East Village Guide

The neighborhood with the highest concentration of bars and restaurants in New York, the East Village outdoes almost every other area of Manhattan in retail diversity, restaurant density, proximity to nightlife, and desirability to new technology endeavors, major film studio offices, talent agencies or any other creative business imaginable. Thanks to nearby New York University, the East Village has more income and ethnic diversity than most of its neighbors to the North and West of Greenwich Village. The East Village also encompasses the neighborhood of Alphabet City (Avenues A – D), one of the strongest contributing factors to American arts and culture in New York.

Whether New Yorkers associate the East Village with tenements or punk rockers, the once grungy area has emerged as one of the most desirable neighborhoods for the urban elite, becoming glossier by the year. New construction largely comprises the boutique sort, but still attracts increasingly well-to-do businesses. Nothing quite illustrates the transformation of the East Village like the overhaul of the once-gritty Bowery, however. Formerly the Village’s Skid Row, the Bowery now houses a spate of new condos and office lofts, prime for the newest A-Lister and entrepreneur.