New York Songlines: 5th Street

Cooper Square | 2nd Ave | 1st Ave | Avenue A | Avenue B | Avenue C | Avenue D








S <===               COOPER SQUARE               ===> N

South:

206: The Howard Mission and Home for Little Wanderers was here, located "in the very heart of a region of squalor, wretchedness, vice and poverty"--King's Handbook.

210: New York Kunstalle was Beethoven Hall, German-American community center; American Bowling Congress was founded here in 1895, setting the maximum bowling score at 300 and the distance between pins at 12 inches.

246: Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar, owned by the same couple that runs Jewel Bako

248: Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge. "Sin sin" is Irish for "that's that."

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North:

209: Scratchers, hidden, un-Disneyfied Irish pub.

211: The Three Jewels, nonprofit Buddhist center

225: is-wine, affordable wine boutique

239: Jewel Bako, tiny, fancy sushi








S <===               2ND AVENUE               ===> N

South:

Corner: Mary Ann’s, popular Mexican mini-chain

304: White Trash, retro housewares.

There's a little park here.


336: New York Songlines chronicler Jim Naureckas used to live here; his trapezoidal room was so small that if he closed the door, the fan in the window (looking out on an air shaft) would stop blowing. On the ground floor now is 5th Dimension comics.

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North:

309: Mojo, semi-fancy restaurant

9th Precinct

321: Police station used as exterior for NYPD Blue and Kojak (though the facade's been since redone).

325: Gimme Records is only open on weekends.

333: Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman lived here in 1967, at the time he led a protest of the New York Stock Exchange by throwing 300 dollar bills onto the trading floor, causing a mad scramble.

Corner (83 1st Ave): Three of Cups, romantic Italian; Quentin Tarantino got into a brawl here, May 2, 1998. In the Tarot deck, the three of cups signifies emotional fulfillment. Used to be Dizzy Chicken.


S <===               1ST AVENUE               ===> N

Village View Houses

There is a pleasant shortcut through these highrises to Avenue A.




S <===         AVENUE A         ===> N

The western boundary of Alphabet City

South:

512: Jazz great Charlie Mingus used to live here.

536: Le Gamin, cheap, tasty and Parisian

540: Bouche Bar, "quirky local favorite"--Shecky's





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North:

507: Sophie’s, good dive bar with matching jukebox

513: Anil Gupka at Inkline Studios, world-famous tattoo artist

531: Ace Bar, notable for its lunchbox collection and holographic werewolf

535-539: Fifth Street Squats were demolished by city, 1997.


S <===               AVENUE B               ===> N

Earth School





South:

624: Was a branch of the Aguilar Free Library









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S <===         AVENUE C         ===> N

In the 1960s, this intersection was the city's main heroin market.

South:

704: Poet Allen Ginsberg lived here in 1964-65. Visitors inclued Kerouac, Warhol, Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary.

714: There was a small park here dedicated to local Vietnam vets Jose Mojica and William W. Kladek (who lived two doors down).



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North:

S <===         AVENUE D         ===> N

Lillian Wald Houses

Public housing project named for Lillian D. Wald (1867-1940), who provided aid to the Lower East Side through the Henry Street Settlement and the Visiting Nurses Society. She fought for women's suffrage and against child labor, and help start the Women's Trade Union League. Margaret Sanger of Planned Parenthood was her protegee.


Is your favorite 5th Street spot missing? Write to Jim Naureckas and tell him about it.

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