West 11 St, West Village

West 11th is a great street. There is so much history on this street, so much energy and so much to do. It's beautiful and old and there are trees everywhere. A lot of writers lived and hung out on West 11th and you can see why. It's one of the calmer, while still being cool, streets in the city.
There's this old building at the corner of 11th and Washington (you can't miss it) that Julian Schnabel bought and added a massive tower to which made most of the neighborhood throw up in their mouth a little bit. I think it's kinda cool but I can see how people were a little more than upset about messing with the old aesthetic of the street. Speaking of the old way, right next door to the Schnabel tower is a housing complex that was supposed to be rent regulated as the neighborhood used to be for artists. Apparently, it's only for rich artists now because, like most of the West Village, it is no longer rent stabilized and no longer cheap. It's kind of sad because so many famous artists lived here before they were famous. And, now this is where artists live after they've become so.
Two of my favorite / least favorite spots are right on the corner of 11th and Greenwich: The Spotted Pig and The White Horse Tavern. The Spotted Pig is a great place with great food and I always love going there in the winter. I could stay all day except for one minor problem . . .the staff. The most atrocious people work at this place. I don't know one person that has ever said, "man, the people at the Spotted Pig are great." Everyone I know complains about them. But, the place is always packed so I guess they don't care. It's worth a try because it's great but it'll never be a staple in my book because of that. White Horse Tavern, however, has a great staff and great history but the patrons are usually awful. You just can't win sometimes but I'll still go there on a weekday when it's not too crowded. It's really old and dingey and great. It's where Dylan Thomas drank himself to death, literally, and Jack Kerouac was thrown out of every time he went there. Basically, it's a great place to get sauced then and now. Directly across 11th at 307 W 11th is where Kerouac's girlfriend lived and where he did most of his writing. He finished On the Road here and Annie Liebowitz owns the place now. It must have a very artsy energy to it.
Right at Bleecker is a somewhat depressing excuse for a playground and garden, but, there it is. It's nice to have them, don't get me wrong, but this one, is just pretty bad. 285 and 263 W 11th (right at the park) were the addresses of Lee Strasberg and Thomas Wolfe. They lived next door to each other at the same time. That must have been an interesting block . . .
The next block, at West 4th, houses the Rattlestick Theatre and Tartine which are both fantastic. The Rattlestick always has great plays with great casts and Tartine has great food that's not expensive so it makes for an easy night if you put the two together. Right at 7th is one of my favorite places on earth: Two Boots Pizza!! People argue about what pizza is the best pizza, but they're all wrong. Two Boots is the winner, no contest. Many a hangover has been saved by this very outpost in my household.
Across 7th is the recently defunct St Vincent's hospital. What a shame that this place closed. Granted, it wasn't the nicest of hospitals but it's the only one we had and so many great figures were born and passed in this place. It's just too bad. And, now it's a vacant hospital in the middle of a predominantly residential area which is really creepy at night. Next door to the old hospital is Thomas Pynchon's former address and next door to that is Ray's Pizza. Ray's is pretty famous and I think it's terrible but every one deserves to know about it and see for themselves. There's always a line so I wouldn't go in the dead of winter.