Gardens and Nightlife: LaGuardia Place between Bleecker and West Houston Street

This is an interesting block in Greenwich Village because each side of the street has its own very separate personality. 

One side is almost fully gardens and vegetation with a local residential feel. The other side is at the starting edge of a section of downtown nightlife and so has many restaurants and fashionable shops and is more for the tourist and weekend crowds. 

There is an impressive variety among the restaurants on the block, starting near Bleecker Street with a British place called the GMT Tavern and a Moroccan restaurant called Le Souk which also has a hookah bar and lounge.

I don't think this is a restaurant but 'European' indicates diversity:

There is also a nail salon called Il Villagio Nail Spa which sounds somewhat exotic. Maybe they originally called it The Village Nail Spa because it's in Greenwich Village, but then decided to spice up the name to compete with everyone around them.

There are also some fashion and clothing stores on the block, along with Mocha Burger which is a kosher place that sells organic burgers.

As we approach West Houston Street there is Molcajete Taqueria and then Silver Spurs which is a diner open 24/7, as any good diner should be. 

The West Houston intersection is a big one. 

Crossing it will put you south of Houston and therefore in the SoHo neighborhood, with LaGuardia Place turning into West Broadway. There are many upscale galleries and fashion shops in that area. 

Houston Street has been known as a dangerous street for bike riders. There is a bike near the corner which I believe is a memorial for Derek Lake, a 23-year-old who was killed in 2006 at this corner when he fell off his bike and then was run over by a truck.

 Here is a look back at the block from the Houston Street area:

LaGuardia Place is only a few blocks long and it ends to the north when it runs into the southern edge of Washington Square Park.

Along with one side of this block having no buildings and just garden areas, the buildings on the other side are modestly sized and pleasant in an old-fashioned New York kind of way. This contributes to the nice feel of the street, except on the weekends when it's swarming with tourists and nightlife crowds. But during the week it's quite pleasant.

The garden side of the block at Houston Street features an area called Time Landscape. 

It is 25 by 40 feet and goes about halfway up the block. It's filled with native trees and plants to honor the forest that existed in Manhattan centuries ago. This project from 1978 was led by a landscape artist named Alan Sonfist.

The bus stop was not there in the early 17th century. I'm assuming. 

I probably should have been more cautious about getting so close to that bee, but he seemed very concerned with the flowers so I figured I was okay. 

There is a narrow pathway behind this plot that goes the full length of the block. It's between the gardens and the Silver Towers building complex next door. 

Sometimes I'm hesitant to walk down this path because of how secluded it is, but it's safe and a nice break from all the crowded sidewalks in the area. I don't think I would walk down it at 3am however. 

Closer to Bleecker Street is LaGuardia Corner Gardens, the residential garden area that is open to the public and features lots of beautiful flowers and such.  It was started in 1981 and contains 25 total plots.

There are signs indicating that there were several years when it won something called the 'Dress Up Your Neighborhood Contest':

Just because you're into gardening and the environment doesn't mean you can't brag a little. Good for them. 

Here's the entrance area:

You can see the Morton Williams supermarket just behind the gardens on Bleecker Street. I'm tempted to complain about how slow the lines move there at the register, but really it's not so bad. It's fine. 

Here's a look inside the garden facing Bleecker Street:

It's not an especially large garden but it's dense and they pack a lot in. I enjoyed the succulent plants that were scattered throughout:

I guess now I'll do a montage of some of the varied flowers and plants in the garden:

There were also some toy dinosaurs in there:

There were lots and lots of bees in one area. Perhaps it was a honey-making operation. I'm not sure, but I was definitely cautious about keeping my distance.

There were many butterflies in the garden, including this one on a flower that posed nicely with its wings spread:

I also saw a squirrel looking around and having a nice time, along with a fake squirrel that I saw out of the corner of my eye and thought was real at first and looking right at me. But it turned out to just be a smiling figurine.

And there was this bird on a post that wasn't a type I was used to seeing around very much:

Anyway I guess my point is that this little garden has great plants and flowers and attracts lots of animals too, making it a nice little break from the surrounding downtown madness. Here's a few more looks around:

There were some bunches of grapes growing that were covered with netting, seen in the next 2 photos:

  

Across from the LaGuardia Corner Gardens, right at the Bleecker Street corner, is another plot with vegetation. This one is very small but every bit helps. 

I like walking through that little pathway in between. Occasionally in the daytime I have had small mice scurry across in front of me, heading into the garden area. But they're harmless and are probably baby mice who don't realize that they shouldn't be out during the day. 

That's all from this block which mixes green with urban, local with tourism and nightlife. I hope you enjoyed the journey and thanks for reading!