Bleecker Street
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, but which was once a major center for American bohemia
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
.
Bleecker Street connects Abingdon Square, the intersection of Eighth Avenue
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
and Hudson Street
Hudson Street (Manhattan)
Hudson Street is a north/south oriented street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from TriBeCa to Greenwich Village and through Hudson Square, Hudson Street has two distinct one-way traffic patterns that meet at Abingdon Square, at the street's intersection with Eighth Avenue and...
in the West Village
West Village, Manhattan
The West Village is the western portion of the Greenwich Village neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The area is usually defined as bounded by the Hudson River on the west and either Sixth Avenue or Seventh Avenue on the east, extending from 14th Street down to Houston Street...
, to the Bowery in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
.
Nearby sites include Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
and music venue Cafe Wha?
Cafe Wha?
Cafe Wha? is a club in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York City that has been home to various musicians and comedians. Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, The Velvet Underground, Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, Kool and the Gang, Peter, Paul & Mary, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Joan...
, where Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...
, Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
, and many others began their careers. The club CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
, which closed in 2006, was located at the east end of Bleecker Street, at the corner of Bowery.
Transportation
Bleecker Street is served by the trains at Bleecker StreetBleecker Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
Bleecker Street is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Lafayette and Bleecker Streets in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan...
station. Southbound (downtown) passengers can transfer to the Broadway – Lafayette Street station for service on the trains. The trains serve the Christopher Street – Sheridan Square station is one block north of Bleecker Street.
Traffic on the street is one-way, going south and east. Early in December 2007 a portion was set aside as a bicycle lane.
History
Bleecker Street is named by and after the Bleecker familyAnthony Bleecker
Anthony Bleecker was a lawyer and author who was friends with Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant. He was the son of Anthony Lispenard Bleecker, one of the wealthiest and most influential citizens in 18th century New York , and for whom Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village was named...
because the street ran through the farm of the family. In 1808, Anthony Bleecker
Anthony Bleecker
Anthony Bleecker was a lawyer and author who was friends with Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant. He was the son of Anthony Lispenard Bleecker, one of the wealthiest and most influential citizens in 18th century New York , and for whom Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village was named...
and his wife deeded to the city a major portion of the land on which Bleecker Street sits.
Originally Bleecker Street extended only as far west as Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
. In 1829 it was joined with Herring Street, extending Bleecker Street northwest to Abingdon Square.
Landmarks
- Bayard-Condict BuildingBayard-Condict BuildingThe Bayard-Condict Building at 65 Bleecker Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, at the head of Crosby Street in the NoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York City is the only work of architect Louis Sullivan in New York City. It was built between 1897 and 1899 in the Chicago School style;...
- Bleecker Street CinemasBleecker Street CinemasBleecker Street Cinema was an American art house movie theater located at 144 Bleecker Street in New York City, New York...
, closed in 1991 - Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Carmine StreetAntonio DemoFather Antonio Demo was a New York City priest and civic activist. He studied at seminaries in Italy and emigrated to the United States in 1896. He initially did missionary work in Boston and then served as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Pompei Church on Bleecker and Carmine Streets in Greenwich...
Notable night spots
- The Bitter EndThe Bitter EndThe Bitter End is a nightclub in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened its doors in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to The Other End during the 1970s...
at 147 Bleecker Street - Cafe Au Go GoCafe Au Go GoThe Cafe au Go Go was a Greenwich Village night club located in the basement of 152 Bleecker Street. The club featured many well known musical groups, folksingers and comedy acts between the opening in February 1964 until closing in October 1969. Originally owned by Howard Solomon who sold the club...
was at 152 Bleecker Street - Kenny's Castaways at 157 Bleecker Street
- The Village GateThe Village GateThe Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York.Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 158 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structure by architect Ernest Flagg was known at the time as...
was at 160 Bleecker Street - (Le) Poisson Rouge(Le) Poisson RougePoisson Rouge is a music venue and multimedia art cabaret in New York City founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of The Village Gate. The performance space was designed and engineered by John Storyk/WSDG...
at 158 Bleecker Street
Notable eateries
- Magnolia BakeryMagnolia BakeryMagnolia Bakery is a bakery opened in 1996 at 401 Bleecker Street, on the corner of West 11th Street in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. An uptown shop opened at 200 Columbus Avenue, on the corner of West 69th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in January 2008...
at the corner of Bleecker Street and West 11th St. - Bleecker Street Pizza
- John's of Bleecker Street
- Pasticceria Rocco - Rocco's Pastry Shop
- Grom gelateria at the corner of Bleecker and Carmine
Notable residents
- James AgeeJames AgeeJames Rufus Agee was an American author, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, he was one of the most influential film critics in the U.S...
lived at 172 Bleecker Street, above Cafe Espanol (1941–1951) - Mark Van DorenMark Van DorenMark Van Doren was an American poet, writer and a critic, apart from being a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thinkers including Thomas Merton, Robert Lax, John Berryman, and Beat Generation...
