DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN
Meatpacking District (MePa)
Although home to slaughterhouses and meat packing facilities, by the 1980’s the Meat Packing District was mainly known as a playground for drug dealers, prostitutes, transsexuals and the gay S/M subculture with sex clubs like The Manhole and part disco-part dungeon Mineshaft. But wank-off clubs were then renovated into restaurants, and old storefronts became high-end shops. Women with blown out hair traipsed around in high heels, while butchers with bloody aprons wondered what the hell was going on. Today, it’s all cool restaurants, expensive clubs and credit card maxing boutiques, but faster than a Long Island girl can say “spray tan”, the area has become overrun with Sex & The City wannabes. Venture out during the week to enjoy a great dinner, drink or disco, but avoid weekends (amateur night).
West Village (Greenwich Village)
The original gay hood – and the most picturesque – is home to Stonewall, Christopher Street and SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker). A few A-list gays still call the neighborhood home, but otherwise it’s mostly wealthy media types who now inhabit the million-dollar townhouses. Like the residents, there are still a few spots that take you back to the origins of the Gay Rights activism era, but most of the cool bars, restaurants and shops that have moved into the tree-lined streets are far removed from the 1969 riots.
East Village
The arty and dirty East Village of the musical RENT is long gone. Instead of needles and homeless people, Thompkins Square Park is now filled with young moms and dads with strollers. CBGB? Now a John Varvatos boutique. Gentrified or not, the East Village is still the perfect antidote for Chelsea: less abs and eyebrow waxing, more scruff and tattoos. A playground for twinks and anybody who likes it rough around the edges.
SoHo
Fabulous young couples and rich singles stole this neighborhood SOuth of HOuston St (pronounced How-ston here, NOT like the city in Texas) from artists long ago. The Guggenheim became Prada, and the art scene moved to West Chelsea. Loft living started here when raw workspaces became dream dwellings. You’ll have to squint to find the SoHo of the late 70s and early 80s. A few cobblestone streets have yet to be paved over, ivy still grows around the entrance of Fanelli Café, and the neighborhood’s original bistro, Raoul’s, still grills up a great steak. But New York’s first hot hood has become a bit of a high-end mini-mall, with every major Madison Avenue boutique opening a SoHo location.
NoLita-NoHo
Filmmakers and fashionistas inhabit renovated tenements in the areas just North of Little Italy and North of Houston Street (hence the names). Quaint little shops and great local restaurants and cafes give NoLita its cool, neighborhoody vibe – a grittier version of SoHo with far less tourists. The neighborhood includes St Patrick’s Old Cathedral on the corner of Mott and Prince, which served as the city’s Roman Catholic Cathedral until St Patrick’s Cathedral was built uptown on Fifth Avenue. NoHo is a more recent invention – it used to be merely an anonymous part of the East Village until the prices of the sweet loft apartments required a more marketable name – but has a thriving retail scene.
