Exploring New York's GREENWICH VILLAGE
To visit New York without exploring one of its most historic enclaves would be amiss. Combining heritage with serious cool credentials, Greenwich Village should be on every traveller’s hit list.
This vibrant pocket of lower Manhattan branches west from Washington Square Park – a landmark synonymous with the click-clack of chessboards and the brouhaha of street performers. While the Village’s reputation for bohemian lifestyles and laidback attitudes proceeds it, there’s now a smarter, sharper style to the area. Its boundaries – south of 14th Street and north of Houston – comprise both the West Village and Meatpacking District. Wander the tree-lined streets to discover historic brownstones, boutiques, indie cafés and top-class restaurants.
And there are excellent spots for a hit of culture, too: shows at the Cherry Tree Theatre, the longest-running playhouse off Broadway; gigs at the Comedy Cellar, where the likes of Aziz Ansari and Louis CK have performed; modern American art at the recently relocated Whitney Museum
(its founder incidentally had her first workshop alongside Jackson Pollock’s nearby). Live music leads you into the night at Cafe Wha?, where Hendrix, Springsteen and Dylan found fame, and at the city’s oldest Jazz club, Village Vanguard, located a few blocks west.
THE HISTORY
The foundations of modern Manhattan were laid some
400 years ago, to the south of the land that would become Greenwich Village. At that time, in what was New Amsterdam, it was considered a country retreat, and it would take until the 1700s for it to develop. By the early 1800s Italians made up for over half its population. Such growth helped create its organic layout – a far cry from
the grid systems and glistening monoliths of Midtown and beyond. During the late-19th and 20th centuries it was a cradle for artists and literary figures. Vestiges can be seen in the pages of Henry James’ Washington Square (pick up a copy at Strand Bookstore), the one-time homes of Louisa May Alcott and Mark Twain and the White Horse Tavern's bar, once propped up by Dylan Thomas. It was the epicentre for the
Fifties Beat poets and of Sixties counterculture – Stonewall Inn
(on Christopher Street) integral in kick-starting the Gay Rights Movement. A ’hood with many stories to tell, Greenwich’s identity has been shaped by them all.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK
The Village’s food scene is marked by quality and variety.
Start with a cup of Joe and all-American breakfast at The
Grey Dog thegreydog.com or else try mainstay Caffe Reggio, caffereggio.com which is credited with bringing the cappuccino to the US in 1927. Italian heritage runs deep – expect lines for John’s pizzeria johnsofbleecker.com est. 1929. Meanwhile, Buvette ilovebuvette.com comes by way of Paris, with bistro classics that’ll see you through from a brunch of pain perdu to a supper of coq au vin. Bringing a taste of China is Hao Noodle haonoodle.com where Madam Zhu’s menu runs a regional gamut of noodle dishes from her motherland, while Sushi Nakazawa sushinakazawa.com sees the chef take you on a culinary tour of the ocean in 21 courses. And for fine dining, book Dan Barber's Blue
Hill bluehillfarm.com for its sixcourse menu driven by the week's harvest from his Hudson Valley farm. Round off a day in the city that never sleeps with a libation at Dante dante-nyc.com where New Yorkers have quaffed since 1915. Order aperitivo from a roll call of house negronis or try the signature Garibaldi. And Employees Only employeesonlynyc.com provides a lively segue into the night with its well-made Manhattans.