- Robert FrankRobert FrankRobert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
- Alicia KeysAlicia KeysAlicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
- Craig RodwellCraig RodwellCraig L. Rodwell was an American gay rights activist known for founding the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop on November 24, 1967, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors and as the prime mover for the creation of the New York City pride demonstration...
lived at 350 Bleecker Street (1968-1993) - Dave WinerDave WinerDave Winer is an American software developer, entrepreneur and writer in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web services, as well as blogging and podcasting...
Literature
- Valenti AngeloValenti AngeloValenti Angelo was an Italian-American printmaker, illustrator and author, born June 23, 1897 in Massarosa, Italy. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1905, living first in New York City then settling in Antioch, California...
's 1949 novel The Bells of Bleecker Street is set in the Italian American community in that neighborhood. - Bleecker Street is referenced in Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's The Dark Tower seriesThe Dark Tower (series)The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. It describes a "Gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. King...
, notably in The Wolves of the Calla. - The Marc JacobsMarc JacobsMarc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
store on Bleecker Street is mentioned in the novel Bergdorf BlondesBergdorf BlondesBergdorf Blondes was the début novel of Plum Sykes, an English-born fashion writer and New York “it girl”. It was first published in the USA by Miramax Books, and in Britain by Viking, in 2004. Penguin published a paperback edition in 2005....
by Plum Sykes as a hangout for emaciated young women. - In The Bear Comes Home, Rafi Zabor names a jazz album 'If There's a Bleecker Street Than This One, I Don't Know Its Name.'
- Nobel laureate Derek WalcottDerek WalcottDerek Alton Walcott, OBE OCC is a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2011 for White Egrets. His works include the Homeric epic Omeros...
has written a poem about Bleecker Street entitled "Bleecker Street, Summer." - Bleecker Street is referenced in Theodore Dreiser's story "Old Rogaum and His Theresa"
- In Philip RothPhilip RothPhilip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
's novel The Human StainThe Human StainThe Human Stain is a novel by Philip Roth. It is set in late 1990s rural New England. Its first person narrator is 65-year-old author Nathan Zuckerman, a character in previous Roth novels, including American Pastoral and I Married a Communist ; these two books form a loose trilogy with The Human...
, the character Coleman Silk takes the woman who would later be his wife to a Bleecker Street cafe early in their relationship.
Film and television
- Bleecker Street is in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008).
- Bleecker Street Cinema is mentioned in the movie Desperately Seeking SusanDesperately Seeking SusanDesperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.-Plot:...
(1985). - 11th and Bleecker is mentioned in New Line Home EntertainmentNew Line Home EntertainmentNew Line Home Entertainment is the home entertainment distribution arm of New Line Cinema, founded in 1990. According to New Line's website, Misery was the first New Line Home Video release....
's production of Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a 1990 American live-action film adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise directed by Steve Barron. The film was followed by three sequels: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1991, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993, and...
(1990). - Peter ParkerSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
tells Mary JaneMary Jane WatsonMary Jane Watson, often shortened to MJ, is a fictional supporting character appearing, originally, in Marvel comic books and, later, in multiple spin-offs and dramatizations of the Spider-Man titles as the best friend, love interest, and one-time wife of Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man...
that he saw her billboardBillboardBillboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
advertisement on Bleecker in Spider-Man 2Spider-Man 2Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon. It is the second film in the Spider-Man film franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
(2004). - Long-running television series Friends featured Bleecker Street signposts in several cut-scenes.
- Much of the film No ReservationsNo Reservations (film)No Reservations is a 2007 American romantic drama film directed by Scott Hicks. The screenplay by Carol Fuchs is an adaptation of an original script by Sandra Nettelbeck, which served as the basis for the 2001 German film Mostly Martha.-Plot:...
