Coming by Car? Enjoy SoHo, Little Italy and Greenwich Village with Free & Easy Street Parking

You can find free and safe street parking in SoHo beginning at 5:00PM to start your night of jazz. Jazz clubs have shows at 8 or 9 PM so arriving at 5 p.m. gives you time to walk a bit, relax and enjoy a leisurely dinner. You usually don't need to give a credit card to make a reservation so don't make it on-line...better to use the telephone. Other clubs are less formal and allow walk-ins. Parking in SoHo gives you easy walking access to SoHo, Greenwich Village, and Little Italy for dinner or drinks before enjoying your jazz venue. Call the club to find out what time seating begins...some offer food while some do not.

First, let's look at free, convenient and safe street parking.

You can park at 5PM Monday-Friday in SoHo on Sullivan or Thompson Streets. Get there around 4:30 PM and at 5 PM you're ready to go. Be sure that you stay in your car until 5 as NYC Traffic officers will ticket you if they find your car empty. Park between Broome St. and Houston St. If you're running late, cross Houston St. uptown on Sullivan and street parking opens up at 6 p.m. Here are driving directions from different areas. From the Brooklyn Bridge, follow Canal St, turn right onto West Broadway, left onto Broome and bear right immediately. Right onto Sullivan. From the Holland Tunnel, stay left, and bear right onto Canal, left onto West Broadway, left onto Broome and bear right immediately. Right onto Sullivan. From the Lincoln Tunnel, stay right and take the 9th avenue downtown express exit.  At 14th street, bear left onto Hudson St. In 6 blocks, bear left onto Bleecker.  Turn right onto Thompson and you'll find the 5 p.m. parking after your cross Houston. If not, stay on Thompson and turn right onto Broome, bear right and turn right onto Sullivan. You can head uptown on Sullivan up to Washington Square Park, turn right onto West 4th, and right onto Thompson to complete a large rectangle as you look for parking. If you arrive well before 5 p.m. you may wish to complete this course and look for the occasional parking space. Because this area is used by NYU commuting students, parking spaces recycle continuously.

From your parking on Sullivan, you may wish to walk to Little Italy for dinner. Just head east on Spring St. (a crosstown street 2 blocks south of Houston) past great SoHo restaurants, trendy bars, cafes, and art galleries to Mulberry St. Take a right on Mulberry to enter Little Italy with its many restaurants, shopping, and outdoor cafes.

For Greenwich Village eateries and culture, from SoHo walk uptown on Sullivan, left on Houston St., and a right on MacDougal St. MacDougal St. is the heart of Greenwich Village and you'll see restaurants, bars, shopping and cafes for every taste.

Great jazz clubs in the area include The Blue Note on 131 West 3rd St 100 feet East of 6th Avenue (212-475-8592), the Village Vanguard on 7th avenue located a few blocks North of Bleecker St. by 11th St. (212-255-4037)  -- both require reservations. Less formal venues include the Zinc Bar at 90 West Houston (212-477-8337), Smalls at 10th St. and 7th Avenue (212-929-7565), Arthur's Tavern at 57 Grove St at Grove and 7th Ave. South, and 55 Bar (212-929-9883) at 55 Christopher St between 7th Ave South and Waverly Place.

For a great cappuccino and Italian pastry, head west to 243 Bleecker St. from 6th Avenue, to Rocco's Pastry Shop (212-242-6031). One of my favorite pizzarias is Pizzaria 28 at 28 Carmine Street, off of Bleecker 1 block East of 6th Avenue. They serve authentic thin crust pizza (212-463-9653). Another pizza favorite is John's Pizza, 2 blocks East of Carmine St at 278 Bleecker St. (2120243-1680. 

Bleecker St. is a great place to shop and browse. Head East from 6th Avenue to Bank Street, right on Bank, and right onto W. 4th street to continue your shopping as you head back to 6th Ave.