Ascend the stoop to the Merchant House Museum at 29 East Fourth Street, between Lafayette and the Bowery, and you might be surprised at what you find. No staid merchants in striped pants and tailcoats are in evidence. But there’s a circa-1860s casket and viewing in the front parlor, and a death scene in the merchant’s daughter’s bedroom. Built in 1832, this Manhattan townhouse saw a family through births, weddings, christenings, and deaths the way people used to do it—at home.

This exceptional museum—the only nineteenth-century family home in New York City preserved intact, both inside and out—presents a view of life from this time that is intimate and immediate, from the fresh bread on the kitchen table to the nearby coal scuttle you can lift yourself. That sucker is heavy! You will learn that the Irish housemaids had to carry this coal to fires in seven rooms, up 82 steps. Plus you can experience climbing those stairs yourself, all the way up to the servants’ quarters in the attic, with undies hung out to dry as if the maids are simply downstairs dusting in the parlor.

You’ve probably seen this museum in the guidebooks—it’s rated in the top 3% of NYC sites to visit—but as a busy New Yorker, you’ve likely never stepped foot inside. Make the trip on a rainy day and immerse yourself in another century’s history. I think you’ll be glad you did.

While there, you can hop, skip, and jump from one of New York’s oldest attractions to one of the newest: Manuel Plaza, right next door at 35 East Fourth Street.

Manuel Plaza opened on July 18 on a lot owned by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. The DEP uses this property to work on shafts connected to the underground network of tunnels that supply NYC’s drinking water. The once scruffy lot was converted to a park with the help of funding totaling $1.58 million from the Mayor, City Council, and the Manhattan Borough President, Mark D. Levine.

Manuel Plaza is named in acknowledgment of the first North American free Black settlement, known as the “Land of the Blacks,” according to the DEP. The park’s name honors five Manuels: Big Manuel, Clyn Manuel, Manuel Gerrit de Reus, Manuel Sanders, and Manuel Trumpeter, who were among 28 people of African descent who negotiated their freedom from the West India Dutch Company—and obtained over 100 acres in land grants—in the mid-seventeenth century in what was known as New Netherland (and later became New York).

The naysayers have already jumped onto evgrieve.com to complain about various aspects of the park. But when I visited with my film crew, we loved the striking, zig-zag-patterned brick plaza with giant, rounded black river stones on a green AstroTurf carpet, surrounded by graffiti-laden brick buildings. It’s a charming, ultra-New York oasis. Naysayers stay home!

P.S. Some of you may have deduced that photographer Phil, assistant Amy, and I always go for a boozy brunch after the shoot. This time we went to the Swift Hibernian Lounge, across the street at 34 East Fourth. I highly recommend it for great cocktails, a nice selection of draft beer, yummy nosh-snacks, and fantastic staff. I had a pear concoction that knocked my shoes off! The other patrons weren’t bad either.

P.P.S. This was not my first sojourn on the East Village’s East Fourth Street. I spent an afternoon photographing the block between Avenue A and Avenue B back in January 2016, right after an epic snowstorm dumped two feet of snow on Manhattan. I crafted dozens of stills and a few short moving clips into a video called Heroin Trip on East Fourth. I thought the vibe of Lou Reed’s song “Heroin” met the scene perfectly and used it as the backing track, based on intel from friends about what went down on this block in the ’60s and ’70s. There really was a dealer called Spanish Eddy. Check it out!

This article first appeared in print in The Village Sun.

Style Notes

• Fire-red-and-black embossed velvet minidress. Vintage nineties Luca Luca by Luca Orlandi. Judi Harvest Chelsea studio sale.
• Donna Karan Collection gold satin and red crocodile slides with ’60s-mod sculptured heels. Once-in-a-lifetime Donna Karan storage sale, next to Urban Zen on Greenwich Street.
• Sparkly rhinestone sunglasses. Gift from a friend.
• Red, beaded three-ball drop earrings with ivory rosettes, pearls, and gold petals. Collette’s Basement, 10 Main Street, Southampton, NY.
• Ruby and diamond necklace. Gift from my mom.
• Vintage ’70s red and silver moon and star ring. Whole Bead Show NYC. Hotel Pennsylvania (now closed).
• Via Spiga faux leopard jacket with wide collar and black leather detail on pockets. Variazioni, 195 Spring Street, Soho.