New York Songlines: Prince Street

South:

Corner (333 Hudson): Eater calls the ground floor here a "doomed space" for restaurants, having been home to Harbour, City Winery, Dog Ear Tavern and (at last notice) Samalita's. Whenever I hear about a cursed spot for a restaurant, I always assume there's a landlord there who has an unrealistic idea about how much a restaurant there is likely to make. The 10-story building here dates to 1925.

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Corner (341 Hudson): Like several properties hereabouts, this building is owned by Trinity Church, which received the entire neighborhood as a land grant from Queen Anne in 1705. In the early 20th Century, the church tore down a large number of residential buildings it owned and replaced them with large commercial structures in what was viewed as a slum-clearance effort. This 17-floor office building dates to 1931.

South:

Corner (326 Hudson): This eight-floor Trinity Church-owned office building went up in 1910, at the beginning of Trinity's slum-clearing efforts.

Corner (163 Varick): Jazzy's restaurant

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Corner (348 Hudson): Another Trinity Church-owned commercial building--this one a nine-story structure from 1930.

(84 King St): This is the back of the building that used to be Paradise Garage, legendary disco from 1977-87 that featured artists like Grace Jones, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Madonna. Now a Verizon facility.

Corner (171 Varick): Built in 1926 as a garage; now a self-storage facility. Among the buildings torn down to make room for it were 69-71 Charlton, described in 1915 by American Architect as being among "the best masterpieces of our old city homes."

South:

Site of Richmond Hill

Corner (160 Varick): Richmond Hill, the colonial mansion that served as a military headquarters for General George Washington and as a residence for both John Adams and Aaron Burr, was moved to this spot when John Jacob Astor bought the estate, leveled the hill and subdivided the property. The mansion became a theater in 1831, which featured the wild animal acts of Isaac Van Amburgh, reputedly the first person to put his head in a lion's mouth. The building was demolished in 1849.

The original location of the mansion is in some dispute; some say it was near this intersection, others place it a block to the west. On this site today is a 12-story commercial building from 1927 that is home to the Varick Street Incubator, an attempt by NYU to foster start-up businesses.

42: This house is the beginning of the Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District, designed to protect this area's fine Federal-style and Greek Revival rowhouses (from the 1820s and 1840s, respectively). Only four of them remain on this side of the block, including this one. In 1872, Tammany politician Michael Norton, who lived here when he was a state senator, lost a diamond stick pin while walking from Charlton to Bleecker, and advertised that he needed it back because "the Senator is a poor man and can ill afford to lose so large a diamond."

Elisabeth Irwin High School

40: Opened in 1941 as a secondary extension of the Little Red School House, this progressive private school is named for its founder (who also started Little Red), an educational pioneer who worked with John Dewey to create a style of teaching for "the whole child." As Nation editor Victor Navasky (an EIHS graduate) has noted, its alums are a varied lot, including radicals like Angela Davis and Kathy Boudin, neocons Elliott Abrams and Ronald Radosh, and actor Robert DeNiro. The building was put up by the New York City Mission Society as a church for Italian immigrants, the Charlton Street Memorial Church.

30: This building, completed in October 1929 at the very dawn of the Great Depression, replaced Nos. 26-32, buildings once owned by Tammany sachem Amos Cummings, an eight-term congressmember who lived at 32 from 1879 until his death in 1902. Much of Tammany's 8th Ward leadership lived on this block in imitation of Cummings.

26: The building that used to be here was once owned by Joseph Evans, a member of the nativist Order of United Americans. Later, in 1921, Katharine Hepburn's brother committed suicide here while visiting their aunt.

24: Singer Paul Robeson lived here in the 1930s and '40s, in one of the few remaining original houses on this side of the block.

20-22: These are also original Federal-style townhouses, and mark the end of the historic district.

2 (corner): This 1966 building replaced Nos. 10-18.

8-10: Was the Saint Raphael Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants.

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Corner (180 Varick): A 17-story commercial building from 1929 that's home to a number of architectural and design firms, including 2x4, MASS.com, Michael Sorkin Studio/Terreform, Hargreaves Associates, MESH Architectures and Thomas Phifer & Partners.

