New York Songlines: Avenue C

with Pitt Street

E 23rd | Peter Cooper Rd | E 20th St | E 16th | E 15th St | 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

From 14th Street to Houston, Avenue C is also known as Loisaida Avenue--Spanglish for Lower East Side, it's what Alphabet City's Puerto Rican and Dominican community calls itself.

Pitt Street is named for William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Twice the prime minister of England in the years before the American Revolution, Pitt advocated more generous policies toward the colonies--which is why Pitt Street and Chatham Square retained their names when other British names were eliminated after independence. Pitt is believed to have been manic-depressive.




W <===         EAST 23RD STREET         ===> E

West:

Peter Cooper Village

Built in the late 1940s by Met Life Insurance Co. as housing for World War II vets; slightly pricier than Stuyvesant Town.


W <=== PETER COOPER RD

Peter Cooper Village





W <=== E 20TH ST

Stuyvesant Town

Built in the late 1940s by Met Life Insurance Co. as affordable housing for World War II vets; now being converted by Met Life to market rate.
















A
V
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C

East:

John J. Murphy Park

One of Manhattan's more obscure parks, in the shadow of the FDR Drive.















Con Edison





E 16TH ST ===> E

Con Edison





E 15TH ST ===> E

Con Edison

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

West:

R & S Strauss


There is a pedestrian route here to Avenue B.


205 (corner): Compos Plaza


W <=== E 12TH ST

195: Ave C Deli

193: Kiran Wholesale Paper Goods

185: Cafecito, well-regarded Cuban. Replaced Valencia Bakery and Suds for Duds Laundromat?


W <=== E 11TH ST

177: Christian Assembly Pentacostal

175: Happy Wok; St. Jude's Flat Fix (tire shop)

171: Micky's Blue Room, bar that offers a haircut and a beer for $20 on Monday nights.

169: El Coyote Cojo, Mexican. This building was profiled in a U.S. News & World Report cover story on how lives changed from 1900 to 2000.

Corner: Urban Vets Animal Hospital

A
V
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C

East:

Con Edison


E 13TH ST ===> E

Haven Plaza

C Town Supermarket










180: Village East Pizzeria is the longest surviving pizza parlor in the neighborhood, and was featured in the 1985 kung-fu movie The Last Dragon as ''Daddy Green's Pizza.'' ''Some of the best pizza the city has to offer, courtesy of the same owners for almost 25 years now,'' claims a reader.

178: Global Discount Stationery





170 (corner): 21 floors, built in 1967.


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

West:

159 (corner): Chritine's (formerly Sammy's) Deli Grocery

157: The C Note, music club

155: The C Squat, described by City Limits as a "beloved crash pad known for concerts, parties, screenings and skateboarding tourneys." Got legal occupation in 2002. See this website for one resident's vision.

153: Rico, hookah cafe

151: Upstairs is a divey bar called Speak Easy.

149: The East Edge gifts

145 (corner): Esperanto, Brazilian restaurant that helped popularize Mojitos.

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C

East:

158: Rice, restaurant and sake bar; was Futurama Cleaners.












Ninth Street Community Gardens

Corner: One of the neighborhood's larger green spaces.


W <===         EAST 9TH STREET         ===> E

West:

La Plaza Cultural/Armando Perez

Corner: Community garden/park; notable for dramatic productions and a fence decorated with flowers made out of aluminum cans.

137: The Sunburnt Cow, Australian bar/restaurant

133: Baraza, Latin-Brazilian bar

131: Cotto, brick-oven pizza; was Treasury Antiques

127 (corner): Rebecca's Bakery

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C

East:

138 (corner): Banjo Jim's (formerly 9C) features lots of live music; Lullaby Baxter has played here. NYC's Bite Me Best, formerly Super N.Y. Famous Pizza, features new-wave pizza.

136: A & C Kitchen: Chinese & American Food

134: Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union



Corner: Public Service Administration 4; futuristic looking


W <===         EAST 8TH STREET         ===> E

West:

Corner: Remarkably ugly new building with Associated supermarket, was built over part of Bello Amanecer Boricano, a community garden.

115: The Porch, a bar. On the north wall is Fuerzas Irresistables, interesting bas relief mural depicting community solidarity.

111: Bao 111, French-Vietnamese, formerly Vicala, Sen.

107 (corner): Zum Schneider, a little piece of Bavaria in Alphabet City

A
V
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C

East:

122: Kelly Glass studio & gallery





116: Gargoyle faces overlook Lava Gina, a bar with a naughty name.

110: Neat little building

Corner: Building that looks like Cthulhu's bank has housed artists for decades; cool clock.


