Varick St Between Charlton St and W Houston St

   

Dominated by a series of very large buildings, these few blocks which straddle the border between the West Village and SoHo are surprisingly airy. One of the most striking structures is 180 Varick which takes up an entire block and sits across the street from the studios of WNYC. The building is also apparently very popular with design and architecture firms – housing no fewer than six different studios.

Sitting diagonally from 180 Varick is a very large government building which is home to services like Veterans Affairs, the US Passport Office and the neighborhood Post Office.

Greenwich St Between W Houston St and Leroy St

   

When I started to write this post, I struggled with how to name it. I know, all these titles are very formulaic, so there shouldn't be a question. Except that typically I tend to omit the "West" or "East" monikers on streets that aren't distinctly different from each other. For example West Broadway deserves having its directional preface since it's a completely different street from Broadway. However I would never write "East 23rd St" in a title since the surrounding cross streets would provide enough context to make the inclusion of "East" redundant. So why include the "W" for Houston here? Well it just feels so different! West of 6th Avenue Houston changes drastically into a narrow little one-way capillary – a stark change from the divided two-way monster it becomes later down the road. But enough about this post's title…

Feeling very similar to its neighbor, Washington Street, which I covered last year, these blocks are mostly industrial and unwelcoming. A few nice neighborhoods can be spotted down the side streets, but the overwhelming presence of UPS and FedEx, as well as several garages make this main drag just a little bit of a….drag. Regardless, it still manages to pickup some of the charm of the surrounding West Village thanks to the cobblestones and trees. If you can look beyond the industry that surrounds you, there's a slim chance you'll enjoy this block.

Broadway Between 4th St and 8th St

    

Marking the boundary between the official NYU campus (which on the surface is indistinguishable from the other parts of city, save for the purple flags) and the rest of the village, Broadway is as lively here as in any other part of the city. Houston Street, with its raucous crowds of shoppers sits just south of this stretch while Astor Place, with its mixture of dessert trucks and artists sits just to the north. Combine these two groups with the students from New York University and you have a veritable stew of different personalities all with different intentions while walking along this block. Some are visiting from out-of-town. Some are making their way to St. Marks Place. Some are trying to move out of their housing before Summer term begins. And still, some are simply cutting through to the R or W train (well, that is up until last Friday – since the W is no more).

This is one of the rare moments when the mixture of commercialization feels like it's struck a comfortable balance – for the time being. Old standbys like Shakespeare and Co. and Amalgamated Bank share space with relative newcomers like American Apparel. Of course McDonald's stakes a claim here, along with the Cozy Soup & Burger diner across the streets (the only time I went in they had a high minimum order which caused me to immediately leave).

Eventually you'll approach Astor Pl (the street, not the square) – This is the first interruption on the east side of Broadwat since 4th Street, where this posts starts. Neither Washington Pl nor Waverly Pl are able to cut through to 5th or 6th Streets and 7th Street doesn't even have an equivalent in NYU territory. These resulting oversized blocks which sit between Broadway, Lafayette and Cooper Square seem to be random quirks of the grid system. Why they even bothered to have Astor Place cut across to 3rd Ave when 8th Street is so close by is beyond me.

Perry St Between Washington St and Hudson St

Just a block away from the edge of Manhattan, the quiet enclave of Perry Street feels absolutely removed from the rest of the city. Rivaling Roosevelt Island in terms of serenity and shade, these few blocks begin to pick up a bit as you work your way towards Hudson Street. The cobblestones are, as always, a nice touch on a street with such classic architecture, though it's always a shame to see it being overtaken by pavement wherever patchwork has been done.

With great architecture and details like ivy-covered walls, every building and store that lines the street deserves some sort of recognition for being unique and pleasant. Even simple services like the parking garage on the corner come off as vintage and quaint when compared to similar facilities in the borough. It can be a bit hard to convince yourself that you're walking on the same tract of land as the Empire State Building and Times Square. 

Greenwich St Between West 12th St and Gansevoort St

Narrow, with an industrial feeling, this block is rather devoid of  any interesting features or buildings. Eventually opening up to a large, pleasant square before morphing into 9th Avenue, this stretch of Greenwich is also a rare "north/south" street which actually runs north and south (compared to most Manhattan streets which run Northeast).

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't terribly familiar with this part of town before first visiting last year to check out the High Line. I remember thinking at the time: "Gansevoort...how the hell do you even pronounce that?" (I still have a tough time). Strewn with cobblestones and interesting features, the area is a patchwork of old buildings and new logos. The intersecting streets just about guarantee that, regardless of the direction you go, you're bound to find something interesting.

Bleecker St Between Perry St and Hudson St

Lined with high-end shops and equally high-end shoppers, this final stretch of Bleecker has plenty to lure you in. Depending on how you look at it, Bleecker Street either begins or ends here, at Abingdon Square (the other terminus would be The Bowery). If you wanted to, you could probably rename much of this street "Marc Jacobs Blvd", as a handful of his boutiques dot the landscape.

Besides Marc Jacobs, perhaps one of the most noteworthy features on these blocks is the famous Magnolia Bakery. Open since 1996, the small corner shop started the wacky cupcake madness that has swept the city over the past decade or so.

As the street opens up to the Bleecker Playground and the aforementioned Abingdon Square, it can become a bit confusing which direction to go. The tangled streets and sidewalks all come to several points with no clear direction of departure.