51-53: These townhouses, now demolished , were turned into an art school and daycare center for the children of Italian immigrants in the early 20th Century.

43: The Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District begins here on this side of the street, preserving a long string of townhouses that date from the 1820s and 1840s.

39: Along with No. 37 next door, called the best examples of the district's architecture by the AIA Guide. Mary Travers grew up at this address in the 1940s and early '50s. Actor Linda Hunt lived here in the 1980s.

37: This building housed the Monticello Club, a Tammany clubhouse where patronage was dispensed and vote fraud was boasted of. In 2004, it was (re)purchased by Trinity Church to serve as a home for its rector.

29: The Landmarks Commission called this townhouse "a perfect example of the simple 'genteel' house of the Federal period."

25: The Landmarks Commission called this "a rare survivor of its period and neighborhood," complete with stable-turned-residence in the back. Edna Saint-Vincent Millay lived here in 1918, when she wrote many of her best works.

23: Has a striking oval window over its door.

15-21: These houses were built in Greek Revival style after the Federal style originals were destroyed in an 1840 fire. Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker lived at No. 17 in the 1990s, moving out in 2002.

11: Once a twin townhouses at 11-13, the buildings were gutted, refaced with tan brick and given an extra story--and a single address. In 1911, before all this, 11 was the home of Daisy Lopez Fitze, a Triangle Shirtwaist Fire victim--she died of injuries suffered when she jumped nine stories into a net.

9 (corner): Last of the block's line of protected rowhouses. The rest of the block was torn down when 6th Avenue was pushed through the South Village. Composer Aaron Copeland lived at this address in 1951--in the rear part, which was once a free-standing carriage house. Actor Fred Gwynne, best known for his Herman Munster character, lived here in the 1980s.

3: Rev. Samuel H. Cox's house at this address was looted by a racist mob on July 10, 1834, outraged by his observation that Jesus "was a colored man." Cox soon moved upstate to teach theology.

1: Clement Clark Moore, who is credited with but probably did not write "A Visit From St. Nicholas," lived at this address with his wife and nine children. Torn down for 6th Avenue.

South:

Father Fagan Park

196: Erbe, natural Italian skincare line

Corner: St. Anthony's Convent

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203: An 1834 townhouse (expanded in 1888) that's an "almost-perfect restoration"--AIA Guide

199: Shorty's.32 is a New American bistro with chef Josh Eden's nickname and 32 seats. Just since 2000, this space has been Elysee, Sirocco, Frontiere, Soho Cantina and Goblin Market.

MACDOUGAL ST         N ===>

South:

180: Raoul's, romantic bistro that appears in The King of Comedy and A Perfect Murder. In Addicted to Love, waiter Matthew Broderick releases cockroaches in the restaurant to get back at his boss.

178: Ward-Nasse Gallery, an artists' co-op.

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Corner (131 Sullivan): Cub Room, New American

177: At Peep, you can look out at the bar from one-way mirrors in the restrooms.

South:

160: Milady's, a decent place to drink affordably in SoHo. Also was the address of Vesuvio Bakery, a neighborhood institution from 1920 until 2008.

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Corner (124 Thompson): On March 16, 1932, Gerard Vernotico was found strangled to death on the roof of this building. Twelve days later, his widow Anna Petillo Vernotico married mob boss Vito Genovese.

159: Was Untitled, a postcard shop that went out of business in 2006 after being here for 39 years.

157: Was Rocks In Your Head, record store that opened in 1978--one of the first places where you could buy punk and new wave imports. Moved to Williamsburg in 2006.

155: Jane Wilson-Marquis, Renaissance and Elizabethan-inspired wedding gowns

153: The flagship store of Girl Props, a zebra-striped purveyor of boas and fishnets

Corner (435 West Broadway): French Connection

South:

134: Nicole Miller, boutique favored by the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Kim Cattrall, Mena Suvari and Hillary Duff.

130 (corner): A 1988 neo-Art Deco office building combined with a repurposed bakery.

