious. Great place to meet with friends or bring a date.
This might be one of the few bars left in the East Village that isn't overrun by frat boys, sorority girls and loud drunken youths from New Jersey. It usually isn't crazy even on weekends. They are not whiskey specialists but have a pretty good and relatively well-priced selection of whiskeys and ryes (though prices have started to creep up, and Sophie's, listed below, is cheaper), among the rest of their drinks. The sound track tends toward country and classic rock, the bartenders are personable and helpful, and the clientele tends to be a quirky, friendly motley crew of various ages.
A hard-drinking literary bar.
The oldest pub in continuous operation in New York, this small Irish pub packs up fast. With sawdust on the floors and dust on the century-old decorations, this place is a favorite with tourists and locals alike. There are only two drinks to choose from: McSorley's light ale or McSorley's dark ale, always served in a pair of half-pint mugs. The ancient chandelier above the bar has turkey wishbones dating from WW1 when a turkey dinner was thrown for a departing soldier and the wishbone was hung up till he returned. Abraham Lincoln drank there and Teddy Roosevelt's signature graces the walls. Boisterous atmosphere and cheap food too!
A fun, boozy reimagining of the once popular post-war American tiki bar. Yeah it's pretty tacky, that's the idea. Grab a sickly sweet Hawaiian-styled cocktail, or just get a basic beer. Sometimes hosts live bands with more of like a Punk/Country/Rockabilly vibe. No cover.
This is one of the few authentic East Village dive bars remaining. Their drinks are probably the least expensive in the neighborhood, and the selection is good. Lots of interesting decor including a large papier mache model of a blimp. Pool table and jukebox in the back. Their sister bar, Josie's, which is a block to the north at 520 E 6th St, tends to be more quiet but is otherwise quite similar.
7B
A rock 'n' roll hangout that dates back to Prohibition, 7B has been featured in numerous movies for its classic Manhattan atmosphere.
Good local music club (the music room is in the basement). There is usually a cover charge of at least $8 to get in, and drinks are marked up (e.g., $9 for Stoli and soda). Good acoustics. You might get lucky and get a seat (if that's what you want to do), but most of the crowd stands for the entire performance. Bring earplugs in case the volume is pumped out louder than you like.
This large, beautiful, landmarked dance and event hall with three performance venues dates from 1886. It was closed for renovations starting in 2017 but reopened on April 26, 2019 with a concert by Jay-Z.
Fabulously dark and moody, this newish old-school hotel is cool and charming in a low-key way. Rooms are spacious with plenty of light and dark hardwood floors, and the more expensive ones come with fantastic bathtubs. The bar and lobby are popular hangouts.
Pet-friendly boutique hotel.
A rather vivid example of the gentrification of the Bowery, this store is noteworthy for being the former home of CBGB, an underground nightclub that was famous for being the center of the New Wave and hardcore punk scenes in the 1970s and 80s. Today, it's a high-end men's fashion store popular for the many rock stars among its clients. Though the punk crowd is gone, the flyer-covered walls from CBGB have been preserved and rock memorabilia sits beside the store's designer jackets and shoes.
One of the last live/work artist store fronts in the East Village. Morphing from window art dioramas in the 80s they now showcase only local jewelry designers and artists along with their own museum replica jewelry and paintings. Screen door and original tin ceiling complete the authentic East Village look.
One of the foremost used bookstores in New York, reportedly housing over 18 miles of shelf space, all of it crammed to capacity. They also carry new books and offer loads of merchandise, including stationery, book accessories, and branded tote bags and apparel sporting their famous logo. A recent renovation has opened up the space tremendously, though that will be a surprise to any newcomer, who will marvel at the wall-to-wall crowds.
By bus
Numerous MTA bus routes serve the neighborhood. Of particular note, however, are the crosstown buses., then turns north on Av. A and travels on 10th St. the rest of the way.
By bicycle
This is absolutely the best way to catch all of the East Village action. If you are coming from uptown on the West Side, take the West Side Green Path down to 14th Street.
By car
Parking in the East Village can be difficult.
On foot
If you are within walking distance of the East Village in decent weather, walking to the neighborhood is the most interesting way to go, and certainly the best way to get around.
By taxi
There are usually many taxis in the East Village.
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