kennyg

Sure, St. Marks Place is no longer the real hangout of punk abandon, the kids with the funny hair are most likely uptown refugees, and hipsters and models outnumber the junkies in Tompkins Square park, but I still have a place in my heart for these few seedy blocks between Astor Place and Tompkins Square Park. A number of things have changed the place, from NYU's encroachment along nearby streets to the meteoric rise of the housing market, but there are still a few things anchoring the neighborhood. One of them has to be proliferation of nearby cheap, excellent Japanese food, from the smokey yakitori (grilled meats and vegetables on skewers) places to discount sushi to the dark, cave-like sake bars (check out Angelshare and Decibel around the corner). These places are nestled at the western end of St Marks, near Astor Place.

Blink as you travel by on 5th Avenue or University Place and you will miss the gates that guard either end of this tiny block long beauty that is sandwiched between 8th st and Washington Square North. Actually a private street, the gates are unlocked during the day and the curious can wander the still-bricked lane. This mews once housed stables that have been converted to the quaint two-story carriage houses that now line the street. Well worth a visit, if only to marvel at the marked difference between the small architectural remnants of a bygone era and the nearby towering apartment complexes that stare down from the sky.