3rd St Between 6th Ave and MacDougal St

   

A popular entrance to Greenwich Village, West 3rd Street has a rather boring mixture of tourist traps and old village stand-bys. Since it ends abruptly at 6th Avenue (and I don't believe the fine people at the IFC Film Center would appreciate being driven through, though you're welcome to check), West 3rd is just one of many crosstown routes which die at the start of the West Village.

The heart of this area is the West 4th Street subway station which acts as a major hub between 7 of the IND lines. There's only two exits for this huge station, and oddly enough neither are actually on West 4th Street, but rather Waverly Place and West 3rd Street. As a result you get a lot of people exiting down here by the basketball courts and making their way to the interior of the neighborhood by way of West 3rd.

Along the street a series of nightclubs do their best to lure you in with promises of no cover, or low minimums, though that's rarely the deal once you get inside. Old newsstands, record stores, and magazine shops have somehow managed to survive over the years despite the inroads being made by the likes of McDonald's and Ace Hardware. For me one of the more charming things is the Minetta Garage (named for the street to the south which it connects to) which has signage and lighting which is just vintage enough to not be kitschy.

If you can come down here at the right time of day, you wont encounter too much trouble in terms of crowds. However if you find yourself down here on a weekend after 5 o'clock, I wish you the best of luck because many a well-intentioned visitor has been lost to the crowds of drunken pizza customers.

9th St Between Broadway and 3rd Ave

   

Somehow this near-desolate block, which begins with a Toys-R-Us Express in the shell of an old Blockbuster video, isn't as depressing as it could be. Acting more as a pathway between Greenwich village and the east village (with a quick stopover in Astor Place), these two blocks are comfortably nestled between the two bustling neighborhoods.

The first half is a dark street thanks to the looming presence of 770 Broadway, which seems to hold AOL, Nielsen and several other media companies under its roof. The second half is slightly more welcoming thanks to the inclusion of some smaller buildings, local shops and even a few rays of sunlight. Looking south you can spot some of the newer buildings that have been popping up around here and the Bowery. These alien structures are becoming more and more assimilated with the skyline everyday. I wonder how much longer it'll be before our vintage brick buildings begin to look like the out-of-place ones.

Washington Square East Between 4th St and Waverly Pl

The construction which has dominated Washington Square Park for the past few seasons continues here on the eastern side, which leaves this short street with an overflow of people who must walk around to the north or south in order to enter the park. Normally a very charming place to walk around, your best views are now tarnished with chain-link.

The six perfectly-square blocks which extend eastward from the park create a unique little ecosystem for NYU. Feeling disconnected from the rest of Greenwich village, it's almost like the University grants us simple folk the right to walk on their grounds, rather than the other way around.

8th St Between University Pl and Broadway

   

On the outer boundaries of NYU's village campus, this street of endless stores has always stuck me as out-of-place. While much of neighborhood is filled with local shops and unique storefronts, this entire stretch may as well be known as Logo Lane. Sure, a few of the places along here are non-chain stores, and there are even slight signs of regression (Johnny Rocket's recently vacated a location here), but otherwise the endless parade of glowing signs is rather disheartening.

This overloading of retail has created a mini Times Square out of 8th street – a grim sign of what could happen to St. Mark's Place a few blocks to the east if development continues unabated.

University Pl Between 9th St and 11th St

    

I always get excited when a street I'm posting about has its own Wikipedia entry. It usually leads to some interesting factoids or discoveries that I either didn't know, or only knew part of. Imagine my joy when I saw University Pl was graced with an article all its own on the free encyclopedia. Then imagine my disappointment as I found that it was as short and poorly-written as a post on this very blog. Not a word on the history of the street. Not a word on the naming (though I have a pretty big hunch *cough* NYU *cough*). Not even a whisper about Bowlmor (blasphemy!). I guess I'll just have to draw upon my own experiences here…my goodness, what will become of this entry!?

Feeling a bit like a bastardized version of Irving Place, University shares a lot of similarities to its neighbor to the north (east). Short, sheltered, and terminating at a Park, there's a limited amount of car traffic, but plenty of people walking to the various businesses. Whereas Irving is known for its high-end cafes, University caters to a younger clientele – namely college kids (thank goodness it's named as-such!). The buildings lining the block are mostly older brick ones, which range from the featureless boxes that you ignore everyday to the embellished turn-of-the-century masterpieces...that you also ignore everyday. I would talk about the bus stop on 9th Street, but the sign was pretty firm about its ant-bus stop status.

Bleecker St Between Mulberry St and Broadway

   

The convergence of Lafayette and Mulberry Streets at Bleecker creates for a fascinating block which whittles itself down to nothing more than a sliver. The small, triangular building which sits on the plot could put the Flatiron Building to shame with it's absurd lack of space. Bite, a small eatery fills this unusual storefront as best it can. In a way, a kitschy eatery with a one-word name is one of the few things that could thrive here.

Bleecker is well-known in Greenwich Village for it's wide selection of bars, bars and more bars. However, this far east, and despite the subway stop, the street is still fairly calm. Bigger deal joints like The Bleecker Street Theater are practically hidden amongst the hardware stores. Walking down the block reveals a number of "practical" stores such as photo printing, shoe repair, and a locksmith.

There are some particularly beautiful examples of architecture, but many of them seem to have been neglected over the years. I would say it's a shame, but sometimes deterioration befits a block more than restoration.