West Village: The Prettiest Streets in Downtown Manhattan

The West Village is the western half of Greenwich Village. Where exactly one ends and the other begins depends on who you ask, and most people just lump them together as the Village.

What to see in the West Village

This Downtown Manhattan neighborhood has one quirk that sets it apart: it escaped the strict grid that shaped the rest of modern New York City.

Its streets started out as chaotic horse paths and have stayed that way, which makes it a lot of fun to wander with no plan and let the neighborhood reveal itself. Don't worry if you get lost, because in the West Village that happens even to the most seasoned New Yorker.

Christopher Street and the Stonewall Inn

Along Christopher Street heading toward the Hudson River you'll find plenty of bars and venues run by and popular with the gay community, along with clothing shops and sex shops, plus places selling exotic teas and hard-to-find goods.

Like neighboring Greenwich Village, this area witnessed the first movements for gay rights, and the traces are still very much here, such as the Stonewall Inn, which you can visit (the bar where the first protests demanding rights and greater tolerance took place).

For example, in tiny Christopher Park (Christopher St at 7th Ave) you'll find the distinctive sculptures by the famous artist George Segal known as the «Gay Liberation Statues», the ones you see in the photo at the top of this page.

The Sex and the City neighborhood

Fans of Sex and the City will notice as they walk around the West Village that plenty of scenes were filmed on these streets.

Take the exterior of Carrie Bradshaw's apartment at 66 Perry Street, a lovely residential block in the Village (on the show it was supposedly in the Upper East Side).

The Village is also home to Magnolia Bakery (401 Bleecker St), the cupcake shop that became famous precisely because of its Sex and the City cameo.

By the way, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are known to live in the neighborhood, as do other celebrities like the magnificent Willem Dafoe and Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

The Friends apartment

Just steps from Magnolia Bakery you'll find another famous spot: the exterior of the Friends apartment at the corner of Bedford and Grove.

Like Carrie's place, it's only an exterior, since the show was shot on soundstages in Los Angeles. As you can see, the Village looms large in pop culture.

Jefferson Market Library

You'll find the beautiful Jefferson Market Library building on 6th Avenue (also called Avenue of the Americas) at 10th Street. You'll spot it by the clock tower.

The Jefferson Market Library was once a courthouse and is now a public library. You can walk through it freely and enjoy its wonderful outdoor garden, the Jefferson Market Garden, during library opening hours.

If you followed the adventures of the Sex and the City friends, you'll probably get a déjà vu in the Jefferson Market Garden, because that's where Miranda and Steve got married (and remember, there's a tour of the key Sex and the City locations).

Gay Street in the West Village

Gay Street is one of the most emblematic and picturesque streets in the West Village. It's very close to Washington Square Park.

There you'll see rows of elegant brownstones, those classic low-rise buildings with continuous facades that are so typically New York.

As you walk down the street, consider that these elegant buildings were originally stables. That's New York for you! Always changing, but never losing sight of where it came from.

Richard Meier's buildings in the West Village

This neighborhood is mostly residential, and while it's far more low-key than the posh Meatpacking District, it does have luxury buildings such as the towers designed by American architect Richard Meier facing the Hudson River (173/176 Perry Street), home to plenty of showbusiness stars.

So the advice is to keep your camera handy. You never know who you'll run into!

Looking for hotels in the West Village?

Of all the New York neighborhoods, staying in the West Village is a great call, especially if you like nightlife.

Address

Bordered to the east by Sixth Avenue, between 14th Street to the north and Houston Street to the south.

Getting there

Subway lines A, B, C, D, E, F, M. 4th Street station
Subway lines 1, 2, 3. 14th St station
Subway lines 1, 2. Christopher St-Sheridan Sq station
Subway line L. 14th St stations at 6th, 7th and 8th avenues