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NoHo, Manhattan: Astor's Row, Reborn in Lofts

NoHo, New York

Pictures from NoHo

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Colonnade Row Astor Place Cube (Alamo) Merchant's House Museum 57 Great Jones Street

NoHo — "North of Houston Street" — is a name that only came into use in the 1970s, coined to set the pocket bounded by Mercer Street, the Bowery, 9th Street, and Houston Street apart from SoHo to its south. Its grander history starts earlier: in the 1820s and '30s John Jacob Astor developed the area into an elite residential district centered on Lafayette Street, building the marble-fronted Colonnade Row, whose residents over the years included Washington Irving and Cornelius Vanderbilt. By the 1880s the wealthy had moved uptown, and warehouses and manufacturing lofts replaced the grand homes — the commercial loft architecture NoHo is known for today. After World War II, artists moved into those abandoned lofts, and by the 1970s and '80s NoHo was a thriving artistic hub; the city designated the NoHo Historic District in 1999, added NoHo East in 2003, and extended the original district in 2008.

  1. An intact 1832 Tredwell family rowhouse, open during restoration for guided and self-guided tours.

  2. Joseph Papp's theater, born as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954, which premiered Hair, A Chorus Line, and Hamilton.

  3. Four surviving 1832-33 marble townhouses from John Jacob Astor's elite Lafayette Street development, viewable from the street.

  4. An off-Broadway house that opened with Al Pacino in 1968 and hosted Blue Man Group for over 30 years.

  5. Jean-Michel Basquiat's home and studio from 1983 to 1988, now Atelier Jolie's gallery and cafe.

  6. Rustic Italian cooking at the original il Buco restaurant on Bond Street.

  7. Family-style Thai seafood drawing on Thailand's regional cuisines.

  8. Andrew Carmellini's French grand cafe and bakery on Lafayette Street.

Great Jones Street's Three Lives

Few NoHo addresses carry as much layered history as 57 Great Jones Street. In 1905 it was the headquarters of Paul Kelly's Five Points Gang; Andy Warhol's company bought the building in 1970; and Jean-Michel Basquiat leased it as his home and studio starting in August 1983, working and living there until his death in 1988 at age 27. In October 2025, the block was officially co-named "Jean-Michel Basquiat Way," and the building now operates as Atelier Jolie, Angelina Jolie's creative space, with a gallery and cafe open to the public. A few blocks away, John Jacob Astor's own real-estate legacy survives at Colonnade Row on Lafayette Street: four of the original nine 1832-33 Greek Revival marble townhouses still stand, linked by Corinthian columns, though their facades are now considerably weathered.

Getting there by subway

NoHo is compact and exceptionally well connected. The B/D/F/M trains stop at Broadway-Lafayette Street, which connects in-system to the 6 train's Bleecker Street stop (with peak-hour <6> express and 4 trains late nights) at the same Houston-and-Lafayette complex, and the 6 also stops at Astor Place on the neighborhood's northeast edge. Nearly every point in NoHo is within a five-minute walk of a subway entrance.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to NoHo by subway?
The B/D/F/M and 6 trains meet at the Broadway-Lafayette Street/Bleecker Street complex on Houston Street, and the 6 also stops at Astor Place on NoHo's northeast edge — both put you within a five-minute walk of anywhere in the neighborhood.
Where does the name NoHo come from?
It stands for "North of Houston Street" and came into use in the 1970s to distinguish the area — bounded by Mercer Street, the Bowery, 9th Street, and Houston Street — from SoHo to the south.
Is Jean-Michel Basquiat's old studio open to the public?
The building at 57 Great Jones Street where Basquiat lived and worked from 1983 to 1988 now operates as Atelier Jolie, Angelina Jolie's creative space, with a gallery and cafe open to visitors. The block was co-named Jean-Michel Basquiat Way in October 2025.
Can you go inside Colonnade Row?
No — the four surviving 1832-33 marble townhouses on Lafayette Street are subdivided into apartments and commercial space, so they're viewable only from the street. Past residents included Washington Irving and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Where can I stay in NoHo?
No hotel or B&B could be verified inside NoHo's boundaries. The nearest verified option is The Bowery Hotel at 335 Bowery, just across NoHo's eastern edge in the East Village.

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