The East Village (New York)

The East Village is located in Manhattan, between Houston and 14th streets, east of 2nd Avenue. During the nineteenth century millionaires like the Astors and Vanderbilts had homes in East Village. But the waves of Irish, German, Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian immigrants who flooded into New York City in the 1900s soon displaced the elite, who moved uptown. Since then, the area has been home to the “beat generation” of the 1950s, Hippies in the 1960s, and later the Punks. The latest musical styles and avant-garde theater are presented here and the East Village contains the most varied assortment of ethnic restaurants in New York City. Their cuisine ranges from Indian eateries on the south side of East Sixth Street to McSorley’s Old Ale House, a pub that seems unchanged since it first opened in 1854, located on East Seventh Street. Once the home of the Astor Library, the restored Public Theater has been the opening venue for many now-famous plays. A haven from the pressure of classes at New York University, students regularly gather around the Alamo at Astor Place. The Alamo is a 15-ft (4.5m) steel cube designed by Bernard Rosenthal that revolves when pushed. Across the street is the location of the old Astor Place Opera House. In 1849, trouble broke out here when English actor William Macready criticized American Actor Edwin Forrest. Forrest’s fans rioted and police killed thirty-four people. .