SideWalk Cafe

Former restaurant and music venue in Manhattan, New York

The SideWalk Cafe

Sidewalk

Address| 94 Avenue A
Location| New York, NY 10009, USA
Coordinates| 40°43′32″N 73°59′02″W﻿ / ﻿40.72546°N 73.98376°W﻿ / 40.72546; -73.98376
Type| Nightclub
Opened| 1985
Closed| 2019
Website
sidewalkny.com

The SideWalk Cafe was a music venue and restaurant/cafe in East Village, New York City founded in 1985. It became a known venue for its underground music scene, and in particular, was known as being the center for Anti-folk in the United States. It offered an eclectic mix of local and national acts ranging from DIY, avant garde music, indie rock, and jazz to pop music and electronic music. The venue also hosted poetry readings, comedy and live-band karaoke. The Local East Village, at the time part of The New York Times, referred to the SideWalk Cafe and its music scene as a "gift to the neighborhood".[1]

A number of well-known acts performed at the Sidewalk at the beginning of their career including Regina Spektor, Lana Del Rey, Hamell on Trial, Lach, The Moldy Peaches and Nicole Atkins. The Sidewalk Cafe was also home to an open mic night that was one of the oldest and largest traditional open mics in the city,[1] garnering the name "the king of NYC open-mic nights."[2] The open mic was founded by Lach and subsequently run by Somer Bingham. It also hosted the bi-annual New York Antifolk Festival, which featured the largest gathering of anti-folk musicians in the nation.[3][4]

Artists that performed regularly at the Sidewalk Cafe included: Elastic No-No Band, Dots Will Echo, Alan Merrill, John S. Hall, Jeffrey Lewis, Peter Dizozza and Schwervon!.

Sidewalk's last weekend was Feb 23-24, 2019, after which it closed. [5][6][7]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Puglisi, Joe (September 28, 2010). "First Person - At the Sidewalk Café". The Local East Village. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
2. ^ Ruehl, Kim. "Open Mic Nights in New York City". About.com. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
3. ^ Light, Alan (August 11, 2006). "How Does It Feel, Antifolkies, to Have a Home, Not Be Unknown?". The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
4. ^ McKinley, James C. (September 23, 2011). "Staying Undefined at the Antifolk Festival, and That's Fine". The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
5. ^ Bloom, Madison (February 22, 2019). "NYC's SideWalk Cafe to Close After Over 30 Years". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
6. ^ Pearis, Bill (February 22, 2019). "SideWalk Cafe closing this weekend after hosting one last Antifolk Festival". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
7. ^ McManus, Nick (February 20, 2019). "Last Days of Antifolk: Scenes From the Final Winter Antifolk Fest at Sidewalk Cafe". Bedford + Bowery. Retrieved August 8, 2022.

* v
* t
* e

East Village and NoHo

Manhattan, New York City

Green spaces

* Carmen Pabón del Amanecer Jardín
* La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez
* Liz Christy Garden
* New York Marble Cemetery
* New York City Marble Cemetery
* Open Road Park
* Tompkins Square Park

Education

* Cooper Union
* 41 Cooper Square
* East Side Community High School
* Grace Church School
* Harvey Milk High School
* High School for Health Professions and Human Services
* Ottendorfer Library
* Third Street Music School Settlement

Religion

* Church of the Immaculate Conception and Clergy Houses
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* German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Mark
* Grace Church
* Middle Collegiate Church
* Mission of Our Lady of Loreto (Sheen Center, Barat Settlement House)
* San Isidoro y San Leandro Western Orthodox Catholic Church of the Hispanic Mozarabic Rite
* Slovenian Church of St. Cyril in New York
* St. Ann's Armenian Catholic Cathedral
* St. Ann Church
* St. Brigid Roman Catholic Church
* St. Emeric Church
* St. George's Church
* St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
* St. Nicholas Kirche
* St. Nicholas of Myra Church
* St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church
* Tabernacle Baptist Church

Culture

| Restaurants/
nightlife|

* B&H Dairy
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* McSorley's
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|

Theater|

* Astor Place Theatre
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* Metropolitan Playhouse
* Nublu Club
* Orpheum Theatre
* Performance Space New York
* Playwrights Horizons Theater School
* The Public Theater
* Joe's Pub
* Theatre 80
* Theater for the New City
* Village East by Angelika
* WOW Café

Stores|

* Barbara Feinman Millinery
* Ray's Candy Store
* Strand Bookstore
* Trash and Vaudeville

Museums and galleries|

* Anthology Film Archives
* Brant Foundation
* Merchant's House Museum
* Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York

Other|

* 4th Street Food Co-op
* Alamo
* C-Squat
* The Houston Bowery Wall
* Museum of Broken Windows

Former|

* 8BC
* A7
* Angel's Share
* Astor Opera House
* Cagen
* Charas/El Bohio
* Club 57
* Dos Blockos
* Fez
* Five Spot Café
* Gem Spa
* Ground Zero Gallery
* Heartbreak
* Harry & Ida's Meat and Supply Co.
* Jewel Bako
* Kiev Restaurant
* Kim's Video and Music
* King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
* Kyo Ya
* Lanza's
* Limbo
* Lit Lounge
* Lynn Redgrave Theater
* New St. Marks Baths
* New Theatre Comique
* New York Vauxhall Gardens
* Now Gallery
* Old Reliable Theatre Tavern
* Other Music
* Paresis Hall
* The Ritz
* The Saint
* SideWalk Cafe
* Sin-é
* St. Mark's Bookshop
* St. Mark's Playhouse
* Ukiyo
* Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre

Other buildings

* 51 Astor Place
* 339 Lafayette Street
* 640 Broadway
* 770 Broadway
* Astor Place Tower
* Bayard–Condict Building
* Bracetti Plaza
* Christodora House
* Colonnade Row
* Firehouse, Engine Company 33 and Ladder Company 9
* First Houses
* Hamilton Fish House
* Hamilton-Holly House
* Isaac T. Hopper House
* Metropolitan Savings Bank Building
* Riis Houses
* Robbins & Appleton Building
* Schermerhorn Building
* Silk Building
* Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys and Industrial School
* Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital
* Van Tassell and Kearney Horse Auction Mart
* Village View

Transportation

| Subway stations|

* First Avenue
* Second Avenue
* Third Avenue
* Astor Place
* Broadway–Lafayette Street/Bleecker Street
* Eighth Street–New York University

|

Streets|

* First Avenue
* Second Avenue
* Third Avenue
* 4th Street
* 6th Street (Curry Row)
* 8th Street and St. Mark's Place
* 14th Street
* Astor Place
* Avenue A
* Avenue B
* Avenue C
* Avenue D
* Bleecker Street
* Bond Street
* Bowery
* Broadway
* Cooper Square
* Great Jones Street
* Houston Street
* Lafayette Street
* Taras Shevchenko Place

Regions

* Alphabet City
* Book Row
* East 10th Street Historic District
* East Village/Lower East Side Historic District
* Little Germany
* St. Mark's Historic District
* Yiddish Theatre District

See also: Manhattan Community Board 3, 9th Precinct
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