Lurking in Lower East Side

Manhattan is like a Russian doll of subcultures and neighborhoods. The more I scratch the surface, the more I realize how little I know of the city.

Few parts of New York are more steeped in mystery than Lower East Side. Located between Bowery and East River, it stretches from Houston down Canal Street, or even further depending on who you ask. In some definitions it also includes infamous areas such as East Village, Little Italy and Chinatown.

I visited Lower East Side about 15 years ago, and it felt a lot different back then. Today I got off the subway at Delency and walked north to Rivington St. Anthony Bourdain allegedly bought his first bag of heroin on Rivington Street in 1980, but these days the street feels clean and safe. I go down the stairs to the speakeasy bar called Nitecap, where most things on the menu includes Mezcal.

Lurking around Lower East Side.

I continue north and arrive at a place that is well-known in pop culture. Katz’s Delicatessen is the infamous movie location from When Harry met Sally, but it is so much more than just another movie location. At the counter I order a classic Pastrami sandwich. While devouring the big pile of meat I look at the sign in the ceiling, literally pointing at the table where the movie couple sat. But I’m content to sit where Bourdain did during his visit with No Reservations crew in 2009.

Katz’s Delicatessen.

Lower East Side has been hit hard by the gentrification wave, forcing many of the old residents to leave and give way for the hip crowd. This become blatantly obvious as we find Copper & Oak at Allen St, which is as far from any dive bar as it is possible to be. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling by immaculately lit shelves of very expensive stuff. The menu was only available on an iPad. While I was enjoying my Bourbon from Rock Hill Farms, the speakers where playing The Final Countdown by Europe in what I hoped to be a very ironic fashion.

Copper & Oak.

But there is only so much I can take of spotless hipster places. As I leave Lower East Side and continue west into Bowery, I pass the old location of legendary club CBGB and enter the seedy Bleeker street. Hello darkness my old friend.