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141: Right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch lives in the penthouse here with his third wife. On the ground floor is Louis K. Meisel Gallery, noted for its photorealistic painters, its collection of original pin-up art, as well as for the fact that Charlotte worked here on Sex in the City.

131: Was the New York regional office of Students for a Democratic Society. It was also the site of The Loft Show in May 1969, one of the first public displays of homoerotic art. In 1970, avant-garde jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman launched Artists House here, "a combination performance space, recording studio, clubhouse, and apartment" (Love Goes to Buildings on Fire.

127 (corner): Food, a restaurant started by a collective of artists affiliated with The Kitchen, was here in the 1970s.

South:

128 (corner): Stuart Moore, modern jewelry

126: Kidrobot, vinyl toy collectibles

122: Reinstein Ross, classic jewelry

116: Fragments, hip jewelry

112-114: Building of the Soho Center for Visual Arts has a "cast-iron" trompe l'oeil on the exposed east wall--complete with "cat." In front of Mimi Ferzt Gallery at No. 114 is Cybele: Goddess of Fertility, a many-breasted 1993 statue by Mihail Chemiakin.

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125 (corner): Camper, trendy Spanish bowling shoes

123: Myoptics

121: Club Monaco is in one of a trio of cast-iron buildings designed in 1890 by Cleverdon & Putzel as warehouses for Frank Seitz. The original Dean & Deluca Cafe opened in this building in 1977; Mia Farrow has lunch with Judy Davis here in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives.

117-119: The middle section of the Frank Seitz complex.

113-115: Metropolitan Museum Gift Shop is also in a former Frank Seitz warehouse.

On May 25, 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz left his home at this address for the school bus--and has not been seen since. His disappearance fueled a national panic about missing children.

109 (corner): Replay is in an outstanding 1882 French Renaissance cast-iron building by Jarvis Morgan Slade.

South:

102-104: Henry Fernbach designed this 1881 cast-iron building for the Frederick Loeser & Co. department store. It was Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze's apartment in Ghost.

100: Miu Miu (Prada's sexier line) is in another cast-iron Fernbach building, this one from 1882.

96-98: Another 1882 Fernbach.

Fanelli's Cafe

94 (corner): One of the oldest bars in New York, serving since 1847. The name above the door, Nicholas Gerdes, was the owner from 1878-1902; the Fanelli family owned it from 1922-82. A classic.

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103 (Corner): Apple Store, computer superstore in the 1920s Prince Street post office with 21st Century glass furnishings.

99 (corner): The Mercer is a hotel in an 1888 building designed by William Schickel & Co. for John Jacob Astor's fur coat factory. Includes Mercer Kitchen and a J. Crew outlet. In 1974, David Mancuso moved the dance space known as The Loft here in 1974, where it helped spark the disco movement.

South:

90: Zoe, New American

Little Singer Building

88: Designed by Ernest Flagg in 1902 for the sewing machine company, this L-shaped building was little compared to Flagg's Singer Tower, one of New York's great lost buildings. This survivor is "one of the outstanding architectural achievements of the early 20th Century" (Guide to the Metropolis), the delicate metal and glass skin foreshadowed the modernist curtain wall. Though the main entrance is on Broadway, the Prince Street facade still bears the building's name. The ground floor houses Kate's Paperie, a fancy stationery store.

Corner (565 Broadway): Victoria's Secret Soho, is in the former Ball & Black Jewelry store, with appropriately Corinthian columns.

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Corner (142 Mercer): Lure Fishbar, voted best new seafood of 2005 by Time Out readers; was Canteen, "retro-futuristic" New American

Corner (575 Broadway): What was in the 1990s the Guggenheim Museum Soho, the downtown branch of the uptown museum, is now a futuristic Prada outlet. The structure itself was built in 1882 for the Rogers Peet clothing store.

South:

Dean & Deluca

Corner (560-566 Broadway): An 1883 masonry building by Thomas Stent houses this famous gourmet food store. The building takes up this whole side of the block, though the store doesn't.