(2007), starring Catherine Zeta-JonesCatherine Zeta-JonesCatherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...
and Aaron EckhartAaron EckhartAaron Edward Eckhart is an American film and stage actor. Born in California, he moved to England at the age of 13, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Sydney, Australia, for his high school senior year...
, is set in a restaurant on the corner of Bleecker and Charles streets. The name of their fictitious restaurant is 22 Bleecker. - In The WBThe WB Television NetworkThe WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
series What I Like About YouWhat I Like About You (TV series)What I Like About You is an American television sitcom set mainly in New York City, following the lives of two sisters, Valerie Tyler and Holly Tyler . The series ran on The WB Television Network from September 20, 2002, to March 24, 2006, with a total of 86 episodes produced...
, Holly and Valerie live in an apartment on Bleecker Street. - In the remake of The Time MachineThe Time Machine (2002 film)The Time Machine is a 2002 American science fiction film loosely adapted from the 1895 novel of the same name by H. G. Wells, and the 1960 film screenplay by David Duncan...
(2002), starring Guy PearceGuy PearceGuy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
, Pearce's character at one point early in the film requests to be taken to Bleecker Street. - The Happy Carrot restaurant Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's character owned in the movie SleeperSleeper (film)Sleeper is a 1973 futuristic science fiction comedy film, written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman, and directed by Allen. The plot involves the adventures of the owner of a Greenwich Village, NY health food store played by Woody Allen who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and defrosted 200...
(1973) was on Bleecker Street. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the movie Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
(2002). - In the movie Sid and NancySid and NancySid and Nancy is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen .-Plot:The film opens with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious out of the Hotel...
(1986), Sid and Nancy are seen exiting a subway towards Bleecker Street. - The I Love LucyI Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
episode entitled "Lucy and the Loving Cup" mentions Bleecker Street as Lucy's destination while traveling the subwayNew York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
. - In the Adam SandlerAdam SandlerAdam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
movie Big Daddy (1999), Sonny visits a laundrette on Bleecker.
Music
- The Saint of Bleecker StreetThe Saint of Bleecker StreetThe Saint of Bleecker Street is an opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English libretto by the composer. It was first performed at The Broadway Theatre in New York City on December 27, 1954. David Poleri and Davis Cunningham alternated in the role of Michele, and Thomas...
, an opera by American composer Gian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo MenottiGian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
, earned him the Pulitzer Prize for MusicPulitzer Prize for MusicThe Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year...
in 1955. - Country Boy and Bleeker Street, a psychedelic rockPsychedelic rockPsychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
song by ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
band H. P. Lovecraft from their eponymous album H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft (album)H. P. Lovecraft is the debut album by the American psychedelic rock band H. P. Lovecraft and was released in October 1967 by Philips Records. It blended psychedelic and folk rock influences and was marked by the haunting, eerie ambiance of the band's music, which itself was often inspired by the...
(1967). - Japanese pop superstar Ayumi HamasakiAyumi Hamasakiis a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...
visited Bleecker Street during recording of her (Miss)understood(miss)understoodunderstood is Ayumi Hamasaki's seventh full-length studio album produced by Max Matsuura. Its official release date was January 1, 2006, but started appearing in stores on December 28, 2005, the last Wednesday of the year...
album. The pictures were later published in Hamasaki's famous "Deji Deji Diary" that is published in each issue of ViVi MagazineVivi (magazine)is a Japanese fashion magazine published by K L. ViVi is one of Asia's top fashion magazines, and is published in Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand...
. - Folksinger Fred NeilFred NeilFred Neil was an American folk singer-songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer, and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being...
sang about "standing on the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal, wondering which way to go" in the title song off his album Bleecker & MacDougalBleecker & MacDougalBleecker & MacDougal, issued by Elektra in 1965, is the debut album from Fred Neil, a pioneer folk rock musician. The recording, which unlike many folk albums at the time featured electric guitar backing, had a significant influence on the folk rock movement...
, released in 1965. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the Steely DanSteely DanSteely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
song "Almost Gothic" from the album Two Against NatureTwo Against NatureTwo Against Nature is the eighth album by Steely Dan, released in 2000. The album won the group four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, and marked the first Steely Dan studio album in 20 years, following 1980's Gaucho. It has been certified 2x platinum in the US.Two Against Nature marked...
