Culinarily, the East Village is one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods. The area has long supported an immigrant population, but it’s also a magnet for younger New Yorkers from all over the city — and indeed all over the world, including regional Chinese, Mexican, and Italian fare, along with a continuing Ukrainian, Japanese, Puerto Rican, and Jewish presence. Newer establishments include Laotian, Argentinean, and Himalayan cuisines. Pick the food of a region, and we bet you can find it there.
But where is “there”? The disputed boundaries go from the north side of Houston to the south side of 14th Street, and from Third Avenue to the East River, thus including what is now called Alphabet City (largely due to the musical Rent). Take a walk along the neighborhood’s three-block backbone of St. Marks Place to get an inkling of the East Village’s level of tumult and range of dining options, from French fry-stuffed burritos to Moroccan tagines.
Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.
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