New York Songlines: Bedford Street

Christopher Street | Grove Street | Barrow Street | Commerce Street | Morton Street | Seventh Ave South | Leroy Street | Carmine Street | Downing Street | West Houston Street

Named for a street in London's Covent Garden. That street is the address of St. Paul's Church, which may have something to do with why the name was appropriated.






W <===           CHRISTOPHER STREET           ===> E

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107-115: Notable Federal-style houses.








PS 3

PS 3 by edenpictures, on Flickr

Corner (490 Hudson): John Melser Charrette School (pre-K-6)/Greenwich Village Middle School (6-8).

When the Marquis de Lafayette, visiting the United States in 1824, asked to see "the best example of the public school system," he was taken here. Today the school--sometimes called "the hippie school"-- has a special emphasis on creativity. John Melser led the school until 1991.

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Corner (122 Christopher): Was The Masque, late-night 1960s coffeehouse; also Pharoah Five, tasty 1960s macrobiotic.

106: This is the address of Lawrence Selman, a disabled neighborhood activist who has been called "the Mayor of Bedford Street." He was the subject of an Academy Award-nominated short film.

Twin Peaks

102: Remodeled in 1926 in a fantastical style as "an inspiring home for creative artists." Walt Disney and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. are said to have lived here. It appeared as a discotheque in the 1969 movie The April Fools. Grove and Bedford Streets by Andrea [bah! la realtą!], on Flickr

100 (corner): House of William Hyde, window-maker, built 1822. Author James Baldwin frequently stayed here. "The most complete wooden frame house in Greenwich Village"-- Guide to the Metropolis.


W <===           GROVE STREET           ===> E

According to New York: The Movie Lover's Guide, the New York set on the Paramount backlot was supposed to be based on the part of Greenwich Village around Bedford from Grove to Commerce.

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95: The AIA Guide describes this building as being built as stables in 1894, later serving as a winery before becoming apartments in 1927. A neighbor describes this as "hogwash," however, saying that the building was actually built by J. Goebel & Company as a factory for crucibles--containers for holding molten glass. Apparently the basement is still full of them.

91: Poet Delmore Schwartz lived here in a cold-water flat without a telephone.







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NYC - West Village: 90 Bedford Street (Friends House) by wallyg, on Flickr

90 (corner): This building serves as the exterior for the apartment on Friends; in real life, it houses the restaurants Little Owl (formerly Chez Michallet) and Moustache (tasty Mideastern).

Chumley's

NYC - West Village: Chumley's by wallyg, on Flickr

86: This unmarked door was the entrance to Chumley's, a former speakeasy that never had an outside sign. A literary hangout for Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, O'Neill, Dos Passos, Faulkner, Anais Nin, Orson Welles, Edna St. Vincent Millay, James Thurber etc. It evolved into a popular, cozy bar and restaurant; it can be seen in such films as Reds, Bright Lights, Big City, Wolfen and Sweet and Lowdown--or you can see it online. A wall collapse shuttered Chumley's in 2007; a reopening has been promised for years, but bizarrely now faces community opposition. If you were living in the neighborhood before 1922, then you have the standing to oppose Chumley's.


S <===           BARROW STREET           ===> N

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81 Bedford Street by edenpictures, on Flickr

81 (block): An apartment in 81 Bedford was used as a safe house by the CIA for LSD experiments from 1952-54-- sometimes administered by prostitutes on unwitting non-volunteers.



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W <===           COMMERCE STREET           ===> E

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Isaacs-Hendricks House

NYC - West Village: Isaacs-Hendricks House by wallyg, on Flickr

77 (corner): The oldest in the Village, dating to 1799--though the Greek Revival brick facade is newer, dating to 1836. The first owner, Harmon Hendricks, cornered the colonial copper market along with Paul Revere, according to Radical Walking Tours.

"Narrowest House in the Village"

NYC - West Village: 75½ Bedford Street by wallyg, on Flickr

75 1/2: Every guidebook points this out; it filled in a former alley for carriages. Originally a cobbler's shop and then a candy factory, poet Edna St. Vincent Millay lived here (1923-24), as did actors John Barrymore and Cary Grant (and his boyfriend).

69: Writer William Burroughs lived here in 1943-44.

63 (corner): Was Shopsin's General Store, longtime Village hangout said to be wary of strangers. Calvin Trillin wrote about it in The New Yorker, but declined to give its name or address out of fear of being barred. When it lost its lease, a film was made about owner/chef Kenny Shopsin called I Like Killing Flies. It moved down the street from here to the corner of Carmine.

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Barrow Street by jwannie, on Flickr

72 (corner): Casa, charming Brazilian








70 Bedford Street by Atomische.com, on Flickr

70: Built 1807 by John Roome, sailmaker and court crier.











S <===           MORTON STREET           ===> N

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N <===           SEVENTH AVE S           ===> S

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Leroy Street by edenpictures, on Flickr

46 (corner): Village Tavern was Orbit, lesbian bar, then Alegrias.


W <===           LEROY STREET           ===> E

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39: This was the home of composer Frank Wigglesworth, who wrote an opera based on the police log of Ipswich, Mass., as well as sacred music for St. Luke's Chapel.



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44 (corner): Daddy-O, cocktail lounge

42: Mary's, former speakeasy that became an Italian restaurant








W <===           CARMINE STREET           ===> E

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Corner (54 Carmine): This was the second home of Shopsin's General Store, a Village hangout with over 1,000 items on its menu. Now relocated to the Essex Street Market.



31 (corner): Blue Ribbon Bakery, a spinoff of Blue Ribbon on Sullivan Street. The brick oven used by the bakery dates back to c. 1855. Jimi Hendrix used to crash in this building.

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Carmine Street by Delkarm, on Flickr

Corner (58 Carmine): Cho's Grocery


W <===           DOWNING STREET           ===> E

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29 (corner): Ditch Plains, Hamptons-style clam shack named for a Montauk surf spot, was Bar d'O, cool, polysexual lounge.

27: Crepe Soul was Le Gamin Cafe, a local French chain. Anne Heche flirts with a waiter at Le Gamin in Walking and Talking.

21: 'ino, tiny wine and sandwich bar.

3: These midrise apartments were built in 1987 on land that had been cleared to extend Houston Street straight west to the Hudson--a plan thankfully dropped.

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14: Was Boughelem, which "define[d] a Village bistro," according to Zagat's.










W <===           WEST HOUSTON STREET           ===> E






Is your favorite Bedford Street spot missing? Write to Jim Naureckas and tell him about it.

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