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Block (568-578 Broadway): Armani Exchange is in an 1890s Renaissance Eclectic building by George B. Post, architect of the New York Stock Exchange. This was built on the site of Niblo's Garden, one of New York's longest-standing theaters--built in 1827 as the Sans Souci, it was rebuilt after several fires and was finally demolished in 1895. It featured actors like Edwin Forrest and orators like Daniel Webster (who spoke here in 1837), but it is most famous for the 1866 premier of The Black Crook, which some consider to be the first musical. It was a huge hit, being the first Broadway show to run more than a year.

After 1852, the theater was part of the Metropolitan Hotel, one of the city's most luxurious; Japanese Crown Prince Tateish Onojero stayed here in 1860. The hotel bartender, Professor Jerry Thomas, is immortalized as the creator of the Tom and Jerry cocktail.

The Metropolitan Hotel building now houses Bliss Soho, upscale spa.

South:

70 (corner): Savoy, Mediterranean

68: Hampton Chutney Co., very affordable (for Soho, at least) branch of a Indian restaurant in Amagansett.

The distinctive street art on this corner--black-and-white murals based on often-distorted photographs--are by WK Interact. (I think this might be gone now.)

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67 (corner): Kent Gallery

65: Paula Rubenstein Ltd., antiques and prints.

Corner: Former President James Monroe died in his daughter's house, formerly on this corner, on July 4, 1831--five years to the day after the deaths of presidents Jefferson and Adams.

South:

54: Buffa's, diner since 1928.

52: McNally Robinson NYC, New York branch of Canada-based independent bookstore chain. Was Benedetti Gallery?

Corner (251 Mulberry): Met Foods

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55 (corner): Details, housewares and gifts.

49: Boca Grande Arts & Crafts; jewelry and home accessories

South:

Corner (250 Mulberry): John Fluevog Shoes; New York branch of an international chain.

44: MeKong Restaurant; hip Vietnamese

40: 30 Prince Farm; this deli is said to have the best condom selection in town.

32 (corner): Old St Patrick's Convent and Girls' School; built 1825-26 as the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum.

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Old St Patrick's Cathedral

Block (260-264 Mulberry): New York's first Roman Catholic cathedral, with construction starting in 1809 to a design by Joseph Mangin (the architect of City Hall). It was built behind high walls to protect it from anti-Catholic rioters. A fire in 1868 gutted the building; it was restored by Henry Engelbert, but not before the diocese's seat had moved to Midtown. John McCloskey became the first American cardinal here April 27, 1865. It's now a beautiful but underutilized parish church.

South:

30: The Kitchen Club, modern Japanese; includes Chibi's, sake bar

28: Sigerson Morrison, for the serious shoe fanatic

26: Bistrot Margot, pre-gentrification French

24: Rondure, Euro-eclectic

20: Porcupine, American tavern, was the eclectic Mix-It. Formerly a bodega.

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29: Bio, boutique whose tags feature the designers' life stories.

Ray's Pizza

27: There are many Ray's in New York claiming to be the original or the famous, but this is the actual first Ray's Pizza, named for Ralph Cuomo, who opened it in 1959. (The lack of an adjective is the tipoff-- it wasn't famous when it was named.) In 1998, Cuomo was sent to prison for selling more than just pizza--he was making heroin deals for the Luchese crime family in the basement here.

25: Lunettes et Chocolat; store that sells eyeglasses and chocolate, oddly enough.

19: Karikter, gifts

17 (corner): Cafe Habana, the neighborhood's trendiest joint. A reader notes: "It used to be a diner we dubbed the 'rat cafe' because--in its previous incarnation--the moment it closed at night rats the size of Rottweilers would take the place over, slithering around the counters, licking the donuts under the glass covers. Eventually Japanese tourists caught on and it became a gruesomely fascinating must-see.''

South:

14 (corner): This was the location of Papa Joe's sandwich luncheonette, a notable eatery from 1931 to 1970 that attracted customers ranging from mayors John Lindsay and Abraham Beame to local celebrity Martin Scorsese.

10: Connecticut Muffin; two employees were murdered here in a hold-up in 1999.

Corner (230 Bowery): Prince New and Used Restaurant Equipment Supplies

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13: Red Flower, candles

1 (corner): Bari Gallery Furnishings, affiliated with a restaurant supply company.