New York Citys New Downtown

T+L looks at the big ideas, cutting-edge architecture and design, and daring personalities that are shaping the new New York.

No one can agree precisely when it started, let alone where it starts.

South of Houston Street? 14th? 23rd? Does it include the farther-flung galleries of Chelsea? The Financial District? Do the leafier blocks of the West Village still count, or are check-cashing joints and graffiti a prerequisite? Some say Downtown New York is less a place than an idea, more about sensibility than geography. (For the purposes of our discussion, let’s call it the swath between 14th and Chambers Streets, from the Hudson to the East River.).

The one thing New Yorkers can agree on is that Downtown just feels different. You sense it the minute you cross that disputed border. Few cityscapes have such recognizable iconography—the cast-iron façades of SoHo, the Belgian block–paved lanes of TriBeCa, the water towers punctuating rooflines like squat wooden rocket ships, the hoardings plastered with dance-mix ads, the congee joints and Puerto Rican bodegas, the bodega that last Tuesday became a bistro.

1967: Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, on Lafayette Street, opens with the world premiere of Hair.

1974: The band Television plays the first notable rock show at CBGB, paving the way for Patti Smith, Richard Hell, the Ramones, Blondie, and Talking Heads.

1982: NYC’s Loft Law finally allows residential use of former commercial/industrial properties, giving Downtown artists a much-needed legal footing.

1984: Bright Lights, Big City glamorizes coke-fueled Downtown nightlife, sets stage for eventual invasion of TriBeCa by young bankers who only saw the movie.

1997: Balthazar opens, hardly anyone notices. “Table for two at eight this Friday? No problem!”

2001: Guggenheim Museum SoHo closes; becomes a Prada store. Designed by Rem Koolhaas. But still.

2007: Opening of the New Museum, the first-ever art museum to be constructed from the ground up in Lower Manhattan.

2009: The High Line debuts to wild acclaim, with would-be visitors queueing up for wristbands. (Some mistakenly believe it’s a club.)

Stay

Bowery Hotel 335 Bowery; 212/505-9100; theboweryhotel.com; doubles from $425.

Cooper Square Hotel 25 Cooper Square; 888/251-7979; thecoopersquarehotel.com; doubles from $425.

Crosby Street Hotel 79 Crosby St.; 212/226-6400; crosbystreethotel.com; doubles from $525.

Greenwich Hotel 377 Greenwich St.; 877/888-1255; thegreenwichhotel.com; doubles from $475.

Jane Hotel 113 Jane St.; 212/924-6700; thejanenyc.com; doubles from $114.

The Standard, New York 848 Washington St.; 212/645-4646; standardhotels.com; doubles from $295.

Eat

Balthazar 80 Spring St.; 212/941-0364; dinner for two $100.

DBGB Kitchen & Bar 299 Bowery; 212/933-5300; dinner for two $80.

Double Crown 316 Bowery; 212/254-0350; dinner for two $120.

Elettaria 33 W. Eighth St.; 212/677-3833; dinner for two $110.

Locanda Verde Greenwich Hotel; 377 Greenwich St.; 212/925-3797; dinner for two $110.

Minetta Tavern 113 MacDougal St.; 212/475-3850; dinner for two $98.

Momofuku Ssam Bar 207 Second Ave.; 212/254-3500; dinner for two $80.

Pastis 9 Ninth Ave.; 212/929-4844; dinner for two $140.

Russ & Daughters 179 E. Houston St.; 212/475-4880; lunch for two $22.

Schiller’s Liquor Bar 131 Rivington St.; 212/260-4555; dinner for two $70.

Spotted Pig 314 W. 11th St.; 212/620-0393; dinner for two $120.

Standard Grill The Standard, New York; 848 Washington St.; 212/645-4100; dinner for two $80.

Waverly Inn & Garden 16 Bank St.; 212/243-7900; dinner for two $100.

WD-50 50 Clinton St.; 212/477-2900; dinner for two $124.

Shop

Blue & Cream 1 E. First St.; 212/533-3088.

Derek Lam 12 Crosby St.; 212/966-1616.

J.Crew’s Liquor Store 235 W. Broadway; 212/226-5476.

John Varvatos 315 Bowery; 212/358-0315.

Opening Ceremony 35 Howard St.; 212/219-2688.

Partners & Spade 40 Great Jones St.; 646/861-2827.

After Dark

Bowery Electric 327 Bowery; 212/228-0228.

Death & Co. 433 E. Sixth St.; 212/388-0882.

(Le) Poisson Rouge 158 Bleecker St.; 212/228-4854; lepoissonrouge.com.

Mayahuel 304 E. Sixth St.; 212/253-5888.

Milk & Honey 134 Eldridge St.; [email protected].

PDT 113 St. Marks Place; 212/614-0386.

Pegu Club 77 W. Houston St.; 212/473-7348.

The Stone Corner of Ave. C and Second St.; no phone; thestonenyc.com.

See & Do

High Line Entrances on Gansevoort St., 14th St., 16th St., 18th St., and 20th St.; 212/500-6035; thehighline.org.

Lower East Side Tenement Museum 91 Orchard St.; 212/431-0233; tenement.org.

New Museum 235 Bowery; 212/219-1222; newmuseum.org.