The East Village NYC is a bohemian neighborhood east of Greenwich Village that is gentrifying. It’s where the Broadway hit musical “Rent” was set.
It includes Alphabet City, Manhattan’s eastern rump. St Mark’s Place (8th St) was NYC’s punk street in the 1980s. You still see punkers around. Their mohawks are a bit quaint now. Tompkins Square Park has always been a rebellious place. Drom and Nublu are great underground nightclubs.
Famous bohemians like beat poet Allen Ginsberg (1970s-90s), and 1980s art star Andy Warhol actually ran more in the East Village than Greenwich Village.
It used to be the Lower East Side, but was rebranded by real estate promoters. Back in the 1970s it was abandoned and you could watch weeds roll down the empty streets. Now even the Hells Angels have left. It’s too bad, because their block used to be the safest block in the neighborhood.
Today the East Village is a fun neighborhood of little shops and cool restaurants and bars. It’s still funky, still eclectic, and always fun.
Latin Culture in the East Village
Forró in the Dark, Brazilian Forró Fusion at Nublu
NUBLU 151, East Village, Manhattan 🇧🇷
Continue Reading Forró in the Dark, Brazilian Forró Fusion at Nublu
Pedrito Martinez Joins Hip Hop Jazz Singer José James at the Blue Note
BLUE NOTE, Greenwich Village, Manhattan José James’ guest, hip hop jazz 🇨🇺 🇮🇪 🇵🇦
DROM, East Village, Manhattan; rumba, timba, jazz 🇨🇺
Teatro Fest NYC is a Festival of Hispanic Theatre
IATI THEATER, East Village, Manhattan 🇻🇪
INTAR Theatre, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan 🇨🇺
PREGONES/PRTT, Mott Haven, The Bronx and Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan 🇵🇷
REPERTORIO ESPAÑOL, Kips Bay, Manhattan 🇨🇺
TEATRO CIRCULO, East Village, Manhattan 🇵🇷
TEATRO LATEA, Lower East Side, Manhattan 🇵🇷
TEATRO SEA, Lower East Side, Manhattan 🇵🇷
THALIA SPANISH THEATER, Sunnyside, Queens 🇪🇸
Drom is One of New York’s Top World Music Night Clubs
Afrothèque, Cyrostatik African house
Batalá New York all-women Afro-Brazilian drum line ~ International Women’s Day 🇧🇷
Pedrito Martinez Cuban rumba, timba, jazz 🇨🇺
Batalá New York all-women Afro-Brazilian drum line ~ Women’s History Month 🇧🇷
Vinicius Cantuaria Brazilian bossa nova jazz 🇧🇷
EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan
January 2023
Pedrito Martinez and his rumba bring Echoes of Africa to Drom in the East Village on Sunday, January 15, 2023 at 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). From $25. 🇨🇺
Moroccan gnawa sacred singer Samir LanGus and New York Iraqi DJ Omar Aena play North African and Iraqi healing dance music (Global Music Afrobeats) for the World Music Institute at Nublu 151 in Manhattan’s East Village, on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 8pm (7pm doors). From $20. 🇲🇦
December 2022
Pedrito Martinez plays a Cuban Rumba and Timba Holiday Show at Drom in Manhattan’s East Village on Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 7pm. From $30. 🇨🇺
Pedrito Martinez plays a Cuban rumba and timba Pre-New Year’s Eve Party at Drom in NYC’s East Village on Friday, December 30, 2022 at 9pm. Party starts with a Shani Talmor salsa dance class at 7pm. From $25. 🇨🇺
November 2022
Locobeach, and its own Cheo Pardo (DJ Afro), play Psychedelic Cumbia with Underground System (Afrobeat) for the World Music Institute at Nublu 151 in Manhattan’s East Village on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 8pm (7pm doors). From $20. 🇻🇪
Parks
East River Park is along the East River waterfront.
Tompkins Square Park
Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan’s East Village is a bit of a counterculture park -…
East Village Restaurants
Buenos Aires restaurant is one of New York City’s best Argentine restaurants. They cut their own meat, so it’s one of the few places you can get a real “vacio” or other South American style cuts. Food tastes different depending on how you cut it, so that’s important.
Esperanto is a popular pan-Latin restaurant. Their Brazilian food is pretty good and the vibe is great, especially in summer.
Veselka is popular with the late night crowd.
Gnocco makes great northern Italian pizza.
Cafe Mogador is popular with the brunch crowd.
Jules Bistro is good French and sometimes has live jazz.
East Village Night Clubs
Webster Hall is a historic night club.
Nublu
Nublu is a music collective with a pair of East Village world Jazz clubs. It…
Sanctuaries
St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery is pretty cool. It serves as a community cultural center with strong dance and poetry programs.
St Mark’s Church-In-The-Bowery
St Marks Church-In-The-Bowery is an Episcopal Church that serves all faiths and communities in Manhattan’s…
It Used to be the Lower East Side
The Lower East Side used to run up to 14th St. Above Houston St, it was rebranded as the “East Village” in the 1960s. This was partly due to the development of New York City’s contemporary art community which began in SoHo and moved up to Greenwich Village, then moved east into the Lower East Side.
St Mark’s Place (8th St) used to be NYC’s punk street. First Houses was the first public housing in the United States. Alphabet City refers to Avenue A, B, C and D which fill out the bulge on Manhattan’s east side. It’s much calmer now, but it used to get wilder as the letters went up.
Ukrainian East Village restaurant is a remnant of Little Ukraine. It’s back room is popular with the Argentine tango community. New York City’s Little Tokyo is around St Mark’s Place.
Alphabet City
The Manhattan street grid has twelve avenues running north and south on the island. The bump on Lower Manhattan’s East Side is filled with Avenues A through D in the Lower East Side and East Village.
It was rough in the 1970s and kept getting rougher as you headed east. Famous fashion models used to come down to shop so they could have that vacant stare during photo shoots.
There is an old saying that went something like:
- Avenue A, you’re alive.
- Avenue B, you’re breathing.
- Avenue C, you’re comatose.
- Avenue D, you’re dead.
It’s all changed now, but that’s how it was, once upon a time in New York City.
Gramercy
Greenwich Village | East Village | Brooklyn
Lower East Side