The Village is one of the only Manhattan neighborhoods that kept its pre-grid alley system intact. Washington Mews, MacDougal Alley, Patchin Place, Milligan Place — each is two or three buildings tall and two or three meters wide. Combined with the leafy NYU-edge streets and the Washington Square arch, the Village has a microclimate noticeably cooler than the avenues around it.
These picks string the mews together with the residential blocks. Bleecker east of Sixth is the spine; the alleys do the cool cut-throughs.