The Bowery has been a nice change. I stayed in midtown for a decade @ the Muse, which got hipper and hipper over the decade, while the neighborhood’s ogling tourists got less hip. The Bowery is uber post modern hip – where the legacies of Stonewall, CBGB, etc have been transformed to a Varvatos concept stop or a pricey store selling designer tee shirts at $100.
There is something odd but satisfying about staying in the Bowery. You could walk to China Town to the Village to Washington Square to Union Square – Soho, Noho – Nolita. It’s all right here and the people don’t resemble ogling tourists at all – as a matter of fact they are youngish and punked out minus the hair spikes as if that era hadn’t passed either.