New York Songlines: Thompson Street

East:

Washington Square Park

Originally a marsh surrounding Minetta Brook, in the early years of New York this area was used as a graveyard for slaves and yellow fever victims, a dueling ground and a place of execution.

In 1826 this area was designated the Washington Military Parade Grounds, which soon was transformed into a public park. Washington Square was at one point the center of New York society, later becoming the unofficial quadrangle of NYU. In 1961 it was the site of protests over a police crackdown on folksinging, and in 1963, community organizing got cars banned from the park. The present landscaping of the park dates to 1971. The community is currently fighting an ill-conceived effort to change aspects of the park that contribute to its status as one of the nation's great public spaces.

West:

Judson Memorial Church

Corner: Built 1888-96 from a Stanford White design inspired by early Christian churches. Founded by Edward Judson (with financial support from John D. Rockefeller), the church has always been socially active, providing services for the immigrant neighborhood at the turn of the 20th Century. During the 1960s, the church provided drug treatment, draft- counseling and abortion referrals. It provided sanctuary from police during 1961's Folksinger Riots. In 1992, ACT-UP held an open-casket funeral here that carried the body of AIDS activist Mark Fisher to George Bush the Elder's re-election headquarters on 43rd Street.

Poet Edwin Arlington Robinson lived in Judson's tower in 1906.

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East:

Holy Trinity Chapel

Built on the site of the house of Daniel Megie, the state hangman, who handled the executions at Washington Square's Hanging Elm. The house later became Bruno's Garrett, a sort of Bohemian theme park run by Village character Guido Bruno.

West:

219: Chess Forum, which makes up half of New York's ''chess district,'' has more of the fantastical chess sets that make for great window-shopping.

217: Nostalgia...and All That Jazz records

211: Bernhard Goetz's apartment for two years c. 1980, before he became the ''Subway Vigilante.'' He was accused of setting fire to the belongings of homeless people while living here.

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230: Village Chess Shop, chess equipment and pick-up games. Also at this address is Pluck U, local wings chain, formerly Cookies and Couscous, Mideastern restaurant and bakery.

The Grand Ticino

228: A Village Italian from 1919 to 2005; it was the place where Danny Aiello proposes to Cher in Moonstruck. (Screenwriter John Patrick Shanley was a regular customer.) It's also said to have been the place where Dylan Thomas had his first American meal. The Dove, a lounge/parlor, is at the same address

226: Rincon de Espana, Spanish

222: Cuba, restaurant where you get a freshly rolled cigar. Replaced Cafe Alyss, French?

218: Stella Dallas, high-quality vintage clothing

210: Generation Records specializes in hardcore and heavy metal.

208: Portobello, charming Italian

206: Massimo al Ponte Vecchio, another Italian

West:

Corner (158 Bleecker): Village Theater; space was Art D'Lugoff's Village Gate, legendary jazz showplace. (Note sign on corner of building.) Bob Dylan wrote ''A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall'' in a basement apartment of this building.

181: Rocco, an old-school Italian, dates to 1922. Here in September 1952 mobster Tony Bender asked Joseph Valachi to kill informant Eugenio Giannini. The hit was carried out, but Valachi himself later became one of the Mafia's most famous informers.

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East:

184 (corner): Was La Margarita, old-school Mexican burnt out in 2004. PriceWise, independent pharmacy, is on the lower level. On the site of the Genovese Trading Co., a junkyard owned by mob leader Vito Genovese.

180: Musician Frank Zappa lived here in the 1960s.

172: Tomoe Sushi, outstanding sushi at regular sushi prices

170: Lupa; Zagat's raves about its Italian fare, but calls it "famously hard to get into." Owned by the host of the Food Channel's Molto Mario.

Corner (106 Houston): Arturo's Pizzeria, long-running pizza joint. Arturo Giunta opened it in 1957 and passed away in 2006.

West:

151 (corner): St. Anthony's Pious League dates to c. 1880.

137: Thompson Chemists, since 1994

125 (corner): Franciscan Friars' ( Province of the Immaculate Conception, founded in 1855 by friars from Italy.

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East:

138-144: Brick warehouses, built 1883 with striking arches.

132: Sean, creative casuals

124 (corner): On March 16, 1932, Gerard Vernotico was found strangled to death on the roof of this building. Twelve days later, his widow Anna Petillo Vernotico married mob boss Vito Genovese.

West:

115 (corner):

113: Omen, rustic Japanese

111: Sacco, high-fashion shoes for slightly less

109: Legacy, vintage and new designer clothes

107: Dosa, imported women's clothing

105: Snack, affordable Greek; also Peter Fox, bridal shoes

101: INA, designer resale store

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East:

120: The Hat Shop

118: Peter Hermann has lots of designer handbags in a tiny shop.

110: Britti Cafe Bar, where the drinks are named after Italian cars

100: Doggystyle NYC, for the overindulged animal

92: Clio, styley glassware and the like. There used to be a store called Shamballa here that had a pet snake.

90: HQ, American bistro with a seasonal menu, was Jean Claude's Soho Steak.

Corner (177 Spring): Famous Ben's Pizza of SoHo gets wildly mixed reviews. (There's another Ben's that's probably more famous at Macdougal and 3rd.)

West:

Corner (184 Spring): L'Ulivo Focacceria, sidewalk Italian

69: Country Cafe; the country is France, and also Morocco.

63: Chelsea Girl (formerly The 1909 Company), vintage clothing.

59: Kate Spade Travel, designer luggage

51 (corner): Tunnel Garage, a 1922 parking structure named for the Holland Tunnel.

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East:

Corner (180 Spring): Bistro Les Amis is in a four-story building from 1910.

80: Le Corset by Selima, "the best little lingerie place in town"--Eve Claxton.

72: Il Bisonte, handcrafted leather bags

60: 60 Thompson, high-end boutique hotel. Includes the stylish Thom's Bar and Kittichai, fancy Thai.

54: Converted lofts with sculpture garden

West:

25: Born next door at 32 Grand Street, a Songlines reader moved here in 1911 when he was two months old, and lived here until he was 12. He recalls: "It was a neighborhood filled with large families, mostly Italian, and full of life. We had ice men, coal men, gamblers, vendors, dock workers, garment workers, Kids thrived playing stickball in the streets, becoming notable boxers, doing errands for wise guys and racing over the rooftops and through 'the Forty Yards' (a system of backyards behind the building, with many safe exits)."

Corner (32 Grand): Cafe Noir, Moroccan

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East:

40 (corner): Originally a New York Edison substation, this c. 1920 building has been the Manhattan Brewing Company, the Thompson Street Brewery, the nightclub NEXT and Nacho Mama's.

West:

17: Naked Lunch, bar named for William Burroughs' novel, whose title the author paraphrased as "a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork."

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East:

Corner (35 Grand): Pfiff, New American, replaced Abyssinia, Ethiopian that opened in the 1980s.

8: Biny, futuristic sushi/karaoke bar