Some of our favorite spots around the Lower West Side neighborhood… 

 1   Burning Books / 420 Connecticut

Coming September 8 to the bookstore for radicals: Daniel McGowan, the eco-activist whose story was told in the Oscar-nominated If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front.

 2  BreadHive / 402 Connecticut

Occupying the space pioneered by a long-departed and much-mourned sandwich shop, Buffalo’s worker-owned bakery offer a full men of sandwiches—and, of course, take-home baked goods.

 3  The Corner Store / 380 Connecticut

This place has a surprising array of deep-fried fast food—chicken, pastelillos, papas rellenas, things we don’t even have names for—plus pizza, plus other good, quick eats at low, low prices. 

 4  Phu Thai Oriental Grocery Store / 356 Connecticut

If you frequent other Asian markets in the area but haven’t been here, try it out: The shop stocks many items you won’t find elsewhere. Lots of seafood.

 5  Nickel City Cheese & Mercantile / Lait Cru Brasserie / 346 Connecticut

Jill Gedra Forster’s lovely shop has moved and expanded, occupying the former Martin Cooks location and offering breakfast and lunch, fine cheeses and other comestibles, and, soon, dinner.

 6  WestSide Herbs & Alliums / 251 Vermont

This urban farm’s produce is available at Barrel + Brine and the Lexington Coop, and at the Tidwell Farmer Market. But why not buy it at their own stand on Fridays, 5-7pm? 

 7  Karpeles Manuscript Library / 453 Porter

The current exhibit in the lovely church tuned museum and events space: Maps of the United States, offering an eye-opening history of this country and its cartographical evolution.