Like the Lower East Side, which it abuts, the
East Village
, stretching between Houston and 14th streets and Broadway and Avenue D, was once a refuge of immigrants and solidly working class. It became home to New York's nonconformist intelligentsia in the early part of the twentieth century, and ever since has hosted its share of celebrated artists, politicos and literati. W.H. Auden lived at 77 St Mark's Place, the neighborhood's main artery. In the 1950s, the East Village was the New York haunt of the Beats - Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg, et al - who would get together at Ginsberg's house on E 7th Street for declamatory poetry readings. Later, Andy Warhol debuted the Velvet Underground at the now-defunct
Fillmore East
, which played host to just about every band you've ever heard of - and forgotten. Still kicking, however, is the infamous
CBGB
club on the
Bowery
, where the likes of the Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie and Patti Smith made their indelible marks in the Seventies.
During the nineties, escalating rents forced many people out, and the East Village is no longer the hotbed of dissidence and creativity it once was. Nevertheless, the area remains one of downtown Manhattan's most vibrant neighborhoods, with boutiques, thrift stores, record shops, bars and restaurants, populated by a mix of old-world Ukrainians, students, punks, artists and burn-outs feeding continuous energy through the streets 24 hours a day. Despite the vaudevillian circus of
St Mark's Place
and corporate attempts to turn the whole neighborhood into a
Starbucks
, principled resistance to the status quo can still be found.
To reach the East Village, take the #6 train to Astor Place, or the #N or the #R to 8th Street and Broadway
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