New York Songlines: Orchard Street

E. Houston | Stanton | Rivington | Delancey | Broome | Grand
Orchard Street was once a lane through the orchard of the Delancey farm, owned by the city's wealthiest and most prestigious family. The Delanceys picked the wrong side in the Revolutionary War, and afterwards the estate was broken up and given to more patriotic rich people.

Later, as the central commercial street of the largely Jewish Lower East Side, Orchard Street was granted an exemption to the blue laws that closed stores on Sundays, so that the Orthodox community would have one day they could shop on the weekend. This for-a-time unique situation made Orchard Street synonymous with shopping--and bargains--across the city. It's now a street in rapid transition, with the former multitude of bread-and-butter shops being transformed into hipper establishments.



Peretz Square

Named in 1952 for Isaac Loeb Peretz (1851-1915), a Jewish Pole who has been called the father of modern Jewish literature.




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

The southern boundary of the East Village

West:

199: Big John, American

193: Apollo Braun boutique, made famous by Britney Spears wearing his "fuckyou.com" T-shirt

191: Heirloom Vegetable Cuisine

189: Doyle & Doyle jewelry

181: BBlessing, funky men's boutique, has a secret room with Breakbeat Science, dj record store and label.

179: Johnson, officewear for women designed by a former Financial District secretary--opened 2001

177: Bocage New York, craft store; First Among Equals

175: Daha Vintage

173 (corner): Rosario's Pizza, since 1963, popular for a post-barhopping snack. Kropps & Bobbers hair salon is at the same address.

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East:

198 A: Open the Sesame, Thai sandwiches

198: Basso Est, Italian

196: Tuts, hookah restaurant

194: VIP Leather Gallery

192: Naked Eye optical

190: Mann Gift

188: Zucco's, tiny French diner; Jelena Behrend Studio, jewelry

182: Exhibitionist Jewelry




174: The Skinny Bar & Lounge; Elegant Woolen & Silk

172 (corner): Zozo's Fresh Food Diner was Carl & Sons Clothing

W <===     STANTON ST     ===> E

Some of the movie Cloverfield was shot on Orchard between Stanton and Rivington.

West:

The Slipper Room

167 (corner): Burlesque venue was founded by two dot-com millionaires from Razorfish. Building dates to 1940.

165: The Sound Library, used vinyl for DJs and collectors, moved here from Avenue A.

161: City Luggage; First Choice Luggage

157: Orchard Corset Center, famed bra store est. 1968; Orchard General Merchandise; was

155: Adriennes, eveningwear boutique since 1950; Ted's Formal Wear

153: Awon Fashions, leather

151: The Reed Space, hip sneaker store

149: Hairy Mary's Vintage & Design; Hudson Street Papers

147: Guitar Man; MS Fashions, leather; La di Da boutique (closed?)

145A: Suite Orchard boutique

145: A.N. Headwear

Corner (78 Rivington): Kampuchea Noodle Bar

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East:

170 (corner): Charbon Epicerie, eerily recreated French, with an entrance through a fake Parisian tobacco stand

166: Renato Vasconcelos Fashion & Beauty, Brazilian accessories

162: The Orchard, American opened 2005

160: Nick & Son Clothing Co., leather; Fashion & Fashion, women's clothing

158: Shut Skates, pricey skateboards

154: Crops for Girls, specializing in short haircuts for women; David Owens Vintage Clothing

152: The Annex nightclub

150: Arivel Furs

148: Invisible NYC, Yakuza-style tatoos; Frock Vintage boutique






144 (corner): DeMask Boutique, Amsterdam-based fetish clothing line; Soft Touch Shoes

W <===     RIVINGTON ST     ===> E

West:

143 B: Rita's Leather Fair

143 A: Sole shoes; Noor's Fashion, leather

143: Giselle, four floors of fashion; Estelli shoes

141: Trevi shoes; R & Z Fashion, leather

139: Modern Fashion & Style

137: Ben Freedman, men's clothing

135: Altman Luggage, established 1920

133: Sara New York, leather

131 B: International Luggage

129: Lucky Jack's bar

127: All Leather

125: Sally's Leather

121: Sheherazade, Mideastern design

119: Fine & Klein handbags

117 (corner): Cohen's Fashion Optical goes back to the 1920s; Bonnie's New York, jewelry and hats, goes back to c. 1980; Italian Leather Fashion

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East:

142: Leather Friend Jackets is in a building called The Orchard.

