The countercultural history
CBGB, the club that launched the Ramones, Blondie, and Talking Heads, operated on the Bowery at the edge of the East Village from 1973 until 2006 — the storefront is now occupied by a different business, but the neighborhood's association with punk, poetry (Allen Ginsberg and the Beat poets lived and worked here), and DIY culture is still a real part of its identity, even as rents have risen substantially.
What's there today
A genuinely dense concentration of small, independent restaurants and bars, particularly along St. Marks Place and around Tompkins Square Park — still one of the best neighborhoods in Manhattan for a spontaneous, unplanned night out.
Tompkins Square Park
A relatively small park by NYC standards but a real neighborhood anchor, with a history of its own — including the 1988 "Tompkins Square Park riot" tied to homelessness policy and gentrification tensions that, in different forms, are still part of the neighborhood's story.
Getting there
The L train (1st Avenue) and 6 train (Astor Place) both reach the neighborhood directly, and it's an easy walk from the East Village into the Lower East Side or Greenwich Village.
The food scene
The East Village has one of the most concentrated and genuinely good-value restaurant strips in Manhattan — particularly the stretch of St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, which has been a cheap, good Japanese restaurant row since the 1990s. The Halal carts and shops on many corners are excellent and fast. Second Avenue Deli (now on 33rd Street, despite the name) was a founding institution; the current excellent version on 33rd is worth a visit, but the original address is now a bank. The neighbourhood is generally better for spontaneous, affordable eating than it is for special-occasion dining.
The bar scene
The East Village is one of the few Manhattan neighbourhoods where the bar scene still has a genuinely DIY, cheap-beer energy alongside the craft cocktail bars that have moved in. McSorley's Old Ale House on East 7th Street has been serving since 1854 and has two beers on tap (light and dark); it's one of the few genuinely old New York bars that's also genuinely good rather than just famous for being old. The blocks around Avenue A hold a cluster of neighbourhood bars where you're unlikely to wait, and where drinks are still reasonably priced.
Getting oriented
The East Village's boundaries are roughly Houston to the south, 14th Street to the north, 4th Avenue to the west, and Avenue D to the east — though most visitors stay west of Avenue B. The dividing line between the East Village and the Lower East Side is Houston Street; the character shifts noticeably once you cross it southward. Alphabet City (Avenues A, B, C, and D) is the far eastern section, quieter and more residential than St. Marks.