East Village is a really cool part of Manhattan to get to know and hang out in... and Vana's spacious homely apartment with a private secluded garden is an amazing find in a city like New York. The area felt residential - families walking around with their children etc - and relaxed compared with the rest of Manhattan so was a good bolt holt from which to sight-see. Communication with Vana was excellent - and he checked to see if we were OK a few times during our stay (even though he was away with work in Japan). Pinar was great too who let us in and also very helpful. Great to have a kitchen to cook in so you don't always have to eat out as New York can be expensive for dining out. All local shop keepers really fab! We loved Superiority Burger (vegan), the Pink Olive (stationery) and some of the oddity/curiosity shops around the area... Christian got a cool hair cut from the barber's round the corner. There's a supermarket just one min from the apartment and the restaurant next door serves wicked Pina Colada! East Village is really worth spending a day or so getting to know itself. It's about 10 mins walk to the nearest subway stop ... so adds a bit of time in when sight seeing but East Village is a really good location for so many things to see in New York. I'd highly recommend staying here. Thanks Vana.