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Solo Walks · Manhattan

SoHo

Bookshops, cast-iron streets and an udon bar seat

Distance
about 3 km / 1.8 mi
Time
about 3.75 hours with stops
Stops
8
After dark
Mostly a daytime walk

The solo kit

When to go
Tuesday-Sunday, late morning: start around 10:45am so you reach Housing Works after its 11am opening and Raku for lunch. Housing Works opens at 11am, and Raku SoHo serves lunch from noon Tue-Fri and from 11:30am Sat-Sun, but only dinner (from 5pm) on Mondays. FifthSip closes at 6pm.
Your seat for lunch
Raku. The Infatuation recommends going alone and sitting at the bar, so a single diner gets a counter seat rather than a table.
Sit and watch
Petrosino Square. NYC Parks: 'great for a quick lunch or people-watching along the busy thoroughfare,' and often home to temporary public art. At Kenmare St, Lafayette St and Cleveland Pl.
Restrooms
  • Mulberry Street Library (NYPL) — 10 Jersey St, ~35 m from the Crosby St/Housing Works stretch Public · library hours
  • Vesuvio Playground — Thompson St between Spring & Prince, ~120 m from Raku Public
  • Hudson River Park Pier 40 — West St at W Houston St, ~370 m from Ear Inn Public
After dark
The daytime stops close early (FifthSip 6pm, Housing Works 7pm or 5pm Sun, NYC Parks restrooms around 4pm), but Raku serves until 9:30-10pm, McNally Jackson until 9pm and Ear Inn late. The back half works in the evening; the front half does not.
Photo of yourself
Petrosino Square. A small public plaza-park (NYC Parks) at a busy intersection, often with public art installed; open paved space where a phone on a mini tripod can catch you with the art or the Cleveland Place facades behind you.
Subway
In: Spring St (6). Out: Houston St (1).

The walk

  1. 1

    FifthSip

    Order a Vietnamese phin-drip coffee to go at the Mott Street counter.

  2. 2

    Petrosino Square

    Drink it in the small triangle park where Little Italy, Chinatown and SoHo meet; it often hosts temporary public art.

  3. 3
    Crosby Street in SoHo lined with landmark loft buildings

    Crosby Street

    Walk north up narrow Crosby Street toward Houston, a quieter parallel to Broadway.

  4. 4
    The two-level, wood-shelved interior of Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

    Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

    Browse the used bookstore; the cafe is open with a limited menu.

  5. 5
    Cast-iron facades and fire escapes receding along Greene Street in SoHo

    Greene Street cast-iron blocks

    Walk Greene Street south from Prince toward Broome and look up at the cast-iron facades.

  6. 6
    The main floor of McNally Jackson on Prince Street, seen from the balcony

    McNally Jackson Books SoHo

    Come back up Wooster to Prince for the independent bookshop at 134 Prince.

  7. 7

    Raku

    Lunch at the udon specialist on MacDougal; ask for a seat at the bar.

  8. 8
    The narrow Federal-style brick front of the Ear Inn on Spring Street, with its dark green bar windows, wooden benches and bollards on the sidewalk.

    Ear Inn

    End with a drink in the 1817 James Brown House on Spring Street.

More solo walks

Lower East Side & ChinatownA solo morning of bialys, pastrami and dim sumThe High Line & ChelseaCoffee, tacos at a stand-up counter and a Hudson sunsetThe East VillageBagels, Tompkins Square and a diner counterMidtownA weekday from Tudor City to the Oyster Bar counterFlushing, QueensFood-court lunch, a tea tasting and old Flushing