East Village is a real time commitment — fit it in only if it's a priority.
Allow Evening.
The scruffier, livelier cousin of the West Village: dive bars, ramen and dumpling joints, vintage shops, tattoo parlors, and deep punk/rock history along St. Marks Place. It's a nighttime and late-night neighborhood, energetic and a little rough around the edges — exactly why people love it. Light on daytime sights.