Greenwich Village

In recent years, Greenwich Village has lost some of its bohemian appeal, that distinctive flavor of Dylan and poetry and illicit meetings in dark, smoky cafes that gave the area its husky street credibility of yore. These days Greenwich Village is the home of NYU and all things purple and white. The college kids love it here with their Bowlmoor Lanes, plentiful pizza joints, gyms, and other random NYU facilities. But if you aren’t affiliated with the great academic giant, you might feel a bit at a loss in Greenwich Village. It can also be a difficult area to define, especially if one throws in the additional titles of the East and West Villages. This leaves ol’ Greenwich a small area radiating outwards from Washington Square Park north to 14th street, south to Houston, and bounded by on the east by 3rd Ave and on the west by 6th Ave.

Yes, sadly the aura of change and progressiveness has largely been sucked up by the vacuum of black pant clad NYU students and in-a-hurry professionals . It can feel like no one really lives here in the Village—many of the quaint locales that gave Greenwich Village its flavor are moving out of the area to be consumed by more services and buildings devoted to the school. University copy centers, delis, snack bars, computer labs, and lounges take over whenever an old place moves out.

All that said, places to live in Greenwich Village do remain, and they certainly can be worth the constant university presence. Most apartments in the Village come in the form of super swanky apartment buildings (they used the façade of one on Washington Square North in the recent Johnny Depp flop “The Astronaut’s Wife.”) You’ll find lots of converted 19th century townhouses equipped with large windows, fireplaces, gardens, and even private courtyards. In most cases, the “green” in Greenwich ain’t there for nothin. The people who actually live here, and not in the dorms, run the mix of settled professionals, doctors, and the ocassional lawyer or banker.

On the northern bounds of the Village proper, you’ll find tacky 14th Street, which runs amok with dollar stores, fast food restaurants, and cheap clothing holes. While empty buildings pop up everywhere along 14th, you’ll notice that there’s a great deal of construction happening as well—14th Street is getting a makeover, and city planners hope that this stretch of road will soon be as commercially enticing as some of the avenues it cuts through. Cheap shopping can be bliss until then, however; this is one of the best places in the city to get inexpensive footwear from Nike, New Balance, or Reebok—not only on 14th, but also on Broadway from Bleecker to Astor Place, known for its proliferation of discount athletic shoe outlets, as well as a few random clothing stores that stock last season’s DKNY, Prada sport, or Calvin Klein. One of the main reasons folks come to shop in Greenwich Village is not for the sneakers, though—it’s for the antiques. Antique restorations and reproduction stores line Broadway near Union Square, and filter as well into the side streets off University Place, though these businesses are being slowly pushed out and farther uptown to make way for commercial spots of a more localized appeal.

Eating in the Village comes in many forms, from pizza parlors like Patsy’s to Thai creations at Lemongrass. Restaurants can feel a bit tired, however, and many are chains that you can find throughout the city. Truly exceptional spots are few and far between, but the proximity to both the East and West Villages means residents here are never far from a delicious snack.

Nighttime diversion is surprisingly scarce in an area boasting a college. You’ll find a row of sporty and semi-cheesy “NYU bars” on 3rd Ave, and a few standard dives scattered elsewhere. Standouts include Bar 13, on 13th and University, which has hosted the famous mod get-together “Shout” for just over 4 years, and Spa—a stylish and smaller scale club that attracts model wannabes and the occasional celebrity to its strangely lit interior.

The skinny on Greenwich Village is really what you make of it. If you move here expecting to run into the next Simon & Garfunkel or to start a new underground circle of artists, you will probably be disappointed. The vibe here is not as forward-thinking as it was in year’s past, however, the changing scenery and energy of NYC are never more than a stone’s throw away.