New York Songlines: Avenue B

including Clinton Street

E 14th | E 13th | E 12nd | E 11st | E 10th | E 9th | E 8th St | E 7th | E 6th | E 5th | E 4th | E 3rd | E 2nd | E Houston

Clinton Street was named for George Clinton, a general in the Revolutionary War who was the first governor of New York State--from 1777 to 1795, and again from 1801 to 1804. He served as U.S. vice president from 1804 until his death in 1812. Formerly Warren Street, it was renamed for the governor in 1792.



Stuyvesant Town

Built in the late 1940s by Met Life Insurance Co. as housing for returning World War II vets; now being converted to luxury condos. To build these highrises, Met Life leveled the notorious Gashouse District-- which chemical fumes made one of Manhattan's least desirable neighborhoods. The district produced the fearsome Gashouse Gang; since there was little to steal on their own turf, they would travel to other neighborhoods and rob the criminals there.


W <===         EAST 14TH STREET         ===> E
The northern boundary of the East Village

West:

224: Mona's; pretty hip for a bar that's been around since the 1970s.

220: Luca Lounge; Italian restaurant/lounge








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East:

Corner: Was Barracini's Candy Store until about 1970.

225: Uncle Ming's, secret bar upstairs from a liquor store

219: Musical Box, cozy yet stylish bar

215 (corner): The Sylvia del Villard Program of the Roberto Clemente Center; an outpatient center named for a choreographer and a baseball player.


W <===         EAST 13TH STREET         ===> E

West:

212 (corner): East Yoga Center; offers ''doga'' classes for dogs.

206: Sonic Groove is a techno music store opened by rave pioneers Frankie Bones, Adam X and Heather Heart.

204: B-Side; glam-punk bar with cheap beer.

196 (corner): Was Tolkin's Corner, bar featuring "harmless nuts," according to New York Unexpurgated.

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East:

Corner: Yu Suen/Dragon Garden

205: Raul Candy Store











W <===         EAST 12TH STREET         ===> E

West:

190: Back Forty showcases sustainable ingredients like grass-fed beef; was Radio Perfecto, stylish restaurant with vintage radio collection.

188: Rue B, jazz bar/bistro

186: Pizza Gruppo, tasty brick-oven pizza. Joey's, next door, is co-owned by model Haylynn Cohen, and is a hangout for the fashion-spread set. Formerly Aunt B's.


182: Suzette Sundae features reworked vintage clothing, "electro-style stuff, legwarmers, etc."

Corner: Spin City, fancy laundromat-- gets my clothes clean.

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East:

193 (corner): This used to be the Charles Theater, center of the underground film movement from 1961-63, under the management of Jonas Mekas. Earlier the Bijou.

187: Rivers of Living Waters Christian Bookstore

183: The Neighborhood Tech Center; where local bands go to get their flyers made.

179: Mercadito, fancy taco/ceviche joint; was Pantry, a sweet little place that I miss.

175 (corner): Was Uovo, before that Paolina--both well-regarded Italians.


W <===         EAST 11TH STREET         ===> E

The characters in the musical Rent sing, ''We live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th Street and Avenue B, the top floor of what was once a music publishing factory.''

West:

On January 27, 1972, police officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie were assassinated on this corner by the Black Liberation Army. A communique described the killings as a retaliation for the 1971 Attica prison massacre.

174 (corner): eleven B., pizza, was Rue St Denis Vintage Clothing

168: 26 Seats, tiny restaurant usually is not full. At the same address is the Boxcar Lounge (formerly Oops); a skinny bar with no liquor license, it serves cocktails made of port, sake etc.

162: Lakeside Lounge; Midwestern-style bar noted for great jukebox selection and sexy photo booth pictures.

Corner (343 E 10th): Life Cafe; semi-healthy restaurant featured in the musical Rent.

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East:

173 (corner): Local office of Rep. Nydia Velasquez.

169: Good Old Lower East Side thrift shop; raises money for community group. In 1969, the basement of this building was the site of the "Groovy Murders,", when hippies James "Groovy" Hutchinson and Linda Fitzpatrick were bludgeoned to death. Two drifters were later convicted in the killings, which brought attention to the hippie subculture and popularized the term "generation gap."

163: Was Annex, where, according to New York Unexpurgated, it was "not necessary to know anyone to get felt up or a black eye."






W <===         EAST 10TH STREET         ===> E

West:

Tompkins Square Park

Named for Daniel Tompkins, governor of New York (1807-16) and U.S. vice president (1817-25), a populist who abolished slavery in New York.

