New York City - East Village
So now we've crossed Astor Place and found ourselves officially in the East Village, strolling down St. Mark's Place.
Even though my friend said it was a far cry from what it was back in the 70's when she hung out there, still there is a clear sense of youth and rebellion and a bit of the down-at-the-heels feeling. Although there undoubtedly is some gentrification going on and the stores are possibly a bit trendier, but I got the sense that this still is a neighborhood that doesn't much like rules. Some of the buildings were colorfully painted, some of the shops and restaurants were mere holes-in-the-wall. Lots of raggedy looking youngsters. Contraband was being sold freely and there was still a lot of hippie paraphernalia and clothing for sale. Bars, tattoo parlors, dingy bookshops, comic stores, ethnic restaurants - it's all good in the East Village. We dallied in the St. Mark's Book Store for a while. I really liked the area a lot, although I suspect it can still get pretty rough late at night.
We had arranged to meet my niece for dinner at Veselka, because that long-time Ukrainian restaurant featured in one of my stories, The Hope Affair. Once the sun went down it got pretty nippy, so we were glad to bypass the streetside seating and go inside to get warm on hearty peasant fare. We enjoyed a selection of pierogies, borsht, salad, kielbasa and stuffed cabbage. No vodka, alas, but we did have tea. Not served in glasses, but in ordinary cups. The food was, in our opinion, not outstanding but it was filling and hearty and hit the spot. I forgot to take pictures of my plate, doggone it! The dinner was my treat, since I'd insisted on coming here, and boy did I get a surprise when the bill came. They only take cash. I suppose that's the case with a lot of small restaurants.
After dinner we walked around a bit more and then headed back to Queens via that awesomely beautiful subway station in Astor Place.
Gorgeous painted building at the corner of 9th and First Avenue.
A view of St. Mark's Place, busy with all its tacky stores. Definitely still a hippie vibe going on here.
The church on St. Mark's place. It made an appearance in my story, "The Hope Affair", so I wanted to see if it was really where I said it was. And so it is.
Veselka Restaurant, at the corner of 9th and Second Ave, where it has been since the 1950's (I think). The big shiny building next to it is the "Ukrainian National Home" building, which we speculated might be a housing facility for the elderly of the community.
Still more to come in the next post.
Even though my friend said it was a far cry from what it was back in the 70's when she hung out there, still there is a clear sense of youth and rebellion and a bit of the down-at-the-heels feeling. Although there undoubtedly is some gentrification going on and the stores are possibly a bit trendier, but I got the sense that this still is a neighborhood that doesn't much like rules. Some of the buildings were colorfully painted, some of the shops and restaurants were mere holes-in-the-wall. Lots of raggedy looking youngsters. Contraband was being sold freely and there was still a lot of hippie paraphernalia and clothing for sale. Bars, tattoo parlors, dingy bookshops, comic stores, ethnic restaurants - it's all good in the East Village. We dallied in the St. Mark's Book Store for a while. I really liked the area a lot, although I suspect it can still get pretty rough late at night.
We had arranged to meet my niece for dinner at Veselka, because that long-time Ukrainian restaurant featured in one of my stories, The Hope Affair. Once the sun went down it got pretty nippy, so we were glad to bypass the streetside seating and go inside to get warm on hearty peasant fare. We enjoyed a selection of pierogies, borsht, salad, kielbasa and stuffed cabbage. No vodka, alas, but we did have tea. Not served in glasses, but in ordinary cups. The food was, in our opinion, not outstanding but it was filling and hearty and hit the spot. I forgot to take pictures of my plate, doggone it! The dinner was my treat, since I'd insisted on coming here, and boy did I get a surprise when the bill came. They only take cash. I suppose that's the case with a lot of small restaurants.
After dinner we walked around a bit more and then headed back to Queens via that awesomely beautiful subway station in Astor Place.
Gorgeous painted building at the corner of 9th and First Avenue.
A view of St. Mark's Place, busy with all its tacky stores. Definitely still a hippie vibe going on here.
The church on St. Mark's place. It made an appearance in my story, "The Hope Affair", so I wanted to see if it was really where I said it was. And so it is.
Veselka Restaurant, at the corner of 9th and Second Ave, where it has been since the 1950's (I think). The big shiny building next to it is the "Ukrainian National Home" building, which we speculated might be a housing facility for the elderly of the community.
Still more to come in the next post.