New York Songlines: Ridge Street

E. Houston | Stanton | Rivington | Delancey | Broome | Grand







W <===         EAST HOUSTON STREET         ===> E

The southern boundary of the East Village

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W <===     STANTON STREET     ===> E

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129 (corner): Pueblo Deli Grocery

P.S. 140: Nathan Straus School

1958, Rivington St by CORNERSTONES of NY, on Flickr

Corner (123 Ridge): School named for a co-owner of Macy's who gave much of his wealth to philanthropic projects, including lodging houses, a tuberculosis sanitarium for children, World War I relief and health centers in Palestine. Straus was a primary proponent of the pasteurization of milk.

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106 (corner): Bike Works


W <===     RIVINGTON STREET     ===> E

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P.S. 142: Amelia Castro School

Alphabet/City: Amalia Castro School by litherland, on Flickr

Block (100 Attorney): This 1975 school, shaped like a banjo, is named for the acting principal of P.S. 4, who died in 1973.






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Corner (203 Rivington): This was once P.S. 4-- now expensive housing.


80: New York Foundation for Senior Citizens

River Ridge

78 (corner): Renovated as a luxury condo in 2007, the year before it had been Live Poultry Market, a chicken slaughterhouse. It's also noted for the spectacular views motorists on the Williamsburg Bridge have of residents. The building dates to c. 1930.


W <===     DELANCEY STREET    

Williamsburg Bridge

NYC - LES: Williamsburg Bridge by wallyg, on Flickr Williamsburg Bridge by hankjames215, on Flickr

Constructed in 1903, this was the second bridge to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn. By allowing Orthodox Jews to walk to Lower East Side synagogues on the Sabbath, it created the Jewish enclaves in Williamsburg. Now it also allows Williamsburg hipsters easy access to the newly re-hip LES. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world until 1924 when it was surpassed by the Bear Mountain Bridge. Robert DeNiro's gang hangs out under this bridge in Once Upon a Time in America; Al Pacino drives across it when he moves from Brooklyn to Greenwich Village in Serpico.


    DELANCEY STREET     ===> E

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Corner (142 Broome): Beth Jacob Elementary School is an Orthodox Jewish girls school. (Beth Jacob, meaning House of Jacob, refers to the female half of the Jewish people.) This used to be the Esther Schoenfeld High School, another Jewish girls' school.


W <===     BROOME ST     ===> E





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

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