Commerce Street

This is a quiet side street in Greenwich Village that lasts only two blocks. It starts at 7th Avenue and runs west, crossing Bedford Street until it merges with Barrow Street just before the intersection with Hudson Street. I know, there were a lot of streets in that description.

At one point Commerce Street makes a sudden and exciting sharp right turn, which occurs on the block west of Bedford:

Commerce Street features mostly brick buildings, which is always a good thing. 

On this block is the Cherry Lane Theater. The only indication I saw of this street being called Cherry Lane was a street sign at 7th Avenue:

I don't know if this street used to be called Cherry Lane, and that's where the theater's name comes from, or if the street was given that honorary name because of the theater. I could try looking up that information, but I kind of like it being a mystery. Feel free to look that up yourself if it's really bugging you for some reason. 

Anyway, it is an off-Broadway theater, and the city's oldest one that has been continuously running. It has been open since 1924, and the building dates back to 1817, when it was a farm silo. Before eventually becoming the theater, it was also a tobacco warehouse and box factory. 

Many famous actors have passed through this theater over the years, including Harvey Keitel, Gene Hackman, and Barbra Streisand, just to name a few.

The poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay was part of the group that originally opened the theater. There is a plaque just around the corner on Bedford Street marking a house that she lived in.

You can see that the address is 75 1/2 Bedford Street, and it is the narrowest house in the city. 

In a way I think it would be a cool place to live but in another way I'm not so sure:

"Hey guess what, I just bought the narrowest house in the city!"

"Oh, that's cool. I think. Is it comfortable?"

"To be honest, it's a bit tight."

But it's in a nice area on a quiet street, so it's probably worth it overall. 

Near the Cherry Lane Theater is a building with this plaque:

And here's the building it's on:

It's nice that they give history of the building and these streets. This is traditionally an artist-heavy neighborhood. 

Here are some more looks at the area where Commerce Street makes a quick right turn and then meets Barrow Street:

For traffic purposes, this block of Commerce Street seems like just an extra way of getting to the corner of Barrow and Hudson, and because of this and the generally light traffic in the area, it is probably a good block to be used for film and TV productions. 

In fact, I remember walking nearby in 2015 and seeing that there was a filming in progress on the block, though I couldn't tell what it was. Then that weekend I saw it on Saturday Night Live. So that was cool. By the way, it was the 'Say what you wanna say' video from the episode with Dakota Johnson.  

Near the merging with Barrow Street was some nice random art and architecture on buildings:

 

   

There's something about a wood door with no top that I find very appealing. Is that a weird thing to like?

Since Barrow Street in this area turns slightly right, these two buildings are at a bit of an angle to each other, which I somehow found interesting to look at:

Back on Commerce Street:

Hopefully the bird made it out unscathed. 

This alley cuts across from Commerce to Barrow. It's nothing special, I suppose, but here it is anyway:

This building is at one of the corners of Commerce and Bedford:

I wonder why they left part of the brick exposed on that side. It looks a bit odd, but maybe there's a reason for it. 

The Commerce Street block between Bedford and 7th Avenue also has many nice brick buildings, most of which seem to be residential. 

One of the buildings in the above photo has a quaint archway that I enjoyed:

 There are two eateries on this block. One is a sushi restaurant:

I haven't eaten there but it seems to have good online reviews.

The other place is a small bakery:

Should I just take a photo of the bakery and move on? No, I should really also sample some of their goods. I've been trying to lose some weight, but writing a blog takes sacrifice. 

A red velvet cupcake and a cream-filled chocolate cookie. Both were really good. 

There was one more cool thing on this block as I approached 7th Avenue:

Despite the "Jr." on the plaque, I believe this refers to the famous Washington Irving who wrote "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," among many other works. He also originated the term "Gotham" for New York City.

Here is a wider view of the house:

I think that's all for this post. Commerce Street is a beautiful and historic area to visit, along with being very low-key and pleasant. A very nice refuge in lower Manhattan. Here's one more look, taken near the intersection with 7th Avenue: