So Time Out New York recently came up with a list of the top ten Manhattan neighborhoods with “New York soul.” I’m not entirely sure what that means, but my neighborhood came out on top!

1: Alphabet City
Meet our winner—quick, before it changes.

Alphabet City is movie-set New York. The blocks east of Avenue A squat low and look gritty—almost perfectly low and gritty. Archetypal characters people the streets: blue-collar lifers, old-school bohemians, Rent-worshipping students, project-bound families and, yes, hipsters. In this neighborhood within a neighborhood—which has an identity separate from the East Village (see #7)—the cast has changed over the past 20 years, as increasingly affluent residents have poured in. But for now at least, Alphabet City—the blocks between Houston and 14th and between Avenue A and the East River—has managed to retain a soul, and even clean itself up a bit. No wonder it’s landed our starring role. (more…)