Once a salt marsh owned by Peter Stuyvesant, the park was drained and developed in 1834. After being the site of bread riots in 1857 and draft riots in 1863, it was leveled in 1866 and turned into a National Guard parade ground. Neighborhood protests resulted in the re-establishment of the park by 1879; part of the redesign was by Frederick Law Olmstead, but most of his plan was not implemented. By 1916 a detective identified the park as "a hangout for petty strong-arm men and petty thieves." Reconstructed by Robert Moses in 1936.

A bandshell erected in 1966 was venue for concerts by Jimi Hendrix and Grateful Dead. When 38 people were arrested for playing conga drums, a judge threw out charges, citing "equal protection for the unwashed, unshod, unkempt and uninhibited." In 1985, the bandshell became the venue for the first Wigstock.

In August 1989, murderer Daniel Rakowitz served soup to the homeless here that may or may not have contained the remains of his roommate Monika Beerle.

Struggle over homeless encampment in 1980s led to August 1988 police riot, when 44 were injured by cops with tape over their badge numbers. After Memorial Day Riot in 1991, Mayor David Dinkins closed park for 14 months' of renovations; bandshell destroyed. Park now has midnight curfew.


General Slocum Memorial

Near the park's athletic courts is a pink marble monument commemorating the June 15, 1904 disaster when a boat on a picnic excursion caught fire, killing 1,021 people. Most of the victims were mothers and children from the German-American community that used to live around Tompkins Square. Until September 11, 2001, this was considered the single worst disaster in New York City history.


Hare Krishna elm tree

An old elm in the plaza near the center of the park is considered sacred to the Hare Krishna religion, being the site of the movement's first outdoor chanting ceremony outside of India. The ceremony was performed in 1966 by Krishna Consciousness guru Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada; one of the participants was poet Allen Ginsberg.

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East:




151: Jazz great Charlie Parker lived here from 1950-55. The landmark building is a Gothic revival townhouse that dates to 1849.

Christodora House

143: Built in 1928 as a settlement house; young George Gershwin gave his first public performance here. First center of anti-gentrification protests. Iggy Pop wrote Avenue B here.


E 9TH ST ===> E

Corner: Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish




137: Cold War victim Ethel Rosenberg worked for a Communist Party front group at this address.


Newsboys' and Bootblacks' Lodging House

Corner (295 8th St): Formally known as the Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys and Industrial School, Childrens Aid Society, this imposing building was designed in 1887 by Central Park co-architect Calvert Vaux. Later a synagogue, Talmud Torah Darch Noam; then the East Side Hebrew Institute, which future actors Ron Silver and Paul Reiser both attended. Now apartments.


E 8TH ST ===> E

St Brigid’s Church

119 (corner): The name is one of the few surviving reminders that this was long ago an Irish neighborhood. Now serves a mainly Latino congregation.








St Brigid's School

Corner: The church's school opened in 1856; this unpretty building is nearly a century younger, from 1954.


W <===         EAST 7TH STREET         ===> E

West:

Vazac's Horseshoe Bar

Corner (108 Avenue B): Aka 7B; one of the great New York City bars. Featured in such films as Godfather II (where Pentagelli is almost garroted), Angel Heart, Crocodile Dundee and The Paper.

98: Was Belmondo, nice French bistro named for the star of Godard and Truffaut films.

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East:

103: Casimir, French/Moroccan; formerly Hotel Galvez

99: Manitoba's; bar owned by Handsome Dick Manitoba of the punk band The Dictators.

95: Home of the Elevator Repair Service Theatre.

93 (corner): Horus; the namesake deity is found outside this Egyptian. Was La Gould Finch, a Southern place that led the restaurantification of Avenue B.


W <===         EAST 6TH STREET         ===> E

West:

6th Street-Avenue B Garden

One of the largest and most elaborate community gardens. Noted for tower of found art.


W <=== E 5TH ST

Corner: Cabrini Nursing & Rehabilitation

58 (corner): Kate's Joint, a vegetarian restaurant that specializes in diner-style faux meat. Used to be Pamryl Chemists, a long-running pharmacy that served as a set for the Naked City TV show. (Peter Fonda played the son of the pharmacist here.)

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East:

The Earth School

Corner (600 E 6th): A public elementary school opened in 1992 with an environmental and peace focus.














W <===         EAST 4TH STREET         ===> E

West:

50: This used to be Blackout Books, an anarchist bookstore. After the anarchists were priced out, the Hare Krishnas moved in, but the landlord is having them evicted too on the grounds that they use the space to cook free food for the homeless.

38 (corner): Cafe Rakka; Alphabet City branch of a St Marks Place Mideastern; noted for Turkish coffee.