W <===     EAST 7TH STREET     ===> E

West:

99-103: Boris's Shoe Repair; Kheyphitz Gold & Diamond





89-97 (corner): Group V NYCHA

A
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E

C

East:

102 (corner): Alphabet Lounge, laid-back bar

100: La Reina dress boutique


94: Joselito's Restaurant



W <===     EAST 6TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Corner: Loisaida mural, by Chico (2000)-- one of his better efforts.

77: Santos Variety, botanica/discos & cassettes

73-75: Project UNO; Recycle a Bicycle

71 (corner): Johanny's Unisex Salon

A
V
E

C

East:

80-84 (corner to corner): Lower East Side II Consolidation (NYCHA)







W <===     EAST 5TH STREET     ===> E

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

West:

69 (corner): Ave C Laundromat

63: Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses

55: Ave C Dental Center; Olivo's Fashions and Yarns





Corner: The Secret Garden

A
V
E

C

East:

66: Casa Adela; Adela Fargas' Puerto Rican restaurant has been a community hub since 1973.

62: Nublu; bar (with backyard garden) has spawned a live jazz album called Nublu Sessions featuring Norah Jones. A Brazilian hangout.

58: 5C Cultural Center, health food and New York's "best cheap jazz," according to New York.

54 (corner): Mountains of Yaffa Supermarket


W <===     EAST 4TH STREET     ===> E

West:

Corner (300 E. 4th): Gothic revival building.




Corner (251 E. 3rd): Bracetti Plaza NYCHA

A
V
E

C

East:

Corner: Fine Fare supermarket. "To the ladies at Fine Fair Supermarket, just about everybody is 'Mama'"--Voice


36 (corner): Loisaida Drugs & Surgicals

W <===     EAST 3RD STREET     ===> E

West:

31 (corner): Moon Pie Pizzeria

27: Lower East Side Locksmith; Lower East Side Video Club

21-23: Umbrella House, a squat named for its formerly leaky roof. Once known as UN House for its ethnic diversity. Got legal tenancy in 2002.

15 (corner): The Stone, a nonprofit performance space for experimental and avant-garde jazz. No refreshments, no merchandise--just music. The $10 cover goes directly to the musicians. John Zorn is the artistic director.

A
V
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C

East:

34 (corner): Jennylin Grocery; Bodega de la Familia

32: Step-Up Barber Shop





14 (corner): Adinah's Farms grocery. In O. Henry's story "The Sleuths," No. 12 is described as an "old-fashioned brownstone house in a prosperous and repectable neighborhood." As O. Henry knew, there was no such address on the avenue--and the neighborhood was never prosperous or respectable.


W <===     EAST 2ND STREET     ===> E

West:

Gas station--one of the few in the East Village.






A
V
E

C

East:

Gustave Hartmann Triange

A little space left over when Houston was widened. Hartman was a judge and a Jewish community leader who founded the Israel Orphan Asylum.




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

West:

135 (corner): The Boys Club













P
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S
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East:

Hamilton Fish Park

Fish (1808-1893), a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, was governor, a senator and secretary of state under U.S. Grant. He was named for Alexander Hamilton, a friend and ally of his father Nicholas. A long line of Hamilton Fishes have been active in politics, culminating with the original's great-great-grandson, who is the publisher of The Nation.

The park was designed by Carrere & Hastings in 1898-1900, along with the Hamilton Fish Park Play Center (No. 130), which was modeled after the Petit Palais in Paris.

W <===     STANTON ST     ===> E

West:




101: Mision Guadalupana, built c. 1890 as Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church. Part of what the AIA Guide calls a "spectacular religious complex."





P
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T

S
T

East:

Samuel Gompers Houses

100 (corner): These NYCHA houses, named for the founder of the American Federation of Labor, made an effort to be racially and economically integrated--apparently a rare thing in New York City public housing.





90 (corner): More Gompers Houses

W <===     RIVINGTON ST     ===> E

West:

P
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T

S
T

East:

80 (corner): Samuel Gompers Houses










70 (corner): More Gompers Houses

W <===     DELANCEY ST     ===> E

West:



7th Precinct Station House

19 1/2-25 (corner): This 1975 police building is admired for its form-follows-function design. Also houses FDNY Engine Co. No. 17 and Ladder Co. No. 18.


W <===         BROOME ST

P
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East:














Henry Street Settlement

Corner (466 Grand): Houses the Gotham Chamber Orchestra.

W <===     GRAND ST     ===> E

West:

P
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T

S
T

East:

W <===     EAST BROADWAY     ===> E









Is your favorite Avenue C spot missing? Write to Jim Naureckas and tell him about it.

New York Songlines Home.

Sources for the Songlines.

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

Here's a weblog with an extended description of Avenue C.