Skip to content

A Lovely Day · 8 stops · about 3.2 km on foot

A Lovely Day in the East Village

Kettle-boiled bagels on Avenue A, a quiet morning walk down St. Marks Place, an hour lost in the Strand's stacks, fresh buckwheat soba on East 9th Street, the buy-sell-trade racks on 11th, golden hour under Tompkins Square's old elms, then Café Mogador's tagines and a candlelit nightcap at Death & Co.

Best days Works any day of the week: none of these stops has a regular closing day. Weekdays are calmer, since Sobaya and Café Mogador draw weekend lines, and Death & Co is mostly walk-in with no standing room, so put your name down soon after it opens for the evening.

  1. 18:30 AM
    The empty interior of Tompkins Square Bagels with its long counter, chalkboard menus and ceiling fans

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    Tompkins Square Bagels

    Since 2011 the Avenue A flagship has hand-rolled and kettle-boiled its bagels and baked them in its own brick ovens; look over the house cream cheeses, then order the bacon, egg and cheese on an everything bagel.

  2. about 4 min on foot

    29:30 AM
    St. Marks Place at night, rain-slick pavement reflecting lit storefronts

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    St. Marks Place

    Three blocks of East 8th Street where the East Village kept its counterculture receipts; walk it west from Avenue A while it is still quiet and find the stoop at 96–98 that Led Zeppelin put on the cover of Physical Graffiti.

  3. about 10 min on foot

    310:15 AM
    The Strand's red-awninged corner storefront at Broadway and East 12th Street

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    Strand Book Store

    At Broadway and 12th since 1957, and the last survivor of Fourth Avenue's old Book Row; work the dollar carts on the sidewalk first, then climb to the third-floor Rare Book Room, where first editions sit behind glass.

  4. about 7 min on foot

    412:30 PM
    Cold buckwheat soba with dipping sauce, condiments and a plate of shrimp and shiso tempura at Sobaya on East 9th Street

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    Sobaya

    Open on East 9th Street since 1996, Sobaya makes its buckwheat noodles fresh each day behind a window by the door; order them cold on a bamboo mat with dipping sauce to taste the noodle itself.

  5. about 6 min on foot

    52:00 PM
    The red storefront of Buffalo Exchange on East 11th Street, Buy · Sell · Trade lettered on the window

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    Buffalo Exchange East Village

    On a tree-lined block of 11th Street, a buy counter appraises locals' closets all day, so the racks of denim, leather jackets and labels you know arrive already picked over; come without a plan, because the stock turns over by the week.

  6. about 5 min on foot

    6About an hour before sunset
    Snow-covered paths and bare trees in Tompkins Square Park

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    Tompkins Square Park

    Ten and a half acres of old elms, chess tables and one of the city's most storied dog runs; find the Hare Krishna tree near the center, the American elm that shaded the movement's first ceremony outside India in 1966, and take a bench as the light goes.

  7. about 3 min on foot

    77:00 PM

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    Café Mogador

    Rivka Orlin opened Café Mogador on St. Marks Place in 1983 and her family still runs it; order a tagine, chicken with preserved lemon and olives or lamb, and finish with mint tea.

  8. about 3 min on foot

    89:15 PM
    The unmarked, weathered wooden doors and iron columns of Death & Co on East 6th Street, closed up on a sunny afternoon, with the bar's name inlaid in the sidewalk.

    EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

    Death & Co

    Opened on New Year's Eve 2006 on East 6th Street and still the flagship: candlelight, black walls and a door that runs mostly on walk-ins; take a seat at the bar and ask for a bartender's choice built around a spirit you love.

More lovely days

A Lovely Day in the West Village7 stops →A Lovely Day in Williamsburg7 stops →A Lovely Day on the Lower East Side & Chinatown7 stops →A Lovely Day on the Upper West Side & Central Park7 stops →A Lovely Day in Midtown8 stops →A Lovely Day in Greenpoint7 stops →A Lovely Day in Astoria7 stops →A Lovely Day in the Bronx7 stops →