. - The Marcy PlaygroundMarcy PlaygroundMarcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie . The band is best known for their 1997 hit "Sex and Candy".-Early years:...
song "The Vampires of New York" mentions "All the whores on Bleecker Street". - Simon and GarfunkelSimon and GarfunkelSimon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
have a song titled "Bleecker Street" on their debut album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. is the debut album by folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, released October 19, 1964. It was produced by Tom Wilson and engineered by Roy Halee. On its cover sleeve the album bears the subtitle: "Exciting new sounds in the folk tradition".The album was initially unsuccessful,...
(1964). - Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, frequent visitor of the Bleecker Street club Cafe Wha?Cafe Wha?Cafe Wha? is a club in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York City that has been home to various musicians and comedians. Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, The Velvet Underground, Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, Kool and the Gang, Peter, Paul & Mary, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Joan...
, says "Cat somehow lost his baby down on Bleecker Street" in his song "Kitty's Back" off his album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. - Willie NileWillie NileWillie Nile is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980 Nile released his self-titled debut album which according to one critic remains “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”...
says "I'm down here on Bleecker Street tryin' to read your mind" in Cell Phones Ringing (In The Pockets Of The Dead) from his Streets of New YorkStreets of New York (album)Streets of New York is the fifth studio album by New York City based singer/songwriter Willie Nile. This is Nile’s tribute to the city that gave him international exposure to the music world through the critical eyes and ears of the New York Times...
album. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Pearl" by Paula ColePaula ColePaula Cole is an American singer/songwriter. Her single "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, and the following year she won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.-Early life:...
on her 1999 album 'Amen'. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Punkrocker", featuring Iggy PopIggy PopIggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, by The Teddybears. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Hots on for Nowhere" by Led ZeppelinLed ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "New Amsterdam" by the band TravisTravis (band)Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Myriad Harbour" by The New PornographersThe New PornographersThe New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the songs "Cindy's Cryin'" and "Phil" by Tom PaxtonTom PaxtonThomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "What Do You Know About Love?" by Lloyd ColeLloyd ColeLloyd Cole is an English singer and songwriter, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work.-Early life:...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Freight Train" by Peter, Paul and MaryPeter, Paul and MaryPeter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Paris Nights/New York Mornings" by Corinne Bailey RaeCorinne Bailey RaeCorinne Bailey Rae is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leeds, who released her debut album Corinne Bailey Rae in February 2006....
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Underground Town" by ska band The ToastersThe ToastersThe Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "New York Girls" (aka "Can You Dance the Polka") by British folk rockFolk rockFolk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band Steeleye SpanSteeleye SpanSteeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "40 Shades of Blue" by Irish-American New York folk rockFolk rockFolk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band Black 47Black 47Black 47 are a New York City based celtic rock band with Irish Republican sympathies, whose music also shows influence from reggae, hip hop, folk and jazz...
. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "Tin Angel" by Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
(on her 1969 album Clouds), and in her "Song for Sharon" from the album Hejira. - Bleecker Street is mentioned in the song "New York Girls" on the soundtrack and in the film, Gangs of New York, by Irish Singer Finbar Furey
Other references
- Bleecker Street is the name of a trail at Hunter MountainHunter Mountain (ski area)Hunter Mountain is a ski resort located about three hours up the New York State Thruway north-northwest of New York City. It features a vertical drop....
. - Bleecker Street is the name of a unisexUnisexUnisex stands for the meaning that either gender or sex will be able to, but can also be another term for gender-blindness.The term was coined in the 1962 and was used fairly informally...
fragrance by Bond No. 9 New York. - COACH has a handbag collection named after the street.
- Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum is located at 177A Bleecker Street.
- The original San Remo Cafe, actually a bar and sometimes referred to as San Remo Bar, was at 189 Bleecker.
- First Gay Pride ParadeGay pride paradePride parades for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage...
organized from the apartment of march founder Craig RodwellCraig RodwellCraig L. Rodwell was an American gay rights activist known for founding the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop on November 24, 1967, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors and as the prime mover for the creation of the New York City pride demonstration...
at 350 Bleecker Street, Apt 3V. - Humorous web comic Alien Loves PredatorAlien Loves PredatorAlien Loves Predator is a webcomic written by Bernie Hou. It spoofs the Alien vs. Predator franchise. Reversing the adversarial relationship depicted in the comics, games, books and movies, ALP presents an Alien and a Predator as friends and roommates in modern-day New York City.The first issue...
features Bleecker Street in some episodes and also on an "ALP" T-Shirt. - Ruehl No. 925 Mentioned Shirts, & Leather Merchandise After the Street