The Lower East Side is a large, downtown neighborhood legendary for hosting diverse waves of immigration. In recent years the area has absorbed the creative, retail, and nightlife scenes of bordering downtown neighborhoods. Trendy restaurants and bars compete for storefront with longtime local Latin and Kosher eateries, bringing diverse weekend crowds that put a new twist on the Lower East Side's legacy as an international destination. The Lower East Side borders the East Village to the north, and Chinatown and Little Italy to the west.
| School Name | Type | Grades | Great Schools Rating | Parent Rating |
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| NEW EXPLORATIONS HIGH SCHOOL | PUBLIC | K - 12 |
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| PS 184M SHUANG WEN | PUBLIC | PK - 8 |
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| MANHATTAN CHARTER SCHOOL | PUBLIC | K - 5 |
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| PS 42 BENJAMIN ALTMAN | PUBLIC | PK - 5 |
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| PS 2 MEYER LONDON | PUBLIC | PK - 5 |
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| PS 110 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE | PUBLIC | PK - 5 |
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Proximity to listed schools and their school district(s) does not guarantee enrollment eligibility. Please contact a local real estate professional or the local school district(s) for the most current information relating to schools in the area.
Sources: GreatSchools.net and Onboard Informatics © 2010
For my money, there’s no better neighborhood in NYC than the East Village. It’s the most stylish, most vibrant, most lively area in the city – simply the personification of real New York.
I don’t live in the area, but if I were to pick one neighborhood I’d like to call home, it would be the East Village. This is in large part because I’m addicted to all the great food down there. (For french fries, you have to check out Pommes Frites on 2nd Ave. All they do is make french fries, nothing else, and they’re absolutely amazing. Those things are like crack.)
The type of person you’ll find in the East Village is, well, every type of person. It’s so diverse and so novel, and you’re sure to see some interesting characters while strolling the streets, no matter what time it is. (Did I just see a religious cult with shaved heads marching down the sidewalk in robes, beating drums and chanting? I suppose I did.)
Compared to most other places in the rest of the borough, the East Village is definitely one of the more relaxed. You don’t see much sauntering in Midtown or down on Wall Street, but in the East Village people don’t seem to be in such a hurry.
As for dining, there are a bunch of great bars and outdoor cafes that usually remove most of their front wall in the summer and embrace the street. And while I don’t condone drinking heavily during the day (except weekends and holidays), if one were so inclined to go bar hopping from morning to night, the East Village is the best place to do it. So many awesome bars, always full of cool and interesting people just enjoying life.
And I think that’s what truly separates this neighborhood from the rest. At the risk of sounding incredibly trite and cliche, the East Village is just plain fun. No other place in Manhattan offers the quirky, laid back attitude of the Village. Whether you’re just visiting or looking for permanent residence, definitely check out it out. You’ll never be bored, that’s for sure.
Justin MacGregor visits here regularly
There’s no better place to be young and in love, with yourself or with anything. Music, booze, art, friends. Everything you need is within walking distance. It doesn’t matter if most of the youth who live here are posing for an imaginary photograph that isn’t being taken. It’s still a rockin’ good time, if you’ve got the funds to be cool enough.
Nina Boutsikaris visits here regularly
You want a bar, there’s your drink! Dirty looking wannabe interesting waste of the world’s time youth, you can have that too. And if you want other things too, you can get those in pockets here in L.E.S.
If you didn’t know that most of L.E.S. is Chinese to the south and Puerto Rican to the East, then you’re in for a BIG surprise! A lot of immigrant Chinese and Puerto Rican families live here. Go to Essex Market and you may as well be living in Puerto Rico. Go south of Delancey and you may as well be living in China. Did you know that? Well, some types of white people are filling in the retail and residential space here and there in L.E.S. courtesy of a genuine interest in the area. Come back to this neighborhood in 2020 and you’ll think whites always lived in L.E.S.
Well, it wouldn’t make sense to talk about L.E.S. without pointing out that each street is almost a neighborhood in and of itself. From Houston to Delancey and Allen to Essex, you get a lot of nighttime activity. The area east of Essex all the way to Clinton has a lot of schools and the Velez community center. On that stretch, Rivington and Clinton have foot traffic and commercial activity. Broome from Ludlow to Allen and Orchard from Delancey to Grand has quite a bit of activity.
I could go into more detail here, but this neighborhood requires being here to know what it is. If you don’t live in L.E.S., walk the streets and spend some money here and go East, West, North and South and then you’ll know what the Lower East Side Really is. L.E.S. goes from the Bowery to the East River and from Houston to the Manhattan Bridge.
Tommaso lives here now
The LES is all its cracked up to be for bars and restaurants. My two cents is that I think it’s a little less of a keg party now on the weekends since all the financial mess has hit, which is fine by me.
Ronnie G visits here regularly
This neighborhood is about many many things. You can go down one alley and it is filled with nothing but bars and one street has shopping and one gives you a view of the river. Diversity is a part of manhattan and the lower east side represents that.
Richie Lau lived here before
This place is pretty much the shit!!! My cuz has a badass apartment right on Houston within easy walking distance of so many restaurants and bars. Yes the people are fake and entitled, but so am I, so it works out! If I could afford it I’d totes live here instead of Williamsburg (where people are just as fake and entitled but also bearded).
Ben Hughes visits here regularly
If you want to see New York gentrification on fast forward, this is the place to come. A new place will open and be very welcoming because it wants customers, then in a year there’s a velvet rope and bouncer out front. Then a year after that it gets written up somewhere lame, and the the people that come kill the scene. Then the marquis changes, and the cycle continues. There are some great holdouts down here of course, like Max Fish. The food can also be spectacular, though expensive. Schiller’s, Inoteca, Cafe Azul, and Freedman’s are not to be missed. Living in the neighborhood is quite different than visiting for entertainment. When the party dies down, you really are back in one of the grittier neighborhoods of New York, even with the luxury buildings that have gone in. This is a great nabe with tons to offer, but I think it takes awhile to really understand.
Evan O lives here now
OMG, I love it here! I finally moved here from uptown, and I’ve never had so much fun. You can see any kind of music you want. On the weekend you’ve got to know your spots though, because EVERYBODY comes down here to party, from wall street guys with the arm candy to Euro tourists. It’s fun, but you can catch a lot of attitude and it can get out of control quick. The other thing, it’s pricey. I pay 1250 for a studio smaller than the room I grew up in, and supposedly I’m getting a deal. You can also blow a lot of cash just out having a good time. All in all, I couldn’t live anywhere else right now.
Carrie Clay lives here now
The Lower East Side is hipster central but there are some awesome shows to see down here. The bar scene around the Lower East Side is legendary so this shouldn’t come as a surprise but it is pretty busy and not a place I would bring my little brothers, I don’t think. It’s the kind of place where you find a hookah bar. Cool people wearing cool clothes.
his is a great neighborhood for those who are young and like to spend money. It’s for people who love to see and be seen. Young professionals who are making their small fortunes will get the most out of this area. However there are still possibilities for someone with a smaller budget who likes to dream of living large.
People love to describe this neighborhood as gritty-chic. What was once a heavily immigrant populated area with tenements and mom & pop shops is being transformed into one of the trendiest places to be. Sure the streets are still dirty and there is a hint of grime in the air, but in a really expensive way.
There are different kinds of brunch: there’s fancy food brunch and drunk brunch.”
—NabeWiseBlogThere’s a place on the corner that charges $4 for a candy bar. ”
—NabeWiseBlog
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