New York Songlines: Suffolk Street

Red Square

250 E Houston: Luxury apartments named in 1989, during a wave of Soviet nostalgia. Note the statue of Lenin on the roof and mixed-up numbers on the clock.

West:

Corner: Under construction, 2011.

155: This building was the home of Fractor, a Web project that was going to "match news stories with opportunities for social activism and community service."

Corner (152 Stanton): Azul, Argentine. Azul means "Blue," and it's also a large town in Argentina that produces a lot of cattle.

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East:

Corner (269 E Houston): The Local 269, dive bar that regularly features live music, was Vasmay Lounge; before that it was Meow Mix, Manhattan's coolest lesbian club; Sleater-Kinney played here; Chasing Amy has a scene here. It took over a bar called The Far Side in 1994.

There's a startling photo of this building being cleaned.

180: Puerto Rican Council Day Care Center

Dorothy Strelsin Memorial Garden

172-174: Aka the Suffolk Street Community Garden. It was established in 1980 as the Iglesia Pentacostal Arca de Salvacion, and revamped in 2002 as a collaboration between the New York Restoration Project and Ground Force, a BBC America reality show. Strelsin was a philanthropist who died in 2001; she also has a performance space named for her in the Abingdon Theatre.

Corner (154 Stanton): The sign says "Louis Zuflacht/154/Smart Clothes," but it's now home to the New York Studio Gallery, an art space that combines production and exhibition. LZ Project Space is some kind of annex to it.

West:

Lower East Side Prep School

Corner (145 Stanton): A public high school that serves many non-English-speaking students and transfer students who have struggled elsewhere--and is said to do a good job educating this challenging population. Housed in the same building is the Marta Valle High School, named for the first commissioner of the Youth Services Agency and the founder of the Puerto Rican Institute for Social Research, who died in 1975 at the age of 41.

The AIA Guide admires the 1977 building's New Brutalist design, by David Todd & Assocs.

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East:

Streit's Matzos

Corner (148-154 Rivington): Aron Streit began his matzo business in 1910; it moved here in 1925, where the matzos and other kosher products are still made. Now run by Streit's grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

West:

Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center

107 (corner): Once P.S. 160, this striking neo-Gothic building from 1898 is now an arts center, featuring theaters, a gallery and film facilities. Launched in 1994 by writer Ed Vega (father of Suzanne Vega), the center is named for a prominent Puerto Rican poet and independence advocate. The building was designed by C.B.J. Snyder, the New York public school system's great architect.

Corner (146 Delancey): Hyperactive; Outrageous Look, women's clothing

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East:

116: Organic Avenue, juice. In 1996, this space was home to the Lighthouse Cinema, a memorably decrepit art house. The sign above the first floor reads "S. Rothkopf & Sons," apparently a maker of kids' pajamas c. 1900.

114: Iglesia Pentecostal La Senda Antigua ("The Old Path")

112: Antibes Bistro, well-regarded French, sometimes with live jazz

102: Soy, vegetarian-ish Japanese

Corner (150 Delancey): Bought for $12 million in 2008 by developer Sam Chang, along with Nos. 152-154 Delancey for $3.5 million. All demolished, supposed to be replaced by a six-story hotel.

West:

Block: This block is all parking lot.

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East:

Block: Nothing here but parking lot.

76: This was the childhood of home of Jack Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg, the comic book artist who first drew Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Silver Surfer and the original X-Men, among many others. He grew up around the corner from Delancey Street, which appeared in Fantastic Four as Yancy Street, the neighborhood where Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, grew up.

West:

Corner: Most of this block is parking lot.

Corner (384 Grand): Was Two Boots LES, the southern outpost of the local pizza chain whose name evokes Italy and Louisiana--its culinary inspirations. Also here was the Grand Bakery.

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East:

Block: Mostly parking lot on this side, too.

Seward Park Co-Ops

357 Grand: Co-Operative Village, one of 12 towers designed by Herman Jessor and built from 1957-60. The Hatters and Painters unions' pension funds helped pay for the development. The complex features Socialist Realist-style murals by Hugo Gellert depicting Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR and Einstein, painted in 1959. In 1996, the co-op board tried to have the historic murals removed, but they reversed the decision after appeals from art historians and union leaders.

393 Grand: Seward Park Liquors

399 Grand: Noah's Ark Original Deli is a spinoff of a deli in Teaneck, N.J.

409 Grand (corner): Congregation Emanu-El, New York's first Reform congregation, originally met for services on the second floor of a building here from 1845-48. It's now the address of Roots & Vines, a cafe and wine bar.