East Village: Alphabet City to St. Mark’s Place
Museums, galleries, and coffee shops in a neighborhood shaped by poets and punks.
Last updated Feb 18, 20269 venues
Like any good renegade, the East Village has been through its fair share of drama.
This is where the Beats landed, where punk blazed through CBGBs, and where Patti Astor’s Fun Gallery put Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat on the map.
South and west of Tompkins Square Park, against a backdrop of iconic brownstones and five-story walk-ups, next-generation galleries and old school, artist-run spaces keep the neighborhood’s unruly spirit alive. There’s a true mix at play, from the well-established (Swiss Institute, The Brant Foundation, and Wilmer Jennings Gallery) to the boundary-pushing and the just-hatching.
The blocks between galleries reward wandering. Sip some of the city’s best specialty coffee, buy art books or crystals, dig into Anthology Film Archives, or sip icy vodka at KGB Bar while listening to experimental readings from local writers, poets, and musicians.
Take it all in the best way: on foot.
MuseumEast Village
Swiss Institute
Get your brain whirring with global, intellectual art at this free museum that is smack dab in the center of St Mark’s Place.
38 St Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
GalleryEast Village
MARCH
East Village vibes meet Southern warmth inside this double-wide storefront on Avenue A, where you can expect a mix of NYC up-and-comers and artists exploring Black craftsmanship.
62–64 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009
GalleryEast Village
Half Gallery
This glass-walled gallery shows realist work in which desire and fantasy simmer on the surface.
235 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryEast Village
RUBY/DAKOTA
Intimacy is threaded into every inch of this gallery, where younger voices are loud, clear, and vital.
155 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryEast Village
Karma Gallery
This gallery, bookstore, and publishing house is pioneering a genre. Enjoy gentle, slow art that invites you to pause and step back from the fast pace of life.
188 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryLower East Side
Wilmer Jennings Gallery
Where Black artists, communities, and movements have been nurtured, honored, and lifted for generations.
219 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
Coffee ShopEast Village
Abraço
Echoing the old school coffee bars of Spain and Italy, this place has been serving the neighborhood since 2007. Go for the olive oil cake and coffee in classic NYC cups.
81 East 7th Street
New York, NY 10002
GalleryNoHo
PALO Gallery
Art’s romantic past and topical present merge emphatically in art that is at once socially relevant and inextricably tied to art's history.
21 East 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
BookstoreEast Village
Mast Books
Drop by this serene, blissfully curated corner store, where you’ll mostly find archival and contemporary art and photography books. Used, new, and rare. All beautiful.
72 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009
Like any good renegade, the East Village has been through its fair share of drama.
This is where the Beats landed, where punk blazed through CBGBs, and where Patti Astor’s Fun Gallery put Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat on the map.
South and west of Tompkins Square Park, against a backdrop of iconic brownstones and five-story walk-ups, next-generation galleries and old school, artist-run spaces keep the neighborhood’s unruly spirit alive. There’s a true mix at play, from the well-established (Swiss Institute, The Brant Foundation, and Wilmer Jennings Gallery) to the boundary-pushing and the just-hatching.
The blocks between galleries reward wandering. Sip some of the city’s best specialty coffee, buy art books or crystals, dig into Anthology Film Archives, or sip icy vodka at KGB Bar while listening to experimental readings from local writers, poets, and musicians.
Take it all in the best way: on foot.
MuseumEast Village
Swiss Institute
Get your brain whirring with global, intellectual art at this free museum that is smack dab in the center of St Mark’s Place.
38 St Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
GalleryEast Village
MARCH
East Village vibes meet Southern warmth inside this double-wide storefront on Avenue A, where you can expect a mix of NYC up-and-comers and artists exploring Black craftsmanship.
62–64 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009
GalleryEast Village
Half Gallery
This glass-walled gallery shows realist work in which desire and fantasy simmer on the surface.
235 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryEast Village
RUBY/DAKOTA
Intimacy is threaded into every inch of this gallery, where younger voices are loud, clear, and vital.
155 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryEast Village
Karma Gallery
This gallery, bookstore, and publishing house is pioneering a genre. Enjoy gentle, slow art that invites you to pause and step back from the fast pace of life.
188 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
GalleryLower East Side
Wilmer Jennings Gallery
Where Black artists, communities, and movements have been nurtured, honored, and lifted for generations.
219 East 2nd Street
New York, NY 10009
Coffee ShopEast Village
Abraço
Echoing the old school coffee bars of Spain and Italy, this place has been serving the neighborhood since 2007. Go for the olive oil cake and coffee in classic NYC cups.
81 East 7th Street
New York, NY 10002
GalleryNoHo
PALO Gallery
Art’s romantic past and topical present merge emphatically in art that is at once socially relevant and inextricably tied to art's history.
21 East 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
BookstoreEast Village
Mast Books
Drop by this serene, blissfully curated corner store, where you’ll mostly find archival and contemporary art and photography books. Used, new, and rare. All beautiful.
72 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009
More Art Walks
NoHo: Gritty, Glamorous, Unmissable
Uptown elegance, downtown edge. Pop and punk at one door. Romanticism at the next.