New York Latin Culture Magazine®

World-class Indigenous, European & African Culture since 2012

East Village NYC

The East Village NYC is a bohemian neighborhood east of Greenwich Village that is gentrifying. It’s where the Broadway hit musical “Rent” was set.

It includes Alphabet City, Manhattan’s eastern rump. St Mark’s Place (8th St) was NYC’s punk street in the 1980s. You still see punkers around. Their mohawks are a bit quaint now. Tompkins Square Park has always been a rebellious place. Drom and Nublu are great underground nightclubs.

Famous bohemians like beat poet Allen Ginsberg (1970s-90s), and 1980s art star Andy Warhol actually ran more in the East Village than Greenwich Village.

It used to be the Lower East Side, but was rebranded by real estate promoters. Back in the 1970s it was abandoned and you could watch weeds roll down the empty streets. Now even the Hells Angels have left. It’s too bad, because their block used to be the safest block in the neighborhood.

Today the East Village is a fun neighborhood of little shops and cool restaurants and bars. It’s still funky, still eclectic, and always fun.

Latin Culture in the East Village

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IT’S ALL OVER Chelsea, Midtown, Times Square Theater District, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Washington Heights, Manhattan
Flatbush, Williamsburg, Brooklyn 🇺🇸 🇨🇻 🇨🇴 🇩🇴 🇭🇹 🇮🇳 🇯🇲 🇲🇽 🇵🇪 🇵🇭 🇵🇷 🇪🇸 🇻🇪

January 2023

Pedrito Martinez and his rumba bring Echoes of Africa to Drom in the East Village on Sunday, January 15, 2023 at 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). From $25. 🇨🇺

Moroccan gnawa sacred singer Samir LanGus and New York Iraqi DJ Omar Aena play North African and Iraqi healing dance music (Global Music Afrobeats) for the World Music Institute at Nublu 151 in Manhattan’s East Village, on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 8pm (7pm doors). From $20. 🇲🇦

December 2022

Pedrito Martinez plays a Cuban Rumba and Timba Holiday Show at Drom in Manhattan’s East Village on Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 7pm. From $30. 🇨🇺

Pedrito Martinez plays a Cuban rumba and timba Pre-New Year’s Eve Party at Drom in NYC’s East Village on Friday, December 30, 2022 at 9pm. Party starts with a Shani Talmor salsa dance class at 7pm. From $25. 🇨🇺

November 2022

Locobeach, and its own Cheo Pardo (DJ Afro), play Psychedelic Cumbia with Underground System (Afrobeat) for the World Music Institute at Nublu 151 in Manhattan’s East Village on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 8pm (7pm doors). From $20. 🇻🇪

Parks

East River Park is along the East River waterfront.

East Village Restaurants

Buenos Aires restaurant is one of New York City’s best Argentine restaurants. They cut their own meat, so it’s one of the few places you can get a real “vacio” or other South American style cuts. Food tastes different depending on how you cut it, so that’s important.

Esperanto is a popular pan-Latin restaurant. Their Brazilian food is pretty good and the vibe is great, especially in summer.

Veselka is popular with the late night crowd.

Gnocco makes great northern Italian pizza.

Cafe Mogador is popular with the brunch crowd.

Jules Bistro is good French and sometimes has live jazz.

East Village Night Clubs

Webster Hall is a historic night club.

Sanctuaries

St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery is pretty cool. It serves as a community cultural center with strong dance and poetry programs.

It Used to be the Lower East Side

East Village Spring on Stuyvesant St (Ryan Deberardinis/Dreamstime)
East Village Spring on Stuyvesant St (Ryan Deberardinis/Dreamstime)

The Lower East Side used to run up to 14th St. Above Houston St, it was rebranded as the “East Village” in the 1960s. This was partly due to the development of New York City’s contemporary art community which began in SoHo and moved up to Greenwich Village, then moved east into the Lower East Side.

St Mark’s Place (8th St) used to be NYC’s punk street. First Houses was the first public housing in the United States. Alphabet City refers to Avenue A, B, C and D which fill out the bulge on Manhattan’s east side. It’s much calmer now, but it used to get wilder as the letters went up.

Ukrainian East Village restaurant is a remnant of Little Ukraine. It’s back room is popular with the Argentine tango community. New York City’s Little Tokyo is around St Mark’s Place.

Alphabet City

The Manhattan street grid has twelve avenues running north and south on the island. The bump on Lower Manhattan’s East Side is filled with Avenues A through D in the Lower East Side and East Village.

It was rough in the 1970s and kept getting rougher as you headed east. Famous fashion models used to come down to shop so they could have that vacant stare during photo shoots.

There is an old saying that went something like:

  • Avenue A, you’re alive.
  • Avenue B, you’re breathing.
  • Avenue C, you’re comatose.
  • Avenue D, you’re dead.

It’s all changed now, but that’s how it was, once upon a time in New York City.

Gramercy
Greenwich Village | East Village | Brooklyn
Lower East Side

Downtown Manhattan