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51: Max is the best affordable Italian in Manhattan, says the Voice.

47: Le Souk, North African-themed club, complete with hookahs and belly dancers.




W <===         EAST 3RD STREET         ===> E

West:


28: Croxley Ales has a huge garden and a thoughtful beer selection. Was Pierrot Bistro & Bar.


Corner: This was the site of Gas Station, a filling station turned into a club with mounds of junkyard art strewn about. Self-destuctive rocker G.G. Allin had his last show here. Also known as 2B.

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East:

33: B Three Restaurant & Lounge

29: Punk rock's G.G. Allin was found dead here of an overdose.

25: Club Midway was Guernica, bar/restaurant/lounge/club where bouncer Dana Blake was killed on April 13, 2003, enforcing the new smoking ban. Used to be Save the Robots, a legendary after-hours club.

21: NYC Icy, gourmet gelato.


W <===         EAST 2ND STREET         ===> E

The city's heroin trade was centered here until a 1984 police crackdown.

West:

14 (corner): Climax, a bar






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W <===         EAST HOUSTON STREET         ===> E

The southern boundary of the East Village

West:

1 (corner): For some reason, the numbering on Clinton Street starts at the north end--the opposite of almost every other Manhattan roadway.




15: Lower East Side Medical Office, run by David "Dr. Dave" Ores, "long celebrated on the Lower East Side as an ally to musicians, artists and the uninsured"--Village Voice.









25: Sachi's on Clinton, styley sushi bar

29A: Salt Bar, spin-off of the Macdougal Street restaurant Salt.

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East:

4: Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant

6: Chubo, global fare

Congregation Chasam Sopher

8: This is the oldest building in Manhattan built as a synagogue and still used for worship. It was built by a German-Jewish congregation known as Rodeph Sholom ("pursuers of peace") which is now on the Upper West Side. The congregation's national origins are reflected in the Rundbogenstil design, a popular German style. In 1891 the synagogue was adopted by two Polish shuls, whose called their merged congregation Chasam Sopher--"seal of the scribe"-- to honor Talmudic scholar Moshe Schreiber, whose surname means "scribe."

20: Beautiful Hair, a real unisex hair salon where Michelle Pfeiffer worked in the movie Married to the Mob.

26: Punch & Judy, red-themed wine bar

W <===     STANTON ST     ===> E

West:

35 (corner): Lotus Club, low-key bar/cafe




49: AKA Bar was a 1930s millinery shop. Owned by the same folks who own 71 Clinton.

63: Cube 63, futuristic sushi joint; Chibitini, tiny sake bar

71 (corner): 71 Clinton Fresh Food is said to have started the phenomenon of Clinton Street as a gourmet destination--and has the best food on the Lower East Side, according to Zagat.

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50: WD-50, a pricey restaurant noted for its imaginative flavor combinations.

68: Falai, quirky, well-reviewed Italian

72 (Corner): Cibao restaurant

W <===     RIVINGTON ST     ===> E

West:

79 (Corner): This was the address of Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum, the most successful fence in New York history. From 1862 until 1884, the 250-pound woman reportedly handled between $5 million and $10 million in stolen property; her home here, upstairs from the haberdashery that served as her front, was said to be as elegantly appointed as any of the mansions her furniture was stolen from. She was supposed to have run a school for young pickpockets on Grand Street, near police headquarters.



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East:

76 (Corner): Alias, snazzy restaurant disguised as a bodega. An offshoot of 71 Clinton, but slightly cheaper.











W <===     DELANCEY ST     ===> E

West:

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Corner: Was for more than 70 years the 7th Precinct police station--closed c. 1974.

126: This was the site of the lesser known Apollo Theater, built 1926 and seating 1,788 patrons. It was known as Loew's Apollo from the 1930s until the early '50s, and in the '50s and '60s it ran double-features of late-run movies--a sign promised that one of the three movies was "Always a Western." It seems to have been torn down in the 1980s.




W <===     BROOME ST     ===> E

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W <===     GRAND ST     ===> E

West:

Seward Park Co-Ops

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Seward Park Co-Ops

W <===     EAST BROADWAY     ===> E

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W <===     HENRY ST     ===> E

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W <===     MADISON ST     ===> E

West:

La Guardia Houses

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La Guardia Houses

W <===     CHERRY ST     ===> E

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W <===     SOUTH ST     ===> E

W <===     FDR DRIVE     ===> E

Pier 36





EAST RIVER

What's missing on Avenue B or Clinton Street? Write to Jim Naureckas and tell him about it.

New York Songlines Home.

Sources for the Songlines.

A Walk Down Avenue B is a phototour from The Big Map.