A Famous Street in the East Village

One of my most popular blog post types is the “tourists at home,” where I point out interesting places in the city where I live. It also happens to be a city visited by a lot of people from the United States and all around the world. Currently, New York City ranks first in the U.S. and eighth in the world for international visits. I’ve heard many more languages spoken in my neighborhood by people carrying large shopping bags from local boutiques — a big tipoff that someone is a tourist rather than a resident. (Residents are more likely to be carrying bags from our newish supermarket, Wegman’s.) A number of hotels have opened in the area from Union Square to Cooper Union, which gives visitors the opportunity to take advantage of all that the East Village offers.

Outside the Ukrainian Museum, a banner for the UKR/RUS exhibit.

East 6th St. runs through the center of the East Village and has from time to time gained international prominence because of the foreign dignitaries that places on the street have hosted. The most recent one was Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in town last month for the United Nations General Assembly. He visited the Ukrainian Museum at 222 East 6th St. between Second and Third Avenue. According to its website, the museum, founded in 1976,

…is the largest museum in North America committed to acquiring, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting articles of artistic or historic significance to the rich cultural heritage of Ukrainians. Its array of traditional arts and crafts, 20th and 21st century art, and extensive compendium of archival materials make it one of the unique museums in New York City. Each year, the Museum organizes several exhibitions, publishes accompanying bilingual catalogues, and conducts a wide range of public programming, frequently in collaboration with other museums, educational institutions, and cultural centers.

Benches in the shape of the border are part of the UKR/RUS exhibit.

Last week I attended a cultural ceremony at the museum for the opening of a new outdoor installation, UKR/RUS, created by Ukrainian American artist Molly Gochman. It consists of benches and sidewalk painting delineating the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine that Russia has breached. Some of the benches in the shape of the jagged border will be touring other cities in the U.S. President Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, sat on one of the benches inside the museum.

In addition to the installation, the event included performances by a children’s choir, a DJ playing contemporary Ukrainian music from folk to techno, and work from Ukrainian artists curated by Gochman. Inside the museum is a store with t-shirts from the artists featured at the museum (such as prints of the modernist painter Alexandra Exter), traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts known as  vyshyvankas, books, toys, and flags and buttons.

The former electrical substation, now a gallery.

Walking further east, I passed the Brant Foundation Art Study Center, a former electrical substation at 421 East 6th St. (between First Avenue and Avenue A) that artist Walter De Maria used as his studio until his death, upon which time industrialist Peter Brant purchased the property. The gallery opened in 2019 with an exhibit of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, to which East Village residents were invited to see for free. (Others had to pay.) From time to time, the gallery opens to the public, and locals can view the impressive space, as I did several years ago. Getting in is hit or miss and often requires advance reservations, but the tickets are reasonable, sometimes free, and the space is worth seeing.

The Buenos Aires Restaurant and butcher shop.

One block to the east, at 513 East 6th St. between Avenues A and B, is the Buenos Aires Restaurant, offering traditional Argentine cuisine surrounded by memorabilia from the country’s great football (aka soccer) teams. The menu is a meat lover’s dream, and an attached butcher shop provides prime cuts for local residents. So why is this non-meat-eating blogger featuring a restaurant with cuisine I’ve never tried for obvious reasons? It’s because in 2014, when the Argentinian Pope Francis I visited New York City, the Buenos Aires Restaurant catered his meals because he wanted a taste of home. Now many locals call this the Pope’s restaurant, an appellation encouraged by the restaurant owners who have adorned the front window with photos and clippings of the pontiff.

Advertising the Pope’s visit.

East of the restaurant, the streetscape becomes greener, with multiple gardens as one heads toward the river. The 6 & B Garden is one of the city’s largest, occupying most of a block with residents’ vegetable plots, ample seating areas, and a bandstand where I’ve seen several concerts. I also received a nasty bite from an Asian Tiger Mosquito there in 2023 that remained swollen and itchy for three weeks, so I recommend repellant for anyone who goes inside.

The 6 & B Garden, with a picture that doesn’t do justice to its size.

Across Avenue B and in the middle of the block is the 6BC Botanical Garden. Unlike the 6 & B Garden, it doesn’t have individual plots for community members.  Rather, the garden is sunken, lower than the street and sidewalk, and it contains plants designed to soak up water. The 6BC Botanical Garden was redesigned some ten years ago, after the devastating floods of Hurricane Sandy, as a rain garden. The purpose of a rain garden is to divert water from streets and buildings to prevent them from flooding during periods of excessive rainfall, like a natural sump pump. One result of global climate change and a warmer planet is that storms carry more water, which means any storm — not just a hurricane — can inundate places that before were rarely vulnerable to flooding. And along with measures to reduce the consumption of climate-warming fossil fuels, we need to adapt to an ever-fiercer climate. Rain gardens like the 6BC Botanical Garden are one solution and a great place to visit for anyone looking for ideas on creating their own.

The 6BC Botanical Garden, with plants selected to soak up water.

Not only East 6th St. but the streets around it are full of great places to eat, shop, meet people, and enjoy great art and music. If you’re visiting, be sure to take a stroll through this diverse and beautiful urban neighborhood!