140: Fiedler's Bargains Place; ABC Perfumes

138: Leather Fashions

136: Dolce Vita

134: Salsa Source, leather

132: Dolce Vita, Modern Fashion & Style

130: Giuseppe Uomo, men's clothing

126-130: Daniel's Leather




122: Michele Olivieri shoes




118 (corner): Sol Moscot, opticians of the Lower East Side since 1915, at this location since 1951. (Their original shop is now Babeland.) Also The Bean, coffeeshop and Internet cafe, and Michele Olivieri shoes

W <===     DELANCEY ST     ===> E

West:

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

97: This restored 1863 tenement recreates the crowded living quarters of some of the 7,000 mostly immigrant tenants who lived here until 1935--including the Moores, an Irish Catholic family who lived here in 1869; the German-Jewish Gumpertzes, who lived through the Great Panic of 1874; the Polish-Jewish Levines, who ran a garment business in their home in 1897; the Confinos, Sephardic Jews from Greece who moved here in 1913; the Rogarshevskys, Lithuanian Jews who sat shiva here in 1918; and the Baldizzis, Sicilian Catholics who were among the building's last tenants from 1928-35.

95: il laboratorio del gelato, high-tech ice cream since 2002. "The best I've had in the city," says New York Daily Photo.

93: Sam's Knitwear

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East:

108 (corner): Lower East Side Tenement Museum Shop

102: Joe's Fabrics

Blue Moon Hotel

100: A luxury hotel opened 2006 in a refurbished late 19th Century tenement.

98: Bridge Leather Clothing, since 1950

96: Fringe Hair Salon; Cougar Italian Clothing






92: Artwear by Toni, jewelry; Ja-Mil Uniforms

90 (corner): Lower East Side Tenement Museum Gallery and Shop

W <===     BROOME ST     ===> E

West:

Guss Pickles

85 (corner): This is the famous pickle shop that Delancey is crossed for in Crossing Delancey--the descendant of Izzy Guss' first pickle shop opened on Hester Street in 1920. There's apparently some dispute, though, about whether this is the "real" Guss Pickles.

Sticky Rice, Thai, is at the same address.

85a: Eggplant Gifts

85: Giants in The Dirt, interior design

83: Kaight, an "eco-boutique" opened 2006

79: El Bocadito Restaurant, Mexican opened 2005

77: Still Life, hat shop opened 2006

75A: The Dressing Room, a lounge with a clothing exchange hidden underneath

73: A W Kaufman, designer lingerie since 1924

69: Howard Sportswear, since 1972

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East:

88: 88 Orchard cafe

86: Majestic Lingerie, since 1945






78: Moo Shoes, vegan footware

76: Outlet Koca Lounge, opened 2006. "Coca" is the Thai word for what the Japanese call Shabu Shabu, thin strips of meat cooked by diners in a tabletop pot.

74: Real Deal Music Studio, run by Japanese hip hop star DJ Honda; Ronald's Pizza Cafe, opened 2005

72 : Fried Electric Co. must be tired of the jokes. Also Pippin Vintage Jewelry, and/or Wendy Mink Jewelry.

70: There's an old sign here for Lolita Bras

68: Sheila's Decorating, fabrics and trimming since 1974

W <===     GRAND ST     ===> E

West:

Corner (319-321 Grand): This is the former E.S. Ridley Department Store, a dry goods store built c. 1870, when Grand Street east of the Bowery was the place to go for women's fashions. It went out of businesses in 1901, but in 1964 a letter was delivered to this address complaining that the Ridley's catalog had not been delivered "for some time."

59: Cellini Uomo shoes

55: Euromoda Outlet



47: Orchard, a cooperatively-run co-op space




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East:

Corner (323 Grand): Rice & Breskin clothing; Manhattan Chinese Cultural Services. Describing the style of the romance magazines at which he learned his trade, science fiction writer A.E. Van Vogt said: "You don't say, 'I lived at 323 Grand Sreet.' You say something like 'Tears came to my eyes as I thought of my little room at 323 Grand Street.'"

62: Global International, men's clothing

56: Euromoda, men's clothing

54: N & B Fashions of NY

Benjamin Altman School

44 (corner): P.S. 42, an elementary school named for the retailer and art collector whose family's first store was nearby on Attorney Street.

W <===     HESTER ST     ===> E

West:

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East:

38 (corner): Eastern Sign

36: Miguel Abreu Gallery

34: Lisa Cooley gallery; KS Hosiery; P & S New Fashion

26: Riverbrook Textile

24 A: Success Hosiery

24: After Eight Intimates

22: Tin Tin Trading

20: S & M Trading, not as exciting as it sounds; New Era Factory Outlet

16: Great Will Construction

14 (corner): Sweet Paradise Lounge used to be a candy store and still has a confectionary theme

W <===     CANAL ST     ===> E

West:

Jarmulovsky's Bank Building

Corner (54-58 Canal): The bank, opened by Sender Jarmulovsky in 1873 on this site, built this Beaux-Arts building in 1911--and three years later, a panic caused by the outbreak of World War I caused the bank to fail, leading to a loss of $10 million in deposits, a riot and six suicides.

1 (corner): Project Reach, a service organization for Asian-American youth founded in 1971 in response to the rise in Chinatown gangs

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East:

Corner (50 Canal): Flower Expression











2 (corner): Imperial Graphic

W <===     DIVISION ST     